The Substitute Female Supporting Character Sees the Bullet Screen

As night fell, the temperature in the Ten Thousand Demons Cave plummeted. The place was devoid of water or vegetation, with bare rocks and soil exposed to the elements. When the sun was out, the heat was oppressive, but as soon as it set, the warmth quickly dissipated, creating an extreme contrast between day and night.

The small courtyard's house was protected by a magic array, so the temperature inside remained unaffected. After Nie Yinzhi fell asleep, Gu Jiang slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was clear, with no trace of sleepiness. He glanced at the person curled up under the blanket, and his body melted like a shadow from the bed.

Moments later, a snow-white rabbit with black fur on its ear tips was left on the pillow. The rabbit twitched its nose and hopped over to Nie Yinzhi, nestling into the crook of her neck before closing its eyes.

Meanwhile, Gu Jiang left the small courtyard in Molten Gold City and, in the blink of an eye, appeared on the massive terrace of the central tower.

Feng Hanying sensed the disturbance in the void and turned around, bowing respectfully to the person reclining on the lounge chair. "Master."

Gu Jiang nodded, signaling him to rise, and raised a hand to stop him from asking about the demonic energy. Instead, he asked casually, "If the Demon Sealing Mark were to break and you could leave this place, what would you do afterward?"

Feng Hanying was taken aback by the question. Meeting Gu Jiang's penetrating gaze, he dared not hide anything and replied honestly, "I would naturally lead my forces south to wage war against the righteous path and reclaim what is rightfully mine."

He glanced up at the Demon Sealing Mark, where demonic energy dissolved into spiritual energy, one waning as the other waxed. The world's spiritual energy was scarce, suppressing the cultivation of the righteous sages. Unless the demonic cultivators obediently stayed under the Demon Sealing Mark, waiting to be consumed to death, a war between the righteous and demonic paths was inevitable once they escaped.

It would be a repeat of the great battle between good and evil a decade ago, where the victors would reign supreme, and the losers would be cast aside.

If the demonic cultivators lost, they would be imprisoned in the Ten Thousand Demons Cave and consumed by the Demon Sealing Mark. But if they won, they could devour the righteous cultivators to strengthen themselves.

Feng Hanying sneered, "Such is the rule of heaven. The righteous and demonic paths can never coexist."

"Can never coexist," Gu Jiang repeated the words softly, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Did you know that the so-called rules of heaven can be broken?"

His words were light, dissipating like smoke into the surroundings. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck down from the Ten Thousand Demons Cave, bypassing the Demon Sealing Mark and landing on the terrace of the central tower. It carried multiple thunder pillars, its power almost akin to a heavenly tribulation. The blinding light instantly engulfed the terrace.

Feng Hanying was forced to retreat into the tower by the overwhelming heavenly might. The barrier of demonic energy formed by his Blood Moon Shadow was torn apart by the lightning as if it were made of paper.

He was only grazed by the edge of the thunderbolt, but it was enough to nearly char him. Even his pale, jade-like face was marred by a wound, with blood streaming down from the corner of his eye, staining half his face crimson.

Feng Hanying suddenly realized that he couldn't use the Blood Moon Shadow—it would only drag him into the calamity.

His fingers moved swiftly, forming seals as he retracted his demonic energy. Several defensive artifacts flew out from his sleeves, layering barriers around him. The light of the artifacts rippled out one after another.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

The arcs of lightning that had spread into the tower retreated, focusing solely on the person on the terrace.

Back in the small courtyard of Molten Gold City, Nie Yinzhi was startled awake by the thunder. She turned over drowsily, half-awake, as the snow-white rabbit beside her gently licked her forehead.

Her eyelashes fluttered violently as she struggled to wake up, but she eventually succumbed to a deeper slumber.

A gentle breeze lifted the thin curtains, and the candlelight flickered, casting a serene atmosphere in the room.

The massive thunderbolt had alerted all the demonic cultivators in the four cities, not just those in the Ten Thousand Demons Cave. The righteous cultivators guarding the Demon Sealing Mark were equally shocked, and countless message talismans were sent to the Wuliang Sect.

From behind his defensive array, Feng Hanying stared intently at the entangled lightning on the terrace, his mind replaying Gu Jiang's words: "The rules of heaven can be broken." It was as if winter thunder and summer snow could exist, or the sun could rise from the west. If the rules of heaven could be broken, they were no longer absolute.

He thought bitterly that such a secret of heaven shouldn't have been so casually revealed. Couldn't Gu Jiang have hinted at it more subtly or at least prepared more thoroughly?

The thunderous light persisted for a long time, showing no signs of weakening. All its killing intent and power were concentrated on one person, as if even a fraction of it being diverted would risk failing to kill the target.

The lightning enveloped the entire tower without damaging it in the slightest. Feng Hanying's deep, lifeless eyes reflected the brilliance, his face expressionless as he wondered if Gu Jiang might be struck dead by the heavenly lightning right there.

So, his master had come to his tower in the middle of the night just to die in front of him?

Feng Hanying couldn't help but glance at the five large food boxes from the delicacy shop. Out of gratitude for the pastries, if Gu Jiang were to perish here, he would protect Nie Yinzhi and let her live for another ten years before sending her to reunite with her master.

Just as he was distracted, a pair of slender hands emerged from the blinding lightning on the terrace. The veins on the back of the hands bulged, and the fingers were entwined with serpentine lightning as they tore the thunder pillar apart.

