Cang Hai felt a pang of shame upon hearing Su Su's words.
That day when Tantai Jin and Gongye Jiewu fought, he had been present too. Regardless of everything, his junior brother not only hadn't harmed them but had even saved them. He couldn't just believe outsiders' words and suspect his junior brother.
Their master doted on this junior brother the most. If he learned that his junior brother now couldn't return to his own sect, he would surely blame Cang Hai.
Cang Hai said, "Thank you, Fairy Li. Once we find my junior brother and clarify the truth, we will definitely give all the Immortal Sects a proper explanation."
After a pause, he requested, "If you see my master, Venerable Zhaoyou, or my junior brother, please inform them about the Carefree Sect."
Su Su agreed.
After parting with Tantai Jin, she had no idea where he was either.
Cang Hai said, "It's rather embarrassing to say this, but the Carefree Sect hasn't achieved much in recent years. The only thing worth mentioning is our sect's Carefree Pills. We saw in the Demon Realm that the demon Xie Ying can transform Cultivators into Demonic Cultivators. Please take these Carefree Pills, Fairy Li. If you encounter any disciples who have fallen to demonic cultivation, you can give them one pill. It can stabilize their golden core, and then you can send them back to their Immortal Sect. Perhaps they can be saved by removing their Demon Core."
His words brought joy to everyone. Recently, many from the Immortal Sects had been captured and taken to the Demon Realm, becoming Demonic Cultivators. By the time Su Su and the others found them and sent them back to their sects, it was already too late.
With the Carefree Pills, it provided a safeguard for the disciples of the Immortal Sects.
Su Su took the bottle and said sincerely, "Thank you, Cang Hai."
After Cang Hai left, Yaoguang asked, "Where should we go now?"
"Wherever Hanba passes, drought follows everywhere. The speed at which we kill demons can't keep up with how fast they rescue people." Fuya frowned and said, "Haven't you noticed that the Spiritual Energy is becoming increasingly sparse?"
At his words, Su Su's expression changed.
If Spiritual Energy continued to diminish, would it eventually become like five hundred years ago, where the six realms were shrouded in Demonic Energy, leaving no living space for mortals and Cultivators?
"Why is Spiritual Energy decreasing?" Yaoguang said. "This phenomenon didn't occur even ten thousand years ago."
"Yaoguang, do you remember the Marrow Cleansing Seal and the Nine Revolutions Profound Return Array in the Demon Realm?" Su Su suddenly thought of a possibility. "If it can turn Cultivators into Demonic Cultivators, could it also be converting Spiritual Energy into Demonic Energy?"
Something left behind by the Demon God ten thousand years ago was actually slowly growing!
Yaoguang's face turned pale, and she quickly said, "We must inform the sect about this immediately. If that array continues to exist, the world will soon belong to the Demonic Beasts."
The more Su Su thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. She decisively said, "Xie Ying released the Demonic Beasts to wreak havoc in the mortal realm to buy time, keeping the Immortal Sects too busy saving mortals to focus on anything else. She's waiting for the Nine Revolutions Profound Return Array to convert enough Demonic Energy and become powerful and terrifying. But we can't wait any longer. We must attack the Demon Realm and destroy that array. Fuya, return to the sect and inform the sect leader and the elders. Yaoguang and I will go to Ninghe Town to retrieve the token to open the Demon Realm."
The only one who could allow the Immortal Sects to approach that array now was Young Master Zhang, who had swallowed the Illusion Face Pearl.
Whether they could win or not, they had to try!
Fuya also knew the matter was urgent and said, "Alright, Senior Sister, Senior Sister Yaoguang, take care of yourselves."
When Su Su and Yaoguang used Sword Control to arrive at Ninghe Town, they found the entire town desolate.
"Steward Zhang's residence is heavily saturated with Demonic Energy."
The two pushed open the door. The young doorman from a few months ago was gone, and Zhang Yuanbai had also disappeared.
Yaoguang said, "Damn it, the Demonic Beasts must have gotten here first. They're afraid we'll find Zhang Yuanbai!"Su Su placed a finger to her lips and whispered, "Shh, listen. It sounds like there's a noise."
Following the sound, the two of them found a filthy woman hiding in the woodshed.
"Don't kill me, please don't kill me!" The woman was terrified, her face sallow and thin as if she hadn't eaten for days.
"Don't be afraid, we're not bad people," Yaoguang reassured her. "Can you tell us what happened at the Zhang residence?"
Su Su handed her some food, and as the woman wolfed it down, she recounted what she had witnessed.
