After My Death, the Female Lead Breaks the Heartless Path - Chapter 41

Peace didn’t last long before the demons began to stir again, though this was well within the trio’s expectations.

“This time, it’s not because of [Mad Calamity],” Xu Jingqiu closed the book and tossed it aside, unable to stomach the fabricated “celestial realm news” inside stories about conflicts between mortal sects being perfectly resolved under Penglai’s mediation. “[Mad Calamity] is still dormant. This unrest was incited by someone.”

Yin Ruolan nodded, already aware of this. “Yes, likely someone trying to make a point after your warning. They’re practically handing us evidence. What made you think of reading this?”

She was referring to the celestial realm news, which constantly glorified Penglai, painting it in a favorable light. It had fooled many sects in the past, though few believed it now, especially since it required Dan Jade to purchase. Why would Xiao Qiu suddenly read this?

Xu Jingqiu picked it up again, flipping through it casually. “Oh, this? Ye Shuran gave it to me. Penglai’s distributing it for free even stray dogs get a copy. They’re probably getting desperate, trying to lure in sects with outdated information. As you know, the mortal sects aren’t united. Larger sects oppressing smaller ones is all too common.”

Yin Ruolan nodded in agreement. This was precisely why she had chosen to develop her influence in the demon realm. Unifying the demon realm was far simpler than the mortal world.

“But we need to hurry with the sealing. Since they’re already making moves, it’s time for me to set out,” Xu Jingqiu stood up, pressing Yin Ruolan back down as she tried to rise. “This time, I’ll go with Ye Shuran. You stay here and use this unrest to thoroughly cleanse the demon realm. We won’t have time later.”

Yin Ruolan obediently nodded. “Alright, I’ll take care of myself. When you return, you’ll see a ‘new’ demon realm.”

Xu Jingqiu paused, then smiled. “Good, I look forward to it.”

Ye Shuran suddenly understood. “No wonder that person who’s always clinging to you isn’t here this time. And this trip will take a while, right?”

Xu Jingqiu sat in the passenger seat, adjusting some equipment. “Mm, if we’re lucky, just a day. If not, who knows how far we’ll have to travel just to get there and back. There, done.”

Ye Shuran glanced over eagerly, but her heart sank the moment she saw the coordinates. Great, just getting there would probably take two days.

Thinking about all those days without being able to pet a cat, Ye Shuran made a pained face. “Are you sure it’s just the two of us?”

“Xiao Bai and Bai Yi need to guard the rear while Yin Ruolan leads the troops. It’s not suitable for them to come with us. Besides, this journey will be rough more people mean more resources. We’re aiming for speed, not a vacation,” Xu Jingqiu explained, uploading the location data to the vehicle’s GPS. “Let’s go, full speed ahead.”

Ye Shuran rubbed her hands together, eager to show off. “Alright, let me show you my driving skills!” With that, she slammed on the accelerator, sending the vehicle lurching forward and making Xu Jingqiu instantly regret her decision especially since the road was particularly bumpy.

Fortunately, they soon reached the human realm’s desert, where the roads were much smoother.

“Is this the place? We’re not going to have to dig through here, are we? There’s nothing here at all!” Ye Shuran peeked outside, but there were no buildings in sight. Where could they possibly find the Primordial Crystal?

“Let’s keep going,” Xu Jingqiu said, feeling a sense of familiarity with the place. She was more certain than ever that they would find something here, though whether it was above or below ground remained unclear.

The vehicle continued on its way, with Xu Jingqiu even stopping midway to refuel. The temperature felt unusually scorching, almost as if someone had added a furnace to the already sweltering underground.

They hadn’t gone much farther when the vehicle’s tire blew out.

Ye Shuran watched with a headache as Xu Jingqiu changed the tire. Checking the location again, she saw they still had some distance to cover and began to wonder if driving was the best option. “This road is way too prone to tire blowouts. How about we fly over instead? Hey, why did we even have to drive? Wouldn’t a plane be faster?”

Xu Jingqiu, who was in the middle of changing the tire, paused and looked at Ye Shuran. She had simply taken the vehicle from the team without considering the possibility of flying.

A short while later, Ye Shuran sat happily in the passenger seat, enjoying the air conditioning while constantly updating Xu Jingqiu on their location. The distance was visibly shrinking.

“Ah! I see it! Is that, a tower? Is the Primordial Crystal inside the tower?” Ye Shuran spotted a sharp, black structure in the distance, roughly matching their target location.

Xu Jingqiu raised an eyebrow and flew straight toward it. As they approached, they realized it was a metal tower with an eerily low temperature on its surface.

Ye Shuran rested her chin on her hand, deep in thought. “Hmm, clearly modern technology. I didn’t realize you had so many backup plans.”

“Let’s go in and take a look. We still need to figure out exactly where it is,” Xu Jingqiu said, touching the outer wall of the black tower and trying to analyze what was inside. But she found nothing, as if something had been deliberately placed to block her perception.

The outside of the black tower was made of metal, but the inside was constructed of the most ordinary bricks, as if the metal shell had been forcibly added later.

