Jian Lin had just returned to her original identity, and her memories were slowly recovering. Therefore, despite possessing immense divine power, she did not yet know how to wield it.
In this regard, Tian Yi was clearly more familiar with the business. With a wave of his long sleeve, a circular mirror appeared in mid-air, displaying a scene.
The Demon Lord lay there, his face pale. The image swayed back and forth, and Jian Lin deduced they were likely in a carriage. Immediately, a hand reached out and forcefully stuffed a snow-white pill into the Demon Lord's mouth.
Jian Lin recognized the hand as Xie Jin's.
Xie Jin was trying to save the Demon Lord, which meant the Demon Lord was indeed not dead.
Jian Lin was surprised and asked incredulously, "Didn't you say that if I couldn't overcome my love tribulation, I wouldn't be able to return to the Divine Realm? What's going on?"
"It's a matter of fate and circumstance, truly mysterious," Tian Yi said, feigning profundity. "This world is in chaos, and the Heavenly Dao seems to have been affected. All sorts of changes are emerging, and destiny has shifted. Everything still requires you, my lord, to personally confirm."
In simple terms, all the elaborate talk meant: don't believe those old rules, they no longer apply. Now, seeing is believing.
Jian Lin clapped her hands together, her heart filled with joy. Learning that she hadn't killed innocent beings, her guilt vanished, and she felt significantly lighter.
"Great, he's not dead," Jian Lin said happily, doing two little spins. She turned back to Tian Yi and asked, "A' Zha, what's the first thing I need to do right now?"
Jian Lin was in a good mood and even cracked a joke.
Tian Yi was dejected. "I am not A' Zha."
"You are," Jian Lin said with a grin. "The first time we met, you introduced yourself, and your name had 'Zha' in it."
"That 'Zha' referred to you, my lord! I was hinting at you!" Tian Yi quickly explained. "My name is Tian Yi, I told you that the first time."
"Alright, A' Zha, don't get hung up on such trivial matters," Jian Lin said, wiggling her finger cheerfully. "Hurry up and tell me, what's the first thing I need to do?"
With no other choice, A' Zha returned to the main topic.
The Three Realms were currently in utter chaos. The Underworld King's Living Dead Array had invaded the Demon Realm. Wherever it went, it brought devastation, sparing no living creature, not even an ant. All life was sucked away, turning the realms into a veritable hell on earth.
Tian Yi believed Jian Lin's first task was to shut down the Living Dead Array, reseal the Underworld, and ensure the path of reincarnation in the Three Realms remained undisturbed.
The second task was to confront the Demon Emperor, that monster who had absorbed countless demon cores and was on the verge of becoming uncontrollable.
These two were critical threats that needed to be dealt with as soon as possible.
With Tian Yi's reminder, Jian Lin recalled many things.
That's right, Xiao Li still needed saving. She didn't know what had happened to her master and junior brother. Where was Tao Niang? The Demon Lord's palace had been struck, so what about Bai Xian, who was imprisoned in the secret chamber?
Thinking of this, Jian Lin couldn't wait a moment longer. She lifted her hem and prepared to leave immediately to descend to the mortal realm and quell the Three Realms.
"My lord, wait," Tian Yi had to grab her. "You haven't retrieved the He Yi Sword yet. It's not too late to leave after you get your sword."
Jian Lin then remembered her precious treasure. "Right, where is my sword?"
In her memory, she had stabbed the Demon Lord in the heart with the He Yi Sword, and then the He Yi Sword had fought with the Xing Tian Sword.
"It's on Desolate Mountain," Tian Yi pointed towards the furthest part of the divine hall, where the shadow of a mountain could be faintly seen.
"Let's go, what are we waiting for? Follow me to get the sword."
Jian Lin took a step forward and flew out of the broken cliff. Instead of flying up as expected, she followed a standard parabolic trajectory.
After she had descended a certain distance, she skillfully used her divine power to start ascending.
Her body, her mind, and her divine power were all working independently, and she wasn't yet familiar with them. It was truly difficult.
Desolate Mountain was a colossal meteorite. In the early days, when the Divine Realm was empty, the Seven Primordial Spirits had no place to land. They pooled their strength and moved a meteorite from the Void Realm to serve as their abode.
Later, they each built their own divine halls and moved away, leaving Desolate Mountain as their gathering place.
As they fell one after another, Desolate Mountain became truly desolate.
However, even so, Desolate Mountain held an even more significant status: it was the center of the entire Divine Realm.
As Jian Lin flew over, the mountain's shadow gradually became clearer. Looking around, she couldn't see her precious divine sword.
Landing on her feet, Jian Lin turned back to Tian Yi and asked, "Where is the sword?"
Tian Yi scanned the surroundings, then stepped forward, saying with certainty, "This way."
Jian Lin followed him without suspicion,绕过 two hills and climbed a cliff. Reaching the highest point, she saw a massive, deep pit.
At the bottom of the pit, two forces, one black and one white, were engaged in an infinitely cycling movement. Their speed was so great that afterimages appeared, resembling a Bagua formation.
Jian Lin was stunned and asked Tian Yi, "Are these He Yi and Xing Tian? What are they doing?"
Tian Yi's expression was solemn, and he seemed to be deep in thought. Suddenly, he realized, "My lord, don't you feel that these black and white forces are so harmonious, as if they originally belonged to Desolate Mountain? Your encounter with the Lord of Xing Tian was not accidental."
Jian Lin fell into contemplation, recalling the distant memories of the Divine Venerable Mu Sheng. When she descended to the mortal realm, she had randomly chosen a desolate mountain to land on, so how could she have coincidentally encountered the Demon Lord?
Rather than a chance encounter, it seemed to be the attraction between the two divine powers of the Divine Realm. He Yi and Xing Tian appeared to be old acquaintances.
