At this moment, Yun Fan arrived underground. The underground was filled with the corpses of many fierce beasts and the lingering strange aura.
However, Yun Fan was completely immune to it.
He held the Azure Rainbow Sword in his hand, ready for any unforeseen circumstances.
But everything went surprisingly smoothly.
As he ventured deeper, Yun Fan discovered that this place was like a prison.
In the center of the prison, he saw a human figure, pierced through the body by iron chains.
These iron chains were not simple; they seemed to be reinforced by some kind of power, hence their effectiveness.
The figure was emaciated, as if dead for many years. But as Yun Fan arrived, he awoke.
A strange sharpness flashed in his eyes as he fixed them on Yun Fan.
"Are you the source of the strangeness?" Yun Fan asked.
He replied to Yun Fan, "I didn't expect you to be able to reach this place alive!"
"You haven't answered my question yet!" Yun Fan said indifferently.
"Yes, I am the source of the strangeness. I just don't know how you managed to evade my puppets!"
"You'll find out if you try!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he began to summon the puppets under his control. However, these puppets did not appear.
"Don't waste your effort. I've already dealt with them!" Yun Fan stated plainly.
"Impossible! You're so weak, how could you possibly deal with them?" he roared at Yun Fan in disbelief.
He had set traps for those puppets, who were greedy for the elixir of immortality, luring them in. He then absorbed their life force to survive.
Once controlled by him, those puppets were virtually invincible. Logically, Yun Fan, being so weak, shouldn't have been able to eliminate them.
"But even if you could deal with those puppets, what of it? You're going to die here anyway. Soon, you'll become my puppet!"
With that, he attempted to control Yun Fan with his strange aura. But the moment the strangeness invaded, the demonic energy within Yun Fan erupted.
It directly disintegrated his strange aura and even wounded his soul.
"Ah!" he let out a painful cry.
"How could it be you? How is this possible!" he looked at Yun Fan with unwillingness and terror.
Yun Fan nodded slightly, as this guy seemed to know the origin of the demonic physique.
"Do you know me?" Yun Fan asked.
"Stop pretending. Since you've come here, aren't you here to kill me?" he said resentfully.
"You chased my brothers and me here from beyond the heavens back then. I didn't expect you to still be pursuing me after ten thousand years!" he glared at Yun Fan in fury.
Yun Fan was somewhat bewildered, wondering why it had escalated to beyond the heavens.
"Who am I? Where do I come from?" Yun Fan asked.
"So you've lost your memory!" he sneered. "It seems you're even more miserable than I am!"
"I can't believe that even such a brutal war back then couldn't kill you. It seems we were defeated in the end!"
At this moment, a strange scene flooded Yun Fan's mind.
In the vision, a peerless devil god was being besieged by countless powerful beings. Then, the devil god self-destructed, his demonic blood splattering everywhere. Those who received the demonic blood became demonic powerhouses.
Before he could react, the vision suddenly shattered, and he regained consciousness.
"Even though you were the hunter, you ultimately failed, didn't you?" he said with a playful smile. "I can only say that we were both deceived by these despicable beings from the lower realm! You were destroyed, and I was imprisoned here for over ten thousand years. Hahahaha!"
He roared with laughter, as if seeing Yun Fan in his current state brought him immense joy. He had no idea how deep their enmity ran.
"If you want to live, tell me the truth. Otherwise, you know the consequences!" Yun Fan said.
At this moment, Yun Fan desperately wanted to know the truth.
However, the figure replied, "If you want to know, I won't tell you. Although I don't know how you survived, your end will not be good!"
With that, he prepared to self-destruct, denying Yun Fan the chance to learn the truth.
But Yun Fan acted a step ahead, directly reaching out to absorb his power.
Just moments ago, Yun Fan couldn't suppress the evil thoughts within him and was thus controlled by them, devouring the other party's strength.
Seeing his power continuously flowing into Yun Fan's body, he roared in frustration, "I will not fulfill your wish!"
His strength was too immense. If not for the restrictions, even with Yun Fan's innate ability to counter him, he wouldn't have been able to withstand even a single move.
In this moment of despair, he chose to self-destruct, refusing to let his power be absorbed by Yun Fan.
Seeing this, Yun Fan didn't dare to linger. He quickly withdrew his devouring power and fled.
"Boom!"
Immediately after, the entire mountain was razed to the ground by the explosion. Yun Fan narrowly escaped at the last moment.
"What a powerful explosion!" Even Qing Xuan was shocked. She couldn't imagine what kind of supreme expert could produce such an explosive force. It was beyond even the Emperor realm.
But it was good that Yun Fan was unharmed.
"What just happened?" she asked Yun Fan, still shaken.
Yun Fan recounted the scene he had witnessed to Qing Xuan, withholding information about his own identity.
Qing Xuan's expression changed upon hearing this. "I finally understand why someone isolated this place from the outside world. It turns out this place is the prison for that strange entity!"
"Roughly," Yun Fan replied. "I just don't know who had the power to imprison him here!"
"They must have been someone of great stature, considering they are from ten thousand years ago!" Qing Xuan said. "Since there are no more clues, let's set off. Saving people is the priority!"
"Alright!"
Then, the two rode on the White Tiger and left the small world, heading for the Feng Chan Land.
Upon arriving outside the Feng Chan Land, Yun Fan suddenly had a bold idea. "Senior, do you think Bai Hu and I can sweep through the Feng Chan Land together?"
He was mortal enemies with the Feng Chan Land. With his current strength, he would never have dared to entertain such a bold thought. But with the White Tiger, his confidence grew significantly.
