Chapter 73: This Absurd Turn of Events

Just as Lu Ming and Mu Boyun were returning to their tent, they happened to witness a scene: a young woman in a scarlet dress stood motionless, gazing at the man before her, allowing him to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear. The man, clad in a long, dark robe, turned around with an open, gentle smile—his warmth unmistakable. The woman beside him lowered her head, her demeanor seemingly shy and demure.

Lu Ming touched his nose thoughtfully and murmured, “So our little junior sister is fond of such men, is she?”

Next to him, Mu Boyun’s expression was inscrutable. He pressed his lips together and replied coolly, “Hmm. Let’s go.”

With her line of sight blocked and her head lowered, Ji Yao naturally didn’t notice the two passing by in the distance. In truth, she was bowing her head to hide the roll of her eyes she could barely suppress.

So what if it was a legacy? Did he really think she was desperate to enter this secret realm? How could he judge others’ hearts by his own narrow suspicions?

Dongfang Shun’s upbringing had shaped him into someone prone to overthinking; he approached everything with caution and clear purpose, and he could not tolerate betrayal from those he trusted.

Fortunately, Ji Yao had never coveted his fortuitous opportunity. Otherwise, given the secret she’d overheard at the very beginning, the two of them would have been destined for a fight to the death.

When Dongfang Shun sent that secret voice transmission, Ji Yao’s immediate response had been a sharp retort: “You haven’t even claimed your legacy yet! How do you know someone else would want it? Why don’t you try one of those talismans I just gave you before saying that again!”

The atmosphere between the two was far from the ambiguous scene outsiders imagined. They simply had their own secrets, each hiding their true intentions.

Although Dongfang Shun wore a smile, his heart was far from calm—he was starting to regret it. Had he been dazzled by beauty?

He’d seen too many faces, all smiles and ulterior motives, crowding around him. In that brief moment of distraction, he seemed to have confused one face with another and blurted out those words. But after seeing the clear, cold look in Ji Yao’s eyes, he realized: she had never once coveted what he possessed, and in fact, avoided him as though he were a plague.

Even when they’d formed their alliance, the feelings she held for him seemed tinged with an almost imperceptible trace of pity—for him, and perhaps for herself as well. How could this be?

Did she, too, have an unspeakable past? With this thought, Dongfang Shun felt as if he understood something at last.

His consciousness entered his storage space, where he gazed at the talismans so different from those of his own school, his mind swirling with thoughts, his resolve to ally with Ji Yao growing ever stronger.

Ji Yao would never know how much Dongfang Shun had speculated in just that short time. Yet even if she did, she would hardly care.

If she could, she would have flung a scornful phrase at him: “How can you talk to a summer insect about ice?”

After Ji Yao’s sharp rebuke, Dongfang Shun obediently began to recount a truly exasperating story.

Among the founders of the Heavenly Evolution Trial Grounds, there had been a sword cultivator with a celestial spiritual root. Because he had shed too much blood, his sword-heart was unsteady, and he feared being consumed by inner demons and perishing under heavenly tribulation. So, he secretly placed his entire swordsmanship legacy within the trial grounds for the Qi Refining stage.

He hoped that a fated person would find and inherit his legacy within the trial, carrying on his sword path. Why didn’t he simply take a disciple outside? No one knows.

Thus, all this time, no one had ever obtained it, and the legacy remained to this day. The secret treasure Dongfang Shun inherited was precisely what that sword cultivator had left behind, which was why he knew so much about it.

The sword cultivator had hidden the legacy from the other founders, acting alone and using his own ultimate sword technique to breach the trial’s defenses. Though his control was exquisite, a breach is a breach, however small—a flaw remained. He later only patched the exterior, never considering that changes might arise within.

Ultimately, the sword cultivator severed his inner demons through the art of slaying the three selves and ascended, but in doing so, he left his inner demon behind in the cultivation world. The pure-blooded demon race was born of that desire and demonic energy.

