After Faking Her Death and Escaping, the Junior Sister Fell to the Demonic Path - Chapter 135

Qin Qingyi was naturally unaware of what had happened after she left. Her mind was currently consumed with the urgency of finding the so-called residual body of the Demon God, and she truly had no time for anything else.

Along the way to Moon Lake, she continuously received greetings from the other spirit beasts. To the surrounding disciples, these sounded like intimidating roars, but when they reached Qin Qingyi’s ears, they became excited, cautious, and stammering messages:

Greetings, Master.

Is this the benefit of owning the entire secret realm’s authority?

Qin Qingyi murmured with emotion.

The surrounding scenery rapidly sped past as she moved at high speed, and it wasn’t long before she reached the vicinity of the Moon Lake that the flood dragon had mentioned.

Desolation.

Only desolation.

Before even approaching the Moon Lake, the surrounding scenery was distinctly different from what she had seen before.

It was too barren here.

From under her feet, there was a clear dividing line on both sides.

Behind her was the lush, spiritually abundant secret realm.

In front of her, however, was an area shrouded in demonic energy, with all plant life withered.

Qin Qingyi slowed her pace, and only when she arrived did she realize there was an invisible, intangible barrier before her.

Gazing at the overwhelming demonic energy behind the barrier, she focused her mind, not daring to relax her vigilance in the slightest.

This must be the sealed location of the Demon God’s residual body.

No wonder she hadn’t felt any demonic energy outside; it turned out this barrier was blocking it.

And her martial sisters—they probably hadn’t delved this far in their previous exploration, or they would have surely discovered this place of overwhelming demonic energy.

Qin Qingyi cautiously took a step inside. The barrier offered no obstruction to her, and she easily slipped through the boundary.

Upon entering the barrier, Qin Qingyi was nearly choked and suffocated by the dense demonic energy of the place. As soon as she entered, she immediately sensed a powerful pressure spreading throughout the entire enclosed area, making it difficult to move an inch.

But before Qin Qingyi could make any move, she suddenly felt her entire body go rigid with fear.

She suddenly had the feeling of being watched.

This gaze, coming from an unknown source, conveyed a chilling sensation, like a maggot adhering to her bone, tightly clinging to her back.

He was observing, but it was the scrutiny one gives to food.

As if assessing whether she was worthy of His table.

A bead of cold sweat suddenly dripped from Qin Qingyi’s forehead.

Her heart pounded deafeningly, its rhythm accelerating, the sound growing louder, seemingly vibrating directly inside her brain, causing her entire body to freeze in place.

It was that feeling again.

It was the exact same feeling as when she was pulled into the blood pool by the tentacles at Black Water Cliff and faced that thing.

The Demon God’s residual body was indeed here.

Yet, at this moment, Qin Qingyi could not move. She could only allow the gaze to lick her from head to toe, leaving her entire body stained with potent demonic energy.

Meanwhile, her innate demonic power was whimpering, shrinking back into her Dantian, not daring to show the slightest presence.

Even though she was a powerhouse at the half-step Ascension stage.

Facing this gaze—merely a gaze—she was utterly helpless, unable to even flee.

Qin Qingyi remained stiffly in place for an unknown amount of time, until the gaze finally moved away from her with apparent satisfaction, seeming to go elsewhere.

Whoosh. Qin Qingyi instantly collapsed. She knelt on the ground, her face deathly pale, drenched in sweat, trembling uncontrollably.

Even her teeth were chattering non-stop.

Qin Qingyi stared blankly at the ground beneath her.

She wanted to call out to Immortal Venerable Wu Wang, but her violently pounding heart and tightly strung nerves prevented her from speaking even a single word.

This fear, born from the depths of her soul, left her mind blank, rendering her incapable of even generating the slightest thought of resistance.

Like a water snake seeing its natural enemy, the snake eagle, or a mouse seeing a cat—forget fleeing, she couldn’t even twitch a muscle.

So terrifying.

Immortal Venerable Wu Wang was right; coming here was just seeking death.

Cold sweat streamed down, soaking a patch of the ground beneath her feet.

After a long while, she finally regained some strength. With trembling hands, she struggled to brace herself on her knees and stood up.

“Senior, are you still there?”

Qin Qingyi’s voice was shaking. She hadn’t yet recovered from the fear she had just experienced. She recalled what Immortal Venerable Wu Wang had previously told her:

If there is danger, wake her first.

But there was no response from her Dantian.

Her call sank like a stone into the sea.

The panic in Qin Qingyi’s heart spread again. Immortal Venerable Wu Wang… wasn’t she just here?

