Chapter 80: There Grows the Wutong Tree, Facing the Morning Sun

Shen Qingyi's gaze shifted, bright as stars, and she said, "A-Lian, by now I am certain my master would appreciate you. Why don't you consider visiting our Xuantian Sect? You shouldn't think our Xuantian Sect is particularly mysterious or aloof; in fact, external fellow Daoists frequently come to our mountain gates to lecture on the Dao or listen to the teachings."

Shen Lian naturally felt that this was the demeanor of top-tier immortal sects. Unfortunately, Qingxuan lacked an existence of Lu Jiuyuan's caliber to suppress the fortunes of the sect. If he were to imitate this, it would only make him a laughingstock. A thought sprouted in his mind: if he were to take charge of Qingxuan in the future, could he lead the declining sect to heights comparable to the Xuantian Sect?

Once this thought arose, it took root in his spiritual platform, bound to sprout one day.

Thinking of this, Shen Lian smiled self-deprecatingly. He had not even reached the Returned Elixir stage, yet he was indulging in such idle and useless fantasies. Moreover, the sect master's favored successor might not necessarily be him, and more importantly, he sincerely wished for the current sect master to remain in that position for a long time.

Given Qingxuan's current state, Zhang Ruoxu's methods and strategies were the correct ones. As long as Qingxuan could produce another one or two Longevity Immortals, all the difficulties they faced would be readily resolved.

Shen Lian did not refuse Song Qingyi's good intentions. Furthermore, being able to meet the number one person in the cultivation world would undoubtedly be a rare and valuable experience. He nodded and said, "If there is a chance, I will go. I will have to trouble you then, Qingyi."

Song Qingyi remarked, "A-Lian, I find you rather strange. Although those of us on the path of cultivation do not adhere to so many worldly etiquettes, you are far too unrestrained."

Shen Lian did not dwell on this with him. Starlight poured down onto the golden sands of the desert, casting a silvery-white radiance everywhere.

With a tranquil gaze, he spoke up, "Qingyi, let us go and find this spiritual object of yours."

In any case, crossing the desert would lead straight to the Hanhai Kingdom, which was not far from the Asura Temple. Furthermore, there was still some time before the fifteenth day of the tenth month in this realm, so Shen Lian was in no particular hurry.

Song Qingyi nodded in agreement, and the two of them walked deeper into the desert. He genuinely did not fear that Shen Lian might harbor malicious intentions upon seeing the spiritual object. Firstly, he believed Shen Lian was not that kind of person. Secondly, with his level of cultivation, venturing out into the world meant he naturally possessed other means of self-protection. Most importantly, there was his master's cultivation base—if he were in mortal danger, his master would never have allowed him to come out.

This desert spanned a full hundred miles. If they were to fly, it would naturally take no time at all, but to search for the so-called spiritual object, they had to observe and perceive it slowly.

That expanse of yellow sand was entirely blanketed in silver radiance, dreamlike and watery, dazzling to the eyes.

Shen Lian felt that because the vital qi in the desert was extremely impoverished, the stellar energy in the heavens had suddenly intensified. Suddenly, Shen Lian stopped in his tracks. Ahead of him, countless firefly-like entities suddenly appeared—tiny spots of yellow light that emerged from nowhere and converged fiercely toward a single location.

Song Qingyi exclaimed abruptly, "Not good! These are the mirage vapors left behind by those mirage demons in the desert! Why are they all gathering in one place? Could it be that the Mirage Demon King is not yet dead? How is this possible?"

Based on Chen Jianmei's attainments in the sword dao, it should have been utterly impossible for him to fail to eliminate a single Mirage Demon King. It was just that within this desert, there were still many juvenile mirage demons lying dormant in hiding, which Chen Jianmei had not completely eradicated at the time.

After all, juvenile mirage demons all hid within their shells, buried deep beneath the yellow sand. Unless Chen Jianmei used heaven-shaking divine power to destroy the entire desert, they were hard to root out.

Moreover, passing caravans, as long as they had some slight understanding, took precautions beforehand and mostly bypassed this desert, refusing to invite trouble for themselves.

