The Xuanhui Realm Is No Longer What It Was / Shield and Arrow ...

"You're too kind, everyone. If we reach the Heavenly Devil Battlefield, we'll need your help and support each other."

Ye Yu bowed, feeling a deep sense of pity for these fools who had been chosen alongside her.

This sadness finally came to an end when she said goodbye to these guys and returned to her room, expressed with a long sigh.

Yes, although Meng Tianyu would inevitably focus all her attention on her personal disciples after participating in such a Heavenly Devil Battlefield, the reason was not because of any outstanding performance or talent, but because it was the only thing she could do.

Moreover, even if she wanted to do that, she would have to wait until she returned alive and had the time and resources to do so. The last Heavenly Devil Battlefield was already extremely dangerous, and who could predict what would happen this time? Could Meng Tianyu predict it accurately? If she truly believed that the Heavenly Devil Battlefield would weaken, she would be acting like a fool.

What does "weakened" mean? Does it mean that a Golden Core cultivator can return alive? Or that cultivators at the Spirit Formation level and above don't need to worry about life or death at all?

Could these low-level cultivators really survive on such a battlefield?

Ye Yu wasn't sure, but she knew without much thought that things were far from simple; at the very least, Meng Tianyu had no way of protecting her life on the Heavenly Devil Battlefield.

Those disciples who were cultivating in seclusion didn't know what was going on, but how could she, as a senior disciple who had become a senior disciple earlier, not see through it? Who were those "discarded pawns" she mentioned? They were all people who had been recruited into the camps of various elders.

These elders have an ambiguous connection with the Jade Pure Sect, and at least through their influence, they can affect the Jade Pure Sect's attitude towards the Heavenly Dragon Sect. She personally witnessed the close relationship between the Great Elder and Second Elder and the disciples sent by the Jade Pure Sect, and knew that there must be something she didn't know about it.

"Could it be that they intend to kill...?"

She murmured softly, feeling that the current situation was too strange, completely unlike what she expected. But aside from this thought, she didn't think too much about it, after all, she was only in the small territory of the Heavenly Dragon Sect, and had little experience with many things.

"However, I have to find my own way out."

Her eyes narrowed, and she resolved to save her life from the Heavenly Devil Battlefield no matter what.

The only ones who can do this right now are the elders, those who have connections with the Jade Pure Sect.

"There is only one thing I need to do, and that is to demonstrate my worth to these elders."

Ye Yu happens to possess something of such value: a secret about Meng Tianyu.

Chapter 317 The Xuanhui Realm of today is no longer what it once was.

The Great Elder of the Heavenly Dragon Sect is very old, having held the position for seventy years.

As a cultivator at the Golden Core stage, his lifespan wasn't very long, especially considering he had spent a considerable amount of time before becoming an elder.

A cultivator's appearance changes very slowly. Their face is the same when they are in the Foundation Establishment stage, and they will only show signs of aging in the last twenty or thirty years of their lives.

The Great Elder's talent wasn't particularly outstanding, so he only reached the Foundation Establishment stage around the age of thirty, hence his appearance as a middle-aged man. Now, many more wrinkles have appeared on that middle-aged face, revealing an unspoken truth.

If he had some talent, he could have made a gamble on developing a spiritual body in these last twenty or thirty years. However, he did not have such talent and was stuck at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm.

Foundation Building, then Core Formation Core Formation, then Golden Core, then Spiritual Essence, then Nascent Soul. These four realms seem simple, but only those who have truly become cultivators realize how difficult they are.

The Great Elder spent over 70 years building his foundation Core Formation age 30, and another 180 years forming his core. He almost succeeded at the last moment, which took 280 years. Even after reaching the Golden Core stage, he would only live to be 500. However, he has spent a full 200 years and is only at the mid-stage of the Golden Core stage. So he is finally nearing his death.

Because of his lack of talent, he was a rogue cultivator before entering the Heavenly Dragon Sect. He cultivated diligently and with a bit of luck and chance, he finally broke through to the Golden Heavenly Dragon Sect and became a guest elder. After being a guest elder for more than thirty or forty years, he finally managed to find his way to the position of elder, and then became the Great Elder of the Heavenly Dragon Sect.

