The Demon Lord Relied on His Imagination to Get Together with the Protagonist. - Chapter 48

Chapter 48

The water was already warm.

Fu Luan walked barefoot to the edge of the pool and began to undress.

Her fingers had not yet recovered. Ordinarily, after being injured, she wouldn’t need to use her cultivation; large and small wounds would inexplicably repair themselves.

She once thought it was because she was a mortal who had ascended, making her different from others.

But today… she personally saw Wei Luan’s fingertips bleed, and her own hand immediately followed, shedding drops of blood.

When sealing the other party, she also felt very, very intense pain.

The pain was so great she could barely open her eyes.

It was only then that she realized she was not special in physique at all, but that someone had been transferring the pain.

With her clothes half-removed, Fu Luan lowered her head to look.

This body was covered in scars. Even though they had been forcibly repaired, some critical wounds were still visible.

There was an injury right in the center of her heart.

Not just above the heart.

Fu Luan finally sorted out the reason—no wonder when she suffered a fatal blow to her heart, the wound healed quickly, and it was strange, not like a piercing wound, but rather like being accidentally scratched by something shattered.

With this thought, the shattered object… was the mirror.

Fu Luan closed her eyes, running her hand over the scars inch by inch.

Three inches above her ankle was the wound from a Tengshe (winged snake) bite. The area around her collarbone was injured by a demon during an exorcism. The upper part of her left arm had been struck by a falling, burned roof beam…

The wounds had mostly healed, but traces remained.

She recalled and located the corresponding injuries, finally placing her hand on her heart.

The wound was healed, but why did she still feel intense pain?

After bathing, she picked up a brush and wrote another letter to Celestial Venerable Saint-Scribe.

This time, she wanted to ask the Celestial Venerable to intervene and save one person.

After finishing the letter, Fu Luan suddenly remembered something—she had told the Celestial Venerable about Immortal Saint Siqing and the Demon Lord last time. Why hadn’t the Celestial Venerable expressed any stance?

Celestial Venerable Saint-Scribe had always doted on his daughter. Logically, this shouldn’t be the case…

Unbeknownst to Fu Luan, the official documents and letters in the Father Cloud Palace had piled up into a small mountain.

The disciples on duty at the Father Cloud Palace had no idea where their Celestial Venerable had gone. Not only had he disappeared, but there was no news of his return for a long time.

Seeing that the letters would soon overflow the space, the disciples on duty decided to clear out some unimportant ones.

Letters exchanged within the Xianning Sect had customary ways and markings for transmission. Before a letter was opened, one could first see the mark and judge the urgency of the matter by the color of the mark.

Generally, white was for mourning, gold for celebrations, yellow represented daily official duties, green was for casual chat between friends or fellow disciples, bright red was for urgent, hair-on-fire emergencies, and gray was for greetings to a Venerable.

Of course, these were the rules, but the execution was another matter.

For example, close friends who were on good terms would use the urgent bright red color to curse each other, just to ensure the other person received their anger immediately.

Another example: some outer disciples, even when informing a Venerable about something, wouldn’t dare to use the official yellow or red marks. They would mostly use the understated gray.

Over time, gray had become the most common and polite color for letter markings.

Unfortunately, the letter Fu Luan wrote to the Celestial Venerable a few days ago had a gray mark, and the one her disciple Cen Letian wrote to the Celestial Venerable was also gray.

Two gray letters with signatures from the same faction were silently piled up in the Father Cloud Palace, unattended for a long time.

It wasn’t until the Father Cloud Palace disciples started clearing out some unimportant letters that they found both of them.

“They are both gray. One is from Immortal Master Fu Luan, and one is from her disciple Cen Letian,” the disciple on duty said to his companion. “You said, since Immortal Master Fu Luan is present, why would Cen Letian bypass her to send a letter to the Celestial Venerable?”

The companion replied: “I don’t know. Disciples of the Heartless Path rarely write to the Celestial Venerable. I don’t know what happened.”

The disciples on duty discussed it. Someone suggested that Senior Sister Bai Xian, who was under Immortal Master Fu Luan, was still in the Xianning Sect. They should hand the letters to her for safekeeping, let her decide how to handle them, and if all else failed, wait for the Celestial Venerable to return.

So, on that day, Bai Xian received the letters from Cen Letian and Immortal Master Fu Luan, looking utterly bewildered.

“Where has the Celestial Venerable gone?” Bai Xian said helplessly. “These letters are of no use to me.”

The disciples on duty were only trying to clear the pile of letters so that the Celestial Venerable wouldn’t be annoyed when he returned. They naturally kept some familiar letters or ones from high-ranking Elders, and sent back letters that weren’t urgent or were from people with whom the Celestial Venerable had a less close relationship.

The disciple offered a polite, professional smile: “We don’t know either. So, we’ll trouble you, Senior Sister Bai Xian, to handle these letters.”

Bai Xian was somewhat speechless. How could she not know what these disciples were thinking?

“Can’t they just stay in the Father Cloud Palace for a few more days, and be handled when the Celestial Venerable returns?” Bai Xian asked. “You are rushing to clear all the letters. What if something urgent comes up and it causes a delay? What then?”

