Wait, How Did My Digital Girlfriend Become a Sword Immortal? Chapter 822: Do not move from here.
Previously on Wait, How Did My Digital Girlfriend Become a Sword Immortal?...
"How peculiar and bizarre... this Chen Niu... he just went off to buy soy sauce?
What happened to the Divine Descent?
What about the avatar?
Is he not descending after all?"
Hua Jin the True One gazed upward at the heavens, her expression brimming with bewilderment.
In front of her, the three remaining chunks of premium Celestial Jade Marrow had completely solidified.
All she had to do was extend her arm to claim those three premium Celestial Jade Marrow pieces for herself.
The hesitation in her steps stemmed entirely from wariness.Chen Niu, being a Demon Immortal who dominated the laws of earth and excelled in the earth element of the five phases, posed a risk since Celestial Jade Marrow sprouted from the soil. It was impossible to rule out that he had laid some cunning traps around the Celestial Jade Marrow.
Yet, even after a prolonged wait, not a hint of Chen Niu's presence could be sensed.
Moments ago, a tremendous Sword Intent had exploded from the northern skyline.
Concurrently, Demonic Energy had unfurled, carrying roughly eighty percent of a Demon Immortal's strength, but it didn't match Chen Niu's essence at all—instead, it echoed Wu E, among the Four Great Protectors serving the Divine Joy Emperor.
Who possessed the might to clash with Wu E right now?
Hua Jin burned with curiosity, yet without Chen Niu showing up, she refrained from advancing.
Her Divine Sense extended outward in an attempt to probe, but it got ripped apart by an abrupt surge of savage Sword Intent before nearing the spot. Following multiple unsuccessful tries and adhering to prudence, she pulled back her Divine Sense to prevent drawing unwanted attention.
"Chen Niu, what kind of sly scheme are you pulling off this time?"
Hua Jin the True One surveyed the area around her, her gaze turning frosty.
As a Demon Immortal, the foe wielded immortal might to mask his presence. Even though she had ascended to the pinnacle of Feathered Transformation, spotting his whereabouts might elude her.
Silence met her call.
Hua Jin clenched her teeth in secret: "If you won't show yourself, these three premium Celestial Jade pieces will belong to me! If a battle is what you seek, step forward and clash! Skulking around with your head hidden like this—are you fit to call yourself a Demon Immortal?"
Chen Niu prized his reputation; in earlier times, such taunts would have lured him out for an epic three-hundred-round duel.
But at present, zero stir...
Hua Jin the True One tightened her lips, inching toward the three Celestial Jade Marrow pieces at a turtle's pace. Her hand stretched forth deliberately slow, Divine Sense enveloping the vicinity and monitoring every detail. Any hint of anomaly would prompt her instant withdrawal to safety.
One second... two seconds... ten minutes!
Hua Jin's fingers at last brushed the initial premium Celestial Jade Marrow piece.
Nothing stirred.
She stowed the premium Celestial Jade in her Storage Pouch.
Chen Niu remained nowhere in sight.
Is he truly staying away?
Perished in the Immortal Realm?
Could luck be this favorable?
A wave of delight flooded Hua Jin the True One's heart, and she swiftly gathered every premium Celestial Jade piece into her grasp.
This cycle of reincarnation might owe its scarcity to the emergence of a Celestial Jade Lion, that extraordinary heaven-and-earth rarity.
Premium Celestial Jade yields stayed meager this round, far below expectations.
Across prior reincarnation cycles, the twin powers of Kunlun Immortal Palace and Great Thunder Temple usually each secured around ten premium Celestial Jade pieces. But this instance saw a sharp drop; overall, she had merely five.
This shortage partly resulted from the wildcard's interference in snatching portions.
The Divine Joy Emperor's faction fared worse; despite their Four Great Protectors overseeing Great Thunder Temple for ages, they hadn't claimed even one premium Celestial Jade. She could picture the heavy blow Divine Joy Emperor would suffer from Lingxiao Palace ahead. Without the Buddhist Kingdom's aid, the Extreme Joy Barren Domain could even fall to Lingxiao Palace's conquest.
However, rethinking it, Hua Jin the True One grew uneasy once more.
Her mere five premium Celestial Jade pieces fell woefully short...
