Chapter 442
Yōumíng Xiān's gaze turned even colder as he looked at Shí Línglóng, narrowing his eyes and saying, "Shí Línglóng? More like Shī Línglóng!"
"With a body of the Nine Yin Path, a corpse transformed into a Dao, and a Yuanying cultivation level, you’re quite the character."
Shí Línglóng's expression remained unchanged, seemingly unfazed by the revelation of her true identity. She simply smiled and said, "You have a keen eye, esteemed one."
"You’re secretly aiding the Immortal Sect? Killing my Holy Sect’s transformation gods?"
Qín Mù appeared impatient, frowning as he asked, clearly troubled by the fate of the four transformation gods from the demon clan.
Shí Línglóng let out a bitter laugh and replied, "With our level of power, how could we dare to meddle in the affairs of transformation gods?"
Qín Mù nodded, neither affirming nor denying his belief, and continued, "Then why did you two block my return to the Blood Sea?"
Shí Línglóng smiled and asked, "Esteemed one, do you wish to live or die?"
Qín Mù's expression turned icy as he regarded Shí Línglóng, sensing a hidden danger. She lowered her head and said, "I was rude. Do you recognize this Jiǔyōu talisman? It can allow you to return to life without going back to the Blood Sea."
"You want me to pledge allegiance to the Jiǔyōu Demon Ancestor?"
"Do you truly wish to die here?"
"I will return to the Blood Sea; I have my own resurrection day!"
"…Please don’t deceive me. Does the Great Freedom Demon Sect even have a single transformation god left? The Great Freedom Demon Ancestor is struggling to descend himself; how could he have the strength to resurrect you?"
"…"
"Moreover, even if the Demon Ancestor could resurrect you, as an outsider and a junior of the Demon Sect, how long would you have to wait? Even if you were resurrected, wouldn’t that waste precious time and opportunities for enlightenment?"
"Now that the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor has no one under him, you are constantly hindered in the Great Freedom Demon Sect. Why not join my Jiǔyōu Sect?"
Qín Mù's soul trembled slightly, as if deep in thought. After a long pause, he coldly laughed, "The Great Freedom Demon Sect is bad; how much better is your Jiǔyōu Sect?"
At that moment, Chén Tíng spoke up, "Esteemed one, do you know where I come from?"
"Where do you come from?"
"Jiǔshān Sect."
Qín Mù's face immediately darkened.
"Later, like you, I betrayed the Jiǔshān Sect and joined the Great Freedom Demon Sect, and now I’ve entered the Jiǔyōu Holy Sect." Chén Tíng quickly began to explain, "I dare say, the Jiǔyōu Holy Ancestor has no bias; he values merit and is clear about rewards and punishments."
"And… the Holy Sect does not hold bloodlines in such high regard as the Great Freedom Demon Sect."
As soon as Chén Tíng said this, Qín Mù's expression shifted.
He was not trusted by others in the Great Freedom Demon Sect, constantly sidelined, largely due to his background. Even after mastering the Demon Sect's techniques and possessing the bloodline of the Demon Ancestor, he was often treated as an outsider.
"How can I trust you?"
"This Jiǔyōu talisman is a treasure within our sect. If it weren’t for the Holy Ancestor valuing you, we wouldn’t even be able to use it," Shí Línglóng explained. "You are a wise person; our sect has paid such a high price…"
"Forgive my rudeness, but if you wanted to harm me, using this talisman wouldn’t be worth it."
Upon hearing this, Qín Mù not only didn’t get angry but seemed to have anticipated it, nodding and saying, "The Jiǔyōu Demon Ancestor wants to take action against the Holy Ancestor?"
"…"
Shí Línglóng smiled slightly but remained silent, and Qín Mù understood the answer.
"So… you want me to betray the Holy Ancestor again?"
Chén Tíng laughed again, "Esteemed one, you misunderstand. The Holy Ancestor instructed us that after we resurrect you, we should together welcome the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor!"
At this, even Qín Mù, who had been calm, couldn’t help but widen his eyes.
"Us two?"
"Yes, under the Great Freedom Sect, who else can welcome the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor but you and me?" Chén Tíng said. "The Great Freedom Demon Ancestor has always wanted to descend into Xuánwēi, and we, being in the Jiǔyōu Sect, have not forgotten to work for the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor!"
"How can this be called betrayal? Is there anyone more loyal than us?"
Qín Mù was left speechless.
"Esteemed one, think about it. At this point, the only ones the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor can rely on are us!"
Chén Tíng's words made Qín Mù's soul tremble again.
He, born of the Taishang Dao, had entered the Great Freedom Demon Sect, and now he was considering pledging allegiance to the Jiǔyōu Demon Ancestor.
This Golden Elixir, born of the Jiǔshān Sect, had also entered the Great Freedom Demon Sect and had already pledged allegiance to the Jiǔyōu Demon Ancestor.
Now, the Holy Ancestor could only rely on these two three-surname servants; it was truly…
A great fortune!
…
Yān Wúshuāng was also torn about whether to become a traitor!
In the laboratory, he stared wide-eyed at Zhèng Fǎ and the others, trembling as he said, "Tiān… Tiānhé Sword Dao?"
