"Relax, the demons will not come again," Shen Ying promised. Lonemoon looked up at the gates, which were still visible in the air. He turned around to survey his surroundings, noting that demonic Qi still hung in the air. "Even if they don"t come over, what can we do with this place?" We can"t let this demonic Qi remain around Invincible Sect, right?
Shen Ying frowned. The black fog was indeed a problem. "Why not… I get Little Black here so we can ask him?" I don"t think he got very far.
"Little Black?" Who the h.e.l.l is that? "Wait, what are you doing?"
Lonemoon had barely asked the question when Shen Ying prepared to jump through the gates.
Before Lonemoon could pull Shen Ying back, a bolt of lightning struck down the gates of the demonic realm down from the sky.
There was a loud crash. The gates fell into pieces. Big pieces of black stone fell from the sky but disintegrated into dust just before they touched the ground.
"The gates of the demonic realm… are gone!" Yi Qing exclaimed.
Everyone looked up.
Indeed, there was now a big black abyss where the gates were. The black abyss faded away and soon disappeared together with the gates. All that remained was an overcast sky, which also quickly cleared up. If not for the demonic Qi still surrounding the Invincible Sect, they would have suspected if the gates of the demonic realm really was there in the first place.
"What"s happened? Did the demonic realm destroy this entrance of its own accord?"
There was a look of confusion on everybody"s face. n.o.body knew what actually happened, but everybody was relieved that the gates of the demonic realm were finally gone.
Only Shen Ying was frowning as she looked around in the sky.
That bolt of lightning…
——————
The gates of the demonic realm had been destroyed. There was no entrance into the immortal realm from the demonic realm anymore. That also meant that there was no way to stuff all the demonic Qi surrounding the Invincible Sect back into the demonic realm. This became a problem as there was also insufficient immortal Qi in the Invincible Sect to dissipate the demonic Qi.
Initially, Lonemoon thought about s.h.i.+fting premises. But he soon realised that the huge amount of demonic Qi in the sect was driving his disciples to give the best they had in defending themselves against it so that they do not get injured. Lonemoon saw this as an opportunity for the disciples to unleash their potential and constantly train their skills. Many of the disciples" cultivation levels swelled because of this. even Lonemoon"s cultivation increased because of the defensive arrays he had to set up constantly. Within a few months, he became a Golden Immortal.
That was why he changed his mind about s.h.i.+fting premises. The demonic Qi was a natural Cultivation-Increasing Array. All he had to do was adjust the defensive array around the mountain and lock all of the demonic Qi in, separated from the sect…
This way, they would be able to keep enemies out and keep their training resource in a fixed place. If they had nothing to do, they could enter the demonic Qi and train to increase their cultivation level. This was really a blessing in disguise. Everyone in the sect went from full—on panic mode to being overjoyed.
Only Bao Yi and Bao Feiping were unable to get their moods up. The son (or grandson) that they had spent so much effort trying to rescue became Celestial Emperor Chen Ge overnight. In terms of ident.i.ty and in terms of cultivation level, he far exceeded either of them. They even had a (great-)granddaughter to take care of all of a sudden. All of this was proving to be too much for them to take in.
None of them had the intention to remain at Invincible Sect. When Ning Zi"an had more or less recovered, they suggested that they should take their leave.
Lonemoon politely sent them down the hill. It was obvious that their friends.h.i.+p was not as harmonious as it was before all of this happened, but none of them said anything about it.
"Brother Lonemoon, are you sure you don"t want to come to Jing Xing City with us?" Bao Feiping asked as he studied the ever-present demonic Qi looming over the Invincible Sect. Worriedly, he said, "That is demonic Qi afterall, and we still don"t know if the gates of the demonic realm will re-appear." He, who still did not know what happened in the demonic realm, looked extremely worried.
"Thank you for your kind intentions, City Lord." Lonemoon grinned, "Precisely because the gates of the demonic realm are unstable, my sect is going to remain here." He was mistaken earlier - he did not know that Shen Ying had made such an entrance. His only regret was not letting Shen Ying remain in the demonic realm for a little longer. Such a great opportunity, but she made nothing out of it; what a waste! She called him Father all day, yet she was nothing like him. Sigh!
