Chapter 37: Secret Realm, Illusion?
There are as many cultivators in this world as there are those who have heard of Meng Ji's name.
As the number one mountain in the immortal realm, Mount Buzhou will have powerful beings regularly answering questions and giving lectures to cultivators.
Amidst the vastness of heaven and earth, bells and drums resounded in unison. The young immortal sat upright on a cloud platform, reciting scriptures. His Taoist robe, billowing in the wind, resembled a bright galaxy, as if a god had descended to earth. Birds and beasts seemed to circle around him as he spoke.
After a while, the disciples came to accept the immortal lord's gentle demeanor.
As the demon realm fell into decline, the disciples no longer witnessed the immortal lord's figure slaying demons. It turned out that a single sword strike was all it took to resolve the previous predicament.
Not to mention these young cultivators, even Yao Jin, who had seen this scene before, felt her heart pounding at this moment, like a drop of water splashing into boiling oil, crackling and thrashing wildly—it turned out that a hundred years ago, when the blood of her comrades splattered on her face, the beating of her heart was not due to anger, but to amazement.
She loved him; she had loved him for a hundred years.
The clearer Yao Jin knew this, the less she dared to reveal her true identity. Before, she had never felt ashamed of being a demon, but now she had a slight thought that her identity should not be exposed.
Thank goodness, thank goodness she got a new face...
No matter how thrilling it is inside you, it never makes a ripple in the eyes of others.
As if seeing a savior, everyone swarmed around him, crying, "Master...it's Master!"
Leng Dandan bit her lip and walked over cautiously, "Senior brother."
The more stunning the scene was, the stronger her desire to possess Meng Ji became.
She moved closer to him, gazing up at him with adoration.
"Sect Leader!" Xu Zhao called out aggrievedly. He had been in contact with the Immortal Lord before and was closer to him than others, so he stood closer.
But because it was so close, I saw more than other people.
Xu Zhao's eyes widened, momentarily forgetting his purpose of exposing Leng Dandan's affair. He stared intently at the sword in the Immortal Lord's hand, forcing himself not to utter a sound.
It's best not to disrupt morale at times like this.
Suddenly a voice rang out from the crowd—"Immortal Lord, you, you're not holding Frostflower?"
He was discovered after all, and Xu Zhao immediately closed his eyes.
The disciples' gazes immediately shifted to Meng Ji's hand, or more precisely, to the sword in Meng Ji's hand.
—A seven-foot-long sword, long in the front and wide in the back, as light as a cicada's wing. Now held in the hands of the leader of the immortal sect, it looked majestic and awe-inspiring.
Of course, this assumes that we can ignore the material itself.
The monsters around them had been suddenly driven back only because of the powerful sword intent. But when they saw the weapon in the enemy's hand, they immediately bared their teeth.
Pairs of scarlet eyes, like enormous red lanterns, were incredibly eerie in this pitch-black cave.
"So what if it's not Shuanghua?" Faced with the questioning voice, Meng Ji revealed a rare arrogance. He swung his sword, the sound of it cutting through the air deafening. "A sword that can slay demons is a good sword."
This is the sword intent of a sword cultivator. Although it does not carry any immortal power, it can swallow mountains and seas with a single sword strike. The surging sword intent manifests a real form, and the sword energy is extremely strong, transforming into ice cones in the air.
Amidst the fleeting sword energy that was so fast that only afterimages could be seen, the crowd witnessed the monster fleeing in terror. However, the monster was then pierced in the back by an ice spike, and with a whoosh, ripples of ice broke out in the dark cave.
The surrounding monsters were instantly shredded into pieces, falling to the ground in disarray.
One of the disciples exclaimed in surprise, "Heavens! As expected of a Celestial Lord, even a wooden sword can unleash such power!"
"I wonder how many years it will take us to cultivate to have such sword intent."
Once the tension subsided, everyone relaxed, having found their leader. They all sheathed their swords, and Xie Shou smiled, "My father had calculated the odds before we came out, saying it was a near-death experience, but I don't think it's that bad."
"With the Celestial Lord backing us up, what is there to fear?"
