He needs to know exactly what happened!
Fu Mingxu didn't linger. He took out his flying boat and, with full power, arrived at Tianxuan Sect an hour and a half later.
The Tianxuan Sect, which had been closed due to the incident involving True Monarch Fengyou, opened its gates wide, and disciples came and went in an endless stream. He did not enter the Tianxuan Sect immediately, but instead sent Hanying ahead while he went to find Shen Ange.
The Tianxuan Sect's market was unusually lively, perhaps due to a lack of management team cultivators, resulting in chaos caused by the absence of supervision.
When the Way of Heaven ceases to exist, the most pitiful are always the mortals who have no power to resist.
A cultivator who falls into demonic possession might still try to salvage the situation, whether through spiritual power or cultivation techniques. But for a mortal who falls into demonic possession, aside from the pain inflicted on their loved ones, the only option is to send them to the underworld.
After all, even mortals, when possessed by demons, become irritable and violent, and some even turn their knives on their own family members, eventually becoming demons themselves.
Even cultivators who fall into demonic possession find it difficult to fully recover, let alone mortals, who can fall into mental chaos in an instant.
However, dealing with a mortal who has fallen into demonic possession is simpler than dealing with a cultivator who has fallen into demonic possession; it only requires a clean and swift action.
With the six realms no longer existing and their souls corrupted, these mortals who died as a result have no chance of reincarnation.
Fu Mingxu glanced at the dark sky. He knew Han Ying hadn't left and didn't care. However, when he saw a mortal who had fallen into demonic possession but still retained a trace of his sanity, he couldn't help but take action.
The chaotic energy enveloped the opponent's internal organs, maintaining their vitality while the demonic energy was being expelled.
Following his master's orders, Han Ying secretly followed behind him, somewhat puzzled as to why he would expend so much effort to save a mere mortal.
When Fu Mingxu had rescued the twenty-fifth person, a large group of people suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He felt a chill run down his spine as he watched them approach. He quickly rescued the person in his arms, then vanished in a flash.
Those who came toward him included not only mortals but also monks.
“Master Fu.” Han Ying appeared behind him and asked curiously, “If you like saving mortals, I can capture a few.”
He was a shadow, having the appearance of a human, yet unable to learn human emotions.
Fu Mingxu shook his head, a lingering melancholy in his eyes, "I can't save everyone."
Before he arrived, he had already sent a message to Shen Ange, and sure enough, as soon as he arrived, he saw her waiting at the shop entrance.
Unlike other shops that were thriving, her shop's door was half-closed, with a "Closed" sign hanging above it.
"Mingxu." Shen Ange looked around cautiously, then quickly beckoned him in, "Come in quickly."
Fu Mingxu turned his head and looked around, only to find that Han Ying had disappeared. His gaze couldn't help but fall on every shadowy spot, but he couldn't find any flaws.
He quickly looked away and glanced behind Shen Ange, but did not see You Shu, who was always by her side.
The two entered the shop together. Shen Ange hurriedly closed the half-open door completely, activated the defensive formation, and patted his chest. He said with lingering fear, "You don't know, the righteous and demonic paths have already started a war. All kinds of pills and spiritual herbs are in short supply. Markets without sect management have long been unrestrained, and many shops have been looted clean by cultivators."
"This great battle is different from the last one. In addition to the fight between humans and demons, many cultivators and mortals have inexplicably fallen into demonic possession."
The major sects were already in a panic, and had no time to spare for markets or auction houses, which closed long ago.
Fu Mingxu knew that if things hadn't reached such a critical point, the Tianxuan Sect would never have invited Han Tao to take charge.
After all, he was the only one who single-handedly repelled the demons back then.
"You Shu has returned to the Demon Realm?" He leaned against the counter, turned his head to look at the dusty shelves, reached out and took out a storage bag and handed it to her. "These are pills for you. I haven't refined some of the Demon Realm's spiritual herbs yet because I don't have the Demon Realm's pill recipes. I can only figure them out carefully."
At this point, Shen Ange took the storage bag and said with a worried expression, "You guessed right. The war between the righteous and the demonic forces started so quickly. Firstly, it's inconvenient for her to stay here, and secondly, she feels that this matter is quite strange and wants to go to the Demon Realm to find out."
