Chapter 772 – Nine Lands’ Current Situation

　　Yan Tianhen said, “There’s no need to watch what happens next. Master’s soul scattered, while I completely betrayed Spirit Sect and became an evil Qi cultivator. On one hand, in the name of evil Qi cultivators, I took in those evil Qi cultivators who originally belonged to Sheng Ren under my command. I took the opportunity to suppress their power, absorb their evil Qi, and enhance my own strength. On the other hand, I struggled on the road of being chased and actively killing — you know that.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi said softly, “Okay, then we won’t look.”

　　They had already obtained the ultimate method to destroy evil Qi. And they didn’t know what happened to the Nine Lands while they were away. Every time they were in the evil spirit array, earth shaking changes would’ve taken place outside.

　　Yan Tianhen asked, “Dage, do you understand the method that Master left us?”

　　“The method that not even Master used ten thousand years ago.”

　　Yan Tianhen sighed. “It is indeed a feasible way to ignite all the Sparrow Spirits in the Nine Lands at the same time, so that the spiritual Qi can be released in a high degree of concentration and devour the evil Qi, but what about after that? Who knows what will be waiting for us? The Nine Lands just might be destroyed after we do that.”

　　“So it’s a method that gambles with one’s life.” Lin Xuanzhi said mildly, “Back then, Dao Zu ultimately never chose this method. He would rather exhaust his efforts to plan and scheme instead. Although the Ghost King also stated clearly that ten thousand years after the Spirit Sect era, the amount of sparrow spirits would’ve been consumed to a safe quantity, and the Nine Lands should be able to achieve a balance during the explosion instead of being destroyed by the explosion, but in the end, this is still an uncertain variable.”

　　No one dared to casually gamble on this.

　　If they win, everyone would be happy. If they lose, they will never have a chance to make a comeback again. They absolutely wouldn’t use this method except as a last resort.

　　Therefore, Yan Tianhen and Lin Xuanzhi finally decided to go outside to see the situation first.

　　The evil spirit array didn’t deliberately trap the two. When Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen were looking for the exit of the evil spirit array, a scroll flew from the direction of Spirit Sect, while flashing a golden light with a familiar aura.

　　Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen were enshrouded in the golden light and instantly broke away from the shapes of bee and butterfly given to them by the evil spirit array, recovering their original bodies.

　　Before they had time to be surprised, a man in green robes faintly appeared in front of them.

　　Gu Qingchen narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at the two uninvited guests.

　　When Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen saw this person, they shouted “Master”, then knelt down at the same time and saluted him.

　　This was probably just Gu Qingchen’s residual consciousness, not even divine consciousness.

　　Gu Qingchen said, “So you came here, in the end.”

　　Gu Qingchen was taken aback. “Ah Man?”

　　Yan Tianhen said, “Sheng Ren didn’t die after you beat him into the dark abyss. Now he is making a comeback. Moreover, he is still making waves in the Nine Lands to harm the common people. After the collapse of the Jianmu tree, nobody in the Nine Lands was able to reach Sky Realm anymore. Therefore, we are no match for Sheng Ren now. I hope Master can give us some advice if he has anything.”

　　Gu Qingchen pondered for a moment. “So he didn’t actually die ah. It’s my negligence.”

　　Then he said, “I’ve put all my methods into that scroll. I only predicted that in ten thousand years, an old acquaintance would return here and evil Qi cultivators would make a comeback, but I didn’t foresee that the evil spirit would actually be Ah Man.

　　“Ah Man is a person who would rather drag others down with him in mutual destruction than admit defeat. If you fight against him, and can’t kill him with one blow, you must be prepared for his crazed retaliation. Therefore, I suggest you directly use the sparrow spirits.”

　　Yan Tianhen eyes. “I’ll have a look again.”

　　Gu Qingchen said, “You can go outside and see what the world has become. It’s most likely devastated and messy. You’d better make a decision as soon as possible.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi nodded and said, “Thank you Master, for your guidance.”

　　Gu Qingchen smiled. “There’s another method. You two can stay in this world of the evil spirit array. After all, the world of the evil spirit array is in another space. Without my approval, no one can find this place. After all, it’s safe here. The Nine Lands owes you too much. You owe nothing to the Nine Lands.”

　　“That won’t work ah.” Yan Tianhen also smiled. He shrugged and said, “Although I want to live in seclusion with my Dage, I have to kill the fellow who disturbed us first. Master, I’m not alone now. I still have many friends and relatives outside, so I can’t leave them alone.”

　　Gu Qingchen remarked, “It seems that you’re doing well.”

　　Yan Tianhen said solemnly, “Master, it was all because you asked for a favor from the Ghost King for me that I was able to live till this day. I’ll never forget your great kindness and virtue.”

　　Gu Qingchen gently waved his sleeve. “Don’t take it to heart. In the end, it’s also your own meritorious acts.”

　　Gu Qingchen narrowed his eyes again, as if feeling some nostalgia. “The Ghost King ah, I haven’t seen him for a long time, and I don’t know how he is now… Has the Ghost King ever been here after I died?”

　　Yan Tianhen nodded. “Of course he has. I don’t know where the Ghost King got the news. He came here as soon as you died. Originally, I thought he came to seek revenge, but he just looked at your corpse, called you a liar twice, and left.”

