Chapter 95 He truly died for her once…
Sheng Zhiyi, holding the Flying Feather, was preparing to fight to the death with the elder of the Tianyan Sect when suddenly she was enveloped by surging demonic energy, her feet dangling in mid-air as if floating.
The surrounding environment gradually changed, from a lush forest to a spacious cave.
Calling it a cave isn't quite accurate; the place is so magnificent and vast that it's like there's another huge palace inside the mountain, with pavilions, towers, and painted eaves.
Sheng Zhiyi felt that the sword spirit in her dantian seemed to vibrate.
Could this be... the secret realm of the gods?
She stared in astonishment, her eyes wide, gripping the hilt of her sword tightly. Why had she ended up in the secret realm?
A voice suddenly came from the side: "Just now... the demonic energy was too strong, so we were automatically teleported to the secret realm. If the gods were at their peak, the formation here would be enough to bind any demon."
Upon hearing this, Sheng Zhiyi noticed that there were still faint gray array patterns remaining on the bluestone floor, but now, lacking divine power, they had long since faded and become one with the dust.
Before she could properly assess her surroundings, Sheng Zhiyi turned her head and looked at the person beside her.
Although it was still Shen Qingming's face, the demonic aura surrounding him revealed his identity.
Ji Fuguang.
She gripped the sword hilt even tighter, and as soon as it hit the ground, Sheng Zhiyi instinctively dodged to the side, looking over warily.
Ji Fuguang also landed on the ground. He was no longer Shen Qingming; he was several inches taller, standing tall and elegant, exceptionally upright. He lowered his head slightly, concealing the expression on his face.
He was still wearing Shen Qingming's clothes, and Sheng Zhiyi had personally bandaged his chest wound; she had leaned on that shoulder for half the night yesterday...
But all of this was just a deception.
"You really like playing this game..." Sheng Zhiyi forced a cold laugh, her gaze indifferent and distant.
In this parallel world, Ji Fuguang is still the same. He hides his identity within the sect, and even after leaving, he continues to deceive her. Perhaps this is just his true nature.
However, she hasn't been entangled with Ji Fuguang in this world for long, and now she just wants to sever ties as soon as possible.
Composing herself, Sheng Zhiyi tried her best to speak calmly: "Your Majesty, whatever you want, you saved me once, and I took care of you for a few days. Are we even now? I thank you for your care in the sect before, but I acted in your eyes for so long, which was enough to make you smile. From now on, we'll go our separate ways. You go back to your demon clan, and I'll be a rogue cultivator. How about that?"
Ji Fuguang finally moved.
He slowly raised his head. The illusion had been dispelled, revealing Ji Fuguang's own face. He was as handsome as ever, but inexplicably much thinner, with his cheekbones appearing slightly prominent.
A complex emotion seemed to flash across his eyes as he looked at Sheng Zhiyi, "I am not Ji Fuguang..."
What?
A mocking smile quickly flashed through Sheng Zhiyi's mind.
A person's appearance may be faked, but he is now surrounded by intense demonic energy. Can that also be faked?
If he's not Ji Fuguang, then who is he going to say he is?
etc……
A cold glint appeared in Sheng Zhiyi's eyes. "What...do you mean?"
Ji Fuguang reached out and took out a glass hairpin from his pocket. The hairpin had been smashed into several pieces, but it had been repaired and restored to its original state with gold. It was the same hairpin that Sheng Zhiyi had smashed in a fit of anger in the Demon Palace.
Lowering his eyes, Ji Fuguang ran his fingers along the crack, a hint of darkness flashing in his eyes. After she smashed the jade hairpin, he summoned craftsmen from the Demon Palace overnight to meticulously repair it, finally creating this one. Sheng Zhiyi had been with him for so long, and he had never given her anything precious. When he finally wanted to give her something, she refused it.
"It's you! What are you doing here?!"
Upon seeing the jade hairpin, Sheng Zhiyi took a step back in alarm, her eyes fixed on Ji Fuguang, almost as if she feared him like a snake.
He wasn't Ji Fuguang from this parallel universe at all. Like her, he had also crossed space to come here!
Seeing her instinctive reaction, Ji Fuguang felt as if a needle had pierced his heart. His fingers suddenly felt weak, and he withdrew the jade hairpin, slowly saying, "After you disappeared from the Demon Palace, I tried to find a way..."
Sheng Zhiyi felt a chill run through her body and couldn't hear anything Ji Fuguang said afterward.
She thought she could disappear without a trace, but even with spatial magic and by coming to the forbidden land of the demons, Haiyaoyue, she still couldn't escape his control.
"What exactly do you want?" Sheng Zhiyi suddenly spoke, her voice hoarse and desperate. "Are you planning to take me back and continue torturing me?"
The thought of how she had been completely deceived by him a few days ago, how she had taken such good care of him, and how she had risked her life to gather herbs, all in the hope that he would recover soon, made her feel nauseous.
Before Ji Fuguang could speak, Sheng Zhiyi continued, "Why didn't you just capture me from the beginning? You have to put on an act and make me run around in circles. Do you really enjoy this kind of drama, Ji Fuguang? Is it fun?!"
Ji Fuguang spoke urgently, his tone even carrying a hint of apology, "I didn't mean to lie to you... the situation was urgent at the time..."
Unusually, his voice was somewhat low and hoarse, as if he lacked confidence.
Sheng Zhiyi stared at him, her eyes dark and unfathomable. Under that gaze, Ji Fuguang slowly shut his mouth.
In that instant, their roles reversed, and Ji Fuguang became the one who had to read Sheng Zhiyi's expression.
"Seeing me running around at Qibaoshan, presumptuously saying I wanted to protect you, what did you think? Did you think I was ridiculous?"
