In the Xuanyuan Realm, beneath Qingyuan Mountain, all the cultivators stood together.
Behind them were the surviving half-demons, now reduced to just a few dozen.
As for that chicken leg, it had long been gnawed clean, not even a bone remained.
A few lucky ones even showed a trace of the Ancient Phoenix Bloodline.
This excited Hei Lie immensely, as it was the bloodline of an ancient great demon. Who would have thought it would awaken in a half-demon?
"Xiaoxiao, when Lord Zhetian appears later, you must thank him properly."
Beside Hei Lie stood a little girl with white wings. She was the one with the most concentrated bloodline awakening this time. If she undergoes a few more transformations, she might really become a phoenix.
"Okay."
Xiaoxiao nodded, looking up at the sky.
"Sister, can I be the Lord's mount?"
Suddenly, Xiaoxiao asked Luo Qingyi beside her.
Luo Qingyi was taken aback, then smiled:
"You're too small, grow a bit more first."
"How big?"
"At least bigger than the leg you ate."
Luo Qingyi wasn't good at comforting children, let alone half-demon children. However, these half-demons had endured hardships from a young age and didn't need much consolation.
"Oh, I will grow."
Although being a mount was considered a great shame among demons, if giving up dignity could bring such an opportunity, it was a different matter. After all, dignity couldn't fill the stomach.
When Heyu dropped that chicken leg, these half-demons had already forgotten what dignity was.
Hei Lie silently looked at the sky, thinking if he had known being a dog was this good, why bother being a wolf?
In the past, it was feast or famine, now it's chicken one day, feast the next, comfortable.
"Here it comes!"
The sky darkened.
A massive golden hand slowly broke through the clouds, approaching them.
Tian Can, who had been observing in the dark, was dumbfounded once again.
No way, I thought Zhetian was an adjective, but you're serious?
That golden hand almost completely covered the sky.
The half-demons on the ground knelt immediately, even Bai Ling couldn't help but tremble at the sight of this hand covering the sky.
At that moment, the massive hand suddenly disappeared.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, the oppressive feeling was so intense that some small demons fainted on the spot.
After a while, two giant metal pillars descended from the sky.
Although much smaller than the hand, they were equally terrifying.
Luo Qingyi quickly placed a bag by the metal, and the metal pillar gently pinched it, taking the bag away.
"Huff, huff..."
After the pillar left, everyone couldn't help but take deep breaths.
The pressure was overwhelming, it felt like their hearts would jump out.
Hei Lie suddenly shouted at the sky, hurriedly taking out a round stone.
"My Lord, this is a beast egg left by my ancestors, said to contain the descendant of an ancient dragon! My Lord, please accept it!"
Hei Lie's words caught Bai Ling's attention.
"Ancient dragon?"
"Uh, I don't know if it's true, but my great-grandfather told me this is our half-demon tribe's most precious treasure."
The Sect Master of the Wildsand Sect stepped forward:
"Fairy Bai, you may not know, but the half-demon tribe in the Great Wildlands used to be pure demons. After moving to this barren land, demons and humans combined to give birth to half-demons, and later the half-demons developed into a tribe."
"As for the ancestors of the half-demons... our Wildsand Sect has some records, suggesting their ancestors were once very powerful. Perhaps the egg was taken during their glory days, but after losing a war, they fled here and declined."
Bai Ling didn't expect the small half-demons to have such a background, but looking at the stone... even if it were a real dragon egg, it probably wouldn't hatch after being with the half-demons for so long.
Otherwise, why would it have been preserved among the half-demons for so long?
"It's all in the past, now we're all serving the Lord."
Hei Lie quickly waved his hand, thinking what use is it if the ancestors were glorious, when they can't even fill their bellies now.
At this moment, the metal pillar that had just left descended again, and Hei Lie quickly raised the stone egg above his head.
The metal sphere gently pinched it, then disappeared into the sky.
Everyone looked at each other, then turned their gaze to Bai Ling.
"Fairy Bai, since we've all received the grace of Senior Zhetian, and we're all in this barren place, why don't we unite?"
After the battle with the Seventh Elder, they realized that the threat to the Great Wildlands was never internal, but external.
If one elder could turn this place upside down, how could they not unite and continue to wait for death?
Although Senior Zhetian had been helping them, they couldn't trouble him every time they encountered a problem, could they?
Bai Ling looked at the surrounding mess, then at Luo Qingyi.
She originally thought Senior Zhetian was after Luo Qingyi's Dao Bones, but now it seemed he might not care at all.
Now, she only needed to focus on her own matters, ensuring Luo Qingyi's safety.
"Alright."
……
Late at night, Luo Qingyi gazed at the sky.
She missed the senior a bit.
Since returning to the sect, she hadn't had another night talk with the senior like that day in the desert.
