Lin Buyan nodded and said:
"Some time after I fled to the Heaven-Demon Battlefield, I happened to encounter him in a battlefield ruin."
"And he seemed to have been looking for me, too."
"Only, he seemed like an entirely different person then. He wanted to take me away."
At this point, Lin Buyan paused before continuing, her eyes filled with lingering fear:
"Later, I finally managed to find an opportunity to escape him."
Xu Taiping's expression grew grave at her words.
"But how does that prove he had anything to do with that Immortal Official's death?"
Lin Buyan explained:
"During the time he held me captive, he was raving mad. More than once, he mentioned that Immortal Official's death, and how he wanted me to complete the final sacrifice to settle this karma once and for all, so he could be freed."
Xu Taiping drew a deep breath, his gaze stern.
"If that is truly the case."
"Then my encounter with Buyu and Duan Tianya in the Taixuan Sect Ruins was no coincidence."
Lin Buyan nodded.
"He was most likely waiting there all along for us reincarnated forms of the Immortal Officials."
At these words, an inexplicable chill ran down Xu Taiping's spine.
Before this, he had never imagined that he had already been drawn into this calamity concerning Shangqing's survival when he first entered the cultivation world.
Lin Buyan added:
"So, Taiping, this time you must beware not only of the Nine Abysses Demonic Army, but also of Duan Tianya lurking in the shadows."
Xu Taiping nodded.
"Thank you for the warning, Fairy Buyan."
In truth, his feelings were rather complicated at that moment.
Because of the Demon-Slaying Blade, Xu Taiping had always regarded Duan Tianya as something of a mentor, so he found it difficult to accept the