　　Gu Qingchen curled his lips. “He came to take my soul. The Ghost King has always been the one to trick others whenever he makes deals. Unexpectedly, he has been tricked by me this time.”

　　“But after that, it seemed that the Ghost King never came to the Nine Lands again,” Lin Xuanzhi said.

　　Gu Qingchen said, “He’s probably become an immortal now.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi felt that Gu Qingchen was inexplicably lonely, yet also seemed somewhat relieved. This was just a touch of a soul’s consciousness. This Gu Qingchen probably didn’t know much about many things and maybe didn’t even remember.

　　He just solemnly handed the scroll to them, and then slowly disappeared into the hazy mist. With this, even the evil spirit array became blurred.

　　“Leave quickly. The evil spirit array has been considered broken. From now on, the Twelve Evil Spirit Temples will be officially closed, and no one will be able to enter anymore.” Gu Qingchen’s voice was ethereal and intermittent, “I wish you success in all your future endeavors.”

　　Then there was a rumble around them.

　　Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen only felt that their feet were shaking and their bodies were sinking. In about a stick of incense’s worth of time, light suddenly shone onto their eyes, and their feet were back on solid ground.

　　The familiar and unfamiliar smell rushed into their nostrils. Before Lin Xuanzhi had time to speak, he saw a demonic beast attacking him. He suddenly raised his hand and cut the monster in half.

　　The lights came on little by little. In the main hall, headed by Sword Saint Tianshu, he and his disciples were constantly fighting against the demonic beasts that had been corrupted by evil Qi, and the corpses had piled on the ground.

　　Seeing Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen, who came out safely from the evil spirit array, Sword Saint Tianshu sighed with relief. “You’ve finally come out. I thought I’d never get to see this day!”

　　Lin Xuanzhi looked at the candlelight lit in the hall and the world without light outside the window. “What’s going on?”

　　Yan Tianhen cleaned up the demonic beasts and found that his cultivation seemed to have increased a lot.

　　Sword Saint Tianshu wiped his face and sighed. “You’ve already been in the evil spirit array for three months. You’re lucky you were not outside. Right now, we haven’t seen the sun in the Nine Lands for two months. The nine evil dragons have completely covered the sun. The more concentrated in spiritual Qi a place is, the higher the number of evil spirits that appeared there. If the East Sovereign hadn’t been in charge of the East Lands, I’m afraid it would have been completely conquered by evil creatures.”

　　Yan Tianhen hurriedly asked, “Where are my parents? Are they all right?”

　　Sword Saint Tianshu narrowed his eyes. “Naturally, they are still alive. Demon Venerable You Ming has gone to the Demon World and joined the other two Demon Venerables to fight against evil creatures. Right now, not only we humans, but the demons have also joined the fight against evil creatures. After all, these demons also depend on sparrow spirits to cultivate ah.”

　　While they were talking, dozens of evil creatures rushed into the hall. Although the cultivation of these evil creatures wasn’t high, the number wasn’t small. They came in endless waves, which was enough to make people despair.

　　Sword Saint Tianshu asked, “Have you found a way?”

　　Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen looked at each other and answered simultaneously, “We found it.”

　　Sword Saint Tianshu was overjoyed, immediately saying, “Esteemed Lan Yue is still in Myriad Dao Academy. Please follow me to see him. He’s been waiting for you guys for a long time.”

　　The two went to see him immediately with Sword Saint Tianshu.

　　Esteemed Lan Yue was sitting in the rear to command the battle and prevent those evil creatures from invading Myriad Dao Academy. Along the way, they could see dead sect disciples and human beings polluted by evil Qi. The disciples were divided into teams fighting those evil creatures numbly.

　　“–At the beginning, the disciples were not like this.” Sword Saint Tianshu couldn’t bear it and said, “Well, at first it was fear. Those evil creatures came out of all parts of the Nine Lands overnight. The disciples panicked and ran around in fear. Then they soon found that it was useless to escape, so they raised their swords to fight these evil creatures. After a while, they found that these evil creatures could not be killed no matter what, so they gradually became numb. In fact, most people in the Nine Lands are like this.”

　　“In a mere three months, only half of the disciples of the sect are left.” Sword Saint Tianshu’s eyes were red.

　　“Many people had fallen, and some even committed suicide. The whole Nine Lands are like this. This can be regarded as a real hell on earth. After all, we haven’t seen the sun for so long. Half of the sparrow spirits had already disappeared, but Tu Feng, the culprit, hasn’t appeared yet. None of us have seen him. Just terrifying is he? I shudder to even think about it.”

　　During the conversation, they came to a huge pine at the foot of the astrological platform. Esteemed Lan Yue half narrowed his eyes and placed a go board in front of him, which was densely arranged with pieces. These black and white pieces moved on the board without anyone’s control.

　　The white pieces were swallowed, and the black pieces surrounded them.

　　Esteemed Lan Yue opened his eyes. “You’re back.”

　　Yan Tianhen nodded. “We found a way.”

　　Esteemed Lan Yue showed a rare expression of pleasant surprise. He stood up and said, “Quickly, tell me about it.”

　　Yan Tianhen handed the scroll to Esteemed Lan Yue. “This is a last resort, but in this current situation, I think it’s worth it.”