Yun Jin once again reminded herself.
At this point, the plot had already been twisted beyond recognition. Hidden threads, like the outer-realm Demon Soul, were bound to keep emerging unexpectedly. The storyline from the original book could no longer be trusted. It had become completely unreliable.
From now on, she could no longer depend on the plot. The path ahead would have to be forged on her own, step by step.
"This is the Demon Soul of the Devourer Demon God. Then…" Yun Jin paused, then continued her inquiry in her mind, "Does this mean the outer-realm demon race has already pinpointed the location of this world?"
Back then, the Wushuang Sect had paid a steep price to keep the outer-realm demons sealed outside the passage.
If they still ended up being invaded, then those sacrifices would feel unbearably tragic.
The system's mechanical voice responded,
[The remnant soul resides within Yang Yun's body. It has yet to connect with the main body. If the remnant soul fully takes control of Yang Yun, and enough time passes, the Devourer Demon God may be able to sense its location.]
Yun Jin's pupils contracted slightly.
There was a possibility of sensing the remnant soul's location...
Which meant, there was a chance this world could be discovered.
If that happened, and the outer-realm demon race launched a full-scale invasion, then this world would truly be in grave danger.
"How can this remnant soul be removed?" Yun Jin asked again.
She was a little anxious, worried that the system would once more demand a thousand high-level attempts.
Thankfully, this time the system didn't make any additional demands. It simply stated,
[Yang Yun coexists with the Demon Soul. If Yang Yun dies, the Demon Soul will perish.]
Yun Jin narrowed her eyes slightly.
Yang Yun was someone she had planned to kill anyway. If his death meant the Demon Soul would be destroyed too, then it was something she absolutely had to accomplish.
However...
That Demon Soul clearly knew this as well. Just like what happened this time. When Yang Yun encountered a deadly crisis, the Demon Soul appeared and fled with him.
Judging by how the Demon Soul was able to forcibly withstand a sword move from Ji Wusi's master, its strength was undoubtedly formidable.
To eliminate Yang Yun and destroy the Demon Soul, one would have to defeat the soul itself.
So this was...
The real trump card of this world's chosen child of Luck?
A thought crossed Yun Jin's mind, and she asked, "If they're symbiotic, then how can the Demon Soul fully take over Yang Yun's body?"
The system's voice responded once more,
[There is only one possibility. Yang Yun must willingly give up control, choosing to retreat deep into his sea of consciousness and handing his body over to the Demon Soul.]
As she listened, Yun Jin's expression slowly calmed.
Yang Yun, being the child of Luck, was practically a cockroach among cockroaches. He was infamously hard to kill.
For someone like him to surrender control of his own body… that would be nearly impossible.
And even if that day came, it would still take time for the Demon Soul to relay this world's location. By then, she would have enough time to destroy it.
Although she had spent quite a few simplified attempts on this, and it did sting a bit...
The silver lining was that Yang Yun now had no secrets left in front of her.
That Demon Soul…
She wondered whether Ji Wusi's master and the others would be able to catch up to it. If they did, with so many top-tier experts joining forces, they might just be able to bring it down.
But...
Yang Yun was still the male lead.
Yun Jin had a feeling that it wouldn't be that easy.
Two hours later.
Ji Wusi and the others returned to the Tianxing Sect.
Their expressions were grim.
Yun Jin immediately understood.
As expected, the Demon Soul had escaped with Yang Yun.
"That Demon Soul fled with incredible speed," Ji Wusi said, visibly frustrated. "We couldn't catch up. It ran off with Yang Yun."
A Demon Soul and a Demon Sovereign combined...
Eliminating Yang Yun was going to be exceedingly difficult.
Yun Jin glanced at the Luck panel.
Ye Danxia's Luck had now dropped to just 5 points.
That was equivalent to a regular mortal.
And Yang Yun's Luck had plummeted to 54 points.
It had fallen below the passing threshold.
The Demon Soul had shown up and taken him away, yet Yang Yun's Luck had dropped instead.
It seemed that the Demon Soul's arrival might not be such a blessing after all.
Thinking back to the system's explanation...
Yang Yun had feared the Demon Soul. All these years, he'd never allowed it to surface. That was why the Demon Soul never had a chance to gain control over his body. This time, backed into a corner, he had no choice but to release it. But now that it was out, reining it back in would be no simple feat. The Demon Soul had seized a portion of the male lead's Luck, causing Yang Yun's own Luck to drop.
These two were not only symbiotic...
They were actually competitors for the same body.
"There's no need to be too disheartened," Liu Li offered after some thought. "That Demon Sovereign's cultivation has fallen drastically. It will take ten full years to recover. I can tell he's wary of the Demon Soul too. Seems like the two of them will be fighting their own internal battle."
"In that case, forcing the Demon Soul out may not be a bad thing," Qing Yun added.
Ji Wusi sighed. "If it were just a Demon Soul, we wouldn't need to worry. When it saw us earlier, it didn't choose to fight but fled instead. That tells us its strength is below ours. But what worries me is the possibility of a connection between the Demon Soul and the outer-realm demon race. If it exposes this world's location…"
The group fell into silence.
Yun Jin, however, already knew there was no such risk in the short term.
But she couldn't explain how she knew. So she kept quiet.
"We can only do our best," Liu Li murmured after a pause, sighing softly.
They had once believed this world to be relatively peaceful.
Now it seemed...
There were far more hidden dangers lurking in the dark than they'd imagined.
"Xiao Jin. Things here are nearly settled. We need to depart for Qingxiao Pavilion immediately," Ji Wusi said seriously.
He felt a growing sense of unease.
The mysterious liquid.
The Demon Sovereign, the Demon Soul.
And now... Qingxiao Pavilion.
It all felt like a massive web, slowly closing around the entire human realm.
That strange liquid only became ineffective after death.
If Qingxiao Pavilion truly had something to hide, and had managed to keep it secret all this time, then they were most likely connected to it somehow.
This investigation would likely yield nothing.
They couldn't exactly kill everyone in Qingxiao Pavilion just to prove a point.
Still...
Even if it came to nothing, they had to go.
Ji Wusi wanted to see what explanation Lin Xiao would give this time.
Even if Lin Xiao managed to talk his way out of it...
Ji Wusi believed the seed of doubt had already taken root.
The other two Holy Lands would no longer trust Qingxiao Pavilion unconditionally.
After this incident...
He could consider forming deeper alliances with the other two Holy Lands.
They would exclude Qingxiao Pavilion from their circle.
Then, step by step, they would begin chipping away at Qingxiao Pavilion's influence. Because if there really was a problem, and a Holy Land chose to betray them, the consequences would be disastrous.
Of course, Qingxiao Pavilion wouldn't just sit back and let it happen.
As one of the Holy Lands, Qingxiao Pavilion had celestial artifacts that bolstered their sect and drew in Luck.
Unless... a new sect arose within this region. One that rapidly grew in power, suppressed Qingxiao Pavilion's momentum, and stole away its Luck.
Only then could Qingxiao Pavilion truly be brought low.
Ji Wusi's gaze drifted instinctively toward Yun Jin.
In the next moment...
He shook his head inwardly.
He must be losing his mind.
How could he expect the newly founded Wushuang Sect to achieve something like that?
Even if the Wushuang Sect had some foundation, and even if Xiao Jin was blessed with unparalleled talent...
The gap between them and a colossal force like Qingxiao Pavilion was still far too vast.
Ji Wusi sighed again, saying nothing more. In the next breath, he stepped onto his sword and vanished into the sky. The others quickly followed behind.