Bound to Mary Sue, I am against involution in the world of immortal cultivation

"..."

Everyone was shocked by his words.

"What are you talking about?"

A somewhat melodious voice came from behind him.

Fan Ning, who was being pointed at by thousands of people, suddenly appeared. She stood leisurely in the sunlight and, before the monks across from her could say a word, she immediately spoke: "It seems like you guys are having a very pleasant chat. Ling You hasn't had such an expression in a long time. What good deeds have you done... It's time for me to hear about it, right?"

"Lord Fan Ning is right," Jiang Xue walked out from the other side, glanced at the person whose emotions were completely affected, frowned, and sensed a sense of incongruity.

"Fan Ning! You stole the power of Heaven and forced us into a dead end—"

"I don't like to hear that," Fan Ning interrupted directly, rubbing his ears and chuckling as if he was completely unaffected. "If you blame me entirely for your desperate situation, then your current criticisms of me are simply nonsense."

"Hasn't anyone ever told you not to reason with people who are stronger than you?"

"The news has spread completely," Ling You stood beside her and whispered, "It's exactly as you expected. The people here... seem to have been controlled in some way."

Even the Sword Master, who had the highest level of cultivation, didn't seem to have any special emotions, but this was his most abnormal aspect.

Hesitant, even the hand that drew the sword hesitated...

Ling You removed the sharp thorns, his face solemn: "This is the worst situation."

It is true that the way of heaven is declining, but as long as it exists, the rules of this world cannot completely transcend it.

This was the realization that Fan Ning had made when he first began to absorb the power of the abyss.

"Ah," her eyelashes trembled, but she quickly returned to her normal self. She looked at her fellow seniors, who no longer looked like the familiar faces they once had, and said, "If we continue like this, it seems like we'll just end up fighting to the death."

As Fan Ning spoke, his gaze seemed to pass beyond the group of people in front of him and reach somewhere farther away.

"But now is not the time," she said, pulling out a token engraved with familiar words from her sleeve. She waved it in front of the Sword Master deliberately, as if to awaken his memory, and said, "I hope the Master has told you about our agreement."

The Sword Master was reminded of the key words, and the emptiness in his eyes gradually dissipated.

"You guys go," he raised his sword and stood alone in front of all the monks who might be agitated.

Ling You finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He glanced solemnly at his master who had his back to him, and when he turned to leave, his eyes inevitably dimmed for a moment.

----

Fan Ning took his men directly back to the Demon Realm.

On the way back, she calmly recounted what they were about to encounter - if the rumors in the world of immortal cultivation continued to ferment, there would no longer be a place in the world that could accommodate them.

"The Heavenly Dao Consciousness is capable of so many things. If it weren't for the fact that the Heavenly Dao's power somehow remained within you, you wouldn't be able to remain lucid right now."

But in a world where everyone is bewitched, such clarity is the original sin.

Fan Ning calmly stated the worst-case scenario, "With all the monks surrounding us, we won't be able to hold out for long. We might even be breached from the inside."

At this time, the benefits left by the former Demon Lord became apparent.

As a qualified control freak, many people in the demon world have been planted with the control power of the abyss, and Yu Li should have gathered these people at this moment and made Fan Ning himself a "savior" who can save everyone from danger.

But this alone is clearly not enough.

The superficial restraints are far inferior to the true consciousness of the Way of Heaven. These people may be able to rely on the power of the abyss in their bodies to stay awake today, but it is not surprising that they will be turned against the enemy tomorrow.

The human heart is unpredictable.

Fan Ning tugged at his sleeves and sighed in distress: "If it really becomes like that, this world probably won't have room for us anymore."

Jiangxue froze after receiving so many answers.

"Wait, how did it get to this point—" He paused, sorting out his chaotic thoughts in his mind before finally asking a soul-searching question: "So, are those rumors really true?"

Ling You glanced at him and was about to deny it when a soothing hand appeared on his shoulder.

"It's true, I guess," Fan Ning admitted directly. His gaze fell on Jiang Xue's face, which was trembling with excitement. Suddenly, he asked with a smile, "So, are you thinking of abandoning the light and joining the dark and joining someone else's pirate ship now?"

"You've already said you've abandoned the light for the dark," Jiang Xue held her forehead, still able to turn around this twisted relationship, and said without hesitation: "Abandoning Fan Ning is impossible, right?"

He closed his eyes and smiled helplessly, "You gave me my life. If I really do this, what's the difference between me and an ungrateful person?"

"If you really doubted me, you wouldn't have let me hear this, right?"

"So what should we do now?" Ling You, seeing the atmosphere becoming increasingly tense, quickly changed the subject. "It's not safe to return to the Demon Realm."

"...The monks from the sect may attack here at any time."

"You're right," Fan Ning pinched her chin. The sunlight streaming in from outside the curtains illuminated half of her profile, and her dull emotions dissipated with the wind. "So, we have to prepare well for the coronation ceremony later."

"..."

"At that time..." Ling You was surprised for a moment, but soon realized something, "Are you trying to give them a chance to enter the demon world openly?"

"There's no need for a pointless fight," Fan Ning leaned on Ling You's shoulder, yawned without any nervousness, and said with slightly narrowed eyes, "They've convicted me, so I'd better prove it completely."

"I want everything from you," she raised her hand and hooked Ling You's chin, tilting her head slightly, with her face very close to his lips.

Ling You was immediately bewitched by those eyes.

If he hadn't been concerned about Jiangxue beside him, he would have lost his composure and become a bargaining chip in the other party's hands.

...though it's not that bad now.

Jiangxue coughed awkwardly: "This doesn't seem like something I can continue reading..."

Seeing that the two seemed unmoved, he whispered a reminder: "...At least now is not a good time to flirt."

"This is not flirting," Fan Ning denied it flatly, a smile adorning his sober face, a dark glint in his eyes.

Remove that trace of Heavenly Dao aura from Ling You's body.

What she had to do from beginning to end only pointed to the same answer.

——It’s time to completely clean up this unfair chessboard.