Flame Martial City.
Inside the Profound Light Tower.
"You rascal finally came back. You’ve been gone for so long, I almost thought you ran into trouble in the demon cave."
Seeing Lin Zheyu’s arrival, Qiu Kun laughed heartily and stood up to greet him.
Lin Zheyu solved Xi Ruchen’s problem, obtained the token to attend the Celestial Derivation Sect’s Array Dao exchange meeting, and conveniently helped Kong Yu Jing and a few newly recruited demonic cultivators resolve the issue of the demon fiend’s will within them.
Lin Zheyu returned.
As soon as he got back to Flame Martial City, he was called to the Profound Light Tower by Qiu Kun and the others for a gathering.
"Where’s Bai Lin? Didn’t he come back too?"
Lin Zheyu sat down beside Zong Linjing, curiously asked.
After the stronghold in the demon cave was lost, the Martial Alliance had nothing more to do with it. Logic says Bai Lin should have returned as well.
"Uh..."
Qiu Kun’s mouth twitched and he smiled wryly.
"Let me explain."
"On our way back, we accidentally got caught up in a battle between a Divinity Transformation powerhouse and an Eight-Striped Demon Fiend."
"Mr. Bai got injured while protecting some of the weaker Martial Artists and is currently recuperating."
Zong Linjing explained.
Hearing this, Lin Zheyu was somewhat speechless, no wonder Qiu Kun had such an expression.
I don’t know if it’s luck or misfortune for Bai Lin.
Being affected and injured by a Divinity Transformation layer battle two times in the demon cave, his luck is incredibly bad.
Yet surviving both times leaves one impressed by his good luck.
It was a battle between Divinity Transformation powerhouses, even a Nascent Soul expert wouldn’t dare approach, and yet, Bai Lin, a mere Shackled Realm, survived being affected, he should count his blessings.
"Surviving a great disaster means great luck will follow in the future. Mr. Bai definitely has a bright future ahead." Lin Zheyu joked with a smile.
"I didn’t expect such a big event to happen just after I left, a pity I missed it and the chance to earn a lot of contribution points."
Je Haomiao said with a smile from the side.
He had heard that this time, with Xiao Yu there, Zong Linjing and the others encountered almost no danger and were unharmed.
The group chatted about recent events and the current situation.
Suddenly, Qiu Kun smiled and asked, "By the way, there’s a task recently, do you want to join?"
"What task? Let’s hear it?"
Zong Linjing immediately showed interest.
But soon after, she shook her head, "Forget it, I’m going to enter retreat for cultivation, see if I can break free from the second shackle. I won’t participate."
After cultivating the "Circulation Bright Light Guiding Skill," Zong Linjing’s stagnant strength began to improve slowly again.
She had a feeling she was close to breaking through the bottleneck and breaking free from the second shackle.
"What?"
"You’re about to break free from the second shackle? So soon?"
Qiu Kun couldn’t help but exclaim.
It hadn’t been long since Zong Linjing broke free from the first shackle, and now she was starting to break the second shackle, the speed was astonishing.
No wonder she was once the first genius among the younger generation of the Martial Alliance, her prowess remains unchanged!
"This is all thanks to Mr. Xiao’s help."
Zong Linjing smiled and spoke, but she didn’t elaborate.
After all, this cultivation technique belongs to Xiao Yu, and with him present, it wasn’t appropriate for her to speak on his behalf.
"Oh?"
"Mr. Xiao, you’re not being fair. We two spent so much time together in the demon cave, yet you didn’t share the good stuff with me!"
Je Haomiao feigned a pitiful posture, making Lin Zheyu very speechless.
"..."
"It’s actually nothing, just a cultivation technique I stumbled upon."
Lin Zheyu smiled and said.
He glanced at the eager expressions on Qiu Kun and Je Haomiao, laughed, and pulled out two jade scrolls from his storage bag to toss over.
"Here."
"Don’t spread it around, I still need to place it in the library to exchange for some contribution points."
Lin Zheyu reminded them.
"Haha, of course!"
Qiu Kun and Je Haomiao both laughed as they said this.
They caught the jade scrolls and immediately started to examine them eagerly, their eyes growing brighter and more immersed in the scrolls.
Lin Zheyu and Zong Linjing exchanged a look and smile, not interrupting the two.
"Has Mr. Wa returned yet?"
Lin Zheyu asked.
Upon arriving at Flame Martial City, he wanted to visit Wa Zhengtian, but didn’t find him.
"No."
"The sealing array outside that time-space node was broken, and a Nascent Soul cultivator is needed to stabilize it and eliminate the continuous stream of demon fiends."
"Mr. Wa stayed behind, and Mr. Nie Ping went to support as well."
Zong Linjing spoke softly.
Currently, the danger there is very high, even a Golden Core cultivator faces significant risks of falling.
Therefore, all participants in this operation are cultivators above the Nascent Soul level.
"What about those two Eight-Striped Demon Fiends, were they captured?" Lin Zheyu curiously asked.
"They escaped."
"It’s rumored that powerhouses from the Painful Holy Sect intervened, blocking experts from Buddhism and Great Wei, allowing the two Eight-Striped Demon Fiends to escape successfully."
Zong Linjing said.
"Painful Holy Sect?"
"Why are these people getting involved?"
Lin Zheyu curiously asked.
He once thought that the Sea Race, Barbarian Race, or the Nine Nether Sect and Ancient Demons that took over Great Wei’s entire Southern Barbarians, had resentments with Great Wei.
In the face of demon fiends, they all set aside their grievances with Great Wei.
In fact, the past grievances were more of an interest exchange and military training purpose, rather than any real enmity.
However, this Painful Holy Sect doesn’t seem to be like that.
"The Painful Holy Sect’s doctrine is to enjoy pain and perceive the true meaning of life in a painful death. They are a group of people who thrive on chaos."
"In the two previous incidents, where Eight-Striped Demon Fiends invaded the demon cave through the time-space node, those from the Painful Holy Sect exerted significant effort."