Though spacious, the interior was largely empty. The two decided to split up and search. Due to the passage of time, layers of dust had accumulated, making the task more difficult.

The first floor was littered with trash and simple research equipment, some of which even emitted sparks. The second floor, however, was filled with books and documents.

Xu Jingqiu picked up a few books and skimmed through them, quickly grasping their contents. “These are about the history of this world, written in our language.”

“It says that the world was originally one landmass, with humans, demons, and beastkin each occupying a region. Though there were frequent conflicts, a fragile balance was generally maintained. Then, the [Mad Calamity] appeared in the demon realm, affecting both the demons and nearby humans. War broke out, and the land was split, forming the demon realm. During the fight against the [Mad Calamity], an external force assisted them and ultimately defeated it. That force was the ‘Otherworldly Institute,’ the predecessor of Penglai. After the [Mad Calamity] was sealed away, the Otherworldly Institute left, and Penglai was gradually established, erasing all traces of the institute.”

“The second dispersal occurred due to the arrival of the [Heavenly Dao], when Penglai rose to dominance. Humanity launched an assault on the demon realm, reigniting the war between humans and demons. Subsequently, the demon realm withdrew into seclusion, and the demon race faced widespread persecution for their inaction and lack of support during the conflict. The demon realm fractured, and after encountering me, they went into hiding.”

After closing the book, Xu Jingqiu gently placed it back in its original position. “This place is likely an archive, but it doesn’t have what we’re looking for. Let’s head further up.”

Ye Shuran thought about the tower’s height and asked sincerely, “Is there no elevator?”

Xu Jingqiu glanced at her, shaking her head with a smile. “No, there isn’t.”

The two continued upward, stopping to rest in a bedroom on the fifth floor. To her surprise, Ye Shuran discovered there was hot water available, allowing her to wash away the exhaustion of the journey with a comfortable bath.

Xu Jingqiu, meanwhile, was studying the tower’s records. The tower hadn’t been built by her originally; she had only made some improvements to it. Now, she had mostly forgotten how those improvements were made. Fortunately, records were preserved on the fifth floor, almost as if it had been intentionally designed that way.

She suspected this was the work of Ling and Ye.

“Tomorrow, we’ll head straight to the top floor. The remaining levels are filled with archives and weapons. Of course, if you want to take some with you, feel free, but we don’t have the kind of storage space our predecessors did. Carrying things while climbing would be quite tiring,” Xu Jingqiu remarked.

Ye Shuran immediately dismissed the idea. “Then let’s go to the top floor first and check the other levels on our way down.”

Xu Jingqiu chuckled. “Alright, let’s rest for now.”

“By the way, have you been in touch with Yin Ruolan? Isn’t today the third day?” Ye Shuran asked curiously.

Xu Jingqiu waved her phone. “We already had a video call while you were bathing. Bai Yi and Xiao Bai also dropped by. Too bad someone was too busy soaking in the bath to join.”

Ye Shuran: “Let’s sleep!”

The next day, the two climbed directly to the top of the tower. By the time Ye Shuran stepped onto the final stair, she was completely exhausted. Xu Jingqiu shook her head, clicking her tongue as she searched for the containment device. “You’re not cut out for this—your stamina is too poor. I was hoping to find a successor.”

Ye Shuran looked up in disbelief. “You’re not expecting me, are you?”

“You’re on the candidate list, so it’s not impossible. But who knows how it’ll turn out in the end. Found it.”

Ye Shuran looked over. “Did you find the Primordial Crystal?”

“I found the containment device, but it’s empty. Someone took it out,” Xu Jingqiu said, letting out a calm sigh. “Well, it seems we came all this way for nothing?”

Ye Shuran was too tired to speak, fixing Xu Jingqiu with a resentful glare. However, the person in question showed no sign of remorse, simply placing the device in her bag before turning to Ye Shuran with renewed energy. “Let’s go~”

Ye Shuran resignedly lowered her head, not daring to imagine what lay ahead. The coordinates pointed to this location, but if it wasn’t inside the tower, they’d have to dig downward.

As they passed the floor housing weapons, Ye Shuran made sure to grab a digging tool. To her surprise, Xu Jingqiu showed no intention of digging downward. Instead, she circled the tower before finally focusing her attention on a stone tablet at the main entrance.

Ye Shuran also looked over and saw a sentence written in a script she had never seen before. She turned her gaze toward Xu Jingqiu, who was clearly in the process of translating.

Meeting her gaze, Xu Jingqiu translated word by word: “With blood, open the door to truth. This is an ancient script, the language used in the era of our predecessors. Only the Seven Kings can still recognize it.” After saying this, Xu Jingqiu drew a dagger and swiftly made a cut on her hand, then smeared the blood onto the stone tablet.

“Wait, isn’t that a bit too rash. Huh?” Ye Shuran winced at the sight of the deep gash, initially thinking it was an overreaction until she saw the stone tablet slowly absorbing the blood. An ancient totem gradually appeared on its surface, becoming more and more complete.

Then, a white light emitted from the stone tablet enveloped both of them.

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