"I'm the cook at the Zhang residence. A few days ago, a horde of Demonic Beasts arrived and started killing everyone. They took Young Master Zhang away. I hid and wasn't discovered by them."
Su Su thought to herself: The Demonic Beasts wanting Young Master Zhang could only mean two things—either to prevent them from obtaining the token to the Demon Realm, or to exploit Zhang Yuanbai's transformative abilities.
Those transformed by Zhang Yuanbai using the Illusion Face Pearl were convincing enough to pass as real.
Su Su herself had been deceived by Demonic Beasts disguised through the Illusion Face Pearl. Some claimed to have seen Tantai Jin killing people in the mortal realm—could it be that it wasn't actually him?
Night fell, yet the scorching heat continued to bake the earth relentlessly.
Hanba's emergence had made the winter temperatures unnaturally high.
A young man in white carried a little girl to the edge of the town, tucked a Talisman Paper into her collar, and said, "Go back, find your parents."
The little girl, tears welling in her eyes, whimpered, "Scared."
He paused, then picked her up and walked further into the town. "Do you remember where your home is?"
She was too young, only about three or four years old. When Tantai Jin had snatched her from the clutches of several Demonic Beasts, she had been crying and trembling with fear.
He sneered inwardly. Barely able to protect himself, why was he bothering with these trivial mortal affairs?
Yet Tantai Jin didn't know either—in this vast world, where could he call home? Apart from wandering the mortal realm, where else could he find a place to belong?
The God Slaying Crossbow resided within him, and any Cultivator who drew near could sense the overwhelming Demonic Energy radiating from him.
After parting from Su Su, he had encountered Xie Ying.
Hanba, leading a host of Demonic Beasts, knelt before him, welcoming him back to the Demon Realm.
If Tantai Jin were still the person from five hundred years ago, devoid of a love thread, he might have been very interested. What did righteousness or evil matter? Only supreme power could command submission.
But now that he possessed a love thread, he understood the difference.
Walking the demonic path would ultimately lead to eternal solitude, just like the immortal Flood Dragon Ming Ye, who slumbered eternally in the Mohe River. He would betray his sect, become her enemy, be rejected by the gods and immortals, and even the Heavenly Dao would not tolerate him.
Xie Ying wasn't angered and said softly, "One day, Demon Lord, you will understand. Those of the Righteous Path are hypocrites, spouting the most righteous yet ridiculous words while committing the cruelest acts. You are not one of them. Even if you cultivate the divine path, how could they ever accept you? Only we are your most loyal followers."
Tantai Jin glanced at Gongye Jiewu, who stood beside Xie Ying like a puppet on strings, and let out a mocking laugh. Ignoring them, he turned and left.
Before Tantai Jin could find the girl's home, countless torches suddenly lit up the street.
"That demon is back! Nannan is in his hands!"
No sooner had the words been spoken than black dog's blood was hurled at Tantai Jin. People brandished weapons, screaming as they charged at him.
Tantai Jin was no pushover. He kicked away the attackers and seized the neck of the one who had shouted. "You're asking for death!"
He erected a Barrier around himself, and as he summoned his Spiritual Power, his black pupils turned into icy, blood-red orbs.His crimson pupils terrified everyone. The mortals scrambled backward, a little girl beside him wailing as if her heart were being torn out.
A family burst from the crowd, brandishing hoes as they desperately struck his barrier.
"Demon, release my child!"
Tantai Jin turned to see faces contorted with hatred and fear, the street illuminated by torchlight. Their gazes were unmistakable—just like the palace maids and eunuchs in Zhou Kingdom who used to avoid him, calling him a little monster behind his back.
Only back then, without a love thread, his heart remained frozen and unfeeling.
"Fight him to the death! He's killed so many of our kin—even if we die, we'll drag him to hell!"
Someone shouted first, and soon the mortals raised their plows and hoes, frenzied in their determination to kill him.
The winter night reflected in Tantai Jin's crimson eyes was bleak and desolate.
Again. Always like this. He had passed through numerous villages and bustling streets—Taoist priests and Monster Exterminators sought to kill him, Cultivators had warrants for his capture, and now mortals wanted him dead too.
What had he done wrong?
Tantai Jin released his grip and suddenly fell silent.
"He ran! The demon fled from our attacks!" The crowd cheered, the girl's family rushing to embrace her.
Perched on a rooftop, he watched the torches gradually disperse. Beneath the vast sky, the mortal world returned to silence.
The youth hugged himself tightly, his crimson eyes simmering with faint hatred.