The disciple shook his head: “How could that happen? If the matter was urgent, they would mark it red.”

Bai Xian: “…”

Don’t you know the customary rules for sending letters?

Forget it. Bai Xian didn’t want to waste more words with them. She took the letters and sent them away with a cold expression.

Bai Xian was quite senior in Xianning. Because she had entered the Immortal Gate relatively early, everyone called her Senior Sister. Had she not been trapped in the Demon Realm for many years, she would have long been promoted to the position of Immortal Master.

Unfortunately, time had been wasted, and she could only remain a disciple.

Bai Xian looked at the two letters on the table with a sense of desolation and deep self-reproach.

If she were more capable, she wouldn’t let those people in the Father Cloud Palace look down upon her sect.

Most who cultivated the Heartless Path were reticent and cold, disliking complicated interpersonal interactions. Coupled with the fact that her Master was often traveling all year round, those who cultivated the Heartless Path were often bullied and looked down upon by the people in the Father Cloud Palace.

Bai Xian also recalled the day she had to wait for most of the day just to see the Celestial Venerable, only to run into Su Rong the moment she left. Su Rong was able to enter the Father Cloud Palace directly, almost without needing to announce herself.

Bai Xian: “…”

The disciples of the Father Cloud Palace are truly too much of a bully.

Bai Xian couldn’t bear this feeling of injustice. She stared at the two letters on the table, sighing deeply.

What to do? What if Master and Junior Brother are actually talking about something important?

Others might not know, but Bai Xian understood her Master. For matters that ordinary people considered urgent, her Master would treat them as ordinary affairs. For matters that others deemed worthy of mention, her Master would simply resolve them herself without bothering anyone else.

Therefore, either she didn’t send a letter at all, or if she did, it meant something serious had happened!

Bai Xian was both angry and anxious.

She felt that these letters shouldn’t be left here untouched. She had to find the Celestial Venerable herself and personally deliver the letters to him.

But the problem was…

Where had the Celestial Venerable gone?

Bai Xian desperately tried to think. No matter how she thought, it seemed impossible. So, she performed a divination. The hexagram gave her a location.

Coincidentally, it was the place where she had been imprisoned for many years—the Indulgent Palace.

Bai Xian: ???

This is too ridiculous. The Celestial Venerable is at the Indulgent Palace?

Who are you trying to fool?

Although Bai Xian wasn’t entirely convinced, she was confident in her divination. Since she couldn’t find the Celestial Venerable anywhere else, she might as well go to the Indulgent Palace first and take a look.

To save time, she used a teleportation array she had been reluctant to use, heading straight to the Indulgent Palace.

Outside the Indulgent Palace, everything was silent.

The moment Bai Xian found her footing, she heard a deafening boom.

A massive cloud of dust dispersed, and the Celestial Venerable, dressed in silver robes, walked out with his hands clasped behind his back.

Bai Xian: “…”

The Celestial Venerable really was at the Indulgent Palace.

Did he… come to bomb the Indulgent Palace?

Following behind the Celestial Venerable was another person, Immortal Saint Qi Magu.

Qi Magu caught up, panting: “Congratulations, Celestial Venerable, for breaking the array. We are finally out.”

Of course, congratulations were in order. The Celestial Venerable of the mighty Xianning, along with an Immortal Saint specializing in arrays, together couldn’t break the array left behind by the Demon Lord. They had to rely on sheer cultivation to blast it away.

This congratulation was an utter flattery failure.

It immediately earned Celestial Venerable Saint-Scribe a grim look.

Saint-Scribe spoke: “Go back and thoroughly study your array techniques. If you encounter an array like this again, do not be so helpless.”

Qi Magu: “The Celestial Venerable is correct.”

The very next second, the two saw the white-robed disciple in front of them.

Bai Xian quickly bowed to greet them and swiftly took out the two letters.

Saint-Scribe looked at the gray-marked letters: “These letters are not urgent, yet you specifically came to find this Venerable.”

Bai Xian explained with a slight grimace: “Celestial Venerable, you may not know, but my Master has a cold and indifferent nature and is non-confrontational. She generally doesn’t send letters for minor matters. If she does, it’s highly likely a major issue.”

Hearing this, Saint-Scribe understood and opened the first letter.

After reading the first sentence, his expression grew much colder. It was so cold that the two people around him felt something was amiss.

Celestial Venerable Saint-Scribe rarely showed emotion, usually concealing all feelings deeply. Everyone seldom saw the Celestial Venerable’s mood change so rapidly.

What exactly did the letter say?

The first letter Saint-Scribe opened was from Immortal Master Fu Luan. In a few sentences, Fu Luan clearly stated what she had witnessed—the Demon Lord forcing Immortal Saint Siqing that day.

No father who deeply loved his daughter could tolerate such a thing, let alone the even more fastidious Celestial Venerable Saint-Scribe.

Coupled with the recent accusation from the Spirit Herb against Shi Zhihua, Saint-Scribe was so furious that he immediately burned the letter.

Not a single speck of ash remained.