Everything the senior said was so novel to her, it seemed as if he was from another world.
"Qingyi."
At that moment, Bai Ling approached from behind.
"Master."
Bai Ling also looked at the sky, as if pondering something.
"Master, do you think the senior is really a great cultivator from the Sea of Calamity?"
Bai Ling took a deep breath at these words.
"I suspect the senior is an immortal..."
"!"
An immortal!
The ultimate dream of cultivators, ascension!
Whether in the Middle Lands or the Great Wildlands, no one had ever truly ascended, it seemed ascension was just a myth.
Bai Ling wasn't sure, but who else could ignore Dao Bones like that, if not an immortal?
"Perhaps, Senior Zhetian is a fallen immortal, or maybe he's gathering strength to return to the Immortal Realm."
Bai Ling could only speculate this way. She had heard from her master that the founder of Dao Xuan Sect's master was a fallen immortal!
Then, Bai Ling looked at Luo Qingyi, saying heavily:
"The senior chose you, surely because of your talent. Qingyi, there's something I've never told you, you possess Dao Bones, your breakthroughs are almost twice that of ordinary people!"
Luo Qingyi was stunned.
"Innate Dao Bones require immense energy to satisfy. You're different from ordinary people, you have no bottlenecks. As long as the resources are sufficient, you can definitely ascend, without lightning tribulations or inner demons. I think this is also why the senior values you. Cultivate well, and one day you can help the senior return to the Immortal Realm."
Back then, that immortal also wanted to train the founder of Dao Xuan Sect to help him return to the Immortal Realm, but ultimately failed.
"Immortals are different from us cultivators, their actions inevitably carry karma. The stronger the immortal, the more karma they bear, leading to more backlash and tribulations, which can cause their strength to decline, even lead to death. This is what my master told me. Qingyi, Senior Zhetian has already borne immense karma for you."
Immortals cannot act lightly, or the world would be thrown into chaos. Yet, Senior Zhetian repeatedly intervened for Luo Qingyi, the karma he bore was unimaginable.
Luo Qingyi stood there, stunned. She never imagined that the senior she had never even met had done so much for her.
"Master, I will definitely cultivate diligently!"
Gratitude must be repaid. The senior bore so much for her, repeatedly saving her life. She must grow strong enough to help him return to the Immortal Realm.
Bai Ling nodded:
"That's good. Remember, try not to seek the senior's help in the future. Every time he acts, he must endure the backlash of karma."
Afterward, Bai Ling revealed everything she had hidden over the years to Luo Qingyi.
Her mother, Bai Ling's master, was the daughter of the Sect Master of Dao Xuan Sect, Luo Yu.
Luo Yu ventured into the Sea of Calamity in her early years, and upon returning, gave birth to Luo Qingyi.
It caused a huge uproar at the time, as no one knew whose child the Dao Xuan Sect's saintess was carrying.
Later, after Luo Qingyi was born, a trace of demonic aura leaked out, and the entire Middle Lands knew that the Dao Xuan Sect's saintess had combined with the Demon Race.
The Demon Race, a group exterminated by the combined forces of various sects tens of thousands of years ago, still had some remnants surviving like rats.
Most importantly, the Demon Race and humans were mortal enemies!
A saintess of the leading sect of the righteous Alliance combining with the Demon Race caused a huge uproar.
Everyone knew the Demon Race could no longer pose a threat, and after a million years, the hatred between the two races had faded to almost nothing. But the righteous cultivators of the past united to pressure Dao Xuan Sect.
They wanted to take this opportunity to dismantle Dao Xuan Sect.
Luo Wuwen, old and frail, had been stuck in the Divine Transformation stage for a thousand years without progress, and had very low prestige within the sect. To keep his position and continue receiving vast resources for cultivation, he chose to betray his daughter.
Luo Yu ultimately took her own life at Dao Xuan Sect.
With no excuse left, the righteous cultivators had to retreat, but from that moment, Dao Xuan Sect was internally divided.
"When your mother gave birth to you, she already knew you had innate Dao Bones. To prevent your Dao Bones from being taken, she asked me to take you far from the Middle Lands. So, I came to the Great Wildlands. Although the Spiritual Qi here is thin and resources are scarce, it's safe."
Bai Ling gently stroked Luo Qingyi's head, sighing:
"Who knew, twenty years later, they would still find out about your Dao Bones."
Luo Qingyi's mind was in a whirl, she never imagined her background was so complicated.
Daughter of the Dao Xuan Sect's saintess, descendant of the Demon Race, born with Dao Bones.
"Fortunately, you met Senior Zhetian, which spared you from disaster."
Bai Ling had been on edge for twenty years, today she could finally relax a bit.
With Senior Zhetian around, she might not survive, but Qingyi certainly would.