Pei Xuanjing walked in against the light and stood beside Nan Zhijin. He took the pill from Nan Zhijin's hand.
Nan Zhijin got anxious and quickly said, "Eldest Senior Brother, do you know what kind of pill this is?"
He glanced at Han Ze and lowered his voice, "Once you take this pill, there's no turning back!"
Without hesitation, Pei Xuanjing swallowed the pill.
Han Ze watched Pei Xuanjing with great interest and clapped his hands cheerfully. "I didn't expect there to be such a disciple in the Qingyun Sword Sect. Very well. Now, you two will be my left and right guardians."
"If we succeed, you shall share the world with me!"
"Now... it's time for you to take me to the location of the Qingyun Sword Sect."
Pei Xuanjing felt the rapid changes in his body and knelt on the ground painfully, with cold sweat slowly oozing from his forehead. The meridians in his body that were originally full of spiritual energy gradually turned black, forming clusters of demonic energy.
Gritting his teeth, he lowered his head and said, "Yes! Your Majesty, the Dragon King!"
---
By the South Sea, Shen Qing and her group finally finished their rest.
Azure Dragon squatted beside Flaming Dragon, who was sitting cross - legged with his eyes closed, and kept urging, "How's it going? How's it going? Have you found our stone cores?"
Flaming Dragon frowned impatiently. The veins on his hand that was pinching the magic formula bulged, as if he was about to punch Azure Dragon in the face the next second.
White Dragon held Azure Dragon back and said, "Stop being so noisy. Flaming Dragon can't concentrate. Let's wait a bit longer."
Even though he said so, there was a hint of impatience in White Dragon's eyes.
Azure Dragon said aggrievedly, "Brother White Dragon, I'm not eager to restore my cultivation quickly. I'm worried about Azure - Blue Dragon."
"Both Azure - Blue Dragon's stone statue and its stone core have been taken away. According to Shen Qing, it has been completely eroded by resentment. If we're any later, it will become a fallen god, and everything will be irreparable."
Hearing this, the impatience in White Dragon's eyes grew stronger.
How could he not be worried about Azure - Blue Dragon?
The five of them had never been separated from the time they were born until they became gods. Even though they had no blood relation, they regarded each other as their closest family.
They were trapped in their own stone statues and watched helplessly as Azure - Blue Dragon was taken away.
Wasn't this like having a piece of their flesh cut off?
Mentioning Azure - Blue Dragon, all four of them, including Flaming Dragon who was still in meditation, let out a sigh.
They missed Azure - Blue Dragon...
Shen Qing was now exploring the area around with Li Xian. Now that the Nine Wastelands Road was filled with demonic beasts, they needed to find a way to reach the River of Oblivion in the North Sea and awaken the Heavenly Pillar there.
They were now in a dense forest beside the South Sea. This forest was originally full of spiritual beasts, but now they had all been eroded by demonic energy. They were either dead, disabled, or had become demonic beasts.
Shen Qing and Li Xian walked straight for about a few hundred meters and then found it extremely difficult to move forward.
They couldn't fly with their swords or take flying boats, because if they did, they would be immediately found by Han Ze.
But it was also very difficult to reach the River of Oblivion by land while avoiding the people from the Main God's Temple, demonic soldiers, and demonic beasts.
"Li Xian, how do you think we can break through these encirclements and reach the North Sea? If we walk, it will be hard to get there in half a month. But the longer we delay, the more dangerous it will be. What can we do?"
Li Xian was also wracking his brains to come up with a solution.
He stroked his chin and said in a deep voice, "If there was a place where we could pass through without anyone knowing... that would be great."
Shen Qing pursed her lips. "Where is there such a place?"
"Yes, there is. The Demon Realm."
Hearing this, Shen Qing and Li Xian's eyes lit up at the same time. But then they realized that this voice didn't come from each other.
They immediately became alert and looked around warily.
"Who!" Shen Qing held her sword, Wu Wang, and spread out her spiritual sense, but the surroundings were completely silent. Except for the demonic beasts, she didn't sense anything else.
