Under the unremitting efforts and persuasive guidance of the Abyssal King, Yan Lin finally agreed to make a trip to the Abyss. It could not be denied that he was indeed very tempted; it was as attractive as having an escape route.
Furthermore, it wasn’t as if he would never return.
However, it wasn’t to be now, but rather when a suitable opportunity arose.
To this, the Abyssal King, having achieved his goal, curved his eyes and said with great understanding:
“Naturally, everything is up to Lin’er’s decision.”
Yan Lin nodded, then turned his gaze slightly toward the direction where the protagonist and that Monarch-level Monster had departed. He saw only a lush, green forest; the man and the monster had disappeared to who-knows-where, and no sounds of battle erupted.
Still, his goal had been reached. It didn’t matter if he didn’t witness the scene of the protagonist being victimized.
At this moment, Yan Lin felt a rare sense of relaxation. Truly, ever since the plot collapsed, nothing had gone according to his wishes, leaving him feeling quite depressed and mentally exhausted.
Promptly, Yan Lin shifted his attention to the battle between the cultivators and the monsters. At the edge of this floating island that relied on the Penglai Immortal Realm, the scene was one of chaos and brutality, with flashing blades and splashing blood.
Compared to them, Yan Lin who was idle and not being attacked by monsters—seemed exceptionally out of place.
Fortunately, he was not directly exposed to the crowd. Only the Taixu Sect Elder with the highest cultivation had found a moment to glance this way, specifically when that Monarch-level Monster had launched its abrupt attack.
But now, that Taixu Sect Elder was besieged by several High-grade Monsters and was struggling to cope, gradually falling into a disadvantaged position.
Yan Lin pondered for a moment, then suddenly reached out to poke the Abyssal King beside him, nodding toward the fray: “Can you make those monsters stop?”
A tool in hand is meant to be used. Ultimately, setting aside his deal with the Villain System, the inherently kind-hearted Yan Lin still leaned toward the human side.
Bai Si appeared indifferent. Upon hearing this, he shrugged and smiled: “If it is Lin’er’s request, naturally there is no problem.”
As he spoke, he cast a glance toward the battle. In an instant, all the cultivators fighting for their lives against the monsters suddenly discovered that the monsters had all stopped. A flash of surprise seemed to cross the eyes of those High-grade Monsters.
Then, amidst everyone’s confusion, these monsters all swarmed and leaped off the floating island of the Penglai Immortal Realm. The flying monsters retreated toward the direction they had come from it was simply inexplicable.
After a long while, a cultivator covered in blood suddenly loosened his grip, and his tightly held sword clattered to the ground. He stumbled back a step and collapsed onto the floor.
Though the other cultivators were not as shaken as him, they clearly let out a heavy sigh of relief.
However, as they watched the departing monsters, the same doubt inevitably arose in everyone’s minds; they did not understand the sudden retreat. Though they had been prepared to sacrifice themselves, they were now left with a miraculous escape.
On the other side, the Taixu Sect Elder slowly descended to the ground, gazing solemnly at the retreating figures of the monsters. He had not missed the surprise in the eyes of those High-grade Monsters; it was as if they had heard some kind of command.
Was someone secretly commanding them?
The Taixu Sect Elder frowned and suddenly thought of that terrifying Monarch-level Monster from before. He couldn’t help but turn his head to look into the lush forest.
In that direction was a clearing of collapsed trees and cracked earth, clearly caused by that Monarch-level Monster earlier. Besides that, there was also…
If he hadn’t seen wrongly, those two were disciples of the Yaoguang Sect. He had even been entrusted by Perfected Wuyan before the Immortal Domain Spirit Boat departed. But there was another person he had never seen before.
The Taixu Sect Elder in charge of this trip to Penglai felt his brow furrow deeper. Staring in that direction, he suddenly raised his foot and walked over.
As it happened, Yan Lin and Bai Si were just coming out from within.
Yan Lin tilted his head slightly to look at the distant sky. That swarming army of monsters seemed to ignore the humans on this island, moving away from the Penglai Immortal Realm.
He could guess that this was the masterpiece of the Abyssal King beside him. However, you’re all just leaving? You’re not waiting for that Monarch-level Monster currently victimizing the protagonist?
Well, Yan Lin could imagine that monsters were likely just like that possessing only the bloodline suppression brought by strength, without the rich emotions humans possessed.
