Jian Lin did not know that the sword spirit had blocked a move for her. She thought her master had shown mercy and let her off the hook.
The Demon Lord walked into the sword formation, carried the battered Jian Lin out, and brought her to the sky cave above. He wet a handkerchief in the pond water, gently and carefully wiped her wounds, and applied medicine after cleaning them.
As the medicinal powder sprinkled onto her wounds, a jolt of pain made Jian Lin stir awake. She saw the Demon Lord's face, pouted, and said with great grievance, "Ouch, my master wanted to take my life. I'm so miserable. Lord Chong Yuan, quickly comfort me."
Truly, she did not know how fortunate she was. He dared to guarantee that in the entire world, no one had a master as good as Jian Xian. Those more dedicated than him lacked his cultivation, and those with higher cultivation simply did not exist.
The Demon Lord paused for a moment, still not revealing the truth. He took out the remaining spiritual tree wine and brought it to Jian Lin's lips, saying gently, "Have a couple of sips. It's good for your body."
Lying in the Demon Lord's arms, Jian Lin acted spoiled, "Then feed me."
The Demon Lord smiled indulgently, raised his hand in a gesture, and said, "Alright, then open your mouth."
The two of them, by the small pond, exchanged sweet nothings, full of affection.
The Sword Immortal meditated and regulated his breathing at the sword formation below. After two cycles, he felt his body had recovered sufficiently, so he got up and headed upwards. Upon reaching the cave entrance, his forehead twitched, and he was filled with rage.
His rebellious disciple was kissing and flirting with a man. The scene was unbearable. Truly, the sect was unfortunate!
"Jian Musheng!" the Sword Immortal roared. "Are you very idle? If you are, come down and continue practicing your sword. I will teach you another set of sword techniques."
Jian Lin trembled all over, startled and at a loss. She slumped into the Demon Lord's arms, feigning death.
She didn't want to practice anymore; practicing further would truly cost her life.
Seeing this, the Demon Lord turned to plead with the Sword Immortal, "Senior, she doesn't seem to have recovered yet."
"Heh heh, are you siding with her?" the Sword Immortal's voice boomed like a bell, and he said angrily, "No wonder it took you so long to teach her. Her Bright Moon Sword technique is learned so haphazardly. I see you've become soft-hearted! Remember this: only with a truly ruthless heart can one achieve great things!"
The Demon Lord could not refute him. When he was teaching the first level, he could still be resolute, but later, he had indeed softened, and Jian Lin's practice became a mess.
The Sword Immortal was extremely annoyed and cursed them both. Jian Lin could no longer bear it. Fortunately, it was almost time to leave the secret realm, and she wouldn't have to hide and dodge in the small cave of the Sword Immortal.
The space was too small; it was suffocating!
The secret realm tokens were valid until noon. Once the time came, they would be forcibly removed from the secret realm.
All morning, the Sword Immortal wandered around the Sword Immortal Cave, his gaze filled with reluctance. He had been here for almost a hundred years. Although he was unwilling at first and saw it as a prison, when it was time to leave, he did feel a bit of attachment.
Jian Lin saw this and went to her master's side, comforting him softly, "Master, don't worry. After we go out, I will take good care of you and absolutely not let you suffer any grievances."
The Sword Immortal had stayed in this cave for nearly a century. Jian Lin imagined him as an elderly person who had been imprisoned for a long time, thinking that the old man would not adapt to the outside world and was thus fearful.
If the Sword Immortal knew his obedient disciple thought this way, he would surely be so angry he'd have a stroke. He was a Sword Immortal; he could walk freely in the outside world. What was there to fear? He feared nothing!
Of course, at this moment, facing his disciple's concerned words, he said with relief, "Good disciple, I haven't taught you in vain."
The Demon Lord watched the interaction between the master and disciple, silently praying, "I hope you two are truly alright. Please don't quarrel anymore. I'm in a difficult position caught between you."
The Sword Immortal took another stroll, finally satisfied, and made up his mind. He announced loudly, "Let's go, we're leaving!"
Jian Lin exchanged a glance with the Demon Lord. They both nodded, crushed their tokens, and with their master and the Demon Lord each grabbing her shoulder, the three of them were swept into the departure passage.
The scenery before their eyes spun rapidly, a dazzling blur. Space compressed their breathing. Soon, the scene stabilized, and Jian Lin felt herself falling rapidly.
She focused her gaze and saw a scorched earth below. The vast expanse was desolate and ruined, without a single blade of grass or tree. Most importantly, she saw no one.
This was not right. Why would the exit of the secret realm be in such a place? She remembered the exit should be near the Guanlan Sect, a place she was very familiar with, and it was definitely not like this.
"Something's not right," the Demon Lord said softly. "Senior, do you feel it?"
"I feel it," the Sword Immortal replied in a deep, calm tone.
Jian Lin did not understand their cryptic words. Just as she was about to ask what they felt, the Demon Lord exerted force with his palm, pulling Jian Lin to slow their descent, and the three of them landed steadily.
As they landed, there were several cracking sounds underfoot. Jian Lin looked closely. The scorched earth was a patch of pitch black, mixed with many animal bones.
Her heart skipped a beat, and she suspected she had transmigrated again, from the immortal-demon war to a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
While Jian Lin was lost in thought, the Demon Lord took a step forward, looking down the hillside and saying, "Why were we teleported to the edge of the Underworld?"
The Demon Lord's meaning was that he recognized this place. Jian Lin was about to breathe a sigh of relief when her heart suddenly tensed again. She ran to the Demon Lord's side and asked in shock, "Where did you say we are?"
Standing on the hillside and looking out, Jian Lin finally realized that those black things were not entirely scorched earth. Below the hillside was a viscous, dark, and constantly surging river.
Jian Lin's body went numb, and she instinctively looked up at the sky. She then realized that the sky was even more unusual.
The sky was a grayish-blue, caught between light and dark, without stars, moon, or clouds, and certainly no sun. It was like a giant, stable, lifeless canopy.
"Edge of the Underworld," Jian Lin murmured the four words to herself, instinctively grabbing the Demon Lord's arm and timidly saying, "Does that mean there are ghosts here?"
She was most afraid of ghosts. Help! Why did they have to come to such a ghostly place?
She said urgently, "Let's go quickly! Master, Lord Chong Yuan, I believe you definitely have a way, right? Let's go back to the Guanlan Sect and see what they're up to, or go back to the Demon Realm. Yes, let's go back to the Demon Realm."
"What's the rush?" the Sword Immortal approached calmly, standing on Jian Lin's other side. "There's definitely something strange about this place. We'll leave after we investigate and understand it."
"What's there to investigate?" Jian Lin was truly anxious. "As humans, we shouldn't meddle in other people's affairs, especially ghost affairs. Let's go, let's go, quickly!"
However, the other two seemed not to hear her. The Demon Lord nodded and said to the Sword Immortal, "Senior is right. Let's investigate first."
After speaking, the two walked forward side by side. Jian Lin stood rooted to the spot, filled with helpless fury. She looked around the lifeless surroundings, then quickly hurried to catch up with the two.
What else could she do? Being alone was even more terrifying.
The three walked to the riverbank and began to change direction, following the river course. After walking for an unknown amount of time, the dark scene finally changed, revealing a dark mountain peak. There was a mountain over there!
They quickened their pace. As the mountain grew higher, a bridge suddenly appeared above the dark river ahead.
Following the bridge with her gaze, beneath the dark mountain, a deep cave entrance appeared, emitting a dangerous and fatal aura.