IS Chapter 120

Chapter 120

Li Yuan released a wisp of his divine sense, left the inn, and silently met the gaze of an eye in the sky.

That eye wasn’t “silent” at all. It had been fixed on the small inn in the town, anxiously rolling from one side of the sky to the other. Judging by its expression, it was eager to know what was happening inside.

But the barrier prevented it from sensing anything. It might as well be dead, which greatly frustrated the Heart Beast.

But the Heart Beast didn’t have feet, so it could only jump with its eye.

As soon as Li Yuan’s divine sense emerged, it was met with a barrage of questions. The Heart Beast’s eye moved left and right, seeming to try and peer inside to see what was happening between Ye Zhuo and him.

…Even while trapped in the illusion, the Heart Beast was still concerned enough to spare a wisp of thought for Ye Zhuo. Naturally, Li Yuan protected the entire inn, not allowing the Heart Beast any opportunity.

“He needs to focus on cultivation. I placed a Nether Crystal Aura Meridian in the room,” Li Yuan said through divine sense transmission.

The Heart Beast gave a cold laugh.

It asked Li Yuan what had happened, what was happening now, who he was to Ye Zhuo, and demanded he explain everything in detail.

Li Yuan tactfully informed the Heart Beast that the human and ghost realms were separating, and requested it remember to release them before the two realms completely parted, otherwise many things would be delayed.

The Heart Beast looked at him with an unpredictable expression. “Say hello to Huan Ming for me.”

“May Dragon Ancestor be well.”

The long strip of a cub wasn’t old, but his ability to keep his mouth shut was quite high. The Heart Beast’s eye resentfully disappeared, sinking back into the heart devil illusion.

Li Yuan also retracted his divine sense and gently kissed Ye Zhuo’s forehead.

To directly utter the Dragon Ancestor’s name, this Heart Beast senior was certainly an elder of the Heart Beast clan. Yet he was so concerned about their juniors’ affairs, truly a disgrace to his age.

Catching sight of his One’s Own Life Sword, he recalled how it had actually been urged out an inch by that person. Such a treacherous thing, did this sword not know what its sword name meant?

Lightly pecking the man’s exquisite nose again, Li Yuan began to think about which set of robes Ye Zhuo should wear when they returned to the human realm.

The ghost realm was already dim, and within the Heart Beast’s body, there was no day or night. When Ye Zhuo woke up, the room was still a sea of tranquil darkness.

“Awake?” he heard Li Yuan ask softly.

“How long has it been?”

“Not long,” Li Yuan told him. “I spoke with the senior. He will remember to send us back to the human realm.”

“Wasn’t he telling you to ‘get lost’ before?”

“That was all for your sake. Now the senior is a bit more amiable to me,” Li Yuan said. “Do you want to sleep more? There’s nothing else to do anyway.”

Ye Zhuo didn’t want to. He had already planned to start cultivating. In any case, Dragon Li Yuan would tidy him up into a presentable state.

Li Yuan had already chosen a more combat-suitable one from his favorite robes. The Cloud Water Bright Moon embroidery was exquisite and ethereal, the sleeves were elegant, but the cuffs were narrowed with silver-ornamented guards, so they wouldn’t obstruct movement like wide sleeves would. Li Yuan already knew very well how a sword cultivator should dress.

—Like a beautiful red coral branch.

He also picked out a Bright Moon Jade Pendant from his belongings, a Spirit Gathering and defensive Immortal artifact, and fastened it to the man’s waist. Not that Ye Zhuo needed defense, but it looked good. If Grandmaster Xia were here, he would surely praise his taste as well.

He wondered how things were in the human realm.

Ye Zhuo was already too lazy to resist any of his actions, which pleased Li Yuan. By the time he had carefully dressed the man, Ye Zhuo had already circulated his cultivation method for several Small Heavenly Circuits.

And Li Yuan had kissed him several more times on the drum surface. What was it about this drum that attracted the dragon so much? When Li Yuan’s gaze turned towards the zither stand, Ye Zhuo resolutely drew his sword and left, regaining his freedom.

When leaving the inn, Li Yuan handed the blue-faced ghost boss a token and said a few words. Ye Zhuo only caught a few fragments, but it seemed the dragon had bought the entire inn.

“.”

They walked out of the town. The sky underwent a subtle change. The deep red curtain slowly descended, revealing the ghost realm’s original dim sky. The road leading to Listening Heart Town also opened, and the four-hearted towns and landscapes returned to the same flat, vast ground.

——The Immortal Dao crowd had been counting the time on the armillary sphere for a long time. Not long after Ye Zhuo left, the atmosphere of the entire Heart Beast world became unusually oppressive, as if the Heart Beast’s own emotions were violently clashing. What kind of heart devil illusion was that? Time was running out. If the two people didn’t reappear within half a day, they would be eternally separated from their homeland.

