494: Chapter 494 Escape

At the Viewing Tower in the Liu Residence's backyard, eight towers floated a hundred meters in the air, connected into a single entity by a circular sky corridor in the middle.

Yun Xian leaned against the railing of a pavilion at a turning point in one of the corridors, gazing at the scenery below, her eyes slightly dull and dazed.

"Senior Sister looks unhappy; is something troubling you?" The space rippled like water, and Liu Xuan appeared beside her.

Yun Xian turned her head to glare at Liu Xuan, said nothing, and then turned back to stare below.

Liu Xuan didn't mind. He sat down beside her, admiring her exquisite profile. "Senior Sister, you look even better when you're angry!"

These weren't empty words, but Liu Xuan's honest thoughts. The old Yun Xian was cold and expressionless, but now she had vivid emotional fluctuations, offering a different kind of beauty.

"However, I still prefer the way you look when you smile. Senior Sister is most beautiful when smiling!"

"Come on, give me a smile!"

Seeing that Yun Xian ignored him, Liu Xuan continued, "Who upset you? I'll deal with them for you."

"It's you!" Yun Xian finally couldn't help herself and whipped her head around. "Are you satisfied now? I'm pregnant! In the future, my Dao Heart will shatter, I'll be haunted by Heart Demons, and I'll never be able to take another step forward!"

From the moment she knew she was pregnant, Yun Xian knew a crack had appeared in her Dao Heart, and Heart Demons had begun to sprout.

She was so agitated not because she blamed Liu Xuan, but more as a venting of frustration, blaming herself for being so fragile.

Having cultivated the Path of Ruthlessness for a hundred years, she had observed countless instances of family, romantic, and platonic love as a bystander. She thought that tempering herself in the Mortal World would be simple, but only after truly entering the fray did she realize it wasn't the case.

She could no longer maintain her former indifference. She could deceive herself mentally, but she couldn't fool her body. Her Dao Heart was fracturing, her Golden Core magic power had stagnated, and illusions constantly surfaced during her cultivation.

This was the manifestation of being haunted by Heart Demons. If not resolved, at best, her path would be cut off; at worst, she would suffer Qi Deviation and her Divine Soul would collapse.

Liu Xuan reached out to pull her thin shoulders close, comforting her, "Senior Sister, there's no need to worry. I can help you resolve every difficulty you encounter!"

His tone carried a powerful confidence. Yun Xian seemed infected by it, and the expression on her face relaxed slightly.

"It's just a small Heart Demon. It's nothing more than a slight conflict between your state of mind and your current Cultivation Technique. At worst, we'll just switch to a different technique."

"Easier said than done!" Yun Xian glared at Liu Xuan again in annoyance. "How can changing a Cultivation Technique be as easy as you say? Is a high-level Legacy so easy to obtain? Even if I get one, could I easily comprehend it?"

Changing one's cultivation method required a massive price and came with high uncertainty.

Unless a Cultivator's current technique had reached its limit, or they obtained a high-level technique clearly more suitable for them, normal Cultivators rarely abandoned their original cultivation methods easily.

"That's only difficult for others! Have you forgotten how Yao Yao achieved Nascent Soul Formation?"

Yun Xian was stunned! To this day, she hadn't figured out how Yao Yao had made her Breakthrough. The explanation Liu Xuan gave her was too Heaven-Defying; she had never quite dared to believe it.

Whether she believed it or not, Yao Yao's successful Nascent Soul Formation was real. That meant Liu Xuan wasn't just boasting; he really could help her.

"Senior Sister, what you should do most right now is take good care of the baby. Don't overthink things; I've got everything covered!"

The child Yun Xian was carrying was somewhat special—it was the first child of a Late Golden Core Stage woman for Liu Xuan. Perhaps it could achieve a great Spiritual Root; he had to keep her happy.

Of course, Liu Xuan wasn't lying to Yun Xian either. He would definitely help her resolve the issues with her Cultivation Technique later.

Whether it was using high-level Medicinal Pills to dispel Heart Demons or switching to a high-level Cultivation Technique, it wasn't difficult for him.

"Senior Sister, you once said that to forget emotion, one must first possess it. By that logic, you are currently on the right path. What is there to worry about?"

Yun Xian paused, feeling that Liu Xuan's words made sense. Her furrowed brows smoothed out slightly.

"The reason you have a Heart Demon isn't because of me, nor because you're pregnant, but because you are resisting your own heart. It's because you are afraid."

"Is... is that so?" Yun Xian murmured.

"Of course it is!"

"You were thinking about forgetting emotion from the start, and you were afraid from the start. How could a Heart Demon not be produced?"

Liu Xuan applied gentle pressure, pulling her delicate body into his arms. He leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Senior Sister, you should open your heart now and truly face your emotions. Everything will naturally be resolved."

"No... no!"

"See? You're even afraid of being intimate with me. You don't have a shred of courage; how can you pass your Inner Demon Tribulation?"

"No! Here... people will see."

Liu Xuan stopped and teased, "Why didn't you consider other people's feelings when you were observing my cultivation back then?"

"That was different!"

"It's not different at all. There is a Formation here. Aside from those in the Liu Residence's backyard, outsiders can't see anything."

...

...

The front lines.

In a jungle, a young man rode a Flying Sword through the trees as if escaping for his life.

Flying close to the ground, he flew through the forest for a long time before finally hiding in a concealed cave.

After entering the cave, the man took out several Talismans and struck them into the surrounding stone walls to seal his aura. He then took out an Illusion Talisman to hide the cave entrance before finally relaxing.

The Breath-Concealing Technique and the Obscuration Technique were deactivated simultaneously. The gray mist surrounding the man faded, revealing the clean and handsome face of Fourth Brother Dao Cheng.

"This forest is full of miasma and toxic gas. Having flown this far, they shouldn't be able to chase me anymore, right?"

This was already within the territory of the Endless Demon Court's Yao Race, over a thousand miles deeper than the front-line battlefield.

A few days ago, Daocheng had hidden his aura and crept into a pig demon's nest to practice his sword skills against that Early Foundation Establishment Stage pig demon leader.

He had staked it out for a long time and investigated the situation thoroughly. The pig demon leader's cultivation was only at the Early Foundation Establishment Stage, making it very suitable for sword practice.

As luck would have it, an accident occurred. The Early Foundation Establishment Stage pig demon was indeed no match for him, but its glossy pig skin had terrifying defensive power. The two sides fought for over an hour without a winner.

Worse still, just as Fourth Brother had consumed most of his magic power, a Late Foundation Establishment Stage pig demon suddenly launched a sneak attack. A Savage Charge sent him flying and coughing up blood.

There was no other way; since he couldn't win, he fled. Fourth Brother planned to come back and deal with these pig demons later.

After fleeing on his sword for a while, his expression turned grim. The pig demons' sprint speed was extremely fast. Even after using a Second-Grade Peak-Quality Sky-Soaring Talisman, he couldn't shake them. If not for the pig demons' lack of maneuverability, he would have been caught.

He fled for most of the day until he entered this forest full of miasma and toxic gas. With his aura scrambled, he finally escaped the pursuit.

"Thrilling!"

There was no relief from a narrow escape on Fourth Brother's face, but rather an excitement from having overcome a certain predicament.

Waving his hand to clear the debris on the ground, he took out a bead-shaped Magical Artifact and threw it toward the stone ceiling to provide light. He then sat cross-legged on a prayer mat to contemplate the gains from today's battle.