Chapter 335

Now that he had such a backer, even if he didn't stand up for him or speak on his behalf, it was enough for him to go much further in the official circles and on the path of the Dao.

But emotionally speaking… ignoring Aunt was one thing, but Xu Ruanyao could not let go of Xu Zhengfeng; after all, she was his own daughter.

Even though she was mostly raised by her Aunt, and he spent his days immersed in the Shenxing Division due to his busy schedule, it did not mean he didn't love her. It was precisely because of this deep paternal love that he chose to let go.

He could tell that his daughter was sincere, but as for whether the lord before him was sincere… he dared not speculate and could only hope so. He couldn't utter any threatening words either—like saying if his daughter suffered, he would risk his Life to make him pay the price.

Such things were useless against a powerhouse far beyond himself. Having struggled in the cultivation world and the Jiuzhou officialdom for so long, he knew best, and he had seen plenty of things hidden in the darkness.

To say nothing else, if the Xuanyuan Clan were to target him even slightly, he would have to carry his own head to beg for mercy, hoping not to threaten his Family.

For a Cultivator, death was considered a blessing. There were many techniques to torture the Soul. He had once dealt with some evil Cultivators for intelligence, and he did not want that kind of cruelty to befall his Family. Making someone's Soul shatter and unable to undergo Reincarnation was commonplace.

A great Cultivator at the Return to Void Realm could perhaps see what he was thinking at a glance. He could not harbor any malice and could only plead. Although he felt stifled and depressed, in a world where great power belonged to the individual, this was normal.

Lin Yi looked at the pained father before him and rubbed his temples. Was he some kind of villain? Why was he so afraid of him? The image he had presented yesterday should have been that of a good person, right?

He could feel the sincerity in the depths of Division Head Xu Zhengfeng's heart, and his tone was weak and humble.

Aunt and Xu Ruanyao were not here; after saying hello, they went back to rest. Only he and Division Head Xu Zhengfeng were sitting in the main hall, and the servants and maids had already been dismissed by Division Head Xu Zhengfeng.

He had thought Division Head Xu Zhengfeng wanted to say something else. He was even prepared to call him "Father-in-law," but he hadn't expected him to say these things…

"There is no need for this."

Lin Yi raised his hand, not allowing Division Head Xu Zhengfeng to kneel. He waved his hand, signaling him to sit back in his original seat.

"My Lord, I…"

Lin Yi saw that Division Head Xu Zhengfeng was panic-stricken. "Rest assured, I came here for Aunt and Xu Ruanyao. The things you are worried about will not happen. Do you understand?"

Division Head Xu Zhengfeng nodded. The man didn't ask why he came. If Lin Yi wanted to say it, he would naturally tell him. If he didn't want to say it, he didn't need to ask, as it would only cause displeasure.

He dared not presume to be a father-in-law or brother-in-law. He sat in the upper seat, while Lin Yi sat in the lower seat, yet it felt as if Lin Yi was the one sitting in the upper seat.

"Father-in-law—I shall address you as such, and you need not call me 'My Lord' anymore. Besides… I will instruct Xuanyuan Mingzhu to promote you a little and move you to the Imperial Capital, so that Aunt and Xu Ruanyao can be at ease."

"Yes… Young Master…"

Division Head Xu Zhengfeng hesitated for a moment, still not daring to use terms like "Virtuous Son-in-law." Lin Yi's casual mention of the new Empress, Xuanyuan Mingzhu, made him even more cautious.

Lin Yi didn't mind. "As for the rest, you need not worry. As for their safety and how things will be in the future, you can see for yourself."

"Yes, Young Master."

Division Head Xu Zhengfeng's address this time was slightly smoother, lacking the stiffness of the first time.

"And this."

Lin Yi flicked his finger, and a wisp of Sword Intent flashed by, appearing in front of Division Head Xu Zhengfeng. The slight aura that leaked out was enough to freeze Division Head Xu Zhengfeng in place.

With a thought from Lin Yi, this wisp of Sword Intent merged into Division Head Xu Zhengfeng's body, coiling within his Dantian. It had already restrained its might; without using Divine Sense to look, one could not perceive the existence of this wisp of Sword Intent at all.

"With this wisp of Sword Intent, you need not worry when encountering Life-or-death crises. I can also confirm your location through this."

Lin Yi explained.

