Chapter 132: An Immortal Banished from the Heavens

As Li Yunji habituated himself to the minor circulation of energy, the spiritual essence of the surrounding area surged into his body like a gushing spring.

He had never experienced such a phenomenon during his daily practice. Li Yunji turned his gaze toward Eleven, his face full of curiosity.

"The Yin-Yang array eye in the South Sea is constantly siphoning spiritual energy from the entire continent."

"To seal Mu Nanqing?" Li Yunji asked in a low voice. He had not expected the cost of sealing an ancient Demon Emperor to be so great.

Eleven nodded. "Now that Mu Nanqing’s seal is broken and the Yin-Yang array eye has been destroyed, the earth's spiritual energy is recovering."

"Does this mean cultivation will become easier?" Li Yunji stroked his chin, lost in thought.

"Yes," Eleven replied nonchalantly. "But while that is true for humanity, it is the same for the demon race."

"With Mu Nanqing’s escape, he will inevitably return one day to lead the demon race to reclaim their power."

"The demon race?" Li Yunji frowned. According to ancient texts, the catastrophe five hundred years ago had nearly wiped out the entire demon race, leaving only Mu Nanqing. Even with the current restoration of the earth's spiritual energy, how could a mere remnant soul of Mu Nanqing hope to revitalize the entire race?

Eleven spat out the sugarcane he had been chewing for quite some time and sighed. "What do you think the origin of the demon race is, Young Master?"

"Aren't they just mountain spirits and monsters that achieved cultivation by absorbing spiritual essence?" Li Yunji said as if it were a matter of course, for that was exactly what the books stated.

"Those are merely demonic beasts, a tiny branch of the demon race," Eleven shook his head.

"Is there another source?"

"There is." Eleven’s gaze suddenly deepened. "Every cultivator has inner demons. If they kill these inner demons while breaking through a realm, they ascend successfully. But if they are devoured by them, they generate miasma. Once this miasma accumulates to a certain degree, they fall into the demonic path. These are the truly formidable demons."

Li Yunji paused. No wonder Mu Nanqing appeared so human-like and acted with such sophistication; it seemed he belonged to the latter category.

"Since this Mu Nanqing is so powerful, he must have been devoured by his inner demons when he reached the First Grade breakthrough, right?"

Eleven shook his head. "Young Master, you underestimate him."

Li Yunji raised an eyebrow. In the hierarchy he understood, the First Grade was the highest. Anything beyond that was the legendary Super Grade, capable of ascending to the heavens!

"Don't tell me he fell into the demonic path while attempting to ascend to the heavens?" Li Yunji muttered.

Eleven shook his head again, his voice grave. "Judging by his strength at his peak, he was likely not a mortal cultivator at all, but a fallen immortal from the heavens."

Li Yunji felt his heart skip a beat. He stared blankly at Eleven, whispering to himself, *If he is a fallen immortal, then what are you? You just finished him off, big brother! Even if he wasn't at his peak, he shouldn't be something a mortal could handle. Oh, wait, I almost forgot—you’re not a mortal.*

Immortal and indestructible, with unknown power, you hacked your way from He Mountain to Shu Mountain and back again with nothing but a kitchen knife. How on earth is that "mortal"? And the most absurd part is that you actually know Mu Nanqing!

"Could it be that you, too, are an immortal from the heavens?" Li Yunji asked suspiciously. If that were true, the mystery surrounding Eleven might have a logical explanation.

Eleven scratched his head, pondered for a long while, and finally blurted out, "I forgot."

Li Yunji felt a wave of darkness wash over his eyes. *Amnesia at a critical moment again!* He desperately wanted to crack Eleven’s skull open to see what was actually going on inside.

"But it should be something like that," Eleven chuckled. "I always feel like I’ve met Mu Nanqing more than once. It seems we even crossed paths five hundred years ago."

Li Yunji simply sighed; he was already accustomed to this. Seeing the first light of dawn painting the horizon, he teased, "Immortal, it is time to return." With that, he turned and flew toward He Mountain.

...

On the edge of the cliff, behind a massive boulder, Yuntian was keeping track of time, occasionally kicking Dongfang Yi and muttering, "Why have they been gone so long?"

Suddenly, he felt a flicker of intuition. The divination plate at his feet began to spin. Looking at the reading, Yuntian frowned. "Tuoba Mu is already dead? And... the catastrophe the family elders spoke of has been resolved?"

"Did Li Yunji really do this?" Yuntian felt as if he had been in a dream. He had done nothing, yet the disaster had been defused by a seemingly lazy, hedonistic young master. Though he was reluctant to admit it, a sense of admiration for Li Yunji began to surge in his heart like a mighty river. He couldn't hold it back.

"Little kid," Li Yunji’s crisp voice echoed in his ear, pulling Yuntian back to reality. "What are you doing?"

Yuntian put away the divination plate, his eyes leaking pure admiration. "No... didn't you tell me to guard him here and keep kicking him?"

Li Yunji removed the hood from Dongfang Yi and chuckled lightly. "He’s already passed out; why are you still kicking him?"

Yuntian muttered under his breath, "You didn't say I couldn't kick him if he was unconscious."

As he said this, Yuntian suddenly realized something: he had obeyed Li Yunji’s orders unconditionally. Besides the head of the Yun family, Li Yunji was the first person to ever command such loyalty from him.

"Eleven, carry him back," Li Yunji instructed.

The group returned to the Taihu Academy quarters. Gu Xian’er had stayed behind to look after Su Qingmeng, while Su Yiyan had fallen asleep beside her sister. Li Yunji had just sat down to take a sip of water when Gong Qingfeng walked in. Seeing the man’s bruised and swollen face, Li Yunji spat out his tea.

"Dean Gong," Li Yunji tried his best to suppress his laughter, "what happened to you?"

Gong Qingfeng stroked his long beard, acting haughty. "Don't look at me like this. That old scoundrel He Xianzong is much worse off than I am."

"Did you get into a fight with Chancellor He?" Li Yunji asked curiously.

Gong Qingfeng sat down slowly and sighed. "Last night, I heard a commotion coming from the Crown Prince's bedchamber in the east, so I went to investigate. Upon arriving, I saw a female corpse on the ground. I realized something was wrong and hurried to check the bedchamber. Who would have thought that as soon as I entered, He Xianzong followed right behind me? That old scoundrel thought I was the one who knocked out the Crown Prince, so he started fighting me without a word. And that’s how I ended up like this."

Gong Qingfeng touched the bruise on his face and hissed, "Sss..."

It hurt. Li Yunji couldn't help but laugh at Gong Qingfeng’s comical appearance. The two old men, with a combined age of over a hundred and fifty, were acting exactly like children. Was this what it meant to be a man of great learning?

"Young Master," Gong Qingfeng coughed twice and asked, "There were strange omens in the sky last night. I assume it had something to do with what you mentioned?"

Li Yunji nodded. "Indeed."

Gong Qingfeng’s expression suddenly turned grave. "Rest assured, Young Master, I have already informed the other great scholars. If Mu Nanqing has truly broken the seal, we will fight to the death to stop him!"

"No need for that," Li Yunji said dismissively. "The Demon King has already fled in defeat."

"What?!"