Tian Yi had no recollection of this. He was the youngest and weakest of the Seven Primordial Spirits. When they moved Desolate Mountain, he was merely assisting. He knew nothing about why there were two forces.
Jian Lin was the same. However, it didn't matter if she couldn't remember. The immediate priority was to retrieve the He Yi Sword.
Tian Yi racked his brain and suggested, "Why don't you call out its name?"
It wasn't a great idea, but Jian Lin had no other thoughts. It was worth a shot.
Jian Lin cleared her throat, raised her voice, and shouted, "He Yi Sword, let's go! Come with me to the mortal realm to handle important matters."
To be honest, she didn't have any expectations at that moment. To her surprise, her shout actually summoned the He Yi Sword.
It transformed into the shape of a long sword and rushed towards Jian Lin.
Jian Lin reached out and grasped it. The moment she held it, she heard a clear, sweet girlish voice, "I'm here! Let's go!"
Jian Lin was stunned. Both obtaining the He Yi Sword and hearing it speak were incredibly shocking events.
She took a moment to compose herself and tried to communicate with it. "Are you a sword spirit?"
"Yes," the sword spirit replied.
Jian Lin was astonished. Indeed, with divine power, the world suddenly opened up.
Before leaving the Divine Realm, Tian Yi had given her many suggestions. Jian Lin finally understood that what had seemed impossible to her before was incredibly simple in the eyes of a god. This was, as they say, a dimensional attack.
Holding the He Yi Sword, Jian Lin walked out of the Heavenly Court's archway and jumped straight down.
It didn't matter where she landed, as she was now a god and could travel a thousand miles in a day.
Passing through the clouds, she plummeted rapidly. Her vision gradually cleared, and the area around her landing spot was a vast expanse of dark, scorched earth, the scale of which was astonishing.
This was all the influence of the Living Dead Array. It seemed to have already left the Demon Realm and was spreading towards the mortal world.
Mortals couldn't see ghosts and thought it was merely a natural disaster, such as a severe drought or plague. They had no idea that this was something created by cultivators colluding with the demon realm and the underworld, a purely man-made disaster.
Jian Lin was furious. Descending into mid-air, she raised the He Yi Sword and swung it. A massive divine power enveloped the area, instantly halting the expansion of the dark, scorched earth.
Jian Lin was greatly encouraged. She swung the sword more than ten times. Later, the sword spirit found her moves clumsy and volunteered to fight alone.
The He Yi Sword transformed into a white light, like a shooting star, sweeping through the area. Wherever it passed, the living dead instantly turned to ash.
Jian Lin watched with excitement. With a surge of determination, she flanked the array from the other side, forcing the Living Dead Array back into the Underworld.
This time, she didn't simply stop at the edge of the Underworld but charged directly into it, found the Underworld King, and gave him a thorough beating.
The Underworld King believed he had mastered reincarnation and could transcend gods. He was unwilling to be subservient, which led him to harbor wicked intentions.
Jian Lin's appearance was meant to tell him that the Underworld King was, after all, mortal, with a lifespan of at most three hundred years, and would eventually enter reincarnation.
What was the benefit of being the Underworld King? If one worked diligently and benefited the Three Realms, accumulating merit, they would be reborn into a good life.
For example, the current Human Emperor was the previous Underworld King.
The current Underworld King's actions had caused such great disaster that his fate was affected, and he would likely become a deposed ruler of a fallen kingdom.
Jian Lin threw the current Underworld King into the eighteenth level of hell to endure all tortures before entering the path of reincarnation.
After dealing with the current Underworld King, the next priority was to select a new Underworld King.
Jian Lin asked the prime minister to recommend some candidates. Suddenly, she saw a familiar face: the bear tribe chieftain who had tragically died in the demon realm.
When Jian Lin had accidentally fallen into the Living Dead Array, the bear tribe chieftain had provided her with assistance. She hadn't expected that after not seeing him for a while, he would have made a name for himself in the Underworld.
Jian Lin's thoughts stirred. The bear tribe chieftain was good; he was quite thoughtful and wanted to establish a demon tribe sect, learning the cultivation methods of mortals, though he hadn't succeeded.
A person like him would be a good Underworld King.
Jian Lin went to find him and explained her intentions. The bear tribe chieftain remained silent. He worked in the Underworld solely to accumulate merit for his son and had no desire to become the Underworld King.
Jian Lin tempted him, saying that if he became the Underworld King, the first thing she would do upon returning to the world would be to find his son and give him the chieftain's demon core.
The chieftain glanced at her sideways. "Last time I helped you, you said you would give it to me."
Jian Lin felt embarrassed. "Well, there were too many things to do, I was busy saving the world, and didn't have time."
Later, with Jian Lin's assurance, the bear tribe chieftain agreed to the position of Underworld King and took office, becoming the new Underworld King.
The Underworld King's old subordinates strongly opposed this. Underworld Kings were human; how could a demon be one?
Jian Lin waved her hand and said forcefully, "I am a god. If I say so, it is so. Anyone who disagrees, come and fight me!"
Who dared to fight a god? Under Jian Lin's strong pressure, everyone dared not object.
Later, the bear tribe chieftain worked diligently and became a new, admirable Underworld King.
Returning to that time, after Jian Lin left the Underworld, she reinforced several layers of seals to ensure that the state of living beings being able to freely enter the edge of the Underworld would not recur.
After dealing with the Underworld's affairs, Jian Lin returned to her old profession. She summoned a great downpour, infusing it with the power of growth to quickly eliminate the effects of the Living Dead Array.
Seeing the world regain its vitality, Jian Lin felt relieved and set off for the demon realm.
She had two missions: to save Xiao Li and to find that bear tribe youth.