"Begin!" Shen Ying hurried the demon. She wanted to go home to eat! The Demon King wasted no time talking nonsense. He immediately conjured a seal. Ning Zi"an"s expression changed and he looked as if he wanted to find somewhere to escape to. Just as he turned to run, an extreme pain shot through his entire body, forcing him to fall to his knees. He began to cramp up all over until he was rolled up into a ball. The black Qi surrounded his body and something floated out of him.
The Demon King stepped forward and reached out, pulling a ball of something out of Ning Zi"an"s body. In his hand, he held a ball of something black with bits of red.
The black demonic scars on Ning Zi"an"s face were now completely gone. His aura was much weaker than it was just moments before, and he looked extremely pale. He began to cough out blood. Shen Ying noticed that he no longer had the thick Immortal Qi surrounding his body like he did before.
"Thank you…" He gathered just enough strength to look up and made eye contact with the Demon King… Frowning, he glanced instead at Shen Ying. "Thank you, Sect Master Shen, for your help."
Shen Ying did not respond. She studied the ball of black and red in the Demon King"s hand and asked, "What do we do with that? Burn it?"
Ning Zi"an"s face whitened even more, but he did not speak.
"Great Immortal…" The Demon King said in a low voice. "This demon has already become one with the child"s mental demons. It"s practically a part of his body. If you destroy it, the boy will surely die as well."
"Oh…" Shen Ying nodded. That means that the child has grown an extra but separate body part. If we kill that body part, the child dies as well. The way this world is designed is so strange. "Is there any other solution?"
"Sect Master Shen, don"t worry," Ning Zi"an wheezed. He sucked in a deep breath and got to his feet. "Give me this thing and let me handle it."
As he said this, he moved to receive the ball of black Qi and summoned an array. He muttered some sort of course under his breath. In seconds, golden light rays shot out from his body and countless talismans flew into the ball.
"The Rebirth Seal?" the Demon King muttered in shock, frowning. He watched as Ning Zi"an retrieved a golden lotus flower and pushed it into the ball of black Qi. "The Heart-Cleansing Lotus. So that"s why!"
"Hey, explain." Shen Ying nudged the Demon King. She was the only one who did not understand what she was seeing.
"Great Immortal…" The Demon King recovered himself and began to explain, "He used the Heart-Cleansing Lotus to cast the Rebirth Seal and send his mental demons that are now outside of his body into reincarnation. This way, he would be able to use the power of the reincarnation to purify and suffocate these mental demons. The Heart-Clearing Lotus is also an immortal treasure which can rid any evil thoughts and intentions. In other words, after reincarnating, he would not be able to become a demon."
"Oh…" She did not really understand.
But in the next moment, they saw the ball of black Qi slowly begin to merge with the Heart-Cleansing Lotus. Very quickly, it started to condense and take shape. A minute later, the black Qi and lotus flower were both gone. In their place was an infant who was in a deep sleep.
Whoa, that"s some high-level skill!
Shen Ying"s eyes widened. Ning Zi"an exerted a great effort to carry the baby up from the floor. Looking at her, he said, "She will not remember anything that has happened before. She only has to go through three more rebirths before she can become a true human and cut off any form of connection with me. When we return to the immortal realm later on, I will personally send her into the Azure World."
Shen Ying stepped forward and studied the baby. It was then that she realised the infant was a female, and there was a red lotus flower birthmark on her forehead. Shen Ying pursed her lips. Was this rebirth technique imported from Thailand? Why did it have the power to change its gender?
"Since we"re done here, we should head back. Let"s go!" Shen Ying pointed toward the still open gates. She walked forward a couple of steps and realised that the stupid child was not following her. "What else?"
"Sect Master Shen, I have settled my problem, but the gates of the demonic realm remain open." Ning Zi"an frowned even more deeply. He turned around and looked cautiously at the Demon King standing behind him. "I don"t know how you are related to the demons here or what kind of deal you struck with them, but these demons have always looked down on the immortal realm. We will not let them roam around so easily."
"…"
"Child, you watch your mouth," The Demon King shouted, jumping up before Shen Ying could say anything in response. The Demon King was trembling. "Who looked down on you? And who wants to go into the immortal realm? I don"t care for it!" Don"t spout nonsense in front of the Great Immortal. I helped you after all. You"re repaying my kindness with evil. Just wait and see - I will fix you!
He immediately changed his expression to a pitiful one and looked at Shen Ying, saying very seriously, "Great Immortal, I really, really, really, really don"t have plans to invade the immortal realm. Don"t you worry. I promise that I will instruct the demons never to walk through those gates. Whoever walks through them… will have his legs cut off! Please trust me…"
"Oh…" Shen Ying did not care at all about what the Demon King had to say. She patted his shoulder and said, "I believe you!"
"Great Immortal…" The Demon King heaved a sigh of relief. His boot-licking skills were still coming in handy.
"Great Immortal Shen!" Ning Zi"an was shocked. He was clearly dissatisfied. How can demons be trusted? He was just about to persuade Shen Ying further when…
Shen Ying grabbed his shoulder and said, "Alright! Let"s go back!"
"Great Immortal, take care!"
Shen Ying walked out of the gates of the demonic realm, turned around and said, "Oh yes, I forgot to tell you. I"m going to close these gates."
The Demon King: "…"
You said you believed me?
Is this a threat? This is most definitely a threat!
——————
When Shen Ying stepped out of the gates, she felt a significant drop in the demonic Qi around her. Ning Zi"an, on the other hand, had spent too long in the demonic realm and was still weak from conjuring the Rebirth Seal. Before he could step out of the demonic realm, he pa.s.sed out.
Shen Ying had no other choice but to support his weight with one arm and carry the infant with the other. That was how she exited the demonic realm.
"Master." Yi Qing was the first to receive her. As she walked closer, he stopped and stared at the baby. "This is…" Where did this infant come from?
Bao Yi, Bao Feiping and the other disciples from the Bao Family began to gather around her.
"Little An!" Bao Yi carried Ning Zi"an over, relieving Shen Ying of his weight. He studied Ning Zi"an"s meridians very carefully, then finally heaved a sigh of relief. Then, he noticed the infant in Shen Ying"s arms. "Sect Master Shen, this child is?"
He saw two people enter the demonic realm, but why were there three of them now?
Shen Ying immediately handed the female baby infant over to Bao Feiping, who was forced to carry her. "Your granddaughter!"
Bao Feiping: "…"
Bao Yi: "…"
Granddaughter? Little An is only eight!
Could they at least ask who gave birth to the child?
"Is it settled?" Lonemoon asked, stepping forward.
"Yes!" Shen Ying nodded.
"Where did you go? What happened inside?"
"Nothing much, I just went to visit the Demon King."
"The Demon King"s Palace!" Lonemoon exclaimed. Everybody around him turned to look at the group. "You… saw the Demon King?"
"Yes!" She nodded casually. "He looks very much like Rabbit."
Rabbit?
Lonemoon paused. She"s not referring to the Rabbit Monarch, is she?
Er… Suddenly, he did not want to ask any further. What exactly did she have over demons?