It's impossible for him to have no feelings for the Heavenly Dragon Sect, after all, he has witnessed its development over the past century. However, he chose his own interests over the development of the Heavenly Dragon Sect.

He had reached the age of decline, and his cultivation was rarely used anymore; he was becoming increasingly weak. Putting aside who would seize the position of Great Elder in the future, the current situation on the Heavenly Devil Battlefield already made him deeply uneasy.

With the current sect leader of the Heavenly Dragon Sect, Meng Tianyu, injured on the Heavenly Devil Battlefield and near death, he finally did what he believed to be the right thing to do—that is, to join the Jade Pure Sect.

His centuries of age were not for nothing; he easily deduced the connections between the major and minor sects, as well as the impact of the Heavenly Demon War on cultivators. However, because of Meng Tianyu, he still hesitated, somewhat out of affection. But when Meng Tianyu's impending death occurred, his own lifespan was also nearing its end, finally leading him to make his own judgment.

Even if Meng Tianyu survived a great calamity and even reached the realm of Spiritual Being, there was no turning back. He could only continue down this path with his head down. Not only did he have to keep going, but he also had to do it to the extreme.

His gaze turned extremely cold as he looked at the cultivator kneeling before him.

"You want me to protect you?"

"Yes, disciple knows that the Great Elder has extraordinary influence and frequent dealings with the Jade Pure Sect, therefore I request that the Great Elder remove my name from the Heavenly Devil Battlefield."

Ye Yu dared not raise her head, fearing that the Great Elder would become impatient, so she quickly continued to state the price she was willing to pay for her request.

"This disciple knows that the Great Elder intends to deal with Meng Tianyu, so I reported this matter to the Great Elder. However, this matter..."

As she spoke, the meaning behind her words was already quite clear.

Ye Yu knew her own worth. If she were to reveal all the information she knew to the Great Elder now and still not get what she wanted, that would be truly tragic. Therefore, she needed to wait until the Great Elder fulfilled his promise before she would tell him everything.

"However, everything I have said is true. If not, then I would like to make Heavenly Dao Oath."

She wasn't worried that the Great Elder would think she was deceiving him, because this world had Heavenly Dao Oath.

Upon hearing this, the Great Elder, who was sitting in the chair, finally stirred. His eyes swept over Ye Yu, who was kneeling on the ground, and he suddenly let out a sigh.

"I never imagined you would do such a thing. As the eldest disciple of the Dream Sect Master, how come you're now begging me for help?"

Unable to discern whether the words were sarcastic or poignant, Ye Yu could only silently lower her head. After a moment, she understood, and stood up to face the Great Elder before her, swearing an oath to the Heavenly Dao.

"Heaven's will is supreme..."

After speaking, he bowed to the Great Elder and walked out of the hall, no longer making any further requests.

Aside from the Great Elder, she had other options, but none were as easy to deal with. If the Great Elder wasn't interested in Meng Tianyu's affairs, then no matter how much she begged, it would be useless. It was better to leave early to avoid losing face here any longer.

She had never pleaded like that before, and upon hearing those words, she was somewhat indignant and felt a surge of anger. However, she knew that anger was useless, and she was powerless to help the person in front of her, so she suppressed her anger.

"Stop."

Since she was truly leaving, she didn't play hard to get and took a few steps towards stepping outside the hall. However, just as one foot was outside, she heard a sound behind her.

"I never said you could leave, Junior Nephew Ye."

"Then what does the Great Elder intend to do?"

Ye Yu was somewhat impatient, and her tone even carried a hint of anger. She had been forced into this situation because of the matter of going to the Heavenly Devil Battlefield; otherwise, she would never have dared to betray her master like this.

She was already taking a risk, and to make matters worse, the Great Elder had such an attitude. How could she not feel annoyed? Even though she realized her tone was offensive after blurting it out, she wasn't afraid of the Great Elder anymore and just let her anger run wild.

Do you hate it?