Sheng Zhiyi's voice was filled with undisguised coldness. Thinking about what had happened a few days ago, she felt it was absurd and ridiculous from the bottom of her heart.
Even though Ji Fuguang's injuries could be healed instantly by simply channeling demonic energy, he watched her constantly running around. What was he thinking then? Was he certain that he could manipulate her again?
“No…” Ji Fuguang frowned and spoke somewhat urgently.
He wanted to rush over and grab Sheng Zhiyi's arm, to stop her from speculating and saying such things, but somehow... at this moment, he felt as if he were under a spell, his feet rooted to the ground, unable to move at all.
Should we stop her now? Is that really the right thing to do?
For the first time in his life, Ji Fuguang felt completely helpless.
Sheng Zhiyi's hand holding the sword trembled slightly. Why was it always like this? Ji Fuguang was always deceiving and hiding things. She was always kept in the dark. What did he take her for?
She no longer pretended not to see what she had previously chosen to do out of consideration. She spoke coldly, "You suffered internal injuries in the Tianyan Sect before, and deliberately found an excuse to save me, thus finding yourself a loyal servant for free. What a cunning scheme!"
Suddenly, Sheng Zhiyi felt a deep weariness. "What are you up to this time? Deliberately exposing your identity and getting injured, are you testing the attitudes of the other demons towards you? Demon Lord... you really... every step you take is full of manipulation and calculation..."
“Junior Sister,” Ji Fuguang finally spoke, his eyes fixed on the person before him, his expression troubled, as if he didn’t know how to phrase it to make her believe his almost absurd sincerity, “I…I just want to see you again…”
His voice was deep, with an awkward earnestness. He used to be able to utter a series of grand and beautiful words without changing his expression, but now he sounded like a child just learning to speak.
“From the moment you disappeared, I have been searching for you… Crossing the spatial barrier is no easy feat… In this space, I don’t know how you are doing… I could only immediately activate my demonic energy to search for you, which exposed my identity… I was indeed weak at Seven Treasures Mountain, it wasn’t an act… Seeing you worry about me and work so hard for me… I am very… happy…”
He spoke the last two words very softly, yet they struck Sheng Zhiyi's heart like a heavy hammer.
Happy? He actually felt happy.
And what were those words he said before?!
What do you mean by only being able to use demonic energy to search? Was his identity exposed entirely because of her? He was disguised in the Heavenly Evolution Sect for so long before, where was his spiritual power then?
Just as Sheng Zhiyi was about to scoff and refute, a sudden change occurred!
The gray array pattern beneath their feet, which had been dull and blended into the dust, suddenly lit up with a faint light without warning!
The light was initially faint, like a spark, but in an instant it began to draw on some unknown power in the air, and one after another, complex and ancient runes lit up, emitting a pale golden glow.
The entire empty temple began to tremble slightly, and small pebbles and dust fell from the dome.
"What's going on?" Sheng Zhiyi instantly looked around warily, gripping the Jinghong Feather tightly in her hand.
She could sense a vast, pure, and majestic power awakening, instinctively repelling the dense demonic energy within the space.
The pale golden light rippled outwards like water, and wherever it passed, the demonic energy melted away as if encountering ice and snow under the blazing sun, making a soft "sizzling" sound.
Ji Fuguang groaned, his demonic energy surging violently as it clashed with the golden light, but his face paled noticeably. Even in its damaged state, the remaining formation of this divine realm still possessed immense suppressive power against demons.
Seeing his obvious discomfort, Sheng Zhiyi blurted out an idea: "Suppress the demonic energy with spiritual power! Just like you did at the Tianyan Sect!"
Ji Fuguang looked up at her, his eyes churning with complex and indescribable emotions. He shook his head, his voice sounding somewhat broken amidst the hum of the array: "...I can't do it."
"Why can't you do it?" Sheng Zhiyi asked, puzzled, with a hint of urgency she herself didn't realize. "Didn't you pretend so well before? Even the sect elders didn't notice!"
Ji Fuguang stared at her, a bitter smile curving his lips, a smile tinged with endless weariness and a kind of relieved pain, “…Junior Sister, that 'system' in your mind, after all, comes from the God Clan…it’s not so easily deceived…”
Sheng Zhiyi's pupils contracted sharply, and her heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand.
The final system mission... assassinate Demon Lord Ji Fuguang... penalty for failure... obliteration...
"What are you talking about?" She shook her head instinctively, looking over in disbelief. "Aren't you right here? It really was an assassination attempt..."
But his voice carried a weakness that he himself could sense.
The system clearly intended for Ji Fuguang to die. Could it really be that simply stabbing him once and drawing some blood would complete the mission?
Ji Fuguang raised his hand, his fingertips trembling slightly, as if he wanted to point to his dantian, but then he let his hand fall limply.
“What it wanted was the true aura of 'death,' the desperate situation of a damaged Dao foundation… So, I personally… destroyed the spiritual root within my dantian…”
Sheng Zhiyi shook her head subconsciously, but the scene from that time undeniably surfaced in her mind.
With a single thrust of his sword, demonic energy surged forth, and Ji Fuguang almost immediately carried her away from the Tianyan Sect and back to the Demon Palace.
All previous doubts were resolved.
No wonder Ji Fuguang was always indifferent to matters concerning the demon race, no wonder he didn't care about the outcome of the war between immortals and demons, no wonder he always deliberately concealed his identity when they were in Yingzhou City...
He returned to the Demon Realm not willingly, but out of necessity.
He destroyed his own spiritual root, meaning the cultivation world could no longer accept him, and he could only return to the demon realm...
He truly died for her once.
It wasn't to tease her, nor was it to scheme against her; rather, it was in an almost resolute way that she fulfilled the task she was forced to complete.
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