Victory Without Joy
"I hope it's really as the Immortal Lord said," Li Yunjing said with a helpless smile.
Feathered Immortal Lord did not argue with Li Yunjing. He put away his smile and looked at Five Spirits Lord beside him.
"Remember this: now that you've chosen him, you must assist him diligently and help him achieve immortality. He is the one I've chosen."
Seeing the serious expression on the Feathered Immortal Lord, the Five Spirits Lord also became serious.
"Rest assured, Immortal Lord, even if it costs me my life, I will help him achieve immortality."
The Feathered Immortal Lord nodded slightly, raised his hand, and a surge of pure Immortal Spirit Qi burst forth.
The Five Spirits Lord immediately took a deep breath, inhaling all the Immortal Spirit Qi into his abdomen.
Like rain after a long drought, the Five Spirits Lord received this Immortal Spirit Qi, making his body much more solid and no longer as transparent as before.
"This Immortal Spirit Qi is enough for you to refine for a long time. Once you've refined all of this Immortal Spirit Qi, new Immortal Spirit Qi will appear for you to refine," said the Feathered Immortal Lord.
Five Spirits Lord nodded vigorously. "Immortal Lord, Immortal Lord, Immortal Lord, Immortal Lord. I will remember your kindness for the rest of my life."
Without saying much, the Feathered Immortal Lord glanced at Li Yunjing, then transformed into a beam of light and rushed into Li Yunjing's chest, returning to his Immortal Bone.
But suddenly, the voice of the Feathered Immortal Lord echoed in Li Yunjing's mind.
"This time, I'm afraid I'll be in a deep slumber for a very long time. I estimate I won't wake up until you ascend to immortality."
During this time, I cannot actively control the Immortal Bone to protect you, but Immortal Bone will activate automatically when you encounter danger.
But please don't take the risk because of this.
After that, there was silence.
Li Yunjing breathed a sigh of relief; he was certain he wouldn't take any risks.
To be honest, if the Immortal Bone hadn't proactively released its protective divine light to safeguard Li Yunjing, Li Yunjing wouldn't have known that the Immortal Bone had this function.
After calming himself down, Li Yunjing looked at Five Spirits Lord beside him.
"Let's go, it's time to leave this place," Li Yunjing said.
Five Spirits Lord naturally listened to Li Yunjing's words, and with a wave of his hand, the world spun around.
In the blink of an eye, Li Yunjing left that space and returned to the Void Nether Stone Gate.
At this moment, Fang Hexuan and Xie Zheng were still waiting in the same spot.
Noticing something amiss, the two immediately looked over, and upon seeing Li Yunjing, they both smiled.
Xie Zheng, in particular, was very excited; the best outcome was that Li Yunjing was alright.
The two of them immediately walked over together.
"Yunjing, are you alright? What happened just now? Who kidnapped you?" Fang Hexuan asked in quick succession.
Li Yunjing smiled and looked at Five Spirits Lord beside him.
At this moment, Five Spirits Lord said, "Don't reveal my existence. I haven't recovered my strength yet. If I encounter a mortal who is too strong, I'm afraid I will be captured."
I cast a small Law Technique to make them invisible to me. Young master, you can just make up any excuse to get away with it."
Li Yunjing was taken aback, while Fang Hexuan and Xie Zheng looked at Li Yunjing curiously.
They also looked around Li Yunjing, but saw nothing.
"Master, I'm fine, I was just frightened," Li Yunjing said.
"As for who kidnapped me, I have no idea. In fact, I didn't even realize what had happened."
Fang Hexuan was very puzzled upon hearing this.
He turned his head to look at the Void Nether Stone Gate.
"The Immortal Artifact is inside, shall we go take a look?" Fang Hexuan was still unwilling to give up, thinking of entering the spatial passage to see the splendor of the Immortal Artifact.
Li Yunjing shook his head and advised, "Forget it, Ancestor. Let's leave it to the Immortal Alliance. We'll report what happened here to the Immortal Alliance first, and then Luozhen Sect. There's no need to worry about anything else."
Upon hearing this, Fang Hexuan had no choice but to do as Li Yunjing suggested and give up on entering the spatial passage.
For Fang Hexuan, reason prevailed over greed.
The idea that one can instantly appreciate the magnificence of Immortal Artifact is obviously false.
Fang Hexuan wanted to see if he had a chance to obtain that Immortal Artifact.