Fortunately, in the end, the Heart Beast’s state of mind suddenly changed, becoming inexplicably joyful. Not long after, the sky gradually revealed its original appearance. The Heart Beast’s feasting was over. It seemed the heart devil illusion hadn’t done anything to Ye Zhuo.

Wei Sheng Xian naturally saw the two figures slowly walking towards them in the distance.

“Good, everything is settled.” Palace Master Wei Sheng smiled and touched Shen Xin Ge’s head. “Little Daoist Shen, we’ll be able to return to the human realm soon. Are you happy?”

Shen Xin Ge was dissatisfied. “Daoist Wei Sheng, even though I’m short, why do you pat my head?”

This scene displeased Shen Jingzhen. Wei Sheng Xian didn’t have his own disciple, so he played with someone else’s. What kind of logic was that?

He called Shen Xin Ge back to his side, but Shen Xin Ge wanted to wait for his Dao friend Ye to return at the front.

Dao friend Ye seemed to have changed into new, beautiful clothes. Where did their Micro-Snow Palace get so many custom-made outfits?

Even one such robe of this quality was rare. To have such an inexhaustible supply, there had to be at least a Grand Accomplishment Artifact Grandmaster behind it, right? Micro-Snow Palace was truly rich. Their Hongmeng Sect couldn’t compare. His master was truly inadequate.

“Did you encounter any danger?” Wei Sheng Xian asked with concern.

Ye Zhuo said, “No.”

“Did Brother Li Yuan’s entry into the illusion provide any assistance?”

Li Yuan smiled slightly. “I’m ashamed to say, I wasn’t able to help at all. On the contrary, Palace Master Ye brought me out of the illusion.”

Immediately, a chorus of compliments arose: “Palace Master Ye, your state of mind is truly clear.”

“Dao friend Ye! Look at my realm!” Shen Xin Ge said.

Ye Zhuo glanced down. His foundation was clear and steady, only a line away from Tribulation Transcendence. It was as expected.

Su Yizhen confirmed that Ye Zhuo was safe and sound, then looked at Shen Xin Ge.

The Sword Sect’s Second Elder immediately said, “Although this Little Daoist Shen isn’t growing any taller, in terms of cultivation years, he’s actually a year and a half older than Yizhen. Don’t take it to heart.”

“It’s fine, Master. Dao cultivators and sword cultivators are different. I haven’t compared myself to Little Daoist Xin Ge,” Su Yizhen said. “I already have an eighty percent certainty of succeeding in Tribulation Transcendence. I also have some clues about the remaining twenty percent.”

The comforting smile on the Second Elder’s face immediately froze. His disciple would soon be able to call him “Dao friend.” Wouldn’t that be heartbreaking?

Ye Zhuo said blandly, “Let’s go.”

Having said that, he headed towards the human realm. The crowd also flew in that direction. When they first arrived in the ghost realm, they released their divine senses to scout the surroundings and saw a huge rift in the realm between the human and ghost realms, as if it had been shattered by an external force. They really didn’t know how it had been created.

Now, the two realms hadn’t completely separated. They could pass through that ready-made rift and return to the human realm.

However, now standing at the edge of the two realms, they only saw a vast, solid barrier standing tall between the realms. The ferocious sky rift in their memory seemed to have never existed.

Only upon closer inspection could they detect a narrow, shallow scar on the barrier, like a healed wound, proving that the rift had once existed.

But now it had closed.

——How could it be like this?

The completely flawless barrier stood before them. Although the two realms hadn’t completely separated, how could they travel without a path? Returning to the human realm would be nothing but empty talk?

How could such a large rift disappear for no reason?

“Palace Master Wei Sheng, may I ask about your method of transmission…”

“Oh, that,” Wei Sheng Xian said indifferently, “wasn’t a teleportation array to begin with. It was only able to transmit before because there was a rift connecting the two realms, and they weren’t completely blocked off. Now that there is no path between the two realms, I am also helpless.”

“Then now—”

Only someone who cultivated the Dao of realms and had a high level of cultivation could possibly open a path between the two realms with great magical power. Palace Master Wei Sheng said he had no way. The main sect’s True Men had all been killed by Palace Master Ye. Did they have to ask for help from the Ghost Emperor?

The Ghost Emperor said leisurely, “Everyone, please be patient. How could a rift between the two realms appear for no reason? There must be a reason.”

Saying that, he glanced at Li Yuan in a meaningful way.

“—And since there was already a rift, how could it disappear for no reason? I was originally thinking of asking my strategist to repair the rift after seeing you all off. Now it’s unnecessary.”

“Indeed,” Wei Sheng Xian also smiled lightly. “How could the rift close for no reason? There must be a reason for it.”

“Everyone, look closely,” Wei Sheng Xian pointed to the nearly non-existent trace of the rift. “This trace seems to still be healing even now. In a short while, it will completely disappear.”