If Division Head Xu Zhengfeng died or had his body possessed by the Blood God, it would surely make Aunt and Xu Ruanyao sad. Such things should be avoided if possible; it was merely a matter of a single thought.

Not to mention Xu Ruanyao; although Aunt seemed not to like her brother-in-law, after so many years, there was at least some familial affection. It was just that both of them had been trapped in the past, unable to resolve the hatred mixed into that familial affection.

As for the matter of the Blood God… there was no need for him to know, lest it spoil things. Knowing it wouldn't be of any use anyway.

…

After handling the matter of his father-in-law, Division Head Xu Zhengfeng, Lin Yi notified Xuanyuan Mingzhu in the Imperial Capital through the Creation Realm. Although he hadn't mentioned the matter of spiritual resources to Division Head Xu Zhengfeng, having received his greeting, Xuanyuan Mingzhu would certainly not neglect him.

The resources needed for the journey from Soul Transformation to the Half-step Return to Void Realm would certainly not be lacking. As for the Return to Void Realm, it would depend on his Comprehension Ability and luck. If he truly reached the Return to Void Realm, his resources for that Realm would not be lacking either. By that time, he could be considered a retainer of the Xuanyuan Clan.

Lin Yi suppressed these distracting thoughts and swept his gaze over the System panel in front of him.

Aunt and Xu Ruanyao each had a mission. Their tragic fates were both tied to the Blood God, so the mission objective, like that of Chu Qingyi and the others, was to slay the Blood God.

The mission rewards were merged together, resulting in an incomplete Dao position of the Formation Dao. It belonged to the second part of the Formation Dao and was missing about sixty percent, named "Qiankun Ding."

With the recovery of the world's power, the power it could bestow was becoming more and more abundant. In the past, saving two supporting Fairy characters would not have yielded such luxurious rewards.

Compared to the mission for the first heroine, Chu Qingyi, in the Immortal Xi walkthrough, which could reward a complete Dao position, the second heroine, Ji Xueqi, after merging with the missions of Yun Wanshang and Sect Leader Yun Yishuang, could also reward a Dao position.

As for the third heroine, who was actually the supporting character Xu Ruanyao, it hadn't reached the level of a full Dao position. After merging with Aunt's mission reward, it was only an incomplete Dao position.

However, Lin Yi was not greedy; it was already enough. Originally, he had thought there would only be some Essence of Reason.

Besides this, after Yue Xin was "eaten" before, some Immortal Dao Essence of Reason was rewarded. She also successfully escaped the Inner World, and her cultivation had reached the Half-step Dao Synthesis Realm.

These Immortal Dao Essence of Reason, combined with the "hard cultivation" of these past days—whenever Lin Yi had time, he would go to help Shao Shenyun, Xiao Xiyue, and Fairy Mingguang Cultivate.

The strength of the Creation Realm at this moment should be around 3,500 units of Essence of Reason. With so many people, every cultivation result would be copied once by Lin Yi using the Path of Taiyin and Taiyang, which meant that for every unit of Essence of Reason added, two more would be added.

Lin Yi helped them Cultivate, and he was also cultivating himself. One cultivation session was equivalent to the results of four!

Among them, there was the might of his special Physique, coupled with a great Cultivator like Immortal Emperor Qiming who was originally at the Half-step Dao Lord Realm—she could recover her cultivation very quickly!

The System was constantly rewarding new Essence of Reason from the outside. A single realization from the Fairies meant an increase in multiple units of Essence of Reason cultivation. And the characteristics of the Inner World—the Fairies were all beings with peerless Aptitude, after all, there had to be a sense of contrast in their fall—made their cultivation improve exceptionally fast.

Calculating it, their one day of cultivation results was far stronger than the effects of an ordinary Dao Harmonizer cultivating for hundreds or thousands of years!

Stepping on the left foot with the right, and the right foot with the left; this caused such a crazy speed of progress in the Creation Realm.

As the number of Fairies increased, the speed at which Lin Yi's cultivation improved would also become faster and faster. It was equivalent to having countless people helping him Cultivate, and all of them were people who had turned on cultivation cheats.

Hmm?

Lin Yi closed the System panel, his figure disappearing from the corridor, abruptly appearing in mid-air with thick snow clouds beneath his feet.