Ye Yu was slightly taken aback, somewhat puzzled as to why the Great Elder would say such a thing out of the blue.

"Actually, you should hate Meng Tianyu."

The Great Elder stood up from his chair and walked towards Ye Yu.

"I resent her for keeping your exceptional talent at the Heavenly Dragon Sect instead of sending you to the Jade Pure Sect as a disciple. Because the Heavenly Dragon Sect can't offer you more than the Jade Pure Sect. That was true in the past, and it's even more true now."

He walked slowly to Ye Yu's side, looked at her who was about to enter the Golden Core realm, and patted her on the shoulder.

"Nephew Ye, you understand nothing."

"The Xuanhui Realm of today is no longer the Xuanhui Realm of the past."

Chapter 318 Shields and Arrows

When Ye Yu walked out of the main hall where the Great Elder was, she was still somewhat dazed and found it hard to accept what she had learned.

However, seeing her leave, the Great Elder had once again sat down in his chair, believed that she would make the right choice.

The loss of one's own interests can cause anyone to betray their current stance and choose a new stance that can protect their interests, just like water flowing downhill.

No matter how much Ye Yu usually respected her master, she still chose to reveal her master's secret as a price to protect herself in this situation, and that makes sense.

"The Heavenly Dragon Sect is like a house on the verge of collapse. You're willing to risk your life to hold it up, but what about the others? Meng Tianyu, this is something you haven't considered."

He murmured to himself, not paying much attention to the secret Ye Yu mentioned. Everyone has their own secrets, just like how he, with his ordinary talent, barely managed to break through to the Golden Core realm, and there were many untold Xin Mi about it.

These things are of little value anyway. Meng Tianyu was destined to die in this Heavenly Devil Battlefield, so her secrets are useless.

Therefore, he found Ye Yu's behavior laughable, feeling that she valued such matters too much and neglected what he, as the Great Elder, truly needed to care about.

Is this the Heavenly Dragon Sect he wants? Does he want to become the sect leader of the Heavenly Dragon Sect?

No, not at all. He simply wanted the Heavenly Dragon Sect to disband as soon as possible so he could go to the Jade Pure Sect with the others. With the connections he'd cultivated within the Jade Pure Sect, coupled with his decent strength, he could easily spend a few years Jade Pure Sect peacefully. As for what happens after that?

He's going to die soon anyway, so why should he care about these things? Is it necessary to stop a dying person from finding a comfortable place to await death?

It wasn't until Ye Yu made her Heavenly Dao Oath and turned to leave the main hall that he finally became somewhat interested.

As a Golden Core cultivator, he saw Ye Yu's resentment, no matter how well she hid it.

She hated herself for not granting her request.

He should have been indifferent to this emotion, but he suddenly felt interested and had a desire to make the girl understand who she should hate.

So he called the girl by name.

He explained the whole situation to the girl so that she could truly understand whose fault it was.

Whose fault was it?

It is certainly the fault of the weak.

The Heavenly Dragon Sect was weak, while the Jade Pure Sect was powerful; therefore, the Heavenly Dragon Sect was directed by the Jade Pure Sect.

Meng Tianyu was weak while the Heavenly Demon was powerful, so Meng Tianyu could not save her own life, and instead dragged the entire Heavenly Dragon Sect into such a disaster.

Even if one reaches the Spirit Embodiment Stage, what good is it? Before the Jade Pure Sect, one is still nothing but a weakling. What can one possibly do?

The emergence of this war between the Heavenly Demons has exacerbated the already sharp conflicts between sects. Powerful sects seek to devour and sacrifice weaker sects to protect their own interests, so how can the weaker sects possibly resist?

The Heavenly Dragon Sect is like this, and so are other sects.

So why not disband the Heavenly Dragon Sect sooner and join the Jade Pure Sect?

Does Meng Tianyu really worry about not being valued by the Jade Pure Sect? At such a young age, she has already Spirit Embodiment Stage; even in the Xuanhui Realm, she could be called a genius.

He had tried to persuade Jiu Lingliu, both openly and secretly, but the sect leader of the Heavenly Dragon Sect was, after all, the sect leader of the Heavenly Dragon Sect, and was unwilling to do anything against the sect's wishes.