"I didn't expect that in just a few months, you've already forgotten me."
A majestic white wolf jumped down from the tree and stood menacingly in front of Shen Qing and Li Xian.
Demonic energy surrounded its body, but its eyes were clear, indicating that it hadn't been eroded by the demonic energy.
No wonder Shen Qing and Li Xian couldn't detect it. The demonic energy had hidden its aura.
Shen Qing was originally on high alert. After sizing up the white wolf a few times, she was surprised to recognize its identity and exclaimed excitedly, "Phantom Wolf!"
Li Xian let out a sigh of relief and put away his vigilant stance.
The Phantom Wolf grinned and slowly transformed into a human form.
He still looked the same as before, spotlessly white all over, but demonic energy lingered around him. This demonic energy condensed into a black entity and lingered around him for a long time.
Shen Qing happily stepped forward, wanting to pat the Phantom Wolf on the shoulder, but was deterred by the demonic energy.
She looked at the Phantom Wolf curiously. "Why doesn't this demonic energy erode your body but instead lingers around you?"
The Phantom Wolf lifted his chin proudly and said, "This is a method my mother and the others came up with after staying in the Demon Realm for a long time. Otherwise, they would have turned into demonic wolves in the Demon Realm long ago."
Shen Qing caught the key point in the Phantom Wolf's words and exclaimed excitedly, "Did the plan succeed?"
The Phantom Wolf nodded with a smile.
Shen Qing clapped her hands happily and looked behind the Phantom Wolf. "Where's Master? Where did he go? Why didn't he come with you?"
Hearing Shen Qing mention Ling Zhou, the Phantom Wolf rarely fell silent.
Shen Qing's heart skipped a beat, and a bad premonition immediately arose in her mind. "Master couldn't have had an accident, right? What happened?"
The Phantom Wolf told Shen Qing to calm down and slowly told her what had happened.
After they went to the Demon Realm, Ling Zhou originally wanted to use Ji Chongming's face to get the demonic soldiers to release the clan members.
However, before they could figure out how to rescue the Nether White Wolf Clan smoothly, they received an order from the Main God's Temple, saying that the seal of the Demon Abyss would be lifted soon and they should make preparations.
Ling Zhou and the Phantom Wolf discussed and decided to act separately.
Ling Zhou went to check the situation at the seal of the Demon Abyss first, while the Phantom Wolf went with Wang Nian to rescue the clan members.
It wasn't until the seal of the Demon Abyss was lifted and the demonic soldiers and beasts rushed to the Nine Wastelands Continent, leaving more than half of the Demon Realm empty, that the Phantom Wolf led the clan members to escape from the Demon Realm.
But they hadn't been able to contact Ling Zhou again, so they didn't know Ling Zhou's current situation.
After he came out, he saw the commotion near the Heavenly Pillar in the South Sea. He guessed that it was caused by Shen Qing and her group, so he came here to take a chance. Unexpectedly, he really found Shen Qing.
Shen Qing's heart sank, and the joy from before was almost completely wiped away.
Yu Xuzi had told her what had happened in the Demon Abyss. If Yu Xuzi had seen Ling Zhou, he would definitely have told her. But he didn't, which meant that Ling Zhou hadn't appeared in the Demon Abyss.
What on earth had happened to Ling Zhou?
Mentioning the Demon Abyss and Ling Zhou, Shen Qing suddenly thought of Elder Yaoyue.
Although Yu Xuzi had seen with his own eyes that Elder Yaoyue had been devoured by the demonic creatures, Shen Qing felt that Elder Yaoyue wouldn't fall so easily.
Shen Qing had a hunch that maybe the two of them were in the same place now.
No news was the best news.
Shen Qing shook her head to focus on the matter at hand. "You said we can go to the North Sea through the Demon Realm. Is that true?"
The Phantom Wolf smiled with the corners of his mouth upturned. "Of course. Now that the Demon Realm is empty, going to the Demon Realm is the best way to avoid the demonic creatures on the Nine Wastelands Continent."