After all, even a group of Nascent Soul Devil Cultivator dared to try and take that Immortal Artifact, so why couldn't he, a cultivator in the Late Spirit Transformation, do the same?
However, the instability of the spatial passage and the unknown situation regarding the Immortal Artifact are all unstable factors.
One wrong move, and you could lose your life.
"Let's go. I estimate that the sweeping up of the Devil Cultivator in Purple Forest Mountain is almost complete by now!" Fang Hexuan said.
The three of them returned to the Extreme Crossing Boat together.
Sure enough, quite a few people had already returned from the Extreme Crossing Boat.
Li Yunjing went to the bridge alone to find Sikong Ying.
Sikong Ying was still overseeing the overall situation, searching for any Devil Cultivator had overlooked.
After Li Yunjing arrived, he helped Sikong Ying find all the missing Devil Cultivator and wiped them out in one fell swoop. Only then did Sikong Ying stop to rest.
"Cool!"
As soon as he stopped, Sikong Ying burst into hearty laughter.
This trip to Purple Forest Mountain to vanquish demons was truly the most relaxed and enjoyable demon-slaying experience Sikong Ying had ever had in his life.
This time, the victory over the demons was entirely thanks to the Extreme Crossing Boat. With the Extreme Crossing Boat present, any Devil Cultivator could be easily wiped out.
"The Extreme Crossing Boat arrived too late. If it had been Extreme Crossing Boat before, so many people wouldn't have died in Xunxian Town."
Despite his excitement, Sikong Ying couldn't help but feel sad.
Li Yunjing remained silent for a moment, then looked at Sikong Ying.
"Senior Sikong, the location of that Immortal Artifact has been discovered. Report this information to the Immortal Alliance and let Immortal Alliance handle it."
Sikong Ying looked at Li Yunjing in astonishment, and disregarding her exhaustion, she quickly stood up again.
"Alright, tell me the location, and I'll report it to the Immortal Alliance headquarters immediately."
Li Yunjing revealed the location of the Void Nether Stone portal, and Sikong Ying found the place using the magic array on the Extreme Crossing Boat. Then, he took out the Immortal Alliance Token and contacted the Immortal Alliance headquarters.
After finishing this task, Sikong Ying looked at Li Yunjing.
After much hesitation, Sikong Ying couldn't help but ask.
"Yunjing, tell me the truth, that Immortal Artifact should be in your hands, right?"
Li Yunjing shook his head. "What are you thinking? How could I possibly obtain that Immortal Artifact?"
"So the Immortal Artifact was taken by the demonic path?" Sikong Ying's expression changed drastically.
Li Yunjing shook his head again. "No, the Immortal Artifact isn't in the hands of the demonic path."
"Then... where exactly is the Immortal Artifact?" Sikong Ying was dumbfounded.
Li Yunjing said, "This matter cannot be discussed; it's best if Senior Sikong doesn't know."
Seeing Li Yunjing's mysterious demeanor, Sikong Ying could only smile helplessly.
On second thought, it makes sense. If even I knew about the Immortal Artifact, I couldn't guarantee that I wouldn't leak the information.
Sometimes, you can't keep all the secrets just by keeping quiet.
"Surname, I understand." Sikong Ying nodded.
Not long after, the righteous cultivators who had come to exterminate the demon returned.
More than a hundred people came, but only ninety-two were able to return to the Extreme Crossing Boat.
About ten righteous cultivators died.
However, the casualty ratio was astonishing; the Devil Cultivator were completely annihilated, with nearly two hundred of Devil Cultivator dying.
Although the casualty ratio was alarming, it was still painful for the righteous path to lose anyone.
On the Extreme Crossing Boat, there was no joy of victory in vanquishing the demon; everyone wore solemn expressions and felt deep sorrow.
Sikong Ying activated the Extreme Crossing Boat, intending to return to Xunxian Town.
Just then, suddenly, a beam of eerie light shot out from the ground.
The world suddenly fell silent. The flowing Spiritual Qi and howling winds that had been present just moments before were abruptly severed by an invisible force.
It was as if the breath of the entire world was being gripped tightly by a giant hand.
The sunlight suddenly dimmed, the golden sun disappeared, and the sky was rapidly swallowed by a thick, inky, dark purple, eerie cloud. In an instant, the clear sky transformed into a deathly, desolate hell, where even the wind froze, ceasing to move...