Chapter 395: Divine Descent

"The Well of Heaven is completely open now!"

"The Spiritual Energy is so rich… just breathing it seems to loosen my bottleneck!"

All the Ascenders stared at the pillar of Spiritual Energy shooting into the sky, delighted.

They didn’t know exactly what had happened, but their ultimate goal in attacking the Demon-Sealing Tower had clearly been achieved.

"It must have been Immortal Wang! Immortal Wang killed the demon guarding the Well of Heaven, that’s why it opened completely!"

"Immortal Wang is incredible, a true role model for us all!"

Chen Huaian frowned slightly as he listened to the Ascenders’ chatter.

They must be talking about Wang Shouyi?

Wang Shouyi killed Zhuyan?

A Golden Core cultivator instantly slaying a Great Demon that’s at least at the Soul Formation stage—how could he not know Wang Shouyi had that kind of ability?

Besides, where was Wang Shouyi now? Zhuyan’s corpse wasn’t anywhere to be seen either.

One thing was certain.

While he and Li Qingran were on the ninth floor of the Demon-Sealing Tower, something unexpected had definitely happened down here.

And now that the Well of Heaven had opened, those demons who had been standing motionless finally moved.

They began sprinting toward the edges, fleeing far away from the well.

While everyone else was still confused, a glow appeared at the far end of their vision, gradually growing larger.

"The main gate of the Demon-Sealing Tower is open!"

An Ascender shouted, "All the demons are escaping!"

"That’s it then, huh? Who knows how many demons there are in this tower. If they get out, it’ll be a disaster…"

"Sigh, could end up in a full-scale massacre again!"

The Ascenders all started pounding their chests in exaggerated worry over what might happen outside.

But not a single one of them stepped forward to stop the demons.

They were lucky the demons weren’t attacking them—

Trying to stop them now would be like lighting a lantern in an outhouse—courting death.

The demon beasts surged out from caves in every direction, flooding toward the outside of the Demon-Sealing Tower.

The torrent of beasts went on for over half an hour.

Only when the tower was completely emptied of monsters and only the Well of Heaven remained, did everyone finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The S Province Exorcist Division members had made it through mostly unharmed.

They were just scared witless by the sheer presence of the demon horde, still looking shell-shocked.

"Where did Wang Shouyi go?" Chen Huaian asked Zhao Ying.

"Governor, thank the heavens you’re safe." Zhao Ying steadied herself with her Thunder Cut, managing a wry smile.

"Wang Shouyi used some kind of technique… made himself look like Lei Zhenzi.

First, he killed that giant ape-like demon. Then he turned into a bolt of lightning and disappeared…

When he left, I think I heard him mutter, ‘You’re not getting away?’"

Zhao Ying sounded unsure.

It had been chaos at the time—demons on all sides.

Catching even one muttered sentence from Wang Shouyi was already pushing it.

"Lei Zhenzi? And he killed the giant ape too?"

Chen Huaian and Li Qingran exchanged a glance.

"Yeah, and it was like he became someone else entirely." Zhao Ying thought for a moment and added, "He didn’t even seem human. His eyes… they reminded me of those divine statues in the temple, cold as ice."

Just thinking about Wang Shouyi’s gaze gave Zhao Ying the chills.

"Master, sounds like he used some kind of Divine Descent spell," Li Qingran whispered.

"There are lots of spells that boost your power temporarily, but only Divine Descent can make someone exhibit divinity… That’s probably why Zhao Ying said he looked like a statue."

"The Cangyun Realm has Divine Descent-type spells too?" Chen Huaian asked.

"It used to," Li Qingran frowned, hesitating.

"But at some point, no one used them anymore. They say it’s because even if you try, your ancestors won’t respond."

"Can’t summon them? Seriously?" Chen Huaian blinked.

"Don’t tell me they did something like betraying their masters or ancestors and now the ancestors are just ignoring them?"

"Master! Not everyone’s an ungrateful disciple!" Li Qingran smiled helplessly and pouted.

"Most sect cultivators are actually very respectful toward their ancestors.

But it's true that Divine Descent just doesn’t work anymore.

There was a case where a cultivator used Divine Descent as a last resort during a life-or-death battle.

He thought his ancestor would show up and help him kill his enemy.

But even though the ancestor had agreed the month before, the spell failed at the last minute.

That cultivator ended up getting killed instead."

"That’s some serious bad luck." Chen Huaian winced.

If it were him, he’d be heartbroken too.

Finally got the ancestor to agree, and then they flake out? Who could stand that?

"Hasn’t anyone tried to figure out why?"

"They have," Li Qingran said.

"Um… they say it’s because the barrier between the Immortal Realm and the cultivation world in the Cangyun Realm has thickened.

That’s why immortals can’t descend anymore.

It’s also the reason the Heavenly Tribulations here keep getting more powerful—it’s harder for cultivators to ascend.

Another theory is that the immortals who ascended from the Cangyun Realm aren’t even in the Immortal Realm anymore, so no one’s around to respond to the Divine Descent spells.

Master, what do you think?"

"I think… probably the first theory."

Chen Huaian furrowed his brows.

He’d never used Divine Descent himself, so he couldn’t say for sure.

But if all the immortals had disappeared from the Immortal Realm, wouldn’t the Heavenly Dao encourage people to ascend?

The current situation made it seem more like the Immortal Realm was full and now they were raising the bar to get in.

"By the way, where did Baji go?"

Chen Huaian looked around but didn’t see Baji anywhere.

Even the two little tiger demons he had snatched from the Blood Amber Mountain Lord were still tied to a pillar in the tower, but Baji was missing.

"Zhao Ying, did you guys see Baji?"

"No," Zhao Ying shook her head.

"Governor, Baji was on your shoulder the whole time. We figured it got teleported somewhere else with you."

After raising Baji for so long, Chen Huaian had grown attached to it.

Thankfully, he had formed a contract with Baji in advance.

He could use the blood pact to track its location.

Getting no answers, Chen Huaian immediately activated the blood pact.

A vision appeared in his mind—not from within the Demon-Sealing Tower, but from somewhere in the wilderness of the Qin Mountains, near a stream.

Baji lay there, completely still.

Its heartbeat and breathing were faint.

It seemed to be badly wounded.

Now that the Demon-Sealing Tower was open, the demons had fled, and the surviving Ascenders were gradually leaving through the main gate.

Worried about Baji’s safety, Chen Huaian immediately led Li Qingran and the others out of the tower.

However, just as he stepped outside and was preparing to follow the blood pact to find Baji, he ran into a ragged-looking Wang Shouyi at the gate.

"Senior! You’re finally out!"

Wang Shouyi looked like he’d been waiting there.

The moment he saw Chen Huaian, his scorched face split into a grin, showing two rows of gleaming white teeth.

"Senior, I thought you’d been killed by Zhuyan! I was so pissed, I immediately used the Divine Communication Talisman from the Honored One to summon a Thunder Immortal and kill that damn Zhuyan!"

Wang Shouyi looked like he was reporting a heroic deed.

But Chen Huaian’s heart sank.

Zhuyan was dead?

What about Zhuyan’s soul essence?

What was going to happen to Dang Kang’s plan now?

…

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