Stepping on the demon door, the witch becomes the strongest

Chapter 842 Unexpected Changes

Li Minghu handed the wine gourd to the elder of Shushan.

Elder Ding took the gourd, weighed the wine inside, and then smiled with satisfaction.

"May I ask how to address the elder?" Li Minghu asked respectfully.

"You are a disciple of the Shu Mountain sect, yet you don't know who I am?" Elder Ding asked with a strange expression. "My secular surname is Chen, and my Daoist name is Mo Yang."

"That's a strange Taoist name," Li Minghu thought to himself.

"Then, who was that person just now...?" she asked again respectfully.

"Sect Leader," Elder Mo Yang said after a moment of silence, "If it weren't for the sect's protective formation verifying your identity, I would really suspect that you are a spy sent by the Demonic Sect."

"Elder, you jest," Li Minghu said. "I was just so drunk last night that I was completely out of it and forgot everything else. I almost forgot my own name."

She had already figured out that this trial-type secret realm would assign her a reasonably plausible identity, so she didn't need to worry too much about whether she would reveal any flaws during the interaction; she should focus on gathering as much information as possible.

Upon hearing Li Minghu's self-admission that he was also a connoisseur of fine wine, Elder Moyang was indeed convinced and overjoyed.

"Oh dear! I often encounter this too. After all, a cup contains the universe, making people linger and forget themselves... It's quite normal!"

He had already decided to hide here and drink to his heart's content, and now that he had gained another friend, he took out two more jade cups and invited Li Minghu to drink with him.

How could Li Minghu really enjoy drinking? So he politely declined, saying that he was still hungover from yesterday and it was inconvenient for him to drink now.

Elder Mo Yang was somewhat disappointed, so he simply poured himself a drink and patiently answered Li Minghu's questions.

It turns out that the sect here is the Shangqing Sect of Mount Shu. In its heyday, it dominated the entire 800-mile territory of Mount Shu, seizing countless rare treasures. Its disciples were also fond of sword fighting. If they heard that someone was skilled in swordsmanship, they would travel thousands of miles to challenge them. If they won, they would even take the other person's sword. As a result, it had long attracted countless enemies.

In the Dharma-ending Age, the heavens have cracked open. Although extraordinary individuals have mended the heavens, barely prolonging the life of this world, the spiritual energy between heaven and earth is inevitably becoming increasingly scarce. The disciples recruited by Mount Shu are becoming less talented with each generation, and they have lost their original bravery, fierceness, and battle-hardened strength. They have only managed to survive to this day by relying on the sect's sacred sword, the Sun True Ignorance Sword, to deter the surrounding villains.

In this generation, the sect leader, Chen Yanwei, who was the master of the Sun Sword, was not even at the Nascent Soul stage. This finally attracted the covetousness of countless demons and monsters from the outside world. A powerful figure gathered countless unorthodox sects, calling themselves "100,000 Gods and Demons," to attack Mount Shu, destroy the Dao lineage, and seize the Divine Sword.

Li Minghu listened patiently and gained a general understanding of the background information of this secret realm. He then asked:

"So what should we do now?"

"What else can I do?" Elder Moyang scoffed. "If anything were useful, I would have done it long ago. Why would I be drinking here?"

Li Minghu was speechless, seeing that the elder was already disheartened and seemed extremely pessimistic about the current situation, so he asked again:

"Since the Sun True Sword has been able to protect Mount Shu for so many years, why can't it do the same now? Is it because the current Sun Sword Master is only at the Golden Core stage?"

She had witnessed the power of the Sun True Essence Sword after all. Even a mere wisp of sword intent, in the hands of Yan Yu who had not yet formed his core, could sweep away Tianzhu with a single strike. Therefore, she was deeply skeptical of Elder Moyang's statement.

"Who knows?" Elder Moyang sneered. "Ever since he became the Sun Sword Master, he has never used the divine sword even once, for fear that people will discover that the current Sword Master's strength is limited and thus develop the desire to seize the sword."

He took a swig of his strong liquor, then sighed and said:

"This child was originally ambitious and spirited. If he were in the old Shu Mountain sect, he might have made a name for himself. Unfortunately, with the sect in such a perilous time, the more cautious he becomes, the more timid he is, and the more..."

Elder Mo Yang didn't finish his sentence, but Li Minghu already understood.

Throughout Lu Guo's thousands of years of history, there have been many examples of leaders who were hesitant and timid, and their ultimate fates prove that this kind of personality is indeed unsuitable for being a leader.

A leader needs to be willing to take risks at any time, to have the courage to go all in and risk everything at critical moments, and to remain calm even if a major defeat is imminent.