Because the obsession of this inner demon was so deep, or perhaps because it had grown too powerful, the legacy itself retained the memory of it. This explained the problems at the demon altar: at the very least, they knew there was a flaw in the secret realm.

Thus, it was no surprise that demonic cultivators would exploit this for their own ends—after all, the demon race had already appeared in the Mican Realm.

“So, you deduced the reason for the secret realm’s corruption from the very start?” Ji Yao remained seated beside Dongfang Shun, communicating by voice transmission.

Dongfang Shun looked at her innocently. “No, I didn’t know before I arrived. It was only after hearing about the demon altar here that I guessed the truth.”

Of course. The matter of the demon altar had been kept secret from disciples by all the major sects.

Ji Yao asked again, “Is there any way to resolve this?”

“No.” Dongfang Shun’s answer drew a glare from Ji Yao, which to outsiders looked like a coquettish scolding.

“To be precise, there’s no way to solve it completely. The only option is to extract the legacy entirely, to prevent things from getting worse. For the demons can draw on this hidden power in the secret realm, widening the breach from within.”

Dongfang Shun glanced at Ji Yao and continued, “Once the breach inside expands so far that the upper-level beasts are no longer constrained by the rules and can appear at will, the collapse of the secret realm won’t be far off…”

He didn’t need to spell out the rest; Ji Yao could imagine it herself. Unless the issue of the Enlightenment Grass for Foundation Establishment Pills was resolved, the secret realm simply couldn’t be allowed to collapse.

Otherwise, with the current environment of the cultivation world, whether Enlightenment Grass could still survive at all would be in doubt. If it disappeared overnight—what then? Ji Yao dared not even think about it.

“No, this is no longer just our decision to make. If the sky is about to fall, those taller than us need to know. We must report this to the sect.”

The moment she finished, Ji Yao stood up. She could think of no better solution and certainly couldn’t guarantee that she’d be able to do as Situ Jing suggested—turning the tide with just a few talismans, sheltering everyone by her strength alone. The responsibility was far too great for her to bear.

She had never imagined herself as a savior. Even if there were to be one, surely that role belonged to the male protagonist blessed with a protagonist’s aura.

A hand seized her wrist. Ji Yao looked down to see Dongfang Shun’s resolute face, his eyes pleading in a way that didn’t quite match his expression.

If this man was the story’s hero, then from the moment he shared his first secret with her, Ji Yao had been dragged into the plot. Now she could be certain—someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes.

She was already entangled; there was no easy escape. Dongfang Shun could have kept all this from her, but since he’d told her, the choice was now hers. Ji Yao hated being put in such impossible situations.

If she sabotaged the hero’s growth, would she be forced to take that role herself? Her heart was certainly not that big.

“Fine. Since I’ve promised you, I won’t go back on my word!” Ji Yao declared aloud, making sure everyone who needed to hear it, did.

As for their voice transmissions, neither of them worried about eavesdroppers—after all, they came equipped with their own advantages.

Ji Yao sighed softly and sat back down. Situ Jing was still busy handling the Five-Color Stone Formation Disk for her, so she couldn’t be disturbed—not unless her life was truly in danger. It was simply exhausting.

“Hey! Let go of my hand, will you? Don’t push your luck!” Ji Yao’s voice transmission was tinged with frustration and gritted teeth.

Dongfang Shun was still the same as ever. “I knew it—Yao-mei is always the best in my heart.”

So that fleeting vulnerability in his eyes must have been her mistake. Just as Dongfang Shun released her wrist, he let a slender finger trail down her arm and gently scratched her palm.

Dongfang Shun, are you looking for trouble?! Ji Yao immediately pinched his cheek, channeling her spiritual power, and gave it a full three-hundred-sixty-degree twist.

“Ow—ow, that hurts!” Dongfang Shun’s cheek instantly turned bright red.

Everyone observing frowned in unison.

Even a certain poker-faced individual unwittingly furrowed his brow ever so slightly.