In past reincarnation cycles, Lingxiao would reclaim over ninety-nine percent of the premium Celestial Jade, granting her just one premium piece alongside some medium and low-grade varieties. This cycle, even if they took it all from her, it likely wouldn't suffice for Lingxiao Palace's Immortals' needs.
"Sigh... what will I tell the Immortals of Lingxiao Palace when they inquire?"
Hua Jin the True One lingered amid the fading Celestial Jade crystalline formations, facing empty winds from the northwest for a spell.
Abruptly, she remembered the earlier outburst of Sword Intent and Demonic Energy she'd perceived, pondering a venture to check it out—only to find that, unbeknownst when, both the Demonic Energy and Sword Intent had vanished.
"The battle's over?" Hua Jin the True One creased her brow faintly: "I can't recall seeing that Sword Cultivator in any previous reincarnation cycles...
Engaging a Demon Immortal in fierce combat—might it be one of Lingxiao's Sword Immortals?
I hope it's not among those variables..."
This notion barely surfaced before Hua Jin the True One dismissed it.
It was mere self-intimidation.
Should it truly be a variable, the immediate move post-battle would involve rushing to grab the premium Celestial Jade.
Furthermore, if such a formidable figure existed among the variables, why hold back from acting sooner?
With affairs here wrapped up, Hua Jin the True One readied herself to head back to Kunlun Immortal Palace initially.
Earlier, she'd handed Zhang Yibai a Divine Summoning Incense, which likely had already summoned a Kunlun Immortal Palace ancestor's descent.
She planned to return, deliver her account, surrender the premium Celestial Jade, and hear the ancestor's views plus directives for forthcoming steps.
Additionally, while she couldn't divine the variables' or Celestial Jade Lion's trails via heavenly secrets, the ancestor, having attained the Dao and ascended to Immortality, could harness immortal might to plunder heavenly secrets.
Locating those variables would prove simpler than flipping a palm, right?
Thus, the pilfered premium Celestial Jade from before could all get reclaimed, achieving dual gains with single effort!
...
Meanwhile.
After Chen Huaian slew the Divine Descent Wu E and harvested the Demon Core, he promptly scooped up Muscle Tyrant, masked his aura, and dashed ten thousand miles distant.
His sword path embodied liberty and wild abandon, excelling at hiding tracks and essence.
Scarcely had he departed the North Sea when Dao Rhythms mended the North Sea's landscape entirely, as though no disturbance had occurred.
Simultaneously, shielded by the Great Freedom Dao Rhythms, barring a Great Immortal who inverted time and space over the North Sea, none could trace his being from any remnants.
The essence of Great Freedom and Great Unrestraint lay in utter independence, lingering at will or departing freely.
In simple words, he'd become a 'roaming drifter'.
"Big Boss, ease up on the fleeing for a bit... Your position right now looks quite precarious."
Chen Huaian shot Muscle Tyrant an eye-roll at his remark, yet halted nonetheless.
Having arrived here, pursuit by others was out of the question; he'd been wary of Hua Jin the True One.
"This Venerable One sees no peril in the circumstances whatsoever."
Chen Huaian came across as nonchalant.
From the present setup, though the immortal-mortal passage had unlocked and thick Spiritual Energy from the Well of Heaven blanketed the whole Earth Star, Immortals clearly couldn't drop into the Earth Star's Mortal Realm freely; a toll was required.
If not, why opt for Divine Descent with Wu E?
Why not directly enter the mortal plane to handle him?
Given the expense, and within limits the foe could tolerate, mass descents were improbable; at most, a lone one would arrive.
A single Immortal...
Chen Huaian believed that with his main body's cultivation advancing slightly more to the Great Ascension Three Tribulations stage, even Wu E's full form descending would leave him groveling in defeat.
If push came to shove.
He could withdraw to the Cangyun Realm.
"Big Boss... Big Boss? Are you paying attention?"
Chen Huaian refocused and offered Muscle Tyrant a comforting glance: "Don't we have you to draw their focus?"
"Me..." Muscle Tyrant jabbed a thumb at his chest, grinning sheepishly: "Facing a Divine Descent Immortal, I could hold my own... just about."
"Nothing major." Chen Huaian pondered the myriad treasures in Cangyun Realm's Beast Taming Sect capable of boosting demonic beasts' fighting prowess, his gaze flickering:
"This Venerable One will lay down an array for you right away. You remain put here without stirring. This Venerable One heads off to fetch some prime items for you!"
...