Chapter 420: Bai Xiaoyao's Gentle Smile
Time gradually passed.
The small gathering in the imperial palace—where the contenders of the Human Immortal List had assembled—had already come to an end.
Almost every participant left with an unpleasant expression, faces clouded with gloom, unease, and hesitation—
But there were two complete exceptions.
"Were you intimidated by the Empress's aura just now?"
"Bah, you were the one intimidated! I was just surprised that she would openly reveal the matter of the Netherkin race like that!"
The Sword Fairy bared her teeth and glared at Bai Xiaoyao beside her.
"But in truth, her move was quite clever." Bai Xiaoyao narrowed her eyes slightly. "The Netherkin race's actions pose no small threat to the Royal City, but during the Human Immortal List, every contender will be under the protection of the Ascension Platform. At the very least, they'll be far safer than most within the city."
"And if things are really as she said—if the Immortal Nation's formation supporting the Trial of Ascension Platform has been damaged and can only sustain one final Human Immortal List—then almost no one would choose to give up this opportunity."
"Add to that the potential benefits of fully unsealing the Ascension Platform's formation… Once they weigh the pros and cons, very few will abandon such a chance for what is, comparatively, a minor risk."
"Furthermore, since all the disciples of the various sects present agreed to this, they'll naturally try to inform their own sects. If a few influential prodigies speak up, it's not impossible that the Immortal Nation could even draw a few allies to its side."
Lu Yuliu listened in a daze. "So that's how it is…"
There was so much hidden beneath the surface?
Then her eyes suddenly lit up.
"In that case, won't quite a few human sects come to help? Then we—"
"Don't get ahead of yourself."
Bai Xiaoyao cast a sidelong glance at her overly innocent best friend and interrupted, "Even if sects arrive for the sake of their prodigies, it doesn't mean they'll help the Immortal Nation when the chaos erupts."
"Why not?" Lu Yuliu blinked in confusion.
Faced with the question, the little demoness fell silent for a moment before speaking softly.
"…You do know that the Immortal Nation isn't the only human cultivation country that once existed, right?"
"Yes, but what about it?"
Seeing that the girl completely failed to catch the implication in her words, Bai Xiaoyao sighed.
Forget it—might as well use this to sharpen Yuli's wits a bit.
"The whole world knows the Immortal Nation is backed by the Daoist Sect—that's how it swept through the old wars of the human countries and became the sole surviving human cultivation nation."
"But if the Immortal Nation has supporters, how could the other former nations not have had theirs as well?"
"To grasp the human race's fortune and gather the world's dragon veins—Daoists understand the benefits of karmic merit. How could the other great sects not?"
"If not for the fact that such things hold little use for my Demon Sect and instead tend to bind it with restrictions, today's sole human cultivation nation might not even be the Immortal Nation."
Bai Xiaoyao's eyes gleamed.
"Ever since the former Immortal Nation Emperor disappeared, anyone can see that the Immortal Nation now stands only by virtue of its centuries of foundation and the Daoist Sect behind it."
"That Empress may be extraordinarily talented, but she is still far too young… merely at the early Nascent Soul realm. In the eyes of the slightly larger sects, that's hardly enough to command respect."
"And many of those larger sects covet the position of humanity's one and only cultivation nation."
"Yet they don't know how much of the Immortal Nation's heritage remains, nor how far the Daoist Sect would go to support it. They also can't openly move against the sole human cultivation nation without a proper pretext."
"Unless the Immortal Nation itself makes a blunder that stirs public outrage…"
"Originally, the disappearance of the former emperor three years ago should have been the perfect opportunity."
"But no one expected that a mere Nascent Soul Empress would forcibly reverse the decline at that time."
On the other side, the Sword Fairy listened with only half understanding.
From childhood, she had cultivated her sword on Frosty Snow Peak and knew nothing of such political intrigues.
Though her once extraordinary talent had brought her many hardships, she at least had Ling Shuangxue to shield her as the sect's sole personal disciple.
Bai Xiaoyao was different.
The title of Holy Maiden of the Demon Sect had to be seized, not given.