Thinking thus, Yan Lin withdrew his gaze and saw the Taixu Sect Elder who had come before him nod slightly. The elder’s gaze then moved to the Abyssal King beside him, his brow furrowing slightly.
“Who are you?”
The Abyssal King remained composed and smiled slightly: “I heard that the Penglai Immortal Realm opens once every ten years. I am merely a nobody who was lucky enough to enter this secret realm.”
Many rogue cultivators also coveted the resources and opportunities within Penglai, but having no connections to board the Spirit Boat, they had to find other ways.
Despite the numerous dangers, it was inevitable that some lucky individuals would break through the obstacles and successfully reach the Penglai Immortal Realm; there had been precedents in the past.
The Taixu Sect Elder nodded, though it was unclear whether he believed it. However, the cracked Abyssal rift was still hanging glaringly in the sky. The emergence of such a massive army of monsters into the cultivation world was more serious than anything else.
Especially those three leading Monarch-level Monsters; the terrifying strength they emitted left even a God Transformation stage elder with a lingering sense of dread and deep wariness.
Currently, only the Taixu Sect could receive his message quickly and arrive to re-seal the Abyssal rift, as well as hunt down these monsters to prevent them from becoming a disaster to the world.
On the other side, the Taixu Sect, having already received the news, stood up abruptly. Several Tribulation Transcendence masters set out together, showing unprecedented solemnity.
Among them was Perfected Wuyan.
Once the content of the sound-transmission jade talisman was revealed, Perfected Wuyan nearly lost his composure on the spot. The image of personally sending Lin’er onto the Spirit Boat seemed to echo in his mind, forcing his eyes to turn red.
He could not imagine if Lin’er were to suffer an attack by monsters Perfected Wuyan would never be able to forgive himself in his entire life.
Perfected Wuyan, who loved his son as much as his life, actually broke through in an instant from a cultivation he had only recently entered at the Tribulation Transcendence stage, surprising the several other great cultivators traveling with him.
Promptly, they seemed to think of something and couldn’t help but shake their heads and sigh.
If the contents of the talisman were true, then perhaps everyone currently in the Penglai Immortal Realm had already perished at the hands of the monsters.
However, when they arrived at the Penglai Immortal Realm and saw the group of people who were injured but mostly intact they couldn’t help but be surprised again.
But after listening to the Taixu Sect Elder’s account, they fell into deep thought. The same doubt inevitably surfaced in their minds.
By now, the army of monsters had long disappeared from sight. Naturally, no one dared to follow them unless they were tired of living. Thus, they only knew the general direction in which the monsters had departed.
Regardless of how the several Tribulation Transcendence masters discussed first re-sealing the pitch-black Abyssal rift that had torn open the sky, here, Perfected Wuyan felt a sense of relief as if recovering something lost when he saw the unscathed Yan Lin.
Yet, Yan Lin was still questioning his life—by which I mean the certain protagonist who had returned to his side and looked completely unharmed.
Is this reasonable?
After all, in Yan Lin’s estimation, the protagonist whose cultivation was currently only at the late Golden Core stage was definitely no match for that Monarch-level Monster. In a life-or-death moment, he should have triggered a protagonist’s opportunity to escape the crisis.
Instead, he had returned before him without a scratch. Leaving aside why the protagonist’s opportunity wasn’t triggered, that Monarch-level Monster alone had no reason to let you go, right?
Yan Lin was uncharacteristically dazed.
At this time, a certain familiar past experience flashed in his mind again the time Perfected Wuyan had set a trap using the monsters’ whereabouts to dig out a bone to save a life. In the end, the protagonist had returned to the Yaoguang Sect completely unharmed then as well.
Perhaps at the time, he thought it was caused by the collapsing plot; after all, many variables could occur during the protagonist’s half-month away, leading to the failure of Wuyan’s plan.
But this time, the situation was clearly different.
Especially under the deliberate command of the Abyssal King, a hundred percent impossibility was clearly very unreasonable.
Yan Lin did not believe that even with a collapsing plot, logic would be ignored. This world was not fake, and the plot was merely a premonition of the future; the world’s operation must follow rules.
Therefore, the seemingly unreasonable phenomenon occurring before his eyes must have been caused by some factor.
So, what was this factor?
In his bewilderment, Yan Lin suddenly and vaguely developed an ominous premonition regarding the necessary conditions that determined this factor.