He looked towards the south. Under the shroud of his Divine Sense, through the jade pendant condensed from the Essence of Reason, his will descended upon the Southern Frontier, which was more than hundreds of millions of miles away from the Northern Territory.

Nv Ye and Jiang Xuanji were dressed in shamaness attire, holding strange jade artifacts in their hands. They were dancing barefoot on a huge plaza, and everyone watching this scene held their breath, their faces solemn.

Wasn't there normally only one Saintess for the God-worshiping ceremony in the Southern Frontier? Lin Yi was puzzled, but after thinking for a moment, he understood. This was the God-worshiping Dance, a special technique used by the Hundred Flowers Sect to mobilize the spiritual power within the mountains and rivers of heaven and earth.

And wanting to brand the Formation as he had laid out was somewhat difficult. Therefore, the dance of the two gods was a very good choice. Nv Ye and Jiang Xuanji happened to be the most outstanding existences of the younger generation, and they had had contact with him, so this was not surprising.

The Southern Frontier had many licentious sacrifices and many Gu techniques of witchcraft. The dance of a single god was similar to inviting a god to possess the body, but this "god" referred to the mountains and rivers of heaven and earth; what is natural is god, and it was not some real deity. It was not the kind of deity that people in the Shengan Domain thought of; that kind of deity was called "Immortal" here.

Inviting two gods, in addition to inviting the gods to possess the body, also required dancing against each other. The most common dual gods were gods of opposite sexes, that is, one male god and one female god. Lin Yi had similar ones in his previous Life, like Xiang Jun and Lady Xiang.

Of course, the male and female here were not really male and female, but similar to Yin and Yang; for example, mountains were Yang, water was Yin, the sun was Yang, and the moon was Yin.

But the gods that Nv Ye and Jiang Xuanji were worshipping were not these interrelated gods of opposite sexes, but… Immortal Emperor Qiming!

One person represented "Qi," and one person represented "Ming." They were twins and companions. They appeared to be two people, but were actually one; they appeared to be two gods, but were actually one god!

Back then, Immortal Emperor Qiming scattered all of her cultivation into heaven and earth to repair the flaws of heaven and earth. In this Human Realm, there was no place without the residual traces of Immortal Emperor Qiming. Worshipping Immortal Emperor Qiming was worshipping the entire Human Realm!

And separating one god into two was for the sake of safety and success rate; if it failed, they could quickly separate.

This was the wisdom of the sages. After discovering the might of the title of Immortal Emperor Qiming, they had tried countless times before finally determining this dance.

Lin Yi watched quietly. The Hundred Flowers Sect could be considered to have done their best to bring out such a trump card.

However, in the original work, the Hundred Flowers Sect was destroyed by the Blood God. Under the entanglement of Karma, it was normal for them to spare no effort.

Nv Ye's footsteps spun, the jade artifacts in her hands chimed, and her skirt fluttered, intricate and resplendent, her figure light and agile.

Jiang Xuanji stepped lightly on the ground, producing a crisp echo. As her arms traced patterns, the spiritual energy between heaven and earth began to converge upon them.

Chapter 447: Spiritual Energy Essence, A Bit Scorching.

The War Dance of a great Dance Dao Cultivator is not merely for providing buffs to one's own side. There are dancers at the Dao Harmonizer level who, upon starting a dance, can cause the entire world to be trampled by their dance steps. As they move, the world collapses with them—that is a true dance of world destruction.

Nv Ye and Jiang Xuanji before him naturally could not reach that level, yet they possessed a hint of that demeanor. Spiritual energy fluctuated with their rhythm, harmonizing with their footsteps and clashing with the jade artifacts they brandished, creating a ringing sound.

They resembled goddesses in the forest, appearing as if they were frolicking, yet also as if they were praying. Afterwards, their figures gradually became more substantial, and their footsteps were restricted within a small area.

A jade pendant rose perfectly between the two, and then, accompanied by layers of Formation patterns, it merged into heaven and earth. This jade pendant, crafted using Lin Yi's Essence of Reason as a material, naturally integrated into the world.

Lin Yi was somewhat surprised. This ceremony of the Hundred Flowers Sect made the setup of the Formation unexpectedly simple. It was not as difficult as what he had seen in other Sects, where he had to intervene slightly. It didn't even require any Void Return Cultivators to set up the Formation; two small Cultivators who hadn't even reached the Soul Transformation Realm could complete this task.