"A sword gives birth to myriad laws?"
"Sword energy like thunder, sword energy transforming into rainbows, refining swords into threads?"
He looked at Zhèng Fǎ with eager anticipation, as if he couldn’t believe his ears or wanted to confirm he hadn’t misheard.
But Zhèng Fǎ nodded.
Seeing him silent, Zhèng Fǎ explained, "I got the inspiration from your coded manuscript. Actually, I’m more interested in studying the Nine Turns of the Golden Elixir."
"…How could I not know what my manuscript contains?" Yān Wúshuāng grimaced, muttering, "Could it possibly have the Tiānhé Sword Dao?"
"How could I not know?"
Zhèng Fǎ shook his head gently and said, "It’s indeed very difficult, which is why we need your assistance."
"Assistance?"
Yān Wúshuāng felt he couldn’t listen any longer, but he couldn’t help but ask, "Assistance with what?"
Since Zhèng Fǎ had brought this up with Yān Wúshuāng, he naturally didn’t hide anything further. He beckoned Yān Wúshuāng to come closer and pointed at the Míngléi Stone in front of him, saying, "Do you see this?"
Yān Wúshuāng looked at the Míngléi Stone, which appeared ordinary, yet it emitted a series of muffled sounds, as if there were the sounds of heavenly thunder within, shaking the soul and warding off all evil.
"What’s wrong with it?"
Yān Wúshuāng was puzzled; he had seen Míngléi Stones before.
"We’ve observed that the principle behind this Míngléi Stone is the rapid movement of the spiritual material particles within it, colliding and generating a large amount of heat, vibrating the air, and producing thunderous sounds."
Yān Wúshuāng listened in confusion; after all, he had studied in the Jiǔshān realm, but concepts like particles and heat were somewhat beyond his grasp.
What he didn’t understand even more was how Zhèng Fǎ connected this to the Tiānhé Sword Dao.
"What I want to say is, is the sword energy like thunder related to this?"
"…"
Yān Wúshuāng stared blankly, glancing at the broad sword in his hand and then at the Míngléi Stone.
Could these two things be the same?
Zhèng Fǎ looked at him, feeling uncertain himself. Their research on the Tiānhé Sword Dao, or the Nine Turns of the Golden Elixir, had not gone smoothly.
For instance, regarding the Míngléi Stone, after scanning it with the Five-Color Divine Light, Zhèng Fǎ could almost confirm that it contained both the Golden Fire Twin Symbol and a situation of atomic bonding.
These two types of sub-symbols caused the spiritual material particles within the Míngléi Stone to combine and separate, moving rapidly and colliding violently, creating the sound of thunder.
But the problem was… thunder was inherently an acoustic phenomenon, and there could be many possible causes.
If we only consider the sword energy like thunder, it might be due to some kind of thunder technique, or perhaps the sword techniques of the Tiānhé Sect were simply too powerful, and the flying swords were too fast, producing a sword whistle.
Thus, the question arose:
How to determine that this phenomenon aligns with the principles of the Tiānhé Sword Dao?
Another prominent issue was that even if they didn’t consider the principles, assuming their guesses were correct.
Zhèng Fǎ also didn’t know how to combine multiple sub-symbols with an atom.
In simple terms, in this field, they were lacking far too much, almost like blind men trying to grasp an elephant.
They still needed to find someone from the Tiānhé Sect to ask.
The best candidate, of course, was Yān Wúshuāng!
"You want me to help you research the Tiānhé Sword Dao?"
Yān Wúshuāng took a deep breath, speaking slowly and deliberately.
His expression seemed somewhat resistant, and Zhèng Fǎ explained, "I can promise that you won’t need to reveal any secret techniques of your sect."
This thought wasn’t just to comfort Yān Wúshuāng; Zhèng Fǎ had already considered it.
Due to the message from the Tiānhé Venerable, he was somewhat hesitant to research the authentic Tiānhé Sword Dao, so he didn’t really want to reference the Tiānhé Sect’s techniques either.
The most optimistic scenario would be to develop a Jiǔshān version of the Tiānhé Sword Dao.
In fact, Zhèng Fǎ wasn’t particularly coveting this; he was much more concerned about the Nine Turns of the Golden Elixir.
"What do you want me to do?"
Yān Wúshuāng was puzzled.
Previously, he had somewhat suspected that Zhèng Fǎ wanted to steal the Tiānhé techniques. This group was talking about researching the Tiānhé Sword Dao in front of the son of the Tiānhé Sect’s leader…
It was hard to gain trust, wasn’t it?
No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like they were trying to seize the Tiānhé inheritance.
But Zhèng Fǎ’s expression seemed to show some disdain for the Tiānhé techniques…
"There are two areas where you might be able to help, Yān brother."
Zhèng Fǎ said directly, "First, have you ever learned about sword energy like thunder or sword energy transforming into rainbows?"
"Sword energy transforming into rainbows…" Yān Wúshuāng thought for a moment and replied, "This is a technique that every disciple of the Tiānhé true transmission learns after reaching the Golden Elixir stage."
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