Chapter Ninety-Two: The System Returns

After a while, the Grand Master and the elders all came over. They studied the disciples inside the barrier for a moment, then gathered to confer.

Elder Bu Jiao asked, “Which of you obtained the stargazing stone?”

Ning Xianyu raised her hand. “I did.”

Elder Bu Jiao smiled. “Then please hand the stone to me later, Junior Sister Ning.”

Oh?

All right, then.

The great demon clearly wanted that stone even more. If Elder Bu Jiao took it away, then let the great demon ask for it himself.

She nodded and agreed.

After some discussion, Elder Bu Jiao and the others first let Ning Xianyu out.

Ning Xianyu found it strange. “You are certain I am not a demonic cultivator?”

Elder Bu Jiao chuckled. “If a demonic cultivator were impersonating you, the ancestor’s spiritual pet would never fail to recognize it.”

So it was not trust in her, but trust in the great demon.

That was fine too.

Ning Xianyu stepped out and stood to one side, wanting to see what they intended to do.

Then the Grand Master said, “Everyone, please begin at once.”

Each of them chose a spot and stood in place, then began chanting.

Ning Xianyu watched as the barrier changed, shifting from a golden hue to blue, and then a kind of light passed over the disciples again and again.

The disciples were all confused, wondering what it meant, when someone suddenly made a move.

A disciple behind Lin Kaishu abruptly scattered a packet of powder, and dust quickly billowed through the entire barrier.

Then every disciple inside began to feel unwell, and some even fainted.

The disciple stepped forward with a wicked smile.

“Old fools, you should never have put me together with these children. Look how dangerous that was.”

That smile really did resemble the fake Xiao Huai’s a little.

Ning Xianyu was so frightened she stumbled backward.

She collided with a figure, and when she turned, there was Xuan Yuan Tun Han.

“Ancestor?”

He had actually appeared in person.

Inside, the demonic cultivator saw Xuan Yuan Tun Han and smiled as well. “Old fool, it’s been a long time. How are you still not dead?”

Xuan Yuan Tun Han did not deign to answer. With a sweep of his hand, the demonic cultivator was lifted by an invisible force and sent through the barrier.

The demonic cultivator was not the least bit afraid. He was even laughing, craning his neck to look at Ning Xianyu hiding behind him in panic.

“Little girl, is the sword in your hand a gift from him?”

Ning Xianyu tucked the sword away behind her back, leaned out, and said stubbornly, “None of your business.”

The demonic cultivator burst into laughter. “Little girl, next time I’ll kill you and use your skin for myself. He’s kept you so fair and tender; it must have cost him quite a bit—”

Before he could finish, Xuan Yuan Tun Han crushed him to death.

The whole body shriveled up just like the fake Xiao Huai’s had, leaving only a skin.

Ning Xianyu had not expected this demonic cultivator to have two avatars.

To send out two avatars at once, and have both be destroyed—was that impressive, or just unlucky?

Xuan Yuan Tun Han tossed the skin onto the ground in disgust, then took out a packet of medicine. “Give this to the disciples.”

He glanced once at Bu Jiao, then grabbed Ning Xianyu and left.

Grand Master Du Jue accepted the medicine and spoke words of respectful farewell to the ancestor, watching his retreating figure vanish without a backward glance.

Looking at the discarded human skin, he silently let out a breath.

Truly useless. He had failed without obtaining anything at all, and even wasted two avatars for nothing.

Elder Xi Yao was still saying, “Could it be that old bastard from Lord Xiahou’s family?”

The other elders thought so too. “Who else could be so shameless, always hiding in the shadows? Honestly. He has harmed two of our Jade Immortal Sect disciples—how despicable.”

Elder Xi Yao still felt something was off. “Our mountain gate has long had restrictions against him. How did he get into my pharmacy and steal the shapeshifting pill?”

The other elders naturally could not answer. For Xiahou Fang to have entered the sect this time, someone was likely helping him.

There had been a traitor within the sect. It was difficult to investigate, and speaking of it would not sound good either.

For now, the only course was to awaken the disciples first and stabilize everyone’s hearts.

By then, Ning Xianyu had already been carried to Elder Bu Jiao’s residence, called the Nine Luminaries Palace. Intricate celestial diagrams were carved all over the gate.

She looked them over and recognized only the Big Dipper and the North Star, as well as the Great Bear and Little Bear constellations. As for the rest, she could make neither head nor tail of them.

Elder Bu Jiao smiled. “Being able to discern the relationships among these stars is already rare. Many disciples stare at them for a long time and still cannot see the connections.”

Ning Xianyu gave an awkward laugh. “I once heard an old man mention them before.”

Back when they studied geography in school, everyone learned these things. She had only been mediocre at it; some classmates were impressive enough to take one look through a telescope and recite constellations from memory.

Still, she had never expected the stars here to look so similar to the ones in her own world.

Xuan Yuan Tun Han gave her a sidelong glance, also somewhat surprised.

Elder Bu Jiao did not understand, but he did. This was something she had learned from her own world.

He had once dismissed her world with contempt, but now it seemed he ought to understand it better.

Ning Xianyu followed them into the grand hall and saw in the center a huge octagonal platform, while the ceiling above it was transparent, with what seemed to be some kind of array overhead.

Curious, she stood beneath it and looked up, only to find that the sky seen from here was distorted.

A white cloud happened to pass above, and it was magnified.

Was this a magnifying glass?

“This is the array I use to observe the starry sky. Through it, the stars can be enlarged and seen more clearly.”

Elder Bu Jiao even explained it to her.

Ning Xianyu thought that cultivators must work hard indeed, even needing an array to enlarge the heavens.

If only they had a telescope, none of this would be necessary.

She glanced at Elder Bu Jiao, thinking that if she exchanged for a telescope from the system and then used it to approach Elder Bu Jiao, she wondered what good things she might be able to trade for.

Heh. Worth a try.

[Host, were you looking for me?]

Ning Xianyu froze for a moment, then asked uncertainly, [Damn system, you’re back?]

The system began to sob. [I just got back, sob sob, Host, I missed you so much.]

[Cut it out. Where did you go before? Why did I call you for so long and get no answer?]

What kind of system was this, shirking its duty and vanishing whenever it pleased, leaving her here to sink or swim?

The system wept. [Don’t even mention it. Last time my processor had a problem and I added a few things to your wish, and then headquarters noticed and called me back for repairs. Sob sob, I’ve suffered so much.]

[Repairs? What kind of repairs?]

Ning Xianyu was secretly delighted. [I knew there was something wrong with you. Good, let them repair you. Better yet, send me back while they’re at it.]

The system said, [Forget about being sent back. I don’t have that function. Do you know what repairs mean? They scan every single piece of my data. It’s like being stripped naked and exposed for all of them to see. I’ve been through so much.]

That did sound miserable. Though it was a system, it was lively all day long, and in that sense it had dignity like a person.

Ning Xianyu asked, [So what exactly was wrong with you?]