Chapter 35 Part 1

Senior Ying’s real name was Ying Xiaotian, a Transformation God Stage cultivator from the White Bone Sect.

From his towering and massive physique, it was clear that in life, he had been a Human Race Cultivator who possessed a Demon Race Bloodline.

Due to some bizarre experiences—every cultivator who reached profound heights had their own bizarre tales—Ying Xiaotian had already awakened his Demon Race Bloodline. He had even combined the demon bones within his body with the White Bone Sect’s secret arts, developing a unique secret technique.

By using his own bones as the core for puppets, he refined enough White Bone Puppets to serve as his eyes, his hands and feet. During his secluded cultivation, they could venture out to explore treasures and gather intelligence on his behalf.

Since the core of the puppets was his demon bones, the connection between the puppets and himself was even tighter. They were easy to control, their effects comparable to a real person, and their strength surpassed ordinary puppets sold on the market.

But Ying Xiaotian had never imagined that this powerful connection between the puppet and himself would instead be exploited by Xie Linlang, becoming the key for Xie Linlang and Le Qingping to burst out of the secret realm.

A massive and terrifying surge of airflow erupted from countless pristine white bones. The bones reassembled into a proud, upright Bone Dog. Then, the Demonic Qi around the Bone Dog converged and solidified, transforming it into a youth dressed in white robes.

The white-robed youth suddenly clapped his palms together. Fine bone chains shot out from his palms like a Spirit Snake piercing into the void.

Immediately, Ying Xiaotian’s eyes abruptly turned hollow, and his vision instantly fixed onto the puppet.

He saw… Hmm? Wait, Le Girl from Silent Night Palace?

Le Qingping seemed a bit embarrassed. She even made an apologetic gesture. “Thank you for your assistance, Senior.”

In the next second, Ying Xiaotian felt his Demonic Qi being sucked away like a snake swallowing a whale, surging madly inward.

Ying Xiaotian was so startled that he instinctively severed the connection between himself and the puppet. But the moment he did, he flew into a rage.

Those were his bones! He had lost a bone!!

However, that brief moment and amount of Demonic Qi had been enough for Xie Linlang and Le Qingping to rush out of the Nine Spirits Sect Ruins.

Boom—

At the easternmost point of the Purple Radiance Mountain Secret Realm, where black-and-white swimming fish fissures already abounded, one of the fissures suddenly expanded violently. Xie Linlang and Le Qingping tumbled out from it together.

The two barely stabilized their forms and looked around. Once they confirmed they had truly escaped, a hint of relief appeared on both Xie Linlang’s and Le Qingping’s faces.

They had succeeded!

But in the next second, Le Qingping’s expression turned sour. “Senior Ying’s Puppet didn’t make it out.”

Xie Linlang shrugged. “Our Demonic Qi wasn’t sufficient. Senior Ying was too stingy too—the Demonic Qi he transmitted was so little that it wasn’t even enough to get us out of the Purple Radiance Mountain Secret Realm.”

Le Qingping said dejectedly, “When we get back, Senior Ying is definitely going to give me trouble.”

Xie Linlang glanced at the jade pendant hanging from Le Qingping’s waist and said indifferently, “You have your sect and elders to protect you. It’s just a Foundation Establishment Stage puppet.”

That said, Xie Linlang noticed that the connection between Senior Ying and that puppet at the end seemed even more intimate. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to pinpoint their location so precisely.

Le Qingping sighed. “Well, nothing to be done about it. What are your plans now, Senior Xie?”

Xie Linlang replied, “I’m undergoing Reincarnation Recultivation, so no need to keep calling me Senior. From now on, we’re fellow disciples. I should even call you Senior Sister.”

Le Qingping said, “Then let’s just call each other as equals—Senior Brother Xie.”

The two humbly deferred to each other for a bit, all polite and harmonious, before finally parting ways.

Xie Linlang planned to go find Shen He—after all, they would soon be fellow disciples. Le Qingping also planned to find Shen He; she still had a sect-assigned task to tail him.

Though their goals aligned, Xie Linlang had a prior agreement with Shen He on a tracking Magic Formula, while Le Qingping could only inquire about Shen He’s whereabouts among the secret realm cultivators. Moreover, Le Qingping needed to find a place to properly recuperate.

In the end, it was Xie Linlang who found Shen He first.

When he saw Shen He, Shen He’s face looked somewhat haggard and somber. He sat cross-legged under a massive tree that blotted out the sky, with a black Demonic Beast leopard lying beside him. Man and beast alike gazed melancholically at the campfire before them, lost in thought about who knew what.

Xie Linlang was somewhat speechless.

Picture it: in a pitch-black grove, beside a campfire, one person and one leopard both struck melancholic poses, staring into empty space. Even when a stranger approached, neither man nor beast reacted. The scene was utterly bizarre no matter how you looked at it.

An ordinary person probably would have been scared to death.

Xie Linlang paused for a dozen seconds and saw that Shen He and the leopard still wore that dumbstruck look. He could only clap his hands. “Wake up.”

Shen He snapped back to attention. The leopard leaped straight up from flat ground, scrabbled twice on the dirt with its claws—producing a harsh scraping sound—then whoosh, it darted behind Shen He and let out a terrified roar.

Shen He’s reaction was decent. One hand gripped the Black Bone Bell as if to swing it down, while the other had already formed the seal for the Illusion Light Technique, poised to flee.

“…It’s me.”

Xie Linlang glanced at the leopard. If he remembered correctly, this leopard belonged to that Zhang cultivator Shen He had met along the way?

Shen He peered closely. The youth before him wore black robes and had black hair. His features were refined yet carried a touch of demonic allure, with a vermilion dot between his brows. His pitch-black eyes were as deep as a Cold Pool, and when his gaze swept over, it carried an inherent authority.