In front of that shimmering curtain of rain, Chi Ming stood straight beside Jin Qing with his hands behind his back.
He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and asked tentatively, "The High Priest seems very confident?"
Jin Qing turned her gaze back for a moment and gave a charming smile.
"I only know that what I see with my own eyes is the truth, and the truth requires testing."
Chi Ming said in a raspy voice, "Five months... High Priest, don't you think you are being too impatient?"
"Perhaps," Jin Qing replied.
Chi Ming's eyes shone brightly as he stared at the synchronized illusion within the rain curtain, his tone intriguing.
"I hope you are right. Otherwise, after making such a huge commotion, I'm afraid it won't be as easy to settle as it was in the past."
Jin Qing's expression relaxed slightly, and she spoke with ease.
"Wouldn't that be for the best? There would be even more people supporting you in the future, wouldn't there?"
Chi Ming gave her a deep look but did not respond again.
This was a misunderstanding, as prejudices in the human heart are like a great mountain.
However, he felt that Jin Qing shouldn't fail to understand his position.
He had always dealt with matters objectively without personal bias. If she truly couldn't see even this, then her position as High Priest was indeed somewhat in name only.
Chi Ming remained silent.
Jin Qing's brow furrowed slightly.
The rain curtain continued, and the image never froze.
In truth, she didn't know if this would succeed either.
She had never denied that she was being a bit impatient.
But she did it anyway.
When they were in that small courtyard, Bai Mang had personally told her that within a year, he would definitely let her see nether fire.
It was precisely because of this that she had stepped in to mediate and protect Bai Mang.
Even though there were still seven months left until the agreed date.
Even though she and he hadn't mentioned a single word about it since then.
But Jin Qing knew that even if Bai Mang truly manifested nether fire, he wouldn't admit it.
He certainly wouldn't expose it. Not just him, but any normal person would do the same.
For some, nether fire was hope, but for others, it was destruction.
Given Bai Mang's personality, he would never place his hope for survival in the hands of others.
He wouldn't trust her, just as she herself wasn't entirely sure if she could protect him fully.
It was just that some things needed to be done by someone. If there was an illness, it had to be treated, even if the medicine was bitter.
As for why she made such a huge commotion and kept everyone in the dark...
It was simply to make the performance more realistic.
After all, she knew that Bai Mang was very good at acting... she had even experienced it personally.
However, her heart remained unsettled. Much like Qingmu and Chi Ji, she felt that something was strange. It was all too smooth.
Bai Mang seemed to have chosen to accept all of this readily.
He hadn't resisted at all throughout the process, and he hadn't even used the teleportation formation he had left in the city.
It was as if he had already seen through everything, even though she had privately deduced the plan countless times.
To be honest, she felt quite a sense of frustration regarding this.
Yet she was also relieved by the youth's keenness and alertness.
Wasn't this telling her that her judgment was correct?
She was right, but she couldn't guarantee whether Bai Mang would make some bizarre response next.
Her gaze shifted as she murmured secretly to herself.
"Even if you are bold, you shouldn't go as far as to joke with your own life and death, right?"
She always believed Bai Mang was a smart man, and smart men do not gamble with their lives.
...
In the center of the Nether Pool, Xu Xian had been carried the whole way, and his shouting hadn't stopped for a moment.
"Who are you?"
"Why are you trying to harm me?"
"If you let me go, I can give you a lot of money!"
"Do you know who I am?"
"If you hurt me, those demon gods won't let you off!"
"..."
If Chi Ji were there and heard Xu Xian's shouting, she would have certainly felt a sense of deja vu.
It could be said that Xu Xian was completely replicating the words Chi Ji had shouted when she was captured, even using the exact same tone and expression.
It made the Small Priest's head ache.
In their eyes, Bai Mang was like a child, childish to the extreme.
A sister's attempt to test such a person was excessive. Scaring him wouldn't be as effective as giving him a piece of candy.
The demon gods watching from hundreds of miles away couldn't help but furrow their brows with strange expressions.
They also felt that today's Bai Mang was somewhat unfamiliar.
He lacked the arrogance he had shown in the Demon God Hall that day.
Although it was reasonable for a person's mindset to change when facing a life-and-death crisis, even exposing their most primitive and weak nature.
But they still felt that Bai Mang's reaction was a bit abnormal.
It was as if...
He was performing!
They subconsciously cast their gazes toward the High Priest in front of them with heavy scrutiny and deep thought.
They suspected whether this woman was once again colluding with him to put on a show and fool them.
It wasn't impossible.
Perhaps they were just overthinking things.
......
Deep within the Nether Pool, the black-clad figure stopped mid-air in the rain.
Xu Xian's face gradually grew bitter. The Nether Pool beneath him was like a giant abyss beast, staring at him greedily, wanting to swallow him into its belly at any moment.
A massive suction force continuously dragged at his physical body.
His entire body became very heavy, weighing thousands of pounds. Even his internal organs were under immense pressure, as if they had grown heavier.
This forced him to act while simultaneously resisting the force, all while driving his cultivation to protect his meridians.
'Simulation Art: Truth in Falsehood.'
It could deceive the eyes and divine sense of a demon god, but it ultimately couldn't deceive this ancient Nether Pool and the Ruoshui originating from the Thirty-Third Heaven.
Xu Xian didn't want to think about anything else now. He just hoped this woman would hurry up and throw him into the water, no matter how harsh her words were.
The black-clad figure's eyes were cold as she said indifferently, "Has anyone ever told you that you are very talkative?"
Xu Xian grit his teeth and said provocatively, "Cut the nonsense. Either let me go, or your whole family will be buried with me!"
"At death's door and still talking tough?"
Xu Xian snorted coldly. "Who exactly are you people? Do you dare let me die with some understanding?"
The corner of the mouth under the black-clad figure's mask rose inadvertently as she said wickedly, "Fine, I'll let you be a ghost who knows the truth. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for offending the heavenly demon race. Remember that in your next life, be a better person. The Demon Abyss will always belong to the heavenly demon race."
Xu Xian pretended to have a sudden realization. "I knew it!"
Far away, the demon gods' expressions couldn't have been uglier. Although she was speaking the truth and they undeniably thought the same way...
Saying it out loud like that made it seem like the heavenly demon race were the big villains of the Demon Abyss.
This feeling was very uncomfortable.
The black-clad figure looked at the Nether Pool below and said deliberately, "This Nether Pool cannot be crossed by anyone below the ninth rank. You will be trapped here, slowly dying, feeling your life slip away until finally, you sink into the nether water and turn into it. You will drift along the Nether River until you eventually fall into the Demon Void. This is the punishment of the heavenly demon race for you."
Xu Xian wanted to mock her one more time, but halfway through his sentence, the black-clad figure released her hand.
The youth's body smashed down like a meteorite, falling at an extremely fast speed.
With the wind howling in his ears, Xu Xian didn't dare delay.
He threw out a golden talisman to set up a formation, took out his mecha, summoned the Sword Tower, drew his sword, and dove into the mecha...
He did it all in one smooth motion.
Everything was as fluid as flowing water.
Finally, he didn't forget to shout, "I'll be back...!"
With a loud splash, he hit the water.
Glug, glug!
Glug, glug, glug!
Glug, glug, glug, glug...
The black-clad figure first gave a disdainful click of her tongue, but then sensed something was wrong.
She stared fixedly at the bubbling surface of the water, looking again and again.
Her brow furrowed deeper and deeper. "Where is he?"
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