Why couldn’t she find her now?

Her face turned ashen. Immortal Venerable Wu Wang was not responding.

“Senior?”

“Senior? Are you still there?”

Qin Qingyi called out several more times, each one more frantic than the last.

After about three breaths, a voice finally came from her Dantian:

“I am here.”

The voice was slow, weak.

But she had answered.

Qin Qingyi was so relieved she nearly cried tears of joy.

“That’s wonderful, you’re still here.”

At least she wasn’t alone.

She had never been this afraid, never faced such a formidable enemy.

The Demon God, the Demon God…

Now, every time Qin Qingyi thought back, she was seized by uncontrollable fear. It was the terror caused by the scrutiny she had just endured, a fear brand left deep within her soul.

From now on, every time she recalled it, she would be enveloped once again by the terror of that moment.

Noticing Qin Qingyi’s trembling, which she was barely suppressing, Immortal Venerable Wu Wang sighed.

She had said long ago that this place was extremely dangerous and not somewhere a child should be, but this little fox didn’t believe her and insisted on intruding.

Now look; before even truly facing the threat, she was already scared out of her wits.

But now that the child was forced into this situation, having reached this point, if she didn’t step in, who else could help her?

None of the children chosen by fate could live a life of smooth sailing.

Immortal Venerable Wu Wang reformed her physical body. Looking at the child who couldn’t control her fear, she extended her index finger and tapped Qin Qingyi’s glabella. A drop of pure, Innate Sword Intent instantly merged into Qin Qingyi’s body.

“Don’t be afraid. With this Venerable here, nothing will happen to you.”

This drop of the purest Innate Sword Intent permeated Qin Qingyi’s limbs and bones, completely washing away the fear she had just experienced.

Clarity returned to Qin Qingyi’s eyes, and her breathing gradually stabilized.

A moment later, Qin Qingyi fully recovered. She stared blankly at Immortal Venerable Wu Wang, not speaking, but the helplessness in her eyes spilled forth.

She wanted to say she was afraid, but remembering the grand words she had spoken earlier, she felt a little embarrassed.

Hence, she just stood there, helpless and pitiful.

“There, with that drop of Innate Sword Qi, He won’t be able to see you anymore.”

Immortal Venerable Wu Wang comforted her.

It was her fault, too, for not considering the child’s tolerance level.

If she had placed a protective spell on the little fox before entering, the little fox wouldn’t have had to go through this ordeal.

When that gaze came earlier, she chose not to intervene.

If she had intervened, she would inevitably have exposed herself, and if she were exposed, the little fox would have lost any last resort to deal with the entity here.

So, she had endured it.

She only showed herself after His scrutiny had completely disappeared.

Qin Qingyi sniffed and nodded, responding in a low voice.

Immortal Venerable Wu Wang thought that this immediate encounter upon entry would completely scare the little fox out of her wits, but to her surprise, Qin Qingyi immediately clenched her fists:

“Such a powerful demon—He absolutely must not be allowed to leave this secret realm, and He absolutely must not be allowed to return to the Demon Race!”

This made Immortal Venerable Wu Wang look at her with some admiration.

“Not scared anymore?” she asked with a chuckle.

Qin Qingyi was somewhat shy, fiddling with her fingers as she defended herself: “Scared, of course, I’m scared.”

“But if such a powerful demon, one that even a cultivator at the half-step Ascension stage is powerless against, were to escape, I’m afraid the entire Xuan Tian Realm would be plunged into misery… I don’t want the tragedy of a thousand years ago to repeat itself. My master and martial uncles are all striving to prevent such a tragedy. They have placed their great hope in me, and I am the last person who should give up here just because of fear.”

Qin Qingyi mumbled a long string of words, growing more resolute as she spoke, as if she were successfully consoling herself.

Although she still shivered at the thought of the fear that had rendered her immobile merely by being watched, her eyes grew increasingly determined, and the youthful, unrestrained fervor returned.

“Well said. With such a mindset, you are indeed the promising talent I favored.”

Immortal Venerable Wu Wang looked at Qin Qingyi with appreciation, knowing she had overcome her fear of the Demon God.

“Since that is the case, let’s go further inside. What you are looking for is not on this edge.”

“Furthermore…”

Immortal Venerable Wu Wang frowned. With just a moment’s sensing, she told Qin Qingyi:

“The Demon Race has already entered. If you delay any longer, you might not be able to stop them from taking this half-body of the Demon God away.”

Qin Qingyi’s eyes widened upon hearing this: “They’ve already come in?!”