However, Qing Xuan replied, "You're overthinking it. The Feng Chan Land is not as weak as you imagine. Abandon that bold idea!"
Fine, Yun Fan gave up. But he no longer had his previous worries. Before, if he were discovered, his life would have been in danger. But now it was different. With the White Tiger's help, even if he were discovered, he could retreat unscathed under the White Tiger's attacks.
As they crossed the border of the Feng Chan Land, they were discovered by people from the Zen Master lineage. But before they could make a move, Qing Xuan dispatched them with a single sword stroke each, resolving the situation perfectly.
"Let's go!" Qing Xuan urged. It wouldn't be good if others were alerted.
Afterward, Yun Fan, riding Bai Hu, successfully reached the Supreme Dao Sect with her.
Upon arriving at the Supreme Dao Sect, Qing Xuan informed Yun Fan that Ling Long was in the Qing You Secret Realm. Yun Fan immediately headed for the Qing You Secret Realm.
She did not enter with Yun Fan. In her opinion, this matter should be resolved by Yun Fan. The reason she didn't go in was simple: she felt guilty.
Then, with trepidation, she prepared to go into seclusion to clear her mind of these distractions. Unexpectedly, Qing Ming blocked her path.
"Junior Sister, you are too foolish! How could you bring that brat to my Supreme Dao Sect! You will bring ruin upon our sect, do you know that?" Qing Ming reprimanded her, filled with anger and disappointment.
However, Qing Xuan said indifferently, "They love each other. Can't I fulfill their wish? If anything happens, I'll bear the consequences!"
"Can you bear it?" Qing Ming's beautiful eyes widened in anger. This junior sister was acting lawlessly.
"This is the only time. There shall be no next time!" she warned sternly. "Once Ling Long has recovered, make him leave immediately!"
With the Zen Master lineage watching menacingly, the Supreme Dao Sect's strength was insufficient to contend with them. Her actions were for the good of the Supreme Dao Sect.
"Understood!" Qing Xuan no longer wanted to deal with her senior sister and intended to go into seclusion.
However, every move she made was noticed by Qing Ming.
"Wait!"
"What else do you intend to do?" Qing Xuan was angry. Just as the sisters were about to argue, Qing Ming's expression changed.
"How do you have a love tribulation?" she directly questioned. The Dao pursued by the Supreme Dao Sect was one of detachment and desirelessness. Only Ling Long was an anomaly. Others would sever their emotions before entering the stage of terrestrial immortals, thus having no more romantic entanglements. But she noticed that Qing Xuan was experiencing a love tribulation, which greatly startled her.
"What are you talking about? I don't understand!" Qing Xuan was inwardly shocked, cursing her senior sister for being too observant, and prepared to slip away.
Unexpectedly, Qing Ming directly stopped her.
"Why are you so flustered? Confess honestly, who is he?" Qing Ming had decided, for her junior sister's sake, to find the man who had caused her junior sister to fall into a love tribulation. Otherwise, if the love tribulation erupted, Qing Xuan would face a situation of spiritual demise. Although the sisters had a very poor relationship, she did not want to see her junior sister perish. After all, many predecessors of the Supreme Dao Sect had fallen into love tribulations, but their endings were always tragic.
"I'm not flustered at all, Senior Sister. You're overthinking it!" Qing Xuan said. "Don't you know my situation?"
"Hmph!" Qing Ming snorted. "You can fool others, but you can't fool me. If you don't say anything, don't blame me for being rude!"
Qing Xuan ultimately forced herself to leave. A mere love tribulation was nothing. In her opinion, she could resolve it with a few days of seclusion. But Qing Ming's heart ached. Since her junior sister wouldn't speak, she would have to find the culprit herself.
...
Within the Qing You Secret Realm, the spiritual energy was abundant. To delay Ling Long's aging, Qing Ming had transferred her there. But it only delayed it somewhat; Ling Long's fate was already sealed.
"You don't need to take care of me anymore. The sect needs you!" the frail Ling Long said to Wang You.
However, Wang You scoffed, "You don't have many days left. As your rival, I just want to watch you die personally!"
Ling Long smiled wryly. She knew that Wang You was a classic case of tough talk and a soft heart. She had been taking care of her during this time, but the other party was unwilling to admit it.
At this moment, Wang You said, "Of course, it would be even better if Master Uncle could find a way to save you. I also hope you can live on, and then I'll constantly defeat you until you surrender!"
"Hmph!" Ling Long snorted. "You won't have that chance!"
"But Master shouldn't have wasted her time on me!" Ling Long felt immensely guilty. At this moment, she said to Wang You, "How was your experience with my junior disciple?"
Although Ling Long was an immortal, she couldn't escape her true nature as a "fujoshi." The more she couldn't obtain something, the more curious she became. Even Wang You hadn't expected her to ask such a question, as this was Wang You's only point of pride. It was from conquering Yun Fan that she began to turn the tide of battle and defeat Ling Long step by step. Now, seeing Ling Long on the verge of death, she felt no sense of accomplishment.
She said, "It was wonderful. Unfortunately, you won't be able to experience it, will you?"
Damn it, she had outsmarted her. Ling Long regretted asking the question. Wasn't this just adding to her own distress? She also regretted not having decisively "taken" her junior disciple when they first met. Now, it seemed there was no chance.
At this moment, lost in beautiful fantasies, she gradually lost her life force.
"What's wrong with you?" Wang You's expression changed. She hadn't expected this situation, as Ling Long should have been able to hold on for a few more days in her current state.
Just then, Yun Fan arrived.
Wang You said mournfully, "You're too late!"