The Immortal Lord and the Demon Venerable Are Both My Vests - Chapter 7

“Very well.”

The ‘mist figure’ didn’t know what kind of deliberation it had conducted in that brief moment before ‘it’ said: “The first question cannot be answered.”

This referred to the matter of retrieving the Heaven-Concealing Stone.

“But if you take this, you can go retrieve it.”

Yin Lang pondered the cause-and-effect relationship between these two matters.

Accepting the Primordial Jade fragment = agreeing to the Heavenly Dao’s request = smoothly retrieving the Heaven-Concealing Stone from Lin Xinqiao’s body

From this he deduced:

First, the Heavenly Dao had placed the Heaven-Concealing Stone on Lin Xinqiao and severed the blood bond connection in order to make him proactively do something that the Heavenly Dao hoped he would do. And the full story of this matter couldn’t be let known to him.

Second, this matter must have already failed at least once, otherwise the Heavenly Dao wouldn’t have taken the initiative to seek him out and attempt to trade with him using the ‘Primordial Jade fragment’ he desired.

Yin Lang rapidly listed out the decisions he’d made these past few days that involved Lin Xinqiao.

The first was massacring everyone in the Jihe Alliance. But this matter was clearly irreversible—even if the Heavenly Dao made a deal with him, he had no ability to bring the dead back to life.

The second was making Lin Xinqiao retrace the Heavenly Ascension Path. But this decision was entirely according to the Taihua Immortal Sect’s regulations. Even if it did mix in a bit of personal interest, it was only to confirm whether the Heaven-Concealing Stone was on her body—it couldn’t affect the judgment in the slightest.

The third matter was even more absurd—he had merely watched from afar to see whose disciple Lin Xinqiao became. No one had discovered him, so how could there be any talk of influence?

Yin Lang felt his considerations were thorough, yet the Heavenly Dao had never once interrupted his train of thought from beginning to end, indicating he indeed hadn’t arrived at the correct answer.

He had no choice but to patiently ask once more. “What do you want me to do?”

The ‘mist figure’ stubbornly repeated. “You cannot know.”

Yin Lang was almost angered to laughter.

Not just because of the bizarre request—having lived for several hundred years, he’d seen plenty of bizarre matters. The main issue was that he’d never encountered someone whose bizarre request left him with absolutely no way to fight back.

“Was Xu Rong also your doing?” he suddenly asked.

The ‘mist figure’ wouldn’t fall into a verbal trap like a human would, remaining completely silent.

“The item is yours.”

‘It’ suddenly uttered this sentence. Before Yin Lang could react, it vanished in the blink of an eye, transforming into mist and disappearing.

Light dimmed, darkness dissipated.

The fresh fragrance of the bamboo forest brushed past his face. Yin Lang opened his eyes to find himself still in the small courtyard on Tianji Peak.

In the distance, Ji Chang’an was laboriously trimming crooked bamboo while holding her natal sword, having to soothe her temperamental natal sword from time to time. The Out-of-Body stage cultivator was drenched in sweat despite her cultivation level.

His right hand felt heavy. Looking up, he saw the white jade fragment with flowing radiance gripped in his palm.

This… forced buying and selling?

I’ve already taken the item, so I must work diligently for you?

Ji Chang’an stood panting at the edge of the bamboo forest to rest. Trimming bamboo wasn’t particularly troublesome—the main issue was that the spiritual qi on Tianji Peak was too abundant. Every bamboo stalk grew tall and thick, and there were so many of them. The accumulated workload was considerable.

“Please excuse me.” A male voice suddenly appeared behind her.

Ji Chang’an reflexively formed hand seals to protect herself and swung her sword backward with one hand.

Clang clang—two sounds. The familiar flow of spiritual qi made Ji Chang’an stop her sword in time and turn around, barely holding back the curse about to escape her lips. She forced out the same kind of fake smile she wore when facing Yin Lang:

“Senior Brother Feng, it’s been a while. Are you well?”

Ji Chang’an always felt that Qin Xun was looking at her strangely today, but with a blink, it was still that familiar fake face. She couldn’t help but wonder if it was her imagination.

“Junior Sister Chang’an.” Qin Xun, wearing Feng Lan’s skin, appeared anxious. Fortunately, he still remembered his current identity and managed a barely polite greeting before pushing past her to rush inside. “Apologies, I have urgent business.”

Ji Chang’an stumbled from being bumped into. Before the anger could rise in her heart, it was extinguished by the ‘apologies’ and the memory of the little villain’s true identity in her mind.

Seeing Qin Xun rush into the small courtyard from afar and say something in a low voice, the originally leisurely lounging Yin Lang’s expression changed slightly. Ji Chang’an didn’t dare hesitate for even a second—she turned and flew toward the other side of the bamboo forest, gripping her natal spiritual sword and making a show of diligently trimming.

Joke! Could she listen to the villain’s secret schemes? According to novel law, she’d definitely meet the cannon fodder female supporting character’s fatal end!

Yin Lang glanced at her fleeing figure and scolded with a laugh, “Quite clever indeed.”

Qin Xun alertly stopped his report. “Master, should this disciple go…” He made a ‘slash’ gesture across his neck.

Their master-disciple dual identity was their greatest secret. They absolutely couldn’t allow a third person who knew to remain alive in this world!

Yin Lang flicked his fingers against his disciple’s forehead.

“Why is your head full of nothing but violence? Setting aside that this is your Martial Uncle Gu’s disciple—Xiao Chang’an is such an interesting young lady who can make so many kinds of sweets. Wouldn’t it be such a waste to kill her directly?”

He slapped his palm and demanded. “Now that you mention it, this master remembers. Where’s the Snow Lei Cake I told you to bring in that previous message?”

