Had it not been for Zhang Buyao, this Daji would surely have met the same fate as most Dajis—slain by Jiang Ziya with the Immortal Slaying Flying Dagger.
Zhang Buyao had clearly helped her break free from the shackles of destiny and shown her a broader world. As long as she walked the righteous path, her future would have been bright.
Yet she insisted on straying from it, and from the looks of it now, she harbored immense malice toward Zhang Buyao.
"It seems you truly deserve to die," Yu Xian said flatly, looking down beneath the jade platform.
Daji's voice instantly grew agitated. "Hmph! That little lover of yours is nothing but a hypocritical, pretentious green tea bitch! For centuries I treated her with utmost respect and served her hand and foot. But what about her? I only begged her to grant me a cultivation technique, yet she refused, claiming she never cultivated and had no techniques whatsoever! Would you believe that? Hypocrite! Two-faced hypocrite!"
"..."
Yu Xian was speechless—because he actually believed it.
After all, a lazy salty fish like Zhang Buyao would never bother cultivating; at that time, it was entirely possible she genuinely possessed no cultivation techniques.
Still, knowing Zhang Buyao as well as he did, even if she lacked a technique then, she had probably already planned to find a suitable one for Daji.
It was just that Daji couldn't wait.
"I know you won't believe anything I say right now. After all, there's a phrase, 'fox-like suspicion'—which speaks of how foxes are suspicious by nature. But Yaoyao's power is indeed innate. Your notion that one can only grow strong through cultivation doesn't apply to Yaoyao," Yu Xian said after a thought, speaking up in Zhang Buyao's defense.
Daji flew into a violent rage. "Lies! Lies! All lies! A pair of scum, just as I thought! She's a hypocrite, and you're full of lies! Both of you deserve to die!"
Then, the entire jade platform shattered in an instant. A mass of crimson light shot swiftly into the sky before transforming into an incomparably gorgeous woman. However, behind her trailed nine tails radiating light of different colors.
She glared with venomous hatred at Yu Xian and raised her right arm to point at the heavens. Countless black soul bodies immediately surged out from her tails, causing dense, dark clouds to blanket the entire sky.
"I may not be able to kill Yaoyao, but do you think I can't kill you?"
Daji was confident that her power made her second only to Zhang Buyao.
The next moment, she pointed at Yu Xian. The dark clouds in the sky instantly formed a colossal vortex, and countless soul bodies launched an assault toward Yu Xian.
"Watch out! Those are Daji's Myriad Demon Slaves—all innocent people from the myriad worlds whom she bewitched!" Xiao Hua hurriedly called out in warning upon seeing the soul bodies charge forward.
Yu Xian immediately soared into the sky, instantly blasting the incoming Myriad Demon Slaves to pieces.
In a flash, he was right before Daji. Clamping a hand around her throat, the power of Chaos and Myriad Phenomena directly sealed the power within her body. The Myriad Demon Slaves in the sky lost control at once, dispersing like smoke.
Daji looked at Yu Xian in shock and terror.
She grabbed his hand, trying to pry his fingers open, only to find her strength couldn't budge his grip in the slightest.
"A frog in a well. You followed Yaoyao for so long, yet your horizons remained so narrow. Truly pathetic," Yu Xian said, looking at Daji with slight disgust.
In the end, Daji was still an ancient demon.
Ancient monsters were not actually that different from ancient humans.
Although Zhang Buyao had taken her across many worlds, she clearly hadn't shifted her mindset, which was why she ended up like this.
The fool thought herself mighty, but at most her strength was at Li Rank, not even reaching System Rank. Zhang Buyao had merely sealed her instead of killing her.
Evidently, it was out of sentimentality for their past, not because she couldn't kill her.
Yu Xian sent her straight into the Everlasting Silence Prison Tower, then looked up at the sky.
The chaotic Myriad Demon Slaves instantly froze in place. Then, the demonic qi on their bodies dispersed, and each transformed into a spiritual spark, bowing toward Yu Xian before dissolving into motes of light and disappearing.
"Alright, problem solved. Let's go."
Holding Xiao Hua, Yu Xian turned and walked away. Behind him, the world began to slowly collapse now that the sword had been drawn.
***
At the Qingqiu Jade Gate Ruins.
Yu Xian emerged with Xiao Hua. Cracks spread across the jade portal behind them until it collapsed with a crash.
He then set Xiao Hua down, took out Zhang Buyao's sword again, and held it, preparing to locate Zhang Buyao through the weapon.
In truth, he currently knew the locations of many Mighty Ones.
When he emerged from the Zhen Realm, his power hadn't been fully reined in and had unleashed a minor outburst.
At that moment, quite a few Mighty Ones across the myriad worlds noticed his existence, and as they became aware of him, he naturally became aware of theirs as well.
Unfortunately, among those Mighty Ones, there was no Zhenwo Changjing, no Zhenwo Changle, and certainly no Zhenwo Wuchang.
Otherwise, he really would have liked to know Zhenwo Changjing's current situation. If he could help, he would gladly lend a hand; after all, Zhenwo Changjing had helped him tremendously back then.
Back to business.
Gripping Zhang Buyao's sword, he gently stimulated it.
There was bound to be a connection between Zhang Buyao and her sword. He was essentially using the power of Chaos and Myriad Phenomena to attempt to refine it. Once Zhang Buyao sensed her sword being refined, she would inevitably take notice of the person doing it.
And when Zhang Buyao observed his existence, by extension, it would mean he had observed hers.
This was the method Yu Xian had devised—exceedingly crude and direct, yet exceedingly effective.
Half a minute passed in the blink of an eye.
Yu Xian stared speechlessly at the sword in his hand. It wasn't resisting at all!
Moreover, by all rights, Zhang Buyao should have noticed him by now. Why hadn't he sensed any information from her?
"Could that girl be trying to play hide-and-seek with me?" Yu Xian muttered to himself in a low voice.
In reality, they hadn't been parted for very long.
It was just that Yu Xian had spent over a century in the Zhen Realm, while Zhang Buyao had traveled back to the past and lived all the way up to the present. For both of them, it felt like they had been apart for a very long time.
Just as Yu Xian was wondering, the sword in his hand suddenly radiated an azure glow.
The next moment, a phantom projection of Zhang Buyao appeared before him. Upon seeing Yu Xian, she looked at him with teary eyes and cried out, "Salty Fish, you have to help me!"
For some inexplicable reason, Yu Xian had the illusion that he was Doraemon and Zhang Buyao was Nobita.
It was just like Nobita flinging the door open, throwing himself in front of Doraemon, and bawling for help at the top of his lungs.
"Out with it. What kind of disaster did you cause this time?" Yu Xian let out a long sigh, looking at Zhang Buyao.
Zhang Buyao nodded repeatedly, then babbled excitedly to explain her predicament. Put simply, she had been grounded by her mother.
As for the reason she was locked up, it was because she had taken on many students across the myriad worlds.
Come to think of it, the matter was even related to Daji. Because Daji had resented her for refusing to teach cultivation techniques and ended up walking an extreme path, Zhang Buyao had learned from the bitter lesson. She collected numerous cultivation techniques across many worlds and subsequently took on quite a few students.
Yet here came the problem.
She had tried her hardest to teach those students to be good people, and the techniques she taught were all benevolent ones. But of all things, every single one of her students fell into the demonic path, turning into supreme archdevils and wreaking havoc across countless worlds.
Thus, as their teacher, she could not shirk the blame. Her mother had placed her under confinement and demanded that she reflect on her mistakes.
Chapter 576