That's true. As the sect leader of the Heavenly Dragon Sect, she already enjoyed many things, but now that she's in the Jade Pure Sect, she has far fewer. And all of these things are tied to the hundreds of people in the Heavenly Dragon Sect, so she's unwilling to let the Heavenly Dragon Sect disband and refuses to let them escape. She insists on fighting the Heavenly Dragon Sect Jade Pure Sect to the death before she'll be satisfied.

By the time she finally repents and fights to the bitter end, it will be too late, and the Jade Pure Sect will probably not welcome them anymore.

He sighed; this was the only thing he could do to protect himself.

"I know what morality is, but what does morality have to do with my life? Can morality possibly save my life?"

These words comforted him again, easing much of his guilt. Just like his earlier encouragement of Ye Yu, they convinced him.

He sipped his tea, waiting for Meng Tianyu to lead the loyal followers of the Heavenly Dragon Sect to the battlefield, and then casually disband the Heavenly Dragon Sect under some pretext.

If Meng Tianyu were to return alive, she would be dead by now.

She cannot live. Whether it's a demon or a cultivator, whoever kills her doesn't matter. Only one thing matters: the Jade Pure Sect must annex the Heavenly Dragon Sect.

"Therefore, you must die."

He murmured something, then fell silent.

However, what he didn't know was that there was another gaze upon him in this main hall.

(Divider)

"If you think about it, Meng Tianyu should be leaving soon."

On this day, Yotsuya Miko opened her eyes and began to mutter about the day's events.

Several days had passed since Meng Tianyu last reported to him about her trip to the Heavenly Devil Battlefield. Counting the days, it was time for the sect leader and her disciples to set off.

Although she didn't know anything about the Heavenly Dragon Sect, based on Meng Tianyu's previous condition, she could guess what had happened to the Heavenly Dragon Sect, nothing more than internal strife within the sect.

However, such internal strife is nothing to worry about as long as it has nothing to do with her.

She stood up, thinking that she should leave as soon as possible. She became increasingly aware that her perception had undergone an irreversible reversal.

"I'm leaving, leaving this Heavenly Dragon Sect."

She spoke as she spoke, her mind filled with thoughts of destroying the Heavenly Dragon Sect and even slaughtering cultivators. But these impulses were well suppressed, and she had not completely lost her reason.

"In a few days, I'm afraid I'll only find it surprising and strange that I'm currently suppressing the killing."

The alienation of her soul was subtly altering her perception, changing her understanding of being human into the understanding that a celestial demon should possess. As a result, many things viewed from a human perspective became bizarre at this time, much like a boy who has overcome his adolescent delusions feeling regret and shame for his past actions.

Moreover, it's even more serious than chuunibyou (middle school syndrome), it's a complete reversal of one's mindset.

Yotsuya Miko knew there was no way to resolve this situation. Her only option was to seal away her past memories so that they wouldn't be tainted by cognitive alterations, and at least to preserve the connections with those people.

However, sealing away her memories only makes her more detached from humanity, unable to anchor herself using the rules of being human contained within those memories.

It's as if, unwilling to let the shields that were meant to protect you shatter while blocking arrows, you'd rather discard the shields and leave them intact, exposing your own body to the arrows.

Because no matter what, she will be struck by the "arrow" of alienation. The latter approach, however, preserves that memory, even if it seems meaningless.

After all, that's how shields are supposed to be used. And a perfectly intact, discarded shield will never have another wielder.

Chapter 319 Colluding with the Heavenly Demon

Meng Tianyu's Floating Boat set off. Although it was a small sect, it had several Golden Core cultivators and had a variety of magical Magic Tool for riding.

The Floating Boat was quite large and carried many cultivators who were to accompany Meng Tianyu, the sect leader of the Heavenly Dragon Sect, to the Heavenly Devil Battlefield. The remaining people were responsible for ensuring the normal operation of the Heavenly Dragon Sect, so as to prevent the Heavenly Dragon Sect from falling into an embarrassing situation.