While Lu Ziqian was speaking with Li Luoqi, all the demonic qi swirling around Yao Ranran had completely merged into her body.
"Hic~"
Yao Ranran let out an unconscious burp.
She felt her entire body brimming with power.
Hearing her voice, Li Luoqi shifted his gaze onto her and was instantly dumbfounded.
"Mmmph! Mmmph!"
He struggled with all his strength, but it was nothing more than futile resistance.
Seeing Yao Ranran's cultivation surging, Lu Ziqian's eyes lit up with joy. He casually released the spirit rope restraining Li Luoqi's throat.
"This is the so-called Fairy you spoke of? What righteous fairy maiden could possibly absorb the demonic qi of the demon race?!"
The moment he opened his mouth, Li Luoqi's words came out as curses.
Both Lu Ziqian and Yao Ranran were stunned for a breath, then Li Luoqi once again lost the right to speak.
"Mmmph! Mmmph!" He had not even rejoiced in his regained voice before his throat was bound again. He glared at Lu Ziqian with eyes that could kill.
Yao Ranran, feeling the boundless power within her, locked eyes with Lu Ziqian in silence for a moment.
"Um…"
"Master…"
Their voices rang out at the same time. Lu Ziqian quickly bowed with respect. "Master, please speak first."
Yao Ranran gazed at the now tranquil and utterly pure Demon Abyss, devoid of even a trace of drifting demonic qi, and a pang of guilt flickered through her heart.
Could it be that she really was a demon cultivator? Wasn't it said that only those of the demon race with the bloodline of ancient Demon Giantss could absorb the pure demonic qi from beneath Demon Abyss? Yet she had absorbed it so easily…
She had even drained it completely. Her nostrils flared and her eyes widened as she stared at the crystal-clear Demon Abyss, now resembling the sacred land of some righteous sect. She held her breath.
"Disciple, I have some doubts…"
"What does Master doubt?" Lu Ziqian asked nervously.
With a solemn expression, Yao Ranran said, "Perhaps my mother was a demon."
Lu Ziqian: "…"
"Why would Master suddenly think such a thing?"
Lu Ziqian stared at her in confusion.
Looking into his pure and guileless eyes, Yao Ranran sighed.
She casually lifted her hand, conjuring a flicker of black flame the size of a fingertip.
"Disciple, look. Is this demonic qi not purer than what Li Luoqi was using?"
Lu Ziqian stared at the tiny flame for a while, then said firmly, "Master, you need not overthink. It is but a small spark."
Boom!
The black flame burned half of Demon Abyss crimson.
A hundred li away, the stationed demon soldiers on both flanks were drawn by the flame piercing into the heavens, staring in shock toward Demon Abyss.
"Could it be that Demon Sovereign has succeeded in drawing out the demonic qi beneath Demon Abyss?"
"With the Demon General and his master present, how could Demon Sovereign possibly succeed?"
"Exactly. If he truly had succeeded, when the time came for us to swear fealty again, do you think he would spare us?"
"…" The demons fell silent.
Inside Demon Abyss.
Lu Ziqian's words were cut short. He bit down on his tongue as he looked at the eerily crimson abyss.
"Master… this disciple is willing to send all demon soldiers under my command to uncover the truth of this matter for you."
His gaze was firm as he looked at Yao Ranran.
Yao Ranran withdrew the black flame that had shaken the heavens and raised her eyes to the azure sky, sinking into thought.
"To think that my identity is so exalted. Once, I believed I was nothing more than an unremarkable illegitimate child."
Lu Ziqian fell silent.
Beside them, even Li Luoqi's eyes cursed at her.
"What nonsense. How could you and I possibly share a source! And you, an illegitimate child of Yu Weifeng, how is that unremarkable? The Xing clan has wanted to kill you for years!"
But Lu Ziqian and Yao Ranran both could not hear the furious insults inside his heart.
Lu Ziqian gazed at Yao Ranran's distant silhouette. His chest tightened with pain, and he said tenderly, "Master, I will uncover your true lineage as swiftly as possible. You are not an illegitimate child. You are the descendant of an ancient Demon Giants!"
Li Luoqi: ???
Yao Ranran froze and turned back, startled. "I am truly the descendant of an ancient Demon Giants?"
"Even if you are not directly descended, Master, this disciple knows that your identity must be inextricably tied to the ancient Demon Giants."
Lu Ziqian looked at her with absolute certainty.
Yao Ranran was stunned.
Her disciple's words… seemed to make sense. From the moment she entered Demon Abyss, it felt strangely familiar, as if she had been here before. Perhaps in her past life she really did have some connection with the ancient Demon Giants.
"Now that Demon Sovereign has been subdued, and his ally Pei Daoyou is gravely wounded and life uncertain, please leave this matter to me. With tens of thousands of demon soldiers under my command, I will surely uncover the truth of Master's lineage!"
Lu Ziqian swore with utmost conviction.
Looking at her disciple, Yao Ranran could not help but show a gratified smile.
"Good. With you here, this master can rest easy."
Lu Ziqian smiled shyly and tightened his grip on his robe.
The Fixed Mirror Spirit, which had just opened its eyes, immediately felt suffocated pain, struggling desperately in his wide palm.
Yao Ranran caught sight of its tiny hand peeking out, and smiled. "Xiang Yin must miss this little fellow. Back in the secret realm, it really gave us quite a hard time."
Lu Ziqian loosened his grip. The Fixed Mirror Spirit plopped into the magma pool, yelped from the heat, and jumped back into his palm.
"Then after I settle the affairs of the Western Sea, I will bring it to visit Miss Tang!"
"Let me go, let me go! I do not want to see her!" The Fixed Mirror Spirit struggled, spitting out several mouthfuls of magma before resigning itself and lying limp in his palm.
Yao Ranran gave her disciple a hesitant look.
This little disciple really liked the Fixed Mirror Spirit…Forget it. The spirit seemed tough enough to survive. For now, she would let him keep it.
"Mm. As for Pei Xianqiao, her foundation has been destroyed. The demonic qi that rescued her was reabsorbed by me. In her final moment of escape, I could feel her tearing a Thousand Li Escape Talisman. Though I failed to catch her, she will never rise again."
Yao Ranran's eyes gleamed with resolve.
She had shown Pei Xianqiao no mercy.
In the instant she drained her qi, she had also used that force to deliver a merciless strike. That single blow was enough to cripple her completely.
"Do not blame me for being ruthless. You are the heroine after all."
She shook her head.
To show mercy to the heroine is cruelty to oneself.
Elsewhere.
Ten thousand li away.
A fisherman hauled a woman from the water.
He pressed a trembling hand beneath her nose. Discovering she still breathed, he immediately rushed her to a physician.
On a bed, Pei Xianqiao slowly opened her eyes, her vision hazy. By her ear, she heard a stranger's voice, broken and heavy.
"Alas. This woman's legs are crippled, her arms destroyed. Once a cultivator, but her dantian is void, her meridians ravaged by devouring demonic qi. For her to have survived at all is already the greatest fortune."
Who was it? Who had suffered such terrible injuries?
Pei Xianqiao's mind drifted aimlessly. She was an alchemist, with millennia-old spirit herbs in her storage ring. If she extended her aid, perhaps this woman might yet be reborn.