"Yes, the Immortal Lord is indeed powerful."
Yao Jin entered the cave at this moment. She changed her appearance as soon as she entered and hid in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to blend into the crowd.
This was a plan she had come up with on her way here.
It seems Po Jun hasn't arrived yet.
No, that's not right. Po Jun isn't that kind of person. He must have come.
But where is it?
Yao Jin stared intently at the crowd, then suddenly raised an eyebrow.
She slowly walked towards the edge of the crowd.
"Arrogant brat." Po Jun scoffed in the far corner. "He dares to challenge the demon I raised with just an ordinary sword."
Like cultivators, demons are also classified into different levels. Although these demons lack intelligence, they have one major characteristic. This characteristic was also the inspiration that Po Jun received during the last great battle.
As Po Jun spoke, he activated his demonic energy. The pieces of flesh on the ground also changed at this moment. The mud-like flesh slowly gathered together. Those that could be put back together returned to their original form, while those that could not be put back together split into new clumps, while he was still uttering hoarse sounds.
In an instant, the number of those human-faced, snake-bodied demons more than doubled.
But just as these demons were recovering, the cultivators surrounded Meng Ji, chattering and asking him for advice on swordsmanship. After all, they were young cultivators and didn't do things in a comprehensive way.
The demons returned with a vengeance, their tongues instantly stretching out and engulfing a group of disciples in the surrounding area.
The crunching sound of chewing rang out again, and the remaining disciples were terrified. "Immortal Lord, this...this monster is actually immortal!"
But what kind of immortal monster is there? If there were such a thing as immortality, how could the immortals have perished in the past?
Meng Ji frowned, then flicked his wrist and swung his sword again. "It's an illusion."
Although he said this, he was not as calm as he appeared.
Everyone knows what an illusion is, but if you can't see through it, even if you tell them, it won't help. It's like knowing it's fake, but being afraid because it's fake makes the fake seem real.
If things continue like this, I'm afraid all the outstanding talents of the immortal sects will perish here.
However, the situation was better this time than at the beginning. Because of Meng Ji's calm demeanor, the remaining cultivators concentrated their immortal power to kill the demons.
At that moment, Yao Jin walked up to Po Jun, reached out and grabbed his wrist, saying, "Got you."
"You've finally come out." Upon hearing this, Po Jun was not surprised at all. Instead, he raised an eyebrow and let Yao Jin grab him.
Po Jun has also changed his appearance, but this time the face he conjured was just ordinary. However, his unruly expression revealed a hint of evil.
Yao Jin immediately put his hand down and moved away as if he had been stained with something dirty. "Come out with me."
Po Jun's face darkened at the sight of that disgusted expression. He approached Yao Jin again, a scorching aura enveloping her. He rejected Yao Jin first before explaining, "Father's demonic soul is in the secret realm. We need to find a way to provide him with nourishment."
And these monks are the best nourishment.
The law of the jungle prevails over the weak, which is perfectly reasonable, but Yao Jin, with a cold face, grabbed his hand and forcefully stopped him from continuing to activate his magic, "You are not allowed to kill anymore."
She didn't care about the cultivators, but she did care about Meng Ji. If these waves of puppet-like soldiers kept attacking like this, Meng Ji would eventually get tired.
"Why?" Po Jun asked her, without withdrawing the magic he had activated.
Yao Jin shouted, "You're not listening to me anymore?"
Po Jun's personality is not as easy to negotiate with as the other two demons. For example, just now, if it were Chu Fengliu and the others, they would do as she said even if they didn't understand, but Po Jun would refuse her.
Yao Jin wasn't entirely confident, and this move was a clear indication that he was prepared to break off all pretense of civility.
Po Jun looked at his wrist, which was now being held again, and a smile crossed his face. "Alright, I'll go out with you."
With a cold expression, Yao Jin led his men out of the cave.
The cave was in complete chaos. The monster's gleeful cries and the disciples' fierce battle cries were all mixed together. Even if someone were having sex in the cave, it wouldn't attract their attention in the slightest.
They're all bloodthirsty people; they have no energy to care about anything else.
