FVN Chapter 225 The Alluring New Ling Ye
Chapter 225 The Alluring New Ling Ye
Chapter 226 The Alluring New Ling Ye
After leaving the Demon Slayer Headquarters, Ling Ye arrived at the Netherworld Palace.
Inside the underground palace, the air was bitterly cold.
Shangguan Luoxue, dressed in a long purple gauze dress, sat cross-legged on a white jade platform in the center of the Thousand-Year Cold Pool.
Countless crystal-clear purple snowflakes swirled and danced around her graceful figure. Her exquisite face, set against the backdrop of the falling purple snow, appeared even more unattainable.
"You know that the imperial court is preparing to completely abandon your plans, don't you?"
Ling Ye walked to the edge of the cold pool, looked at his former most proud disciple, and asked softly.
Shangguan Luoxue slowly opened her purple eyes, her tone calm: "Of course I know."
"The fundamental law of nature is that the strong prey on the weak, and only the fittest survive. I was able to hold onto this position of garrison commander because of my strength and value. Now that my value has diminished, it is only natural that I have been abandoned."
"The road to power has always been this cruel. When you're in power, everyone fawns over you; when you fall from power, nobody cares. I was prepared."
Looking at his proud and arrogant disciple, Ling Ye's eyes welled up with tears, and he felt a pang of heartache.
She stepped forward, her voice gentle: "Luoxue, I will do everything I can to help you. Even if you ultimately lose your star position, I will protect you."
"unnecessary."
Shangguan Luoxue shook her head. "You just need to take care of yourself. This is my own tribulation, and I will find a way to overcome it myself."
Ling Ye felt a pang of sadness upon hearing these words.
She knows this apprentice too well.
This girl is just like me back then, with a kind of morbid pride etched into her bones.
If the day truly comes when she falls from the heavens to the dust, she would rather be shattered to pieces amidst the brilliance than bow her head to beg for charity and pity from others.
"I heard from the headquarters that..."
Shangguan Luoxue suddenly changed the subject, "It seems the imperial court wants our grandmaster to come out from the bottom of the divine lake, but our grandmaster has refused the court's conditions."
Ling Ye smiled bitterly: "Your grandmaster only has that man named Jiang Chaoxi in his heart."
For him, even the righteous path of the world could be abandoned, and even his own life could be given up. How could he possibly agree to the court's conditions?
She would rather be imprisoned beneath the sacred lake for a lifetime, enduring centuries of solitude, than do anything that might harm that man.
Upon hearing this, Shangguan Luoxue fell into a long silence.
After a long pause, she sighed, "Is the love between men and women really so terrible, so blinding?"
It's astonishing that a peerless powerhouse, who once stood atop the clouds and looked down upon the world, would willingly confine himself to a self-imposed prison, becoming a madman who has lost his mind—
Ling Ye also fell silent.
She thought of herself and Jiang Mu, and sighed softly.
"Yes—I didn't understand my master before. I thought she was too foolish to ruin her life for a man who wasn't worth it at all."
She even secretly vowed in her heart that she would never touch this harmful poison of love in her life.
But now that I think about it, the feelings between men and women are sometimes really like an invisible and intangible net.
By the time you realize it, you've already fallen into it, and are being bound tighter and tighter.
Feeling unacceptable, going deeper.
The most difficult path to understand in this world is not immortality, but rather the concept of "love" in the mortal realm.
Shangguan Luoxue looked at Ling Ye, who was suddenly feeling sentimental, with a strange expression, and asked, "Master, you don't have a man you like, do you?"
"Nonsense!"
Ling Ye snapped out of her daze, her pretty face flushing red: "How could I possibly like men? You little brat, stop teasing your teacher."
Shangguan Luoxue stared at her for a while, then said calmly, "Master, don't worry. If you really have a man you like, your disciple will never be so ungrateful as to try and take him from you."
This disciple would never do something so shameless and contrary to common sense.
Ling Ye's heart skipped a beat at her words.
He felt that his apprentice had seen through his secret thoughts, thoughts that he himself dared not admit.
Embarrassed and annoyed, she immediately adopted the authoritative demeanor of a strict teacher, putting on a stern face and coldly snorting, "You little brat, I think you're just lovesick!"
Upon hearing this, Shangguan Luoxue's eyes flickered slightly.
A figure flashed through her mind, someone who had tormented her until her eyes rolled back in her head.
She suppressed the flutter in her heart, turned her beautiful face away, and said in a voice colder than usual, "Master, you're overthinking it. My heart is only set on the supreme Dao."
Ling Ye knew, of course, that his disciple was focused entirely on his cultivation and would never have any interaction with any man in the world.
But still annoyed by the other person's words earlier, she raised her long neck and said, "Don't worry, if you find a man you like, as your elder, I will never try to take him from you."
