The girl patted her chest and said,
“I hope so…”
The old man steadied himself, trying hard not to overthink.
He had also noticed that many people had trodden the path beneath their feet.
Yet, even being so close to a personage like the Demon Lord, the old man still felt fear from the bottom of his heart.
“Grandpa, you’re too timid…”
The girl couldn’t help but say.
“Timid…” the old man thought helplessly to himself,
but didn’t know how to retort.
Just then,
in front of the path that the girl and the old man were traveling,
a tall man appeared silently.
The tall man stood there quietly, seemingly lost in thought.
Upon seeing this, the girl immediately grinned and laughed.
“Grandpa, look.”
“It’s not just us on this road; there are others who want to get a closer look at the holy land…”
The girl immediately said.
“That’s good.”
The old man breathed a sigh of relief.
The tall man stood there without a hint of a cultivator’s aura.
To the old man, this was a sign of safety. If even ordinary people could get close without harm, they probably wouldn’t have any problems either.
Having walked along this path for so long without encountering anyone, the girl, upon meeting the tall man, immediately went up to strike up a conversation, “Are you here to observe the holy land too?”
“Observe the holy land?”
The tall man turned his head, glanced at the girl, and didn’t answer.
“Don’t be shy; apart from observing the holy land, who else would come here?”
Thinking the tall man might be shy, the girl approached and said, “It’s just as well we met; you can come with us. My grandpa is really powerful, a great master of the Five Domains.”
The girl extended an invitation.
The tall man remained unmoved, neither accepting nor declining.
This made the girl somewhat exasperated. What’s with this guy, acting like a mute? Did he even understand what she was saying?
“Let me put it this way, my grandpa is a Ninth Realm powerhouse; do you know what the Ninth Realm is?”
The girl couldn’t help but reveal some home truths, “In the Five Domains Mainland, there are fewer than a hundred Ninth Realm powerhouses, and my grandpa is one of them. If you follow us, you don’t need to worry about safety…”
“Were you picked up by your grandfather?”
Finally, the tall man spoke up, his voice deep and magnetic.
He hadn’t detected the Bai Family bloodline in the old man.
“Ah?”
“How did you know?”
The girl’s eyes widened; she was certain she had not told the tall man about this matter.
“Could it be that you are…”
The girl’s eyes lit up, “Are you a fortune-teller, someone who can divine? Did you realize instantly that I’m not my grandfather’s biological granddaughter?”
“Bai…” The old man vaguely sensed something and his voice trembled slightly, not even daring to look directly at the tall man.
But at that moment, his voice was so faint that the girl did not notice it at all.
“I didn’t think you actually had some skill. I always thought those fortune-tellers were just scam artists…”
The girl became interested; the tall man’s ability to immediately see that she was not related by blood to the old man was obviously no simple matter.
“Come, come, come.”
“Help me see when I can become a powerhouse like my grandpa.”
The girl stood on tiptoe, patted the tall man on the shoulder, and said, “Don’t worry, as long as you’re accurate, I won’t skimp on your reward. Let me tell you, my grandpa has a lot of treasures. Just take your pick of any…”
“Bai…” Seeing the girl actually daring to pat the tall man on the shoulder, the old man felt a rush of blood to the head and started to grow dizzy, his legs trembling, nearly collapsing right there and then.
And it was precisely as the girl stood on tiptoe to pat the tall man on the shoulder,
that the air seemed to solidify.
One after another, figures appeared all around.
The aura emanating from each figure was that of a Ninth Realm Peak.
No fewer than twenty Ninth Realm Peak powerhouses stood quietly a short distance away.
The leader among these figures exuded an aura that surpassed the Ninth Realm.
However, all these figures appeared behind the girl, and considering her low power level, she didn’t notice anything amiss and remained unaware.
But whereas the girl was oblivious, the old man next to her sensed everything very clearly. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, his legs shook uncontrollably, and he was nearly about to kneel on the spot.
“`
“Retreat.”
The tall man stood with his hands behind his back, speaking indifferently.
Suddenly.
Every figure that appeared vanished swiftly, as if by command.
The alley returned to its original state.
Only the old man knew what had just happened.
He and the girl had nearly walked through the gates of death.
“You remind me of an old friend of mine.”
The tall man smiled faintly.
He reached out and gently touched the girl’s head.
“Ouch…”
The girl didn’t understand why, but facing the tall man’s gesture, she had no intention of resistance and stood there dazed.
“Go back.”
“Practice well.”
The tall man raised his right hand.
With a gentle wave.
The old man and the girl felt darkness before their eyes.
When they opened their eyes again, they found themselves fifty miles away once more.
“Grandfather, what was that?”
The girl was a bit bewildered.
It took her a long while to react.
What had just happened?
Wasn’t she just talking with the tall man?
“Bai!!!”
Only the old man had recovered his senses.
He directly grabbed the girl’s collar.
Then—
He sprinted in the opposite direction of the Underground Palace.
Several hours later.
Thousands of miles away from the Underground Palace.
The old man finally stopped.
Fear still lingered on his face.
“Do you know who that was just now?”
The old man took a deep breath, raised his hand to slap the girl but couldn’t bring himself to do it.
“Ah?”
“Who was he?”
The girl blinked her eyes.
By now she had also begun to realize.
“Demon Lord.”
“He is Demon Venerable Xiahou Yuan.”
The old man’s voice trembled as he spoke.
“He is the Demon Lord?”
Bai’s eyes widened once again.
After a long while.
Bai suddenly remembered a question.
It was a question she had been too embarrassed to ask before, but having just met the Demon Lord and survived, she naturally wanted to ask it aloud.
“Grandfather.”
“Everyone says Demon Venerable Xiahou Yuan is unfathomably tall.”
“So how tall is he really?”
The girl looked at the old man full of anticipation.
“How tall?”
The old man seemed to see the tall figure of the man flashing before his eyes once again.
“He should…”
“He should be as tall as the heavens, I suppose.”
“`