Of course, with the Bond Thread, Bai Sha couldn’t possibly get lost.
She seems a little angry…
Sensing the emotions transmitted through the Bond Thread, Bai Sha grew even more curious.
What exactly was Luo Nishang facing right now?
…
“Father, do you really want to do this? They’ll die! They’re supposed to be our partners!”
Luo Nishang’s voice, tinged with complexity, echoed through the underground space.
It was a vast subterranean area. The light was very dim, with only a few weak sources illuminating the yellow-brown soil and the two figures present.
One figure was naturally Luo Nishang, wearing a complicated expression as she looked at the person before her.
The other person was the Island Master of Hundred Beasts Island, the man whose name was known but whose face was rarely seen: Luo Yuanda.
If Luo Yuanda were to appear outside, no one would ever connect him to the noble identity of the Island Master. He looked utterly disheveled, with unkempt hair and a haggard face, dressed in ragged, tattered clothes. One wouldn’t be wrong to call him a beggar.
And within this vast underground space, the most attention-grabbing thing was neither Luo Nishang nor Luo Yuanda, but a massive entity beside them.
It was a figure as tall as a seven or eight-story building. It looked humanoid but was clearly not human. It had reddish-brown skin and wore ancient-style attire. Although standing there with its eyes closed, it emanated an aura of deathly stillness. Only its crimson hair fluttered faintly from time to time.
Luo Yuanda gazed at this figure and said slowly, “Do we have a choice? The Heavenly Devil Palace has gone mad, attacking us for no reason. Even if we don’t do this, everyone will still die. We only have this choice. I’m more worried if advancing to this step prematurely will even succeed. Our prior preparations were not completely finished. We face the possibility of failure. And if we fail, we’re finished.”
Luo Nishang couldn’t find words to retort.
Hundred Beasts Island had long been conducting a plan known as the Heavenly Demon Plan, something only the upper echelons knew about.
The Heavenly Demon Plan was to cultivate a terrifying Heavenly Demon to serve as a powerful weapon for the island. This battle power was meant to surpass the Nascent Soul Realm, reaching an even higher level—a level that was not just beyond Nascent Soul.
Luo Nishang had always opposed the Heavenly Demon Plan, because its final step involved draining the power of all Demon Cultivators who practiced the Hundred Beasts Heart Sutra. This power was not just their Demonic Power, but also their very life force.
All the Demon Cultivators would die completely, becoming a cog in the completion of the Heavenly Demon Plan, allowing the cultivated Heavenly Demon to “awaken.”
When Luo Nishang first learned of the Heavenly Demon Plan’s existence, it was undoubtedly agonizing for her.
Because she had grown up being taught, just like ordinary disciples of Hundred Beasts Island, that Demon Cultivators were partners and that she should treat them well. She had grown up under that education.
Perhaps because she was deemed too young to know about the plan, she only discovered its existence upon reaching adulthood.
At that time, the Heavenly Demon Plan directly clashed with the education she had received her entire life.
She was raised to see Demon Cultivators as partners, yet the reality was the complete opposite. The very people who taught her to treat Demon Cultivators as partners were themselves treating them as sacrifices.
If reality was like this, why give her that opposite education from the beginning?
This conflict created Luo Nishang’s resistance to the Heavenly Demon Plan. That resistance drove her to improve the Hundred Beasts Heart Sutra, developing a new version harmless to Demon Cultivators. She yearned to perfect this new version and completely replace the original.
In that way, no one would be harmed.
Luo Nishang was full of hope for this, especially after forming a bond partnership with Bai Sha. She looked forward to the future, believing Bai Sha’s growth could give her immense help.
But Luo Nishang never expected she wouldn’t live to see that day.
Under normal circumstances, executing the final step of the Heavenly Demon Plan was still a long way off. But then the Heavenly Devil Palace came.
Now, with Hundred Beasts Island on the verge of annihilation, the Heavenly Demon Plan could only be initiated prematurely.
“Nishang, I know what you’ve been doing this entire time,” Luo Yuanda finally glanced at his daughter. “You are far too naive. Growing up under our protection, you don’t understand the treachery of the Cultivation World. But you must understand, the path of cultivation is a path soaked in blood.”
Luo Nishang: “…”
Luo Yuanda said no more. He began to form hand seals, sending out streams of magical light that flew into the body of the Heavenly Demon.
He was about to initiate the final step of the Heavenly Demon Plan.
Seeing this, Luo Nishang raised her hand, but she didn’t know what to do.
The constant tremors around her told her that Hundred Beasts Island was truly at a life-or-death juncture.
In this situation, if the plan wasn’t executed, everyone would die.
If the plan was executed, the Demon Cultivators would die, and whether the Human Cultivators survived remained unknown.
The two paths before her were both equally cruel, throwing Luo Nishang into a state of bewilderment.
Why did situations like this exist, where no matter the choice, the outcome was impossible to accept? Was the real world just about picking the slightly less painful option among many painful ones?
“Awaken for me!”
At that moment, Luo Yuanda bellowed and sent the final magical light into the Heavenly Demon.
Luo Nishang also looked over.
Under their watchful eyes, the Heavenly Demon’s body rippled with a red glow. But the glow didn’t last long before fading away.
Seeing this, Luo Yuanda’s face turned ashen. “It failed.”
Luo Nishang: “…”
At this moment, Luo Nishang didn’t even know what emotion to feel.
The final step of the Heavenly Demon Plan had failed. With the prerequisites incomplete, directly birthing the Heavenly Demon was indeed impossible. In this way, the many Demon Cultivators of the island wouldn’t have to be sacrificed.
But this couldn’t save them. Whether Demon Cultivators or the island’s human disciples, they were all still doomed, because the Heavenly Devil Palace had arrived.
Luo Nishang spoke, somewhat dazed. “Father, does the Heavenly Devil Palace truly have no sense of reason? Their attack on us was far too sudden.”
Luo Yuanda glanced at her. “When have you ever seen Devil Cultivators be reasonable?”
Luo Nishang: “…”
Luo Yuanda added, “No matter what, I… hm? Who’s there?”
He was about to say something but immediately sensed a presence approaching. He snapped his head toward the tunnel, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
“Wait, Father!” Luo Nishang quickly called out. “It’s my cultivation partner.”
She had long since sensed Bai Sha’s arrival through the Bond Thread.