"I could never do something as despicable as stealing my disciple!"
The next morning.
Before the mist had completely dissipated, Ling Ye and Jiang Mu's group had already assembled and set off for Black Soil Village in a grand procession.
Accompanying them were Xu Fu and his subordinates from the Seventh Hall, as well as Zhang Xiaokui and others from Jiang Mu's Eighth Hall.
As for Yan Fenghuo—
Hey, this guy's gone into seclusion!
After seeing that even Xu Fu could successfully break through to the sixth realm, Yan Fenghuo became extremely envious.
So he also chose to go into seclusion to break through to higher levels, preparing for a big push.
Having broken through to the sixth realm, Xu Fu was naturally refreshed and walked with his head held high and back straight in front of Jiang Mu.
How could I not be proud?
Back then, even though he was known as the elder brother to Jiang Mu, he still felt somewhat inferior in the face of that kid's monstrous ability to fight beyond his level.
It is different now.
I am a legitimate cultivator of the Sixth Realm.
No matter how awesome you are, Jiang Mu, you're still just a junior.
Although this younger brother from the fifth realm could easily crush him in a real fight, it didn't prevent Xu Fu from gaining a huge sense of superiority.
The group rode at full speed and soon arrived at Black Soil Village.
The village remains unchanged.
The gray sky seemed to be forever shrouded in a layer of gloom.
Dilapidated houses, desolate streets.
Those villagers whose minds had been damaged by long-term consumption of Yama (the King of Hell) still wandered aimlessly through the village like walking corpses.
Occasionally, it would let out a few unintelligible roars.
Jiang Mu searched carefully, trying to find the crazy woman who had given him directions after losing her child last time.
But after searching all over, they couldn't find a trace of it.
This reminded him of the mysterious "Monk of the Sea of Bitterness".
Last time, it was near this Black Soil Village that he discovered that the guy was the mastermind behind the serial "Seven Deadly Sins" murders in Huzhou City.
As a result, because the bald monk was a guest of honor of the Prince Yi, Ran Qingshan, out of consideration for the royal family's reputation, could only choose to secretly monitor him.
I haven't been able to find a suitable opportunity to make a move.
Now, with Prince Sheng's unexpected death at the Divine Sword Sect, Daoist Jiu and Master Kuhai seem to have vanished into thin air, mysteriously disappearing without a trace.
They probably sensed the situation was turning bad and left Huzhou City long ago.
"Alas, what a pity, that monk got away. Boss Ran was ultimately too hesitant and failed to act in time."
Jiang Mu secretly felt sorry for him.
The group arrived at the dried-up well in the village.
Ling Ye stopped and turned around, instructing Xu Fu, "Hall Master Xu, you and your men are to keep a close watch around this dry well. Do not allow any villagers to approach. If they make any unusual moves, or if any monsters appear, kill them if you can."
Xu Fu patted his chest, his voice booming, "Your Excellency, rest assured, my current cultivation level is among the best in the Demon Slaying Division of Huzhou City. Leave this to me, and everything will be foolproof!"
Ling Ye nodded, then turned his gaze to Jiang Mu, his voice gentle: "Little Jiang, come down with me."
"it is good."
Jiang Mu responded.
The two jumped into the dry well, one after the other.
This was Jiang Mu's first time here.
As soon as he landed, he discovered that a deep tunnel, more than a person's height, had been dug out on one side of the well wall.
Perhaps because of the previous extermination of monsters, there were still some dried snake skins scattered inside, and a faint fishy smell permeated the air.
"Follow behind me, and be careful."
Ling Ye entered the passageway first, conjuring a soft white light in his hand for illumination.
Jiang Mu followed behind, her hand on the hilt of her knife.
Before long, the two passed through a long tunnel and arrived at an extremely spacious underground lair.
This place was clearly once the "headquarters" of those snake demons.
The cave is surrounded by numerous snake holes of varying sizes in the stone walls. Inside the cave, there are several dilapidated stone tables and benches, covered with thick layers of dust and dried bloodstains.
"Sister Ling, is the god you mentioned hiding in this god-like place?"
Jiang Mu looked around and asked with some doubt.
Ling Ye nodded, walked to the center of the nest and stopped, saying, "Last time I led a team here, I was only focused on killing the snake demon. After we finished, we retreated back to the ground and didn't thoroughly search this nest."
Later, on my journey to find Qiu Yuexin, I passed through a mountain forest and wiped out a wicked demon cave. From the dying demon leader, I learned that deep underground in this Black Soil Village, there was a Buddhist treasure called the Lotus Relic.
But why such a deity would appear here, I have no idea.
As he spoke, Ling Ye took out a small bronze lamp shaped like a lotus flower from his pocket and placed it on the ground.
Immediately afterwards, she pulled out a dagger and made a cut on her fair and delicate palm.