Hadn’t the Immortal Sects and hundreds of families deployed many people to guard the secret realm entrance?

How did the Demon Race suddenly get in?!

Immortal Venerable Wu Wang chuckled, amused by her naivety.

“Do you think the entrance to this secret realm is fixed?”

Qin Qingyi asked eagerly, “It’s not?”

Immortal Venerable Wu Wang gently tapped her head, explaining kindly, “What are you thinking?”

“This secret realm was once ownerless. Later, I just happened to become its owner, and now you have become its new owner. But it is fundamentally a land without a fixed master, so the entrance to the secret realm can appear anywhere.”

“The reason you were able to enter this time must be because your master and martial uncles saw this Venerable’s true form in the Upper Realm, and then this Venerable’s true form in the Upper Realm opened the entrance for you to come in.”

Qin Qingyi frowned, “But what does this have to do with the Demon Race being able to enter?”

Immortal Venerable Wu Wang tapped her head again: “Silly fox, how have you still not understood?”

“Don’t forget, the demon hidden in this secret realm has already destroyed most of the seal. He is not much weaker than this Venerable’s true form. Since this Venerable can open it, He can naturally open the secret realm entrance in the Demon Race’s territory. Even if the Demon God only has a head remaining in the Demon Race, tearing open a spatial rift is not difficult for Him.”

Immortal Venerable Wu Wang smiled meaningfully. She looked up at the surging demonic energy within this barrier and lamented, “Truly tenacious and unyielding. To persist for a thousand years simply through sheer will.”

At this point, Qin Qingyi understood everything.

It seemed those people guarding the secret realm entrance had guarded for nothing.

She muttered her complaints softly.

“It wasn’t entirely in vain,” Immortal Venerable Wu Wang chuckled again. “The Demon God is not the same Demon God as He was a thousand years ago at the peak of His strength. Although this Venerable has never personally fought the Demon God, in the three years you were in the killing array, this Venerable was able to piece things together and know roughly how strong He is. The current Demon God only has a head clinging to life, with less than one percent of His strength remaining. He cannot be compared to the Demon God of a thousand years ago.”

“Therefore, even though He can tear open a spatial rift, maintaining its stability is not easy. It’s likely that not many of the Demon Race will be able to come in.”

Qin Qingyi nodded vaguely, having grasped the general idea.

“Senior means that the current Demon God is not unconquerable, right?”

Qin Qingyi felt increasingly confident the more she thought about it.

Immortal Venerable Wu Wang couldn’t help but laugh: “You are quite the summarizer.”

“Alright, hurry up and move forward. Although the Demon God is very weak now, if you fail to stop His head from merging with His body, even this Venerable won’t be able to help you then.”

Qin Qingyi nodded, indicating she understood. She looked ahead, took a deep breath, and stepped forward.

The demonic energy here was profound and heavy. Every step she took was more difficult than outside the barrier, but she said nothing, holding onto her last breath, just pushing forward with her head down.

She walked for a long time, until the surrounding demonic energy grew denser and the pressure became heavier.

The path ahead was pitch black, a solid darkness formed by the concentrated demonic energy, obscuring her vision and forcing her to rely on instinct to move forward.

The closer she got to the center of the demonic energy, the louder the surrounding whispers became. They escalated from initial fragmented murmurs to near-ear whispers, tempting her, telling her to look back, begging her not to go any further.

Qin Qingyi constantly remembered Immortal Venerable Wu Wang’s instructions. Protected by that drop of Innate Sword Qi from being tempted, the Demon God’s whispers grew increasingly angry when they failed to lure her, eventually transforming into various forms to intimidate Qin Qingyi.

But Qin Qingyi simply closed her eyes, silently recited the Mind Calming Incantation, and moved forward, one step at a time.

Her fragile knees gave way under the strain, and with a thud, Qin Qingyi dropped to one knee.

She struggled to stand up, trembling on her legs as she tried to take a step forward, but after one step, her other leg also buckled.

So difficult.

So difficult…

Qin Qingyi stared at the blood pool, which was now almost within reach, hating herself for being so weak for the first time.

Only a few steps left.

Only a few steps left!

Qin Qingyi closed her eyes in frustration, tears welling up at the corners.

But the vulnerability was momentary. The next instant, she opened her eyes again, which were now burning with a bright light.

She would absolutely not allow the tragedy of a thousand years ago to repeat itself.

All of them deserved a better life.

Qin Qingyi took out her Retained-Blankness Sword and used it as a crutch, forcing herself to stand up again.

One step, then another. The blood pool drew closer and closer.