This is very much in line with You Shu's style and manner. Fu Mingxu nodded upon hearing this and gently tapped the counter with his fingers.
"An Ge," he called out, "Do you have a way to contact You Shu?"
There is a natural barrier between the Demon Realm and this place, so people in the two places generally cannot contact each other. However, Fu Mingxu felt that given their friendship, there might be other ways.
Upon hearing this, Shen Ange's earlobes turned slightly red, and her voice was as gentle as spring water: "Okay."
Lost in his own thoughts, Fu Mingxu didn't notice anything amiss. After listening, he nodded, pondered for a moment, and slowly said, "Have her pay attention to any differences in the demonic energy sedan chair in the Demon Realm compared to before."
Finally, after thinking for a moment, I added, "Tell her to get back to you as soon as possible."
This wasn't a difficult request, but Shen Ange was puzzled. "Have you discovered something?"
Fu Mingxu recalled the treatment he had given to those mortals who had fallen into demonic possession. As he blinked, his thick eyelashes obscured the emotions in his eyes. "It's just a guess. We need to confirm it."
Although he said this, his doubts did not diminish in the slightest. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that his guess was correct.
If so, the reasons behind this great battle are truly thought-provoking.
Shen Ange's information was always accurate and timely. After learning that the reason for the start of the great war was that many cultivators from various sects had inexplicably fallen into demonic possession, Fu Mingxu's heart sank.
The two sat in the shop in silence, as if awaiting a trial.
After a long silence, Shen Ange broke the silence, "A-Shu said that there is no more demonic energy in the Demon Realm."
Fu Mingxu suddenly looked up, his dark eyes staring straight at her. "Is she sure?"
Shen Ange had never seen him like this before. The ethereal beauty in his eyes and brows had faded, replaced by an unfamiliar aura of intimidation, as if he should have stood high in the sky, coldly looking down on all living beings.
She nodded blankly, wondering where the demonic energy in the Demon Realm had gone. "Mingxu, what exactly did you discover?"
Upon receiving her confirmation, Fu Mingxu's heart sank to the bottom. He stood up, clenched his fist, and looked up at the closed door, his gaze seemingly reaching towards the sea of clouds in the sky.
“The demons include both cultivators and mortals, which means it’s an indiscriminate attack.” He rubbed his index finger and thumb together, then turned to meet her gaze. “The demonic energy in the Demon Realm doesn’t suddenly disappear, and the person behind it doesn’t have enough manpower to make mortals fall into demonic ways. So, the most likely reason is that someone used a special method to fuse the demonic energy into the spiritual energy, so that no one can escape.”
The reason he was so certain of this important point was that the chaotic energy he possessed was the energy from the beginning of the universe, making him extremely sensitive to all kinds of energies.
From the moment he stepped out of the city lord's mansion, he sensed something was off about the atmosphere, but he wasn't sure at the time.
"As long as the war between humans and demons continues and the number of dead and wounded keeps rising, and people are filled with fear, demonic energy can take advantage of the situation."
His reasoned and well-founded words made Shen Ange's heart pound. She followed his train of thought and pondered the matter carefully, and soon a fine layer of cold sweat broke out on her back.
If that's the case, it's inevitable that most cultivators on the Cangling Continent will fall into demonic possession, leading to widespread suffering and devastation. What can the person behind it all achieve?
Shen Ange didn't understand, and neither did Fu Mingxu. Even if, like the Han Tao Demon in the previous timeline, it caused widespread devastation and turned the Cangling Continent into a wasteland, what was the purpose of the person behind it?
What's most chilling is that even though earth-shattering changes have occurred, the person behind the scenes hasn't revealed a single detail.
That's the most terrifying thing.
After Fu Mingxu finished speaking, the two fell into a long silence. This "truth" was too cruel, easily giving rise to the despair that no matter what effort or struggle one made, one would be trapped in a dead end.
As soon as there was a knock on the door, Shen Ange jumped up like a spring. "Could it be that we've discovered the truth and someone's come knocking on our door?"
After saying that, she instinctively stepped in front of Fu Mingxu.
The solemn atmosphere was broken by her. Fu Mingxu was amused by her instinctive action and, while feeling touched, chuckled to himself, "Don't panic, it's Han Tao who's here."