However, Chen Yanwei was too concerned about his identity as the Sun Sword Master, and because his cultivation was only at the Golden Core Realm, he underestimated his own strength, which led to him losing the will to fight. This was actually fatal to the Shu Mountain Shangqing Sect.

Li Minghu pondered for a moment and asked again:

"Elder Moyang, do you have two disciples like these in your sect?"

She described Yan Yu and Mei Yingxue's characteristics in detail. Elder Moyang listened patiently and said:
"They should currently be serving Elder Tian Yue, responsible for cooperating with the sect's defensive formation to protect the sect."

"Thank you, elder, for informing me."

After clarifying the situation, Li Minghu bid farewell to Elder Moyang and departed on his sword.

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The flow of time within the secret realm is not entirely the same as that outside.

After the Purple Cloud Formation was completed on the Korean Peninsula, Zhou Hongyu, Su Yunjin, and Xie Ruoxi, together with the swordsmen from the Pear Blossom Courtyard, entered the world inside the giant snake's belly and eliminated the "Storm Demon Lord" who was skilled in manipulating wind.

With this, there are no more Yamata no Orochi in the Asian region.

Europe, aided by the Shroud of Turin's barrier suppressing the Ice Serpent, has launched several raids on the inner world, but all have ended with the complete loss of contact with the Extraordinary Squad members.

Thus, the nations of the world realized once again that the Lu Kingdom's ability to kill the Yamata no Orochi was far from being achieved by simply suppressing it with array formations; it also needed a group of sufficiently powerful superhumans.

Soon, a mysterious envoy secretly visited the Lu Kingdom, expressing "the desire to rent several powerful Golden Core cultivators".

With Europe backing down and choosing to yield, Australia quickly followed suit, deciding to purchase the Shroud of Turin from Europe for its array formations, while seeking assistance from the mainland for its decapitation squads.

The Privy Council responded that "the solution to the giant serpent is complete," meaning that the formation and manpower would not be sold separately, thus passing the buck back to us—who gave you the confidence to bargain with us?

However, the real trouble came from the two giant American snakes.

North and South America, due to their small indigenous populations, lagged behind from the very beginning of the spiritual energy revival. They could previously rely on importing extraordinary power from Europe to maintain a semblance of strength, but now, faced with the threat of the giant serpents, they are immediately exposed for their true limitations. Their meager and weak extraordinary power means they lack the means to stop the serpents; their fragile administrative systems prevent them from organizing large-scale migrations of residents. As a result, the two giant serpents have devoured countless people with impunity, swelling to almost twice their original size.

The whole world is on edge now. If the Onmyoji were unable to stop the giant serpent's rampage because its high-ranking members were beheaded by Shinbara, then you're deliberately raising a treacherous insect!
At the UN Security Council meeting, the representative of China expressed goodwill concern to the American countries and inquired about the progress of European technical support projects.

Europe responded that the Shroud of Turin barrier for the Americas branch is nearing completion.

It sounded like a reassuring reply, but the Privy Council had some understanding of the ways old Europe operated. Since Teacher Mei was absent, Ye Yun, a formation master, was put in charge of the calculations to see if their Shroud of Turin barrier could restrain the two giant serpents of the Americas.

The matter was urgent, so Ye Jun didn't delay. Taking advantage of the fact that cultivators don't need sleep due to fasting, she worked overtime for several consecutive nights, analyzing various images captured by monitoring satellites, and finally managed to get the data results.

It's highly unlikely they can withstand it.

"Can't hold on?" Inside the villa, upon hearing Ye Yun's words, Lin Ning immediately asked in alarm, "Why! But...didn't we estimate this beforehand?"

"Of course it was calculated." Ye Jun rubbed his temples wearily and explained, "Judging from the giant serpent's growth curve, it was originally within a controllable range."

"Originally?" Chen Lingyun raised her eyebrows, revealing an interested expression.

“Each time a giant serpent dies, the remaining serpents become stronger.” Ye Jun paused for a moment, then said in a low voice, “The initial increase in strength is very weak, and since the giant serpents are already devouring life, this increase is hidden within the fluctuations of normal values, so we didn’t notice it…”

"It wasn't until the death of the fifth giant serpent, which greatly strengthened the remaining giant serpents, that you finally woke up from your dream," Chen Lingyun said with a smile.

She now fully understood: the idea that Shingen Shimei would divide his soul into eight parts and hide them in the bellies of eight giant snakes to serve as demon lords seemed completely illogical, but it was actually a way to conceal this mechanism.

The world's nations are not united, and the demise of the eight giant serpents will inevitably occur at different times. The serpents that fall first will not only buy time for the remaining serpents to devour humanity, but their own demise will also significantly strengthen them. This strategy aims to exploit the mindset of the nations' leadership.