Demon Lord… Shi Zhihua…

He was extremely angry, wanting to take Tong Siqing away from this demon right there and then.

He was foolish. How could he have entrusted his daughter to the Demon Lord? He thought the Demon Lord was trustworthy, but who knew that not only did she not treat Tong Siqing well, but she tormented and humiliated her, causing her immense suffering.

He, as her father, couldn’t bear to hurt a single strand of her hair. Every conversation was carefully considered before she was summoned.

How dare Shi Zhihua!

Saint-Scribe suppressed his voice, every word spitting fire: “Where is the Demon Lord—”

Qi Magu was bewildered: “I don’t know.”

Bai Xian was even more confused: “What did my Master say about the Demon Lord? Is the Demon Lord not at the Indulgent Palace?”

Saint-Scribe: “…”

Only then did he realize that he had been too angry when reading and forgot to pay attention to the location mentioned in the letter.

Bai Xian felt a moment of awkwardness with the Celestial Venerable. A moment later, she asked weakly: “Why don’t you look at the second letter, Celestial Venerable? I remember my Master seemed to be looking for my Junior Brother. They should be in the same place.”

In truth, if not for his anxiety to find his daughter and to save time, Saint-Scribe could have directly used his connection with Tong Siqing to search for her.

However, that would only lead to a general location, not an accurate one.

Saint-Scribe thought for a moment and opened the second letter.

The second letter was from Fu Luan’s disciple. It stated—there were two Immortal Masters Fu Luan, identical in appearance, but one of them was the Immortal artifact Phantom Mirror transformed. The Phantom Mirror was vicious, not only insulting their Immortal Master but also doing many wicked things. He wanted to ask how to distinguish the true Immortal Master from the fake one.

After reading this letter, Saint-Scribe felt neither anger nor anxiety, but a deep sense of worry.

The Phantom Mirror…

Half of it was displayed in the Father Cloud Palace, and the other half was rumored to have been destroyed.

So, where did this “Phantom Mirror” come from? Was the other party lying, or did the other half of the mirror still exist in the world?

Saint-Scribe’s heart grew cold.

If the Phantom Mirror still existed, the situation would be difficult. He absolutely couldn’t allow Tong Siqing to meet that mirror, otherwise, his years of painstaking effort would be ruined.

When he combined the spiritual qi of heaven and earth to give birth to Tong Siqing, he sealed her malicious side within the Phantom Mirror. To eternally safeguard her goodness, he deliberately transferred the evil side to the world within the mirror through half of it, and then personally cut off communication between the two halves of the mirror.

With the dissipation of the other half of the mirror, he thought Tong Siqing would never again perceive malice…

Impossible.

Not just for this reason.

Saint-Scribe closed his eyes, feeling a helplessness toward fate.

He was destined to be solitary. Because he longed for a daughter too much, he collected spiritual clusters from all spiritually rich places in the world for decades. This allowed him to piece together a daughter. Combined with his cultivation as a Celestial Venerable, he managed to give birth to Tong Siqing.

But it was on that very day that he glimpsed a celestial secret.

—His daughter, Tong Siqing, would control the fate of the world in the future, so she must be utterly pure and good. If she failed to achieve this, she would hand over all the world’s fate to another, becoming a sinner who would destroy the world.

Even Sages dared not defy celestial secrets.

Saint-Scribe was the same. After accidentally seeing this result, he immediately became vigilant, finding ways to maintain Tong Siqing’s pure heart, allowing her to grow up carefree under his tutelage, becoming the true master of fate.

Thus, upon learning that the Phantom Mirror could seal a person’s good and evil, he decisively found a way to acquire half a mirror, sealed Tong Siqing’s malice, and then, using a bit of trickery, had the Phantom Mirror burned by someone else.

Just in case, he deliberately visited the location after the great fire, ensuring he could no longer feel the aura of the Phantom Mirror. Only after that half of the Phantom Mirror no longer existed in the world did he turn and leave.

He thought he could rest easy, but who knew…

Sigh.

He also blamed himself as a father. On one hand, he worried that Tong Siqing would lose her utmost purity and goodness. On the other hand, he selfishly wanted her to be happy like a normal person. When she wanted to cultivate the Heartless Path, he personally refused it. When she said she wanted to marry the Demon Lord, he held a glimmer of hope and encouraged her to boldly pursue love.

At that time, he also knew her malicious thoughts were sealed, which was why he lowered his guard and let her live a normal life.

If he had known this would happen, he shouldn’t have let her go to the Demon Realm.

Could it be that fate truly cannot be defied, that there is no way around it?

Saint-Scribe was filled with regret.

No. He must quickly go and destroy that half of the mirror and then bring Tong Siqing back.

Saint-Scribe exerted force with his fingertips. While contemplating, he burned the unread half of the letter to ashes.

The ashes drifted from his distinctively-knuckled fingers, turning into nothingness with the breeze.

At this moment, Saint-Scribe heard Bai Xian quietly ask: “So, Celestial Venerable, where should we go to find the Demon Lord and my Master?”

Saint-Scribe: “…”

Right. He hadn’t finished reading the remaining half of the letter.

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