I’ve Led the Villain Astray, How Do I Fix It?
Chapter 405
At that moment, Xu Ziyan and the others were their only choice in thousands of years!
“What about Zirong?” After listening to City Master Qi’s explanation, Xu Ziyan immediately thought of Xu Zirong, who had absorbed a large amount of devilish energy.
City Master Qi waved her hand, telling him not to worry. She had just checked, and although Xu Zirong had absorbed a significant amount of devilish energy, it seemed that either his Blood Sea Heart Sutra was particularly unique, or there were some other reasons, because he had not formed any connection with that world.
In other words, Xu Zirong could still easily leave the place without being pulled back by the force of the world.
With the assurance that Zirong’s body would not have any issues, Xu Ziyan felt relieved.
After all, if City Master Qi and her group wanted to leave the world, they would undoubtedly need his help. It should not be difficult for him, considering they were bound to be indebted to him.
Of course, Xu Ziyan had also considered whether they might attempt to achieve their goal by turning him and his group into puppets. However, upon further thought, he let go of that concern.
The power required to rescue them from there was immense, far beyond what a mere nascent soul cultivator like himself could achieve. They would need a significant amount of manpower and resources, which meant that they should report the matter to the sect.
Pulling an entire of cultivators out of a world filled with devilish energy was not something that could be accomplished with mere words. More importantly, the current Xuanyu Realm was under invasion by the devils. A world brimming with devilish energy would undoubtedly arouse their extreme vigilance.
Before investigating whether those cultivators were friend or foe, no sect would dare to offer them any assistance. At that moment, Xu Ziyan and the others, who brought back the information, were undoubtedly be under everyone’s scrutiny.
If they were unharmed, it would be fine. However, any trace of manipulation left on them would categorize those central city cultivators as enemies.
Xu Ziyan thought that City Master Qi, who had lived for thousands of years, would not possibly be oblivious to that. In other words, Xu Ziyan had no real worries about her trying to harm him, unless her intelligence suddenly plummeted.
As for the issue of his credibility, that was indeed an unsolvable problem. However, in this matter, Xu Ziyan believed that City Master Qi would not have many options either. After all, for so many years, he was the only cultivator who had entered the place and managed to survive. The other party had no choice but to trust him.
Having figured that out, Xu Ziyan was completely at ease. Right now, he just wanted to know when they could leave. The longer they stayed, the stronger the pull of the world would become.
Seeing Xu Ziyan let down his guard against her, City Master Qi secretly heaved a sigh of relief. Compared to Xu Ziyan’s constant concern for his own safety, she herself was far from calm.
As the only three living people to have entered the world in thousands of years, Xu Ziyan and the others represented their hope of leaving the place.
Being trapped in one place for thousands of years, even cultivators with high cultivation base would find it hard to bear. There were also some things she had not revealed to Xu Ziyan and the others. While they could cultivate by transforming the devilish energy with their magical artifacts, it had also led to another consequence. She was unsure to what extent the world rejected spiritual energy. Even though there was a powerful array outside their city that isolated the inside from the outside, the more devilish energy they absorbed and transformed, the more devilish energy the world would generate.
Xu Ziyan and his group had not ventured far from the city, and even Tianle had only wandered around the outskirts. Therefore, they were completely unaware that the area around the central city had the highest density of devilish energy in the world. Although the devilish energy in other places was dense, it was far from the concentration of devilish energy near the central city.
The constant accumulation of devilish energy forced those cultivators to research magical artifacts with even higher conversion efficiency. However, doing so would only facilitate the more generation of devilish energy.
City Master Qi’s concern was not only due to them unable to leave the world, but also due to their protective formation in the outskirts of the city on the verge of collapsing after so many years of energy accumulation. If they could not leave before the formation collapsed, they would all perish there.
Having persevered for so many years, they had finally researched a method to leave. However, they were now facing a death threat, a blow in which even cultivators could not withstand.
In recent years, there were already four nascent soul cultivators, who had voluntarily transformed themselves into spirit guardians to protect the city. Although most of them were old cultivators nearing the end of their lifespans, it was not without a sense of despair towards that world.
City Master Qi rubbed her temples forcefully. In fact, Xu Ziyan and his group had underestimated their values to the central city. Currently, not to mention harming them, many elders from the central city even wanted to offer them substantial resources as bribes, just hoping they could help.
During the past few days, City Master Qi had her reasons for going to great lengths to keep the elders separated from those individuals. The central city had been operating for so many years, and the warehouses were stacked with various elixirs and treasures. Although all of those items were crafted using spiritual energy transformed from devilish energy, once they left the world, they could be used normally.