Lin Yi seemed to understand something. This area of heaven and earth already bore the traces of Immortal Emperor Qiming, and his power undoubtedly contained the power of Immortal Emperor Qiming. This made it very easy for his power to integrate into the world; he only needed to awaken this portion of Immortal Emperor Qiming's [traces].

This process was clearly also surprising to the Cultivators of the Hundred Flowers Sect. After whispering to each other for a while, fearing they would disturb Nv Ye and Jiang Xuanji, they all fell silent. The Hundred Flowers Sect Sect Master and the various Elders, who had originally prepared to step in and help, all lowered their hands.

This Dance of Qiming was meant to stir up spiritual energy to facilitate later actions, but unexpectedly, it succeeded just like that.

Although they felt it was a bit strange, after discussing it among themselves and failing to understand why, everyone had to let the matter rest. There were too many things in the world that were not understood, so one more didn't matter.

Regarding this dance, they were simply replicating it one by one according to the Legacy; they were unclear about its deeper meaning. That it had such profound mysteries was normal, after all, it was the wisdom of their predecessors.

Lin Yi withdrew his gaze, no longer paying attention to this side, and returned to the small city in the Northern Border.

His figure disappeared into the clouds and landed within the Xu Mansion below. He continued along the corridor, heading toward Aunt and Xu Ruanyao.

The Hundred Flowers Sect side was also finished; all that remained were a few smaller locations and the Xuanji Pavilion.

A few days ago, before coming to find Aunt and Xu Ruanyao, he had first sent Sect Leader Yun Yishuang, Yun Wanshang, and Ji Xueqi back to the Xuanji Pavilion. This had been agreed upon beforehand, and the timing was about right; they had also been mobilizing their forces and setting up Formations over these past few days.

The Hundred Flowers Sect was similar to a democratic System, where numerous mountain peaks and shamanic villages jointly constructed a massive clan. Among them, the one with the greatest influence and strength was the Sect Leader, while the others were Elders.

The Piaomiao Mountain where Jiang Xuanji resided was one of them. As the Mountain Master, she was also one of the Elders. Of course, in the eyes of those who knew, her grandfather, who hid in the background, was the truly powerful Elder, and this position was merely something he used to coax his granddaughter into being happy.

The downside of this System was that its operational speed was not as fast as those "one-man rule" factions, where the entire force would act according to the Sect Master's will with a single word, as was the case with the Xuanji Pavilion.

Sect Leader Yun Yishuang was the founder of the Xuanji Pavilion; the entire Xuanji Pavilion was something she had fought to establish. No one could defy her ideas, not even Yun Wanshang and Ji Xueqi, though she generally listened to the suggestions of these Elder Disciples.

As for the Hundred Flowers Sect, it required the numerous Mountain Masters and Village Chiefs to discuss things together. Without the restriction of Lin Yi's power and the threat of his Sword Intent, Nv Ye and the others dared not directly expose the matter of the Blood God. What if there was a Blood God Child among the Mountain Masters or Village Chiefs?

Therefore, they had squabbled for so long before finally getting these Elders to agree to set up the Formation. Compared to the "democratic" Wan Yao Mountain, it was even worse. After all, over at Wan Yao Mountain, Gu Dianxue and Dugu Xiwu were both Void Return great Cultivators.

Their opinions carried significant weight within Wan Yao Mountain. The Yao Beasts had long been suppressed by the Xuanyuan Clan for a long time and had lost their temper; they had also been intimidated by the recent slaughter of the barbarians.

These Yao Kings and Yao Sovereigns thought to themselves: If they wanted to fight or kill, they could do it openly; there was no need for this. Plus, they had even lowered our spiritual taxes. Anyway, if there was danger, I would be the first to run… so they agreed directly.

The Hundred Flowers Sect side consisted entirely of the Human Race, which was different from the Yao Race; there were more stubborn people, and as such, they had only now finally set up the Formation.

Lin Yi glanced toward the Xuanji Pavilion; everything was in full swing. At this rate, it would be completed in about tomorrow or the day after. After all, it was a major Sect that dominated the Northern Border, and now it had the support of the Jiuzhou Imperial Family—after all, they were sisters, so helping each other out was no harm.

If even those small Sects could grit their teeth and establish the Formation, only needing a lot of time to prepare, then it went without saying for them.

