Xiao Shuang looked at Bujiang: “Your Highness means don’t you intend to agree to them?”

“Not exactly.” Bujiang rested her chin on one hand, carelessly gazing at the long letter on the table, saying: “After all, the spiritual veins of Heishi City are also in grave danger. I don’t know what those old fogeys from the cultivation world know, but if there is an immortal method in the Ruins of the Golden Gate that could revive the spiritual veins, making the trip would be worthwhile. You also know,” she sighed, “relying on the demon clan alone, we cannot open the Ruins of the Golden Gate.”

Back when Gui Diao Tang was being hunted, Bujiang had only recently given birth to Zanxing. At that time, there were also old subordinates in Heishi City who harbored dissatisfaction toward Gui Diao Tang. With sect cultivators in front and internal enemies behind, Bujiang had to erase Zanxing’s Demon Lord mark and hide Zanxing in the mortal realm.

She was suppressing internal turmoil in Heishi City, so she couldn’t join Gui Diao Tang in facing the enemy. Of course, this was also Gui Diao Tang’s decision. Gui Diao Tang had already realized that being jointly hunted by the major sects of the cultivation world, and having already fallen into demonic deviation himself, his chances were grim. So he fled to the Ruins of the Golden Gate.

The Ruins of the Golden Gate were legendary as a passage connecting the celestial realm and the mortal realm. Gui Diao Tang had once accidentally witnessed the opening of the Ruins of the Golden Gate. To be precise, he hadn’t truly entered the Ruins of the Golden Gate at that time, but at the moment when the Ruins of the Golden Gate opened, he picked up a pearl that rolled out from within.

That pearl was the Xiaoyuan Pearl.

“He only gave me one key.” Bujiang said indifferently, “In the end, he never told me what that key could be used for. I only know that to open the Ruins of the Golden Gate, the power of the demon clan alone is insufficient. The Demon Lord’s yuanli belongs to yin, while human yuanli belongs to yang. Only with the balance of yin and yang can the key turn. Back then, he used this method to lure Qinghua to chase after him, originally intending to use Qinghua to hide in the Ruins of the Golden Gate, but unexpectedly still perished inside in the end.” Speaking of this, Bujiang’s voice carried some melancholy, “This is fate.”

“But now, those sects…”

“I see they’re so eager to enter the Ruins of the Golden Gate that they’re even disregarding generational feuds. They must truly be at their wits’ end. After all, the floods are still raging. The demon clan can still resist to some degree, but those common people cannot. Moreover, without spiritual veins providing spiritual qi, for the sects, this is more terrifying than another murderous Demon Lord appearing.”

Xiao Shuang hesitated: “Does Your Highness have other plans?”

“Now there’s no other choice, we must enter the Ruins of the Golden Gate. It’s just that the rules can’t be according to what they say.” Bujiang smiled slightly, “Now it’s others begging us. Such a good opportunity to take advantage of a crisis has been delivered to our door – how could we refuse?” She waved her sleeve, and a long sheet of letter paper appeared before her. Xiao Shuang handed over the paper from the side. Bujiang made two “tsk tsk” sounds, tilted her head in thought: “What things should we ask for?”

“If Your Highness is not in a hurry, this subordinate can first draft a list for Your Highness to review, and Your Highness can pick and choose.”

Bujiang looked at Xiao Shuang with admiration and praise, “You’re still the most considerate.”

…

The letter that Shaoyang Zhenren sent to Heishi City was only one page in total, but Heishi City’s reply was a full ninety-nine pages.

It didn’t say anything else, only mentioning that the demon clan had been chased by sect cultivators over the years, forced to hide here and there, only able to hide in Heishi City, living very difficult lives. The demons were all so poor that they could barely make ends meet. Sometimes when they were injured by cultivators, they had no spiritual herbs or pills for treatment. Their food and daily necessities were all inferior to the past.

Since the cultivation world said that past events were all misunderstandings, they also couldn’t keep harping on past misunderstandings. The ways of the world change unpredictably, and former enemies could now become allies. With floods currently raging, the human and demon clans should join hands to overcome difficulties together.

So, as friends, seeing that one’s friendly neighbors were living in hardship, shouldn’t one extend a helping hand?

The people of Heishi City were not those who would take advantage of others’ misfortunes, nor were they blackmailers. They had attached ninety-nine pages of needed supplies to the letter, requesting friends to open their purses in assistance.

After Fu Ronghua finished reading this letter in Jinhua Hall, Lingxin Daoren nearly fainted from anger: “Shameless! How is this different from extortion?”

“You might as well call this a transaction,” Rongshuang replied coldly.

“Even if it’s a transaction, it’s still profitable,” Fu Ronghua coughed lightly: “After all, spiritual veins are the foundation of each major sect’s existence, and these are all just external possessions… Snow lotus ginseng one hundred stalks, blazing qilin scales two hundred pieces, spirit nethervine five hundred bundles, seven-leaf demon flowers one thousand blooms… Golden crow soul-nourishing pills two thousand pills…” Reading page by page, his complexion gradually turned green. In the end, he managed to squeeze out: “…The people of Heishi City aren’t being polite.”

With the current limited stockpiles of each sect, the demon clan dared to open their mouths wide like lions.

“It’s quite a lot, but if everyone pools together, we can barely manage to gather enough.” Fu Ronghua thought for a moment, his gaze falling on the end of the long letter, “However…”

Rongshuang asked: “However, what?”

“However, the letter says that to obtain the key, the cultivation world sects must personally send someone to retrieve it. Because Zanxing once cultivated at Taiyan Sect, for this entry into Heishi City, only Taiyan Sect’s sect master, Shaoyang Zhenren, may cross the river alone. All others are forbidden to enter.”

“On what grounds?” Lingxin Daoren angrily said, “On what grounds can’t we enter?”

“What else could it be? Of course, they don’t trust us.” Xuan Lingzi smiled, his face showing complete amiability, but his words were sardonic: “What if the major sects arrived at Heishi City, and after speaking nicely beforehand, turned hostile once inside the city and started fighting, or ambushed the demon clan? The people of Heishi City aren’t fools, so naturally they need to be extra cautious.”

“Could he not turn hostile as well?” Lingxin Daoren pointed at the silent Shaoyang Zhenren.

Xuan Lingzi smiled earnestly: “You’ve already said that our Taiyan Sect colludes with the demon clan, so naturally we’d have a deeper friendship with the demon clan than other sects.”

“You!”

Rongshuang laughed coldly, interrupting the argument in the hall. She looked at Xuan Lingzi: “It seems the Demon Empress of Heishi City greatly trusts Zhenren. In that case, Zhenren should go. However, we in the cultivation world are now all in the same boat, so naturally, there’s no possibility of letting only the Taiyan Sect take the risk alone. We’ll wait on the opposite shore of the Nether River. Once Zhenren obtains the key, he must come out immediately.” She glanced at the others in the hall: “As for Taiyan Sect’s disciples, we’ll naturally help keep watch over them.”

These words were blatant threats. If Shaoyang Zhenren dared to leave alone with the key, the entire sect’s disciples would face siege from all the major sects of the cultivation world.

Even as a major sect of the cultivation world, even though everyone present had known each other for many years with deep friendships, the open and covert struggles among the human race had never ceased. This was true before the floods, and would be true after the floods.

The hall fell silent.

Rongshuang looked at the person on the high seat, her gaze carrying implicit mockery: “What does Zhenren think?”

After a while, Shaoyang Zhenren spoke indifferently: “Fine.”