However, City Master Qi was concerned about the character of those individuals. If she were to give them those items too early, there was a chance they might realize her situation, which would not be ideal.
“Hope” and “the only hope” were two entirely different levels of needs. Once they realized how indispensable she was, who knew if they might make unreasonable demands?
Therefore, after discussing with several elders, City Master Qi decided to observe their character first before deciding whether or not to reveal those benefits to them. Otherwise, if they triggered the other party’s greed, it would be like stealing a chicken only to lose rice.
Fortunately, after having two conversations with them, City Master Qi could more or less see that among those three, the one taking charge was the young cultivator named Xu Ziyan. As for the other one named Xu Zirong, although he was highly regarded by his older brother, he usually did not express his opinions, always standing behind his brother like a shadow and only speaking occasionally when necessary.
As for the other one, Tianle… The corner of City Master Qi’s mouth twitched. Meeting someone with such a whimsical, lively… “crazy” personality, was a first for her. In just three short days, he had managed to turn the entire City Master Qi’s residence upside down, constantly causing a ruckus over trivial matters. If she had to act hostile to him over those small issues, it would really be unworthy…
Silently averting her gaze, City Master Qi’s attention once again focused on Xu Ziyan. Her impression of the cultivator was quite favorable, and her confidence in his ability to lead them out grew stronger.
After conversing for a while, Xu Ziyan generally agreed to City Master Qi’s proposal. After all, the matter was highly advantageous for them. The task that City Master Qi needed them to accomplish could only be done after they left the place, which also ensured their safety to a certain extent.
Detailed discussions were temporarily put on hold. Firstly, Xu Ziyan and his group needed time to learn how to pull the entire central city out of the world. Secondly, considering Xu Ziyan and his companions’ performance, City Master Qi also needed to consult with the elders about how much should be offered as compensation.
After some negotiation, it was decided that the contract would be signed three days later. This kind of contract was certified by the Heavens and was even more potent than the inner devil’s oath. Violating an inner devil’s oath would result in a backlash during advancement, but with enough suppressive treasures against the inner devil, one might withstand it. However, the contract bound by the Heavens was different. Once signed, if violated, one could expect to be struck to pieces by the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder…
Normally, this kind of Heavenly Oath was not usually carried out due to the strictness required for the oath to be established. If it was not meticulously done, the oath would simply not take effect. Additionally, each ceremony to invoke the Heavenly Oath required a large amount of top-grade spiritual stones to activate the power of heaven and earth. Otherwise, the oath could not be established. ╮(╯_╰)╭
After paying respects to the heavens and earth, reciting the oath, and infusing one’s blood into the contract, the Heavenly Oath could finally conclude. The oath parchment would slowly float into the air and burn, turning into a handful of ash. Thus, the oath was sealed!
If either party wanted to break the contract, they would have to carefully consider whether their cultivation base could withstand a strike from the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder!
Three days after the ceremony, with Xu Zirong’s expertise in formations, he quickly learned the massive formation capable of pulling the central city.
During Xu Zirong’s study of the formation, he also made some simplifications and improvements. After all, the development of real-world formations was much more advanced than those in the central city. There were even some entirely new formation patterns that could be incorporated into that grand formation, enhancing its power.
Those modifications left the cultivators wide-eyed in astonishment. They were practically itching to keep Xu Zirong there and extract all the formation knowledge from his mind.
After a few attempts to deliberately delay and try learning from Xu Zirong in secret, those individuals finally angered Xu Zirong.
Initially, learning about formation knowledge was not an issue, and Xu Zirong never had the mindset to guard the knowledge selfishly. However, those people kept occupying his and his brother’s private time, which was simply intolerable.
Enough is enough, I can’t bear with it any longer!
Silently modifying some illusionary formations, Xu Zirong trapped the group of old men inside for several hours before they managed to get out. Those old men finally came to their senses! One by one, they no longer attempted to learn secretly. Instead, they openly sought guidance on various formations from him.
Xu Zirong: …
Being surrounded by a group of elderly cultivators who looked like they were nearing the end of their lifespan, even though Xu Zirong had a touch of madness in him, he had developed some respect for his elders after being influenced by his brother over the years. Faced with those old, withered faces, he found it hard to strike them…
Even if he occasionally felt annoyed and wanted to explode due to frustration, the thought of his brother’s disapproving gaze made him hesitate…
Thus, for the first time, the crazy and mighty Devil King, Xu Zirong, experienced the true meaning of being suppressed under the watchful eyes of the group of old men.