An invisible force swept out from the tower, stirring up a storm of thunder and sand that engulfed the entire Ten Thousand Demons Cave. The Demon Sealing Mark's inscriptions flickered above, and the lightning weakened abruptly before dissipating completely.

Gu Jiang flicked the blood from his arm, and the droplets turned into dark red demonic energy upon hitting the stone floor. He walked leisurely to the stone throne in the hall and sat down, gesturing tiredly for Feng Hanying to approach.

"Where was I?" Gu Jiang asked.

Feng Hanying: "..." You still want to continue???

Gu Jiang seemed to realize that the heavens were too petty and might interrupt their conversation again. With a wave of his hand, he pulled Feng Hanying into the lake of the Blood Moon Shadow.

This was a completely independent space under his control, even though a crack had been burned into the void, it was still within his grasp.

Now, a pavilion stood at the center of the dark red lake, identical in design to the one by the lotus pond behind Pill-Forming Peak.

This was Feng Hanying's first time here, and he couldn't hide his astonishment at the sight. Thick demonic energy surrounded him, and with every breath, he absorbed the Blood Moon Shadow's energy. It was as if a righteous cultivator had stepped into the heart of a spiritual vein.

The lake was just the visible part; the surrounding mountains were shrouded in demonic energy.

Feng Hanying had always thought of Gu Jiang as a spiritual mountain, a metaphor for their relationship, much like that between righteous cultivators and a spiritual mountain.

But now, knowing that Gu Jiang indeed possessed a vein-like source of Blood Moon Shadow demonic energy, he was utterly shocked.

Feng Hanying unconsciously began to absorb and exhale the energy, while his master reclined on the lounge chair in the pavilion.

Gu Jiang continued, "Before the event of the Immortal's Fall, there were no so-called demonic cultivators in this world. The Great Dao has three thousand paths, but all lead to the same goal: to harmonize with heaven and unite with the Dao, achieving enlightenment."

To unite with heaven and earth, becoming the foundation of the world, could indeed be called unity with heaven, eternal and indestructible.

Cultivators plunder spiritual energy, but in the end, they must return it.

Spiritual energy is the essence that sustains all life in the world. Even an ordinary blade of grass needs a spark of spirit to grow.

Spiritual herbs and ordinary weeds differ only in the amount of spiritual energy they contain—a single spark of spirit can grow a weed, while ten thousand sparks are needed for a spiritual herb.

Mortals are like these weeds, born in spring and dying in autumn. Cultivators transcend the mundane, drawing in spiritual energy to refine themselves, believing they are walking a path against heaven. Yet, at the end of this arduous journey, they discover that ascension leads to becoming one with the earth, no different from mortals.

Gu Jiang spoke slowly, as if telling a tedious story, "Over two thousand seven hundred years ago, Huai Yunshan, the leader of the Law Sect, became the first to fall into demonhood. He was the first to break the rules of heaven."

If one does not ascend, they fall into demonhood, oppressed by heaven and earth, rejected by all things. Even as a demon, one must contend with heaven to survive.

"Once the rules are broken, they are no longer unbreakable. Within five hundred years, the leaders of the three sects all fell into demonhood, and half of the cultivators in the four great sects abandoned their Dao hearts to follow their leaders."

“It was from this point onward that the division between the righteous and the demonic paths emerged, and they became irreconcilable,” Gu Jiang extended his hand, cupping a handful of the Blood Moon’s reflection. “What is referred to as demonic energy is merely the spiritual energy that was stripped away from the heavens and earth in the moment of triumph against the heavens.”

The existence of five demon ancestors meant that five spiritual veins had been forcibly extracted from the world. It was no wonder that the spiritual energy of the world had been declining.

Feng Hanying was aware of the truth about ascension. The heavens were merciless, treating all living beings as mere straw dogs. He had never felt that the Heavenly Dao was unjust. But today, he learned that the existence of demonic cultivators was born from breaking the rules of the Heavenly Dao. The five types of demonic energy in the world were all stripped from spiritual energy, so it was no surprise that demonic energy could be transformed back into spiritual energy.

He cautiously asked, “Master, why are you risking divine retribution to reveal such heavenly secrets to me?”

“When too many people know a heavenly secret, it becomes common knowledge. Yet, few cultivators in the world know the truth about ascension,” Gu Jiang glanced at Feng Hanying before tossing him out of the Blood Moon’s reflection. The two of them returned to the main hall of the Xuan Tower.

Gu Jiang rose from his seat, giving him a kind look. “Whatever Nie Yinzhi plans to do, just cooperate with her and don’t speak out of turn.”

After his master’s figure vanished from the terrace, Feng Hanying sat in the hall, deep in thought.

Few cultivators knew the truth about ascension because those who did could not spread the knowledge without risking annihilation by the Heavenly Dao. Turning a heavenly secret into common knowledge was an incredibly difficult task.

The wound on his face was still bleeding profusely. Injuries left by heavenly lightning were extremely difficult to heal, and Feng Hanying was well aware that he would never have survived the lightning strike he had just witnessed.

Even Gu Jiang had to retreat into the lake of the Blood Moon’s reflection to avoid the heavenly lightning and speak to him. There was no way Feng Hanying could be expected to spread secrets like “the truth about ascension” or “the Heavenly Dao’s rules can be broken.”

In the end, despite all the words spoken, only the last sentence was truly useful, and it was something Feng Hanying could do.

—Listen to your master’s wife.

Feng Hanying: “…” Wasn’t he obedient enough already?