Studying demon arts, practicing magic, and enduring the hardships of cultivation—after many years, Xu Xian was finally getting a small taste of it again here in the Demon Abyss.
The demon qi slowly sank into his dantian. Upon meeting the spiritual qi, the two repelled each other and began a fierce struggle.
Spiritual qi and demon qi could not coexist within a single dantian.
Therefore, in theory, if Xu Xian wanted to cultivate demonic paths, he would have to open a second dantian and simultaneously construct a completely new set of meridians.
Xu Xian found this utterly preposterous.
He turned to the Little Book Spirit for help, and the little spirit did not disappoint, providing a solution.
To recreate a dantian and a set of meridians was absolutely impossible at Xu Xian's current level of strength.
Consequently, the only way was to split the existing dantian and meridians in half to use them.
After hearing this, Xu Xian felt it was even more absurd.
"Are you pulling my leg?"
"No, I am very serious!"
While Xu Xian complained, his body was honest, and he began to try again and again. The so-called 'splitting in half' was not a literal physical split.
Instead, it meant drawing demon qi into the body and finding a threshold where the demon qi and spiritual qi could coexist, allowing each to occupy half of the space within the dantian.
Then, he would slowly replicate the balance found in the dantian within the acupoints and meridians.
It was somewhat like Taiji, where Yin and Yang coexist, possessing both hardness and softness.
However, the efficiency was extremely low. Even with the help of the Pupil of Insight, progress was incredibly slow, which inevitably made the youth feel restless.
He was quite anxious, after all, his situation was precarious.
Just now, he had discovered that one of the two presences that had left earlier had returned.
Although it was somewhat far from him this time, it was still detected by the alert Little Book Spirit.
As for which side they belonged to, he couldn't tell. But since one had come, the other side would surely arrive as well.
They might just be further away, beyond the range the Little Book Spirit could probe.
He tried his best to calm his thoughts and focus his mental energy on cultivation to avoid any errors, constantly cautioning himself.
Stay steady.
You can do this.
......
A day's time flew by in the blink of an eye, and the glow of the Nether Pool once again lit up the sky.
In the Crimson Demon Palace, Chi Ji leaned against a window overlooking the lake, her mind heavy with worry.
She had bid farewell to the young man the day before yesterday, and something had happened in the Outer City yesterday.
According to her maidservant, someone had caused a scene in the Outer City right under the noses of the law enforcement squad, laying down a formation that isolated the inside from the outside.
She also said the formation was sinister.
It supposedly couldn't even be shattered by the power of a lesser king stage, causing quite a stir.
The commander-in-chief of the law enforcement squad had personally intervened but failed to catch anyone.
Even the Nether Court was alarmed and ordered the city gates to be sealed.
The Nether Court speculated that a master of formations was planning to cause trouble in the Nether Capital.
Adding to that, the leaked news of a sword strike appearing in the Ze Capital far outside the Nether Capital some time ago led many to link the two incidents together.
The heavenly demons in the Inner City were all on high alert. Even at the various demon god palaces, the guards had been increased significantly compared to usual.
From time to time, demon falcons could be seen circling the sky.
The only exception was the Crimson Demon Palace, where everything remained as normal.
Chi Ji, as one of the few beings who knew some of the truth, was well aware that the commotion was caused by 'Bai Mang'.
She felt relieved that so far, she hadn't heard news of the law enforcement squad catching anyone.
Yet, she was equally worried about Bai Mang's current situation.
The city was sealed; could he still escape?
With such a big stir, would it alert powerhouse-level experts at the demon god level?
And what did the high priest mean by those words!
Did she already know of Bai Mang's existence?
If that were the case, could Bai Mang really get away?
That was the high priest, after all.
She was extremely skilled in divination and star-reading. It was said she could predict the future, so could she deduce Bai Mang's whereabouts?
Chi Ji's mind was in chaos.
She wondered if she hadn't gone to find him in the beginning, would he have avoided being targeted?
If she hadn't let him leave and had instead begged her father to let him serve in the Crimson Demon Guards, would she have been able to protect him?
There was regret.
There was annoyance.
There was irritation.
There was inner conflict.
She couldn't quite explain it herself...
On the other side of the castle, Chi Ming saw his daughter still standing there. He shook his head helplessly and let out a meaningful sigh.
"Sigh..."
She had been standing there since noon; nearly half a day had passed.
A young girl's heart was not hard to guess, especially since he was her father.
Chi Ming knew well that his daughter had likely developed feelings she shouldn't have.
It was within reason and expected.
The nature of living beings was like this; affection was no different from joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness—it was innate.
Chi Ji was still young. She had only been in this world for a few decades.
Naturally, she could not see through the red dust and remain free of desires.
Having stayed in the Demon Abyss all her life, she had secretly slipped out this time and encountered several life-threatening dangers.
In such a moment, if a member of the opposite sex stood before her, protected her, and shared life and death with her—especially if that person had a handsome face, talent, and strength...
Falling in love was normal.
Not falling in love would be abnormal.
It was like a destitute scholar meeting a noble lady during a time of cold and hunger, who then gave him a few buns and a smile.
From then on, he would cherish that admiration for a lifetime, unable to avoid it.
He could understand, but he knew in his heart, and Chi Ji knew in hers.
Between them, it was destined to be impossible.
A father could not control what she thought, as long as she didn't cross any lines. The tribulation of love could only be crossed by oneself.
Yearning for what one cannot have is a normal part of life.
She truly needed to experience some things and grow up.
Late that night, when the light from the Nether Pool was at its brightest.
However, in the slums outside the Outer City, the scenery was quite different.
The light from the nether water could not reach here. The sparse plants and trees faded away, and the world was darker than ever before.
In certain places behind walls or inside houses, it was so dark one couldn't see their own hand.
Fortunately, whenever it was like this, the wandering people in the slums would leave the area outside the Outer City and go to the most prosperous parts of the city—either to perform on the streets, beg in the alleys, or simply because they could enjoy the brightness of the Nether Pool there...
The world was strangely quiet; not even the chirp of an insect could be heard.
In such an environment, any sound would be infinitely amplified.
Xu Xian was still practicing demon arts, unwilling to rest for even a moment, when there was a sudden movement outside the courtyard.
A set of footsteps, slow and light, was approaching the yard.
Xu Xian was alert, but the Little Book Spirit sitting at the door had no reaction at all.
Through visual sharing.
In the dark night, a small, tottering figure dressed in rags was walking aimlessly on the incredibly muddy road.
In this area.
Wandering children like this were simply too numerous.
Xu Xian didn't care, and the Little Book Spirit didn't care either.
The figure approached the small yard and reached the gate, then suddenly collapsed forward.
As luck would have it, its head hit the door with a loud 'thump'.
The already dilapidated door creaked and groaned.
On the wall, the Little Book Spirit tilted its head. Xu Xian also stopped his cultivation and opened his eyes.
Knitting his brows, his thoughts became a jumble.
He stood up, crossed the yard, and opened the door.
The darkness remained, and the figure was blurry. The youth looked down and, by the extremely faint light from the distant sky, he saw her struggle to lift her head and tremblingly reach out her hand...
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