“……”

For a moment, Qin Xun didn’t know what to say.

Reason told him that his master was indicating he knew Ji Chang’an’s background and didn’t need to worry about it, but emotionally…

“…Yes, this disciple will certainly remember next time.”

With the small talk finished, Yin Lang asked, “What major incident made you so anxious that you sent your master a message in the middle of the night? If this master’s reaction hadn’t been quick enough, Tu Feng would have almost intercepted it halfway.”

Tu Feng was the Sect Master’s name.

“There truly is a major incident.” Qin Xun pulled out a jade slip from his chest. Just as he was about to hand it over, he suddenly noticed the irregularly shaped white jade fragment with flowing radiance in Yin Lang’s right palm. The side facing up had a hook-shaped symbol running from upper left to lower right.

“This is…” Sensing the unusual attractive aura, he hesitated for two seconds, his facial expression shifting uncertainly with shock and doubt.

Yin Lang said, “It’s exactly what you’re thinking.”

“Is it really, really…”

Qin Xun was overjoyed, so excited he nearly dropped the jade slip in his hand. Whether his heart or his brain, both were churned into mush by this sudden pleasant surprise. He even lost propriety by tightly grasping Yin Lang’s robe hem, trembling, “Master, you’re saved!”

“Speak properly, don’t use words carelessly.” Yin Lang knocked him once more and scolded with a laugh, “What saved or not saved—when has your master been about to die?”

Seeing his disciple in a state of wild joy, Yin Lang’s conscience rarely prompted him not to tell him that obtaining this item came with a price, and that he hadn’t yet figured out what that price was.

But it was most likely related to the little one kneeling at the foot of the mountain. After all, since losing the Heaven-Concealing Stone, the only strange matters he’d been involved with concerned these two people. He just wasn’t clear on who these two were, what relationship they had, or why they were worth the Heavenly Dao scheming against him with such great effort.

After finally waiting for Qin Xun to calm down, the two returned to the previous matter.

Qin Xun’s state was still quite excited, tremblingly handing over the jade slip. Yin Lang took it, and recalling his disciple’s initial state, didn’t forget to tease him a couple times. “What could make you so nervous like….!!”

How powerful was a Tribulation stage divine sense? With just one glance, he had completely scanned through the millions of words within.

Yin Lang’s expression suddenly darkened. The two fingers gripping the jade slip exerted force. How could a jade slip of ordinary material withstand the strength of a Tribulation stage great power? In the blink of an eye, it turned to dust.

“Where did this thing come from?” He spoke word by word, his tone leisurely, his expression perfectly normal.

Yet the spiritual pressure of the entire small courtyard was surging wildly.

The precursor to a dangerous eruption.

Qin Xun had already seen what was inside and had erupted on the spot, directly destroying a palace. If Yin Lang flew into a rage, this Tianji Peak would absolutely have no chance of survival.

He knew his master hadn’t completely erupted because there was still a thread of reason restraining him. Breaking out in cold sweat, he tried to dissuade him. “Master, it’s just a storybook imagined by a mortal. There’s no need to get angry over it. It’s all fake! Fake!”

As for whether it was truly fake or not… first calm the person down, then worry about the rest!

“Master is very calm.” Yin Lang actually showed a smile, which made Qin Xun even more terrified. “Ah Xun, you’re still young. When you reach Master’s level, you’ll be able to comprehend what the power of the Heavenly Dao is.”

He pointed at the jade powder scattered on the ground and said softly, “This is the second time in several hundred years that Master has seen such a strong aura of the Heavenly Dao.”

The first time was with the Primordial Jade fragment obtained less than half an hour ago.

“You honestly tell me—where did you get this thing?”

Qin Xun, covered in cold sweat, explained what had happened.

After handling the Jihe Alliance matter, he had returned to the demonic path forces’ headquarters to deal with accumulated affairs. A newly arrived concubine came to curry favor. Qin Xun sensed her expression was strange and decisively captured her to search her soul.

“…There was something hidden in her soul. That strange thing’s voice was very odd—the tone was flat without any fluctuation, yet it expressed emotions like anxiety and irritation incredibly vividly. When this disciple searched her soul, that woman kept shouting things in her mind like ‘System save me,’ ‘conquest mission failed,’ ‘the original work didn’t write it this way’—completely incomprehensible things. This disciple saw that ‘system’ was about to escape and urgently moved to intercept it, but unexpectedly the ‘system’ self-destructed and also turned that woman into an idiot. So even though I obtained this storybook, there was nowhere to inquire about what exactly was going on.”

Qin Xun waited anxiously for Yin Lang’s reaction, covered in sweat. He had thought of many things, such as how to rescue Tianji Peak when his master flew into a rage, how to preserve their dual identities when demonic qi surged.

He had always respected his master, but thinking of his own explosive state when he first learned the truth of the world, he truly didn’t dare guarantee that his master could maintain his reason and composure in this situation.

He waited anxiously for a long time, then suddenly heard Yin Lang say: “Go call Ji Chang’an over.”

…Huh?

After all that nervous waiting, Qin Xun hadn’t expected to hear such a statement.

“…Yes.” Though confused and puzzled, the obedient disciple still went out to call for her.

Yin Lang pinched the bridge of his nose and sat down by the stone table.

When he discovered the Heaven-Concealing Stone was missing, he had never imagined the truth would be complicated to this degree.

Xu Rong, Li Baisu, Ji Chang’an, Lin Xinqiao.

Should he first be shocked that the essence of the world was a storybook, or should he be angry that he was actually the final behind-the-scenes villain to be defeated by justice in this storybook?

Or perhaps, that the Heavenly Dao, clearly knowing the truth, was requiring him—this behind-the-scenes villain—to protect the protagonist who represented justice?