Lacking the overwhelming talent of her own senior brother who crushed all obstacles, she had clawed her way to her current position among the many candidates for saintess—and earned the name of "Demoness" in the process.
Naturally, she was no stranger to matters where interests intertwined.
Bai Xiaoyao glanced at the little girl beside her, knowing full well the other probably wouldn't figure things out any time soon.
She didn't bother to explain further, simply quickened her pace and left the still-pondering Lu Yuliu behind.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Lu Yuliu quickly called after her.
"The Human Immortal List has been moved up to tomorrow. Naturally, I need to go back and make some preparations."
"Oh… then I'll head back too."
"…As expected of you," Bai Xiaoyao said with a strange look.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing at all."
The Sword Fairy blinked her large eyes.
Whatever she couldn't figure out had already been tossed to the back of her mind.
After catching up with Bai Xiaoyao and walking a while longer, she suddenly brought up a new topic.
"Is the Demon Sect really planning to only send you as their contender this time?"
"Isn't the Sword Sect also only sending you?"
"Speaking of which, I actually find it odd. The Sword Sect clearly had several other personal disciples of the Elders slated to come, yet none of them have shown up even now…"
They walked a bit further.
Lu Yuliu asked, "By the way, what do you think of that Empress?"
Bai Xiaoyao replied casually, "Not as good as my senior brother."
"Tsk, I knew you'd say that… hopeless brother-obsess—" Lu Yuliu muttered under her breath.
Bai Xiaoyao frowned. "What was that?"
"Nothing, nothing, I was just saying things."
Lu Yuliu hurriedly swallowed the term she had picked up from someone's message, then changed the subject.
"But what about that marriage engagement your master arranged—"
"Heh."
Bai Xiaoyao gave a gentle, perfectly pleasant smile.
......
As the sun dipped toward the western hills, inside the Demon Artifact Pavilion's residence—
Luo Wusheng abruptly sat up from his bed.
He was breathing heavily, cold sweat running down his forehead.
Only after recognizing his own room did he tug at the corner of his mouth, forcing a rather ugly smile.
"Damn… I just wanted to take a little rest—how did I end up having that kind of dream…"
He rubbed his slightly throbbing head.
After leaving the Wandering Immortal Inn that morning and confirming a few pieces of intelligence, he had returned to his room and promptly fallen asleep.
It had been a hectic morning, and a midday nap seemed like the perfect way to relieve some stress.
Who would have thought even a nap wouldn't be peaceful.
At first, it had been a wonderful dream…
Ahem, a R18+ rated kind of dream.
And this time, the leading lady of the nsfw dream was quite the surprise.
It was Little Yuli.
Heavens above.
The girl who usually turned his sweet dreams into nightmares had actually become the main character this time?
To be fair, Luo Wusheng didn't have that many such dreams.
Up until now, the female lead who appeared the most often was still his own junior sister—after all, that little demoness was far too good at teasing people.
But why had it suddenly switched to someone else this time—and the most dangerous one at that?
Luo Wusheng guessed it was because he'd been having more and more physical contact with the girl lately.
No matter how careful he was in his heart, with a beauty like her, it was only natural for some uncontrollable thoughts to surface.
Still, perhaps this wasn't a bad thing…
If Little Yuli was the heroine of his lewd dream, who could possibly interrupt him inside the dreamscape?
But just as the dream-world him about to make babies with dream-world Little Yuli, a sudden change occurred.
The spring meadow vanished, the girl on top of him disappeared, leaving only an endless sky—and a massive shadow that blotted out the heavens.
Then Luo Wusheng jolted awake.
His right eyelid twitched violently.
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Note: Link to the character Illustration:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lkIcPnCxeyuyZA4Kkb621dPC05UvWjhD[1]
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Tn: I updated the story daily, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
Latest Chapter: Chapter 532: What On Earth Is Master Talking About?[2]
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[1] https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lkIcPnCxeyuyZA4Kkb621dPC05UvWjhD
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/chapter-532-what-156146549
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/chapter-532-what-156146549