But only one person managed to stay still amidst the dense sword shadows.
The Taoist robe lifted up a clump of chopped flesh and blood. The boy dodged, used his wooden sword to pry the flesh apart, and then looked expressionlessly toward the cave entrance.
With just one glance, his only glance, he once again took up his wooden sword and plunged into the battlefield.
Leaving the cave
With those murderous thoughts temporarily gone, Yao Jin suppressed the fighting spirit stirring in his heart and said to Po Jun, "You go back first. I roughly know where the Mirror of Tracing Origins is. Once I find it, I can revive Father."
You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub. Since the goal is to get Po Jun away, this half-true, half-false message is the perfect solution.
“In that case, I’ll go with you to get it.” Po Jun narrowed his eyes upon hearing this. He still had that ordinary face, but his physique was similar to that of the Demon General, with a broad back and a narrow waist, giving people a sense of oppression.
Yao Jin hated this rough and uncouth appearance the most, so she refused, saying, "You'll only attract attention if you follow me."
"Is the other person... that stinky Taoist priest?" Po Jun was meticulous and frighteningly straightforward.
When the Demon King was killed, the Demon Realm was repeatedly defeated by the attacks of these cultivators, and Po Jun was also injured. In recent years, he has been in seclusion to cultivate his skills, ignoring the affairs of the outside world, until he was summoned by the demonic soul of the Demon King's father and left that place, only to learn that the girl he once loved had married someone else.
With both old and new grudges, Po Jun wished he could kill Meng Ji, and indeed he did.
There are Gu demons he raises here. As long as this group of cultivators enters, they will trigger the illusion switch. Those Gu demons have the power to stimulate the dark side of people's hearts. Cultivators with unstable Dao hearts may even develop inner demons.
Even if they don't develop inner demons, those cultivators will still kill each other out of suspicion and fear of death, thus becoming nourishment for the Gu demon.
How could their immortal lord watch his disciples die in danger? Once he enters the secret realm, he too will be affected by those dark emotions.
Once you find a weakness, you can seize the opportunity to kill him!
Of course, the reason for not confronting it head-on is firstly because of Po Jun's personality; he is used to breaking the deadlock in the most convenient way.
Secondly, although he had been in seclusion for many years, Meng Ji, as a Celestial Lord, was also cultivating. Back then, the young man was able to kill the Demon King by himself and his sword, and Po Jun still remembered the chilling aura of that sword when it was drawn.
And that sword...
"I'm talking about those cultivators. What if they find out that Father is still alive and try to stop us?" Yao Jin scolded him, then frowned. "You can't kill them all. Many of the disciples of powerful figures are from Zhai Chen this time. If all of them die in the secret realm, their parents will definitely find out the truth."
If some people die, you can say it's just bad luck. But if they all die, these parents who cherish their children will definitely seek the truth.
Po Jun was not reckless; after a little thought, he could accept the reason. However, he still said, "Okay, but I want to be with you."
"You only have a general idea, right? With me by your side, I'll help you find it."
Po Jun's gaze was fixed on her, his eyes flashing with a determined light.
Yao Jin thought this person was like a persistent leech, rolled her eyes at him and left, saying, "Whatever."
Given so much time, she could always find a way to distract Po Jun. The most urgent thing was to find the Body Tempering Grass.
The two returned to the cave as if nothing had happened.
Some time has passed since the conversation. Because Yao Jin forbade Po Jun from killing all the cultivators, the illusion is not as it was at the beginning, and the monsters' attacks are not as fierce.
Meng Ji single-handedly defeated ten thousand men, killing many monsters by himself. At this moment, the remaining monsters slowly gathered together. He set up a barrier, gathered his disciples inside, and had them silently recite the Heart-Cleansing Mantra.
The monsters were drooling over the food inside the barrier, but they could only watch helplessly from the outside because they couldn't break through it.
After Yao Jin entered, he gave Po Jun a wink. Po Jun immediately activated his magic, causing the remaining demons to slowly retreat.
Just as the two were about to blend in, a voice suddenly came – “May I ask which sect you two fellow Daoists belong to, and what you were doing just now?”
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