"Han...Han Tao!" After successfully matching the person, Shen Ange let out a long breath, then sat down heavily and patted her chest again, "Hey, you scared me."
Fu Mingxu shook his head and reached out to open the tightly closed door.
His tall, imposing figure blocked out the already gloomy sky, with only a pair of dazzling golden eyes standing out against the darkness.
They arrived a little later than I expected, and it seems the battle is even more intense than I anticipated.
Before Fu Mingxu could speak, he was pulled into a broad, warm embrace. The other person held him tightly, as if he were holding a lost treasure.
Before arriving, Han Tao had already cleaned himself of the bloody smell. Only when he smelled the faint medicinal fragrance on him did he feel slightly at ease.
Seeing the two embracing, Shen Ange wished she could disappear into a crack in the ground, but then she inappropriately thought of You Shu, and her pretty face immediately flushed red. She could only secretly look at the two of them, her heart filled with excitement.
But Han Tao never cared about other people's opinions. If Fu Mingxu hadn't pushed him, he would have even wanted to pluck those two tender petals he had been longing for and crush them in his arms.
"Why didn't you come to see me when you got here?" Han Tao's deep voice was weary, and his burning gaze lingered on her rosy lips as he looked down.
After listening to the steady and powerful heartbeat for a while, Fu Mingxu's uneasy emotions eased slightly, and then he completely distanced himself from the other person. "I'm going to ask An Ge about something, and I'll bring her pills over while I'm at it."
Han Tao's gaze landed precisely on Shen Ange's head, and he gave a soft "hmm" without asking any further questions.
Fu Mingxu, however, reorganized his thoughts and told him everything he had guessed earlier.
However, Han Tao simply hummed in agreement, as if he already knew.
"You already knew?" Fu Mingxu asked in surprise.
To everyone's surprise, Han Tao shook his head. "I don't know. After the war between the righteous and the demonic forces began, the Demon Realm was sealed off even more tightly, for fear that someone might sneak in."
It seems that the demons are not afraid of spies infiltrating, but rather that the disappearance of demonic energy in the demon realm will be discovered.
Fu Mingxu's lips twitched. "You looked so calm and collected just now, I thought you had found a solution."
The ability to perfectly integrate demonic energy into spiritual energy is certainly not something an ordinary person can do.
He found Han Tao's overly calm demeanor a bit strange, but he didn't think too much about it, assuming that he was just used to presenting a cold and indifferent image to others.
Fu Mingxu quickly put the strange feeling in his heart out of his mind, and even urged Han Tao: "Tell the major sects about this matter, so as to prevent it from happening in the first place."
The shop door was open, and he could see that it was still dark outside. Thick clouds tightly blocked the light that was about to shine in, as if trying to push the world into complete darkness.
Even after he said that, Han Tao remained unmoved.
Fu Mingxu frowned, about to speak, when he heard him slowly say, "Even so, they won't believe it."
Golden eyes met his, and Han Tao's deep voice seemed to be reassuring, "On this Cangling Continent, apart from you, no one else can detect the fusion of demonic energy and spiritual energy."
“Mingxu, spiritual energy is the aura of cultivators; you can’t expect them not to cultivate.”
A note from the author:
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 104
After Han Tao finished speaking, a long silence fell between the two of them.
A cool breeze blew by, rustling the leaves of the large banyan tree at the alley entrance. With the rustling sound, even the breeze carried a damp scent.
The first rain of autumn finally arrived, after several days without sunshine.
The withered yellow leaves on the banyan tree fluttered down with the autumn rain, like butterflies fluttering down to attend a tragic feast.
Fu Mingxu pursed his lips, his eyebrows, which were full of the spirit of mountains and rivers, were slightly lowered, and his eyes, as bright as the moon, revealed disappointment.
He truly didn't want the Cangling Continent to fall into an intractable state of devastation.
The wind picked up, and the raindrops instantly turned from a drizzle into a downpour, making the sky darken even more in a flash.
Under extremely thick dark clouds and in the fierce wind, the big banyan tree desperately gripped the ground with its roots, but the yellow leaves on its crown could not escape being blown off by the wind, flowing away with the trickling water on the ground, their destination unknown.
Shen Ange wanted to say something to break the silence, but she also knew that what Han Tao said was true.
Just as she was about to change the subject, Fu Mingxu, who was standing at the door, was once again embraced.