"Your sect is very n.o.ble indeed!" Bao Feiping completely misunderstood Lonemoon and hence looked at him in sheer respect. He turned around and looked at Ning Zi"an, who had an intimidating aura and a surge of immortal Qi bursting forth from his body. A complex expression crossed Bao Feiping"s face. He glanced at Lonemoon, opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again without saying a word.
"City Lord, feel free to speak your mind," Lonemoon said.
He suddenly grinned. "The matter concerning An… I mean, Celestial Emperor Chen Ge is a huge one. Can I please trouble your sect to… keep it a secret for now? The Celestial Emperor has not regained his full cultivation afterall. He might have to remain with my family for a period of time, and his true ident.i.ty cannot be exposed." He lowered his voice and added, "This is the… Celestial Emperor"s wish. Brother Lonemoon, you should understand."
Lonemoon frowned. He sensed a hint of a threat in Bao Feiping"s final statement which made him unhappy. But looking at Bao Feiping"s worried expression, Lonemoon nevertheless nodded and said, "Don"t worry. Only Shen Ying, Yi Qing and I know of this matter. We will not spread it."
"Thank you, Brother Lonemoon." Bao Feiping finally heaved a huge sigh of relief and said his goodbyes before turning around to join his family.
He bowed toward Ning Zi"an before summoning his flying sword. They flew into the horizon.
Lonemoon felt uncomfortable just looking at them. He could not figure out what the Bao Family was thinking. Were they elated now because they gained a strong backing out of nowhere? Or are they ashamed because they have been taken for a ride by someone of such high authority? Well, this was someone else"s business anyway. He decided not to waste too much time thinking about these things, especially because there would not be much interaction between them in the future.
The male lead could stay far, far away from them.
After the family left, the entire Invincible Sect quickly returned to the regular hustle and bustle. Lonemoon even set up a detailed training plan and watched the disciples train every single day.
Obviously, this training plan bore fruit. In just two years, Yu Hong and Si Yu managed to ascend to become true Earth Immortals. The other disciples were also showing signs of forming immortal bones. Even Bitao seemed to be breaking through to become a Golden Immortal.
Just as the entire sect became focused on ascending to immortality, a piece of surprising news reached them from the capital city.
"Summon?" Shen Ying paused. "What does that mean?"
"It"s from the capital," Lonemoon explained as he held up the red token in his hands. He tossed it over to Yi Qing. "It says we must rush over there within three days."
"Why Chef?"
"How would I know?" Lonemoon was visibly irritated. "This thing flew here on its own. Don"t tell me you didn"t see it."
"Maybe it"s because he"s a sword immortal and he just ascended to become a Stygian Immortal," Bitao guessed. "Chong Zhen is considered one of the stronger countries in the Bei Huang continent. There are not many exalted immortals here. Everyone who ascends to become an exalted immortal will be summoned to the capital at least once. There, the Immortal Emperor will reward you. Fellow Immortal Yi Qing is not an exalted immortal, but he is a sword immortal. That"s as good as an exalted immortal."
"In other words, they"re summoning him there to be rewarded?" Lonemoon hesitated. "Why only now, when he"s already been a Stygian Immortal for two years?"
"Maybe it"s because of the situation with the gates of the demonic realm in Qu Shuang City earlier," Bitao continued. "That"s why they"re only thinking of doing this now."
"Do you want to go?" Shen Ying asked Chef.
Yi Qing frowned. He was not in the least bit interested in claiming this type of reward.
"Of course you must go, Great Immortal!" Bitao looked nervous. "Otherwise, you would be disrespectful to His Majesty. Our sect is located in the lower realm of Chong Zhen. If we anger His Majesty, I"m afraid… nothing good will happen to us."
"…" Shen Ying was clearly annoyed. This is so troublesome! She can"t stay in the house anymore!