He gnawed fiercely at the knuckle of his index finger until blood welled forth.
"I want to kill them all," he whispered. "Just a bunch of lowly ants. It'd be better if they were all dead."
The God Slaying Crossbow clamored for him to act. The misshapen tiger demon hastily retrieved a piece of jade from the Universe Bag and placed it in his palm.
Once, someone had promised to protect you properly when they grew up.
"At least trust her. Wait for her to come," the tiger demon said. "Little Xiwu is formidable. Five hundred years ago when she was mortal, even I couldn't defeat her. Let her teach these people a lesson—she won't think you're a demon. Maybe once her anger fades, she'll even help you find a way to dispel the Demonic Energy and free yourself from the God Slaying Crossbow."
As the warm jade touched his palm, for a moment he felt as if it had scorched him.
"She won't come." Tantai Jin's blood dripped steadily onto the roof tiles, sizzling through them. He gazed down coldly and numbly at the mortal world below. "She's just like them—they all wish I were dead."
The tiger demon shook its head. You say that, but you still refuse to go to the Demon Realm. Who are you waiting for, then?
Deep down, you still hope she'll be kind to you, that she'll come to save you.
"Su Su, what are you thinking about?" Yaoguang asked.
Ever since their narrow escape from the Demon Realm, the junior sister would occasionally space out. With the War of Immortals and Demons approaching, Yue Fuyai had sent word that their sect was gathering disciples, determined to eliminate the demon Xie Ying and destroy the Marrow Cleansing Seal and Nine Revolutions Profound Return Array.
"I was thinking... perhaps I shouldn't have left that day," Su Su murmured softly.
Others might not know, but Su Su understood clearly—the greatest threat to the Six Realms was never Hanba Xie Ying, but the original Demon God, Tantai Jin.
Even with the Evil Bone destroyed, if Tantai Jin were to embrace demonhood, he would remain a far more terrifying existence than Xie Ying.
When he still possessed an immortal body, he could wield the God Slaying Crossbow. Should he fall to demonhood, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Yaoguang knew she was referring to Tantai Jin.
"Sometimes, the line between God and Demon lies in a single thought," Yaoguang said. "The elder masters all claim that once he used the God Slaying Crossbow, he would slaughter endlessly, but I don't believe that."
"Why?" Su Su asked.Yaoguang looked at her: "Because he has something he cannot bear to part with, just like if one day I were implanted with a Demon Core and fell into demonhood. I also... would not raise a hand against Senior Brother Gongye."
Some things are instinctive. In the Demon Realm, hadn't Gongye Jiewu refrained from killing them? If Gongye Jiewu hadn't become a demon, Yaoguang felt she would surely be like Uncle Qingwu, wishing to slaughter all the Demonic Beasts in this world.
But those who hold love in their hearts are willing to think from his perspective.
No one wants to take that step. When Senior Brother Gongye falls into demonhood, every time he loses control and kills, he must suffer more than anyone else.
"Something he cannot bear to part with." Su Su softly repeated the words.
Tantai Jin's words echoed in her ears once more.
Back then, the young man's eyes glistened with tears: "I remember your words from five hundred years ago, that I would not fall into demonhood. If you dislike the God Slaying Crossbow, I'll seal it away forever, just seal it away forever. Didn't you say that after I return, you would treat me well from now on?"
Su Su suddenly said: "Senior Sister Yaoguang, I want to go find him."
Yaoguang exclaimed in surprise: "Aren't we going to look for Zhang Yuanbai anymore?"
The Cinnabar between Su Su's brows burned brightly as Chongyu transformed into a sword in her hand: "If we can't find Zhang Yuanbai, Father will surely have other ways to reach the Demon Realm. But some matters... we cannot afford to gain another powerful enemy. I must either kill him or bring him back, and not allow certain things to repeat themselves."
Nowadays, everyone in this world is waiting for Tantai Jin to fall into demonhood.
Su Su had thought the same before.
Her prejudice against him destined her to believe that a naturally wicked seed would eventually fall into the demon path.
But along this journey, seeing everyone curse him, calling him a demon creature who slaughters all living beings.
Su Su knew there was a hand behind the scenes, pushing him toward demonhood.
She knew it wasn't like this. How could she have forgotten that within Tantai Jin's body, it was no longer the Evil Bone that dominated killing and bloodshed, but the Divine Marrow she had personally exchanged at the cost of nirvana.
If others don't understand, she should understand.
He was originally a God, not a Fiend.
Demons hate the world, while Gods love all living beings.
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