Lin Yi withdrew his gaze once more. He felt a vague sense of strangeness in his heart; everything seemed a bit too smooth. However, being smooth wasn't necessarily bad. He did a quick mental calculation and found nothing abnormal.

News came from General Xianhe and Qin Honglian that there were no unusual movements in the Immortal Realm and the Netherworld. The Immortal Realm remained orderly, while the Netherworld remained chaotic. The Immortal Kings and Demon Sovereigns on both sides remained within their own spheres of influence without taking any action.

Many of the former subordinates of Immortal Emperor Qiming were spineless opportunists; when these Immortal Kings and Demon Sovereigns returned, they chose to surrender. However, there were also many who were loyal to Immortal Emperor Qiming but were forced to surrender due to various reasons, such as their relatives being held hostage or their families being unable to relocate…

Under these circumstances, General Xianhe and his group would certainly receive their help. They were able to maintain their Mingguang Army without being wiped out, and even survive themselves without any threat to their lives, only needing to "hide and conceal" themselves. There was surely some credit to be attributed to those people.

They couldn't take action, but passing on intelligence was still possible.

Then, the only variable was the Time Holy Court, or perhaps one could count the Life who had awakened in the Shengan Domain? If Life had awakened, she might really cause Lin Yi some headaches, and as for the Time Holy Court…

If it really was the Time Holy Court playing tricks, and they had learned of his affairs, they should have jumped out directly, right? After all, the Yueming Domain was their own territory; they couldn't just watch him snatch away this domain.

And on Immortal Emperor Qiming's side, she also had sufficient means to avoid being discovered by the Time Holy Court. Ten thousand years ago, she had already become a senior member of the Time Holy Court, knowing the internal structure and many secrets of this force. It should be relatively simple for her to avoid being discovered by those guys.

Judging from the intelligence returned by the informants he sent to the other Dao Lord factions, it was indeed the case; the Time Holy Court had taken no action.

As a former Half-step Dao Lord, Immortal Emperor Qiming still had connections with those who possessed Dao Lord Holy Lands, and the Mingguang Army also shared a friendship with these factions—when Immortal Emperor Qiming decided to send hope to the future, she had already considered this matter.

This friendship was between Dao Lords—although she was only a Half-step Dao Lord—but it was enough to last for ten thousand, or even a hundred thousand or a million years. For a Dao Lord, this amount of time might just be a fleeting moment.

Every one of them had walked through countless years; this experience might span the true primordial eras, and even the birth and demise of some domains were not as long as their lives.

Furthermore, for Dao Lords, perhaps only Dao Lords were their own kind. They came from the living beings of various races, yet they transcended this Bloodline connection, and throughout countless years, only among Dao Lords could they live long and exist eternally without change.

They were all favored by the Dao, and were brothers and sisters to each other; this had already transcended the shackles of time and fate.

Lin Yi pondered these things. Was he feeling uneasy because it was too smooth? He shook his head.

"Is it you? Are you watching me?" Lin Yi recalled Her, the one whom Sword referred to as his "true mother." If Pei Yuhan found out, there was no telling what she might do out of jealousy.

After all, she prided herself on being Lin Yi's only Master, his only "mother"; after all, a teacher is like a mother.

With such leeway, she could calmly watch Lin Yi go and wreak havoc on other Fairies, but if that were gone… Lin Yi felt that he might be pinned down and crushed by his beautiful Master until he cried out just like Junior Brother Wa…

Lin Yi shook his head again, casting the strange scene in his mind to the back of his head. As for whether or not to acknowledge Her as his "true mother"… he would talk about that later.

Suddenly, after making this decision, he seemed to hear a sigh sound beside him, but when he listened carefully, he felt it was just his own hallucination.

Lin Yi twitched the corner of his mouth. "No way, right? You haven't been watching me through the Sword all this time, have you?! And eavesdropping on my inner thoughts?! As a Dao Harmonizer, how could my senses be wrong? You're not even pretending anymore, are you?! You're not even hiding from me, are you?"

"What a stalker… Having such a stalker mom is really pathetic!!"

This time, Lin Yi felt a wave of pleasant emotion transmitted to him, making his mood seem much better, with none of the previous worries.

Lin Yi pushed open the door in front of him and saw Aunt sitting on a chair, holding her stomach, laughing foolishly. Upon seeing his figure, she wiped the smile off her face, tensed up, and pouted.

"What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"