He then gestured to the entire barrier. “Does the barrier between the two realms seem thicker than it should be? The speed at which the two realms are separating also seems faster than it should be. It’s not just my imagination.”

Saying that, he muttered to himself, “According to the situation between the human and ghost realms, plus the separating force of the great formation, they should completely separate after three days and two nights. To urge Palace Master Ye to leave the heart devil illusion as soon as possible, this Daoist concealed one day and said two days and two nights instead… Palace Master Ye, don’t look at me with such eyes.”

“There should have been some leeway, but now it seems the two realms are only separated by a hair’s breadth. The time has been shortened by nearly a whole day compared to what this Daoist expected. Everyone, what do you think is the reason for this?”

Shen Jingzhen said in a deep voice, “It seems someone wants to leave us in the ghost realm, unable to return to the human realm forever.”

The Red Dust Sword Immortal nodded. “In this way, everything that happened in the ghost realm can be written off. Naturally, some people would be satisfied with this outcome.”

Hearing these words, the Sword Sect’s Second Elder felt uncomfortable all over. Why was his Sword Sect always the Sword Sect of the Supreme Purity Mountain? He always felt like everyone was insinuating him.

The Second Elder: “But the matter of the realm is unfathomable. How did Palace Master Wei Sheng come to this conclusion?”

“Me? When I was young and ignorant, I just happened to learn a thing or two about the Dao of realms.”

“…”

Shen Jingzhen: “Then does Palace Master Wei Sheng have a solution in mind?”

“My skills are not refined. I have no solution.” Wei Sheng Xian revealed a mysterious smile. “According to my calculations, the two realms will separate in another two quarters of an hour. Alas, even if they don’t separate, we are helpless against such a solid barrier between the two realms.”

The Ghost Emperor: “Oh? Could it be that you are ultimately destined to stay in my ghost realm? This ruler is lacking some capable strategists. I think your minds are very agile, which is what I need.”

A silence fell.

This made Palace Master Wei Sheng’s soliloquy all the more clear.

“To not want us to return and also be able to control the realms, truly a master. Could it be among us?”

Such chilling whispers echoed among everyone. Palace Master Wei Sheng’s gaze also thoughtfully swept over everyone.

“But everyone here has a name and a clear origin. Just now, we even joined forces to fight against the Supreme Purity Mountain’s Dao protectors… How could it be?”

As he said this, the people present couldn’t help but look at each other. Indeed, wasn’t everyone here already in the same boat? But within a thousand miles in all directions, there was indeed no trace of anyone else’s presence.

The Ghost Emperor even denied it outright: “It’s not me.”

“…Ah Zhou.” Wei Sheng Xian said sincerely, “Why are you still looking at me like that?”

Ye Zhuo was too lazy to even cast a sneer at Wei Sheng Xian.

His words were vague, not knowing which person in the audience he was subtly mocking. Did he think this made him more likable?

Ye Zhuo directly chose a Buddhist method to circulate.

Strange energy gathered in the sky. Some intertwined blood-red threads slowly gathered at the rift. Some who had witnessed the battle between Ye Zhuo and Taiqing were surprised to find these threads familiar, like the threads of cause and effect that appeared in Taiqing’s Domain of Cause and Effect.

Could it be that after seeing it only once, Palace Master Ye had learned the One’s Own Life technique of a Human Immortal? But upon closer inspection, the auras of the two were not very similar. The causal threads mobilized by Ye Zhuo radiated a sense of silence and solemnity, originating from a Buddhist method. So Palace Master Ye had also cultivated cause and effect, and had even cultivated it better than Taiqing. He could display it without using a domain. Thus, True Man Taiqing’s death could be considered justified.

Li Yuan quietly watched Ye Zhuo activate the method, tracing the origins and examining the results. This was also an uncommon type in Buddhist methods, comparable to Human Immortal techniques.

This Ye Zhuo had indeed learned extensively. Li Yuan recalled that, apart from himself, this man always fought people a major realm above him.

The causal threads spread outward from the rift, connecting to the directions with which it had a causal connection—Ye Zhuo quietly watched it extend a thin thread, probing towards Li Yuan and himself. Ye Zhuo directly severed that thread.

The causal threads paused, then changed direction.

Everyone remained still, watching the threads flow. It slowly descended from the sky, like a hand reaching out to them in the night. The lower it hung, the more obvious its target became—finally, a swaying thread landed on one person’s head.

That person was right beside Ye Zhuo.

The crowd cast incredulous gazes—how could it be him?

Ye Zhuo also quietly looked at the person to whom the causal threads ultimately pointed.

—It was Shen Xin Ge.

Shen Xin Ge blinked, looking at the spiderweb-like bright red threads hanging down from the sky, then at Ye Zhuo.

“I did it?” Shen Xin Ge said.

“You did it,” Ye Zhuo said.