To Song Qingyi, the vapor of these mirage demons had no effect whatsoever. However, the fact that the mirage vapors of the entire desert were heading in a single direction could only mean that the Mirage Demon King required the contribution of these lesser demons to aid in his recovery.

In the places where those spots of light emerged, illuminated by the starlight, one could see many oyster-like creatures intermittently exhaling specks of light—precisely the mirage vapor.

Song Qingyi was well aware of the Mirage Demon King's formidable power. Judging by the current situation, the opponent had most likely not yet reached its peak condition and was still in the midst of recovery. He had to seize this opportunity immediately to slay the demon king; otherwise, while Chen Jianmei was in secluded meditation, this demon king might seek revenge against him, which would be immensely detrimental to the "Dao Discussion and God Annihilation" on the fifteenth day of the tenth month.

Song Qingyi tapped his toes and darted forward swiftly like a stream of clear spring water.

Shen Lian's gaze flickered as he took a deep look ahead, feeling that the aura there was somewhat amiss. Before he could call out to stop Song Qingyi, the other had already pressed forward.

Watching with his own eyes, Shen Lian saw Song Qingyi appear a hundred zhang away and then suddenly vanish. That exact location was where the mirage vapor was converging.

Song Qingyi was a decent person, and although Shen Lian knew he was a disciple of Lu Jiuyuan and likely possessed many fine treasures, making it probable that he would come to no harm, Shen Lian nevertheless flashed forward like a gale-force wind.

Thunder was born within his wind, producing a cracking roar that shattered those wisps of mirage vapor.

Thunder carried the majesty of heaven and earth, traversing the heavens; the mere vapor of petty demons was naturally swept away.

When Shen Lian reached the spot where Song Qingyi had disappeared, a sudden sense of familiarity welled up within him. It was precisely the feeling he had experienced when he was pulled into Zhao Xiaoyu's divine soil space, only this time, he had forced his way in voluntarily.

In the blink of an eye, he arrived in a spacious grand hall. Within the hall stood only a single wutong tree with bare branches. Clear light flowed over the trunk, and coiled atop it was a dragon-like creature, with the sole exception that this dragon-like creature possessed only a single, highly deformed claw.

The strange dragon had no horns on its head, and its long jaw bore sharp, jagged teeth that gleamed with a chilling light.

The clear light was actually a raging flame scorching its body, and those streams of mirage vapor also plunged into its body, causing its aura to continuously grow stronger.

Shen Lian thought of a line of verse: "The phoenix sings upon that lofty ridge; the wutong tree grows on that sunny slope." This half-dead, half-living wutong tree had once been the site where a phoenix underwent nirvana, retaining the lingering flames of nirvana, which was the only reason it could allow the already deceased Mirage Demon King to be reborn.

Phoenixes were legendary immortal creatures, nearly eternal, gaining ever-stronger vitality with each nirvana. However, such divine beasts were exceedingly rare. It was said that once, a powerful entity had slain a phoenix, only for a five-colored light to sweep it away, never to be seen again. Some speculated that it was the intervention of a supreme being connected to the phoenix.

Regardless of how extraordinary the phoenix's origins were, the most precious treasure within this space right now was this half-dead wutong tree, which was truly a supreme spiritual object.

Song Qingyi stood beside Shen Lian and said, "A-Lian, step back. Let me handle this."

Shen Lian said in a deep voice, "Let me do it."

The water-dragon-like Mirage Demon King stared coldly at Shen Lian, opening its massive jaws to spew a violent surge of airflow.

Shen Lian drew the Xuande Sword, which radiated a profound yellow luster. The Eight Qi of the Great Void poured into it, adding a layer of bewilderment, and a wisp of sword qi drifted out like willow catkin. The vital qi in the grand hall began to undulate like the tides.

The sword qi stirred the surging waves ahead, imbued with formidable might.

Just as the airflow spewed by the Mirage Demon King roared toward them, the sword qi riding the vital qi tide exploded violently. Song Qingyi could still hear a heavy, low roar echoing endlessly through the grand hall.