The Horn of Counterattack

"So that's what happened..." Chen Xuan chuckled despite himself. "You're overthinking it. Whether the Immortal Alliance exists is all fleeting smoke to me. Your decision wasn't wrong. You simply have to take responsibility for your own choices."

"You don't blame us?"

"If you did nothing wrong, why would I blame you?" he asked.

Both siblings brightened. "Thank you, honored immortal!"

"I told you the honored immortal would understand." Ji Lian nudged her brother with her elbow and gave him a pointed look as she whispered.

"But you were also the one who said we shouldn't presume to know an immortal's thoughts," Ji Yun replied helplessly.

So the reason they hadn't summoned the Ability Store all this time was that they were afraid he would hold them accountable? Chen Xuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. If Liu Shuyue hadn't wanted to learn more about the Spiritual Energy Device, another hundred years might have passed before he next connected to this world.

"Actually, you deserve some of the credit for our plan's success too, honored immortal." Ji Lian winked playfully at Chen Xuan.

"How so?"

Ji Yun explained, "Failing to hold Chang'an City was already a tremendous blow to the Immortal Alliance. Establishing a foothold on the western continent and distributing demon resources was all that allowed it to retain real power. If the Teleportation Array had kept operating, its authority would have grown with each passing day."

"But then you disappeared," Ji Lian continued with a smile. "You said you would activate the array every so often, but years passed without any word from you. The Immortal Alliance even came to us several times to ask about your whereabouts. Without the array, its control over the cultivators of the Central Plains weakened considerably, giving the Lotus Cloud Sect a