Crimson blood gushed out—
The drops fell, dripping, onto the petals of the bronze lotus lamp.
"Om one!"
Accompanied by a resonance.
The bronze lotus petals, which were originally tightly closed, began to slowly bloom after absorbing Ling Ye's blood.
In an instant, a vast and pure Buddhist aura swept through the dark lair like a tsunami.
Immediately afterwards, countless rays of multicolored Buddha light burst forth from the center of the lotus platform.
The entire underground space was illuminated as if it were daytime!
"Hiss!" Jiang Mu and Ling Ye were blinded by the sudden bright light and instinctively raised their arms to shield their eyes.
After a while, the dazzling light gradually subsided.
The two then lowered their arms.
When they saw the scene before them, they were all stunned.
The once eerie serpent demon's lair had been completely transformed.
All around appeared lifelike, towering phantom images of Buddhas, each several meters tall.
These Buddha statues are depicted in various poses: some smiling while holding a flower, others glaring angrily, and still others with lowered brows and heads bowed.
His appearance is solemn and dignified.
The magnificent and radiant light of Buddha flowed and intertwined among the illusory images, and it seemed as if thousands of monks were chanting scriptures in hushed tones, inspiring an urge to prostrate oneself in worship.
At the highest point in the air, surrounded by the phantom images of all the Buddha statues, lies a bone no bigger than a pigeon's egg.
"It's a lotus relic!"
Ling Ye's beautiful eyes shone brightly. "As expected, they're here. That demon leader didn't lie to me!"
Ling Ye lightly touched the ground with his toes, and his figure soared into the air like a light black swift.
She reached out and grabbed at the relic in mid-air.
But they found nothing.
The lotus relic suspended in mid-air, along with the surrounding radiant Buddha statues, were all illusory images that could be seen and touched.
Ling Ye landed, her delicate brows furrowing.
At this moment, Jiang Mu, with her sharp eyes, noticed an ancient stone tablet, about half a person's height, standing in a corner directly below.
"Sister Ling, look, there's a monument over there."
The two walked quickly to the stone tablet.
The stone tablet was covered with dense, tadpole-like, twisted and difficult-to-understand Sanskrit characters.
Ling Ye stepped forward, his gaze quickly sweeping over the Sanskrit characters. He then sighed softly, his tone tinged with helplessness: "Buddhism has always emphasized that 'sincerity brings results, and destiny is predetermined.'"
It seems that such supreme deities cannot be obtained by brute force alone. Only a destined person can calm their mind, communicate with it using their divine sense, and perceive its presence with their heart, in order to allow it to manifest its true form.
Standing to the side, Jiang Mu listened to this rambling and was immediately filled with admiration for Ling Yekuo.
He gave a thumbs up and exclaimed sincerely, "Amazing, my sister Ling! Not only are you highly skilled and beautiful, but you can even read Sanskrit? You are truly a woman of exceptional talent, excelling in both literature and martial arts!"
Ling Ye said calmly, "I'm just guessing, don't be silly."
Jiang Mu: "—"
Ling Ye sat cross-legged on the ground and said to Jiang Mu, "Little Jiang, I'm going to try to sense the Lotus Relic with my divine sense. You protect me. Buddhist deities are most likely to induce inner demons and illusions, so keep an eye on things for me."
"Okay, no problem."
Jiang Mu nodded and gripped the Blood Frenzy Blade tightly.
Ling Ye nodded and slowly closed his eyes.
She formed a mudra with her hands in front of her chest, completely emptying her mind and body, like a drop of water merging into the ocean, guiding her consciousness toward the phantom of the relic in mid-air.
Time passed slowly, second by second.
The entire nest was so quiet that only the two people's soft breathing could be heard.
Soon, Jiang Mu noticed the change.
A warm, pure white halo began to emanate from Ling Ye's body, and this halo expanded and contracted rhythmically, like breathing.
The phantom of the Lotus Relic hanging above the well seemed to sense something, and began to emit a slight, high-frequency tremor, while its originally dim white light grew stronger.
It seems that Ling Ye and this Buddhist treasure have begun to resonate and form a bond.
And just then...
Jiang Mu suddenly saw that a kind-looking Buddha statue in the distance was slowly twisting and deforming.
It gradually took on the shape of Ling Ye, and then solidified into a physical form.
Compared to the usually cold and aloof Inspector, the "Lingye" who was transformed from a Buddha statue appeared charming and alluring.
She was only draped in a nearly transparent red veil.
Her graceful figure was partially hidden beneath the red gauze, exuding a captivating allure.
The alluring and seductive "Ling Ye," with her bare, crystal-clear feet and swaying waist like a water snake, walked towards Jiang Mu with cat-like steps: "Little Jiang, Sister Ling is so hot right now—"
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