"When we can do something, there is no need to take immediate action; but when we have to do something as soon as possible, it is too late to take action."

"If my calculations are correct, the protective barriers surrounding the two giant American serpents have already exceeded the suppression capabilities of the Purple Cloud Array," Ye Yun continued worriedly. "If we want to increase the array's output..."

“We need to improve our formations,” Chen Lingyun pointed out incisively. “Moreover, your research and development speed may not be able to keep up with the speed at which the giant American snake devours people.”

“If that’s the case, we should gather our forces as soon as possible,” Lin Ning said without hesitation. “First, we should take down the Australian giant snake, and then try to hold off the two American giant snakes so they don’t have the chance to devour more people.”

"How can we stall them?" Chen Lingyun said. "If we can't use the formation to restrain the giant snake, then we'll have to rely on human lives to hold them off."

Using enough human lives to distract the giant serpent is a method that the Rakshasa have already used and proven effective. The question is, who will pay the price?

Given the mobilization capabilities of the Americans, they certainly couldn't afford to pay that price. The mainland might have the capability, but would they risk their lives for the Americans? That's even more absurd.

Lin Ning didn't know how to respond, and after a long while asked:

"Are we just going to stand by and watch these two giant snakes continue to grow?"

“Or we can hope that the captain will return with the divine sword soon and slay the two giant snakes with one strike.” Chen Lingyun stood up and walked upstairs. “Anyway, I think it’s more likely that someone will suddenly descend from heaven to save humanity than to hope that all of humanity will unite to fight against the Yamata no Orochi.”

After watching Chen Lingyun return to her room, Lin Ning stood there stunned for a long time before finally asking Ye Yun:

"Sister Yun, what do you think?"

“I can’t think of a solution,” Ye Yun said, shaking her head. “But I guess Ling Yun doesn’t care about the giant snake.”

"Why?" Lin Ning asked incredulously, "But the giant snake will destroy the world!"

“Even if the world is destroyed, she won’t die,” Ye Jun replied calmly.

Lin Ning was silent for a moment, then immediately understood what she meant.

For most people in the world, the destruction of the world means that they themselves will be in danger, but Chen Lingyun has the underworld as her rear base. At worst, she can be reincarnated in the underworld to become a ghost cultivator. The Yamata no Orochi is not going to chase her to the underworld.

Even assuming the worst, that place is extremely yin in nature, and the evil spirits are endless. If they really fought the Yamata no Orochi, it's uncertain who would outlast whom.

Of course, if the world were to truly end, Chen Lingyun wouldn't only care about her own survival. At the very least, the people living in the villa, along with their relatives and friends, would be brought to Fengdu City to live.

Lin Ning still felt very uncomfortable. Her morals and values ​​dictated that when the dragon attacked the world, her first thought was to become a hero to slay the dragon, rather than running away to a place the dragon couldn't reach to live in seclusion... that would be too lame.

She sat forlornly on the sofa, watching the sunset gradually sink below the horizon, thinking to herself that if the captain were here, he would surely be able to come up with a solution that she couldn't possibly think of.

"Why do you always rely on your husband?" the Mirror Fairy suddenly transmitted her voice.

"Why do you always speak in my head?" Lin Ning immediately retorted.

"I mean, can't we figure out a solution ourselves?" the Mirror Fairy said helplessly. "What if your husband never comes back, or the world has already been destroyed when he returns?"

“I…” Lin Ning retorted instinctively, “How could the captain not come back? He has been recognized by the True Essence of the Sun Sword Intent, okay!”

“Sword intent and the physical body are completely different things.” The Mirror Immortal said confidently, “It’s like some girls in your world, whether they pass the civil service exam or not, their criteria for choosing a partner are also completely different. Moreover, as far as I know, most of the Sun Sword Masters have passed down the bloodline of a certain clan from generation to generation. Your husband does not have the bloodline of a Sword Master, so how can he gain the recognition of the physical body? I think it’s a bit difficult.”

Lin Ning was immediately shocked. What? The Sun True Essence Sword recognizes bloodlines?

Why didn't anyone tell us?!

Upon closer examination, the entire Lu Kingdom was truly clueless about the criteria by which the True Sun Sword chose its master. Only the captain's approach was relatively sound, having won the sword intent's approval before. However, there was a fear that his thinking might become rigid, and he might simply apply the old methods to the original sword, which would then fail and lead to his downfall.

Lin Ning was filled with worry and uncertainty when she suddenly heard the immortal voice in the mirror again:

"Actually, I have a way to win the approval of the Sun True Sword, but it depends on whether you trust me."

(End of this chapter)