After transmigrating, I made a name for myself through my culinary skills.

"Disciples of the Green Mountain Sect are not allowed to set foot in the Valley of No Return at will; those who violate this rule will be expelled from the sect and killed without exception." — This is the first precept of the Green Mountain Sect.

Upon hearing his mother mention that his father had gone to the Valley of No Return, Jiang Ning was taken aback.

He originally thought his father had encountered trouble during his secluded cultivation or was out on business and couldn't come back, but he never expected that his father had gone to the forbidden area of ​​the Green Mountain Sect, the Valley of No Return.

From the time he could remember, he and his brother were strictly forbidden from approaching the Valley of the Unseen. When asked what the Valley of the Unseen was like, their father never said, only telling them that they would lose their lives if they went there.

They wanted to ask someone, but their other uncles and brothers were terrified of the place.

So until now, all he knows is that the place is forbidden, but no one has ever told him what's inside.

Hearing his mother mention this place again rekindled his curiosity, and he asked the question that he had never been able to answer years ago.

"Is there anything in the valley? That's why Father hasn't returned for so long?"

A month has passed since he returned from the Northern Continent, and he has not seen his father during this time. Perhaps his father had already entered the Valley of No Return long ago.

Jiang Ning looked at his brother, whose face was calm and expressionless, clearly indicating that he had known about this for a long time.

Recalling his mother's and brother's expressions that day, he realized they were indeed hiding something from him. He said with certainty, "What you didn't want me to know when we were here was this."

Madam Jiang's fingers unconsciously tightened, then gradually relaxed. She pointed to the chairs in the ancestral hall and said softly, "Please sit down first, and let me think about how to tell you."

His tone was gentle, yet it revealed a hint of helplessness.

The children are all adults now; it's time for them to know about Bujian Valley.

Jiang Ning obediently found a seat next to her mother and sat down. She remained silent, seemingly considering where to begin.

After a long silence, she finally asked Jiang Ning, "In the past month, have you heard anyone mention the Demon Emperor?"

Jiang Ning: "I've heard some of it."

As if expecting his answer, Madam Jiang remained calm and simply asked, "What did they say?"

The incident had only happened a short time ago, but Jiang Ning remembered it all clearly. He recounted everything he had heard to his mother, word for word.

Madam Jiang said gently, "They only know one side of the story."

Jiang Ning: "What's the second one?"

Before his mother could answer, Jiang An continued, "Secondly, the closer these resentful spirits are to the Demon Emperor, the greater the benefit they will bring to him. That's why the Demon Clan chose to attack the Southern Continent, and it was only a matter of time before Jingzhou was besieged."

Jiang Ning instantly thought of where his father had gone and asked, "Is the Demon Emperor imprisoned in the Valley of the Unseen?!"

Seeing his mother nod slightly, Jiang Ning's heart sank. He seemed to understand all the things that had happened before.

Madam Jiang looked at the ancestral tablets in the ancestral hall and said in a low voice, "A thousand years ago, the demons ran rampant. The situation was much worse than it is now. Not to mention the Southern Continent, the entire Azure Sky Continent could not escape their clutches."

The Demon Emperor born that year seemed to be a born leader of the demon race, leading them to conquer the four continents, causing rivers of blood to flow in the human world, and even cultivators could not escape the calamity.

Moreover, the birth of this negative aura has also boosted the Demon Emperor's strength. Even your ancestor Jiang Ziqian was no match for the Demon Emperor, and the leaders of the other continents also suffered a crushing defeat at his hands.

When everyone was at a loss, your great-uncle who cultivated the Path of Ruthlessness, Jiang Ziji, successfully attained enlightenment. Instead of ascending to immortality, he suppressed his cultivation and found the Demon Emperor before the tribulation arrived.

He fought the Demon Emperor, severely wounding him, thus ending this one-sided massacre.

Madam Jiang didn't say that back then, it was only because the Demon Emperor had been injured by the combined forces of the four continental alliance leaders that Jiang Ziji was able to defeat him on his own. Otherwise, given the world rife with resentment, the Demon Emperor's strength would only continue to grow.

She continued, "Our ancestor thought that if he killed the Demon Emperor, a new Demon Emperor would be born soon. So Jiang Ziji gave up his chance to ascend and sacrificed his own flesh and blood with our ancestor to set up an array to imprison him in the Valley of No Return."

As long as this Demon Emperor lives, a new Demon Emperor will not be born.

Meanwhile, because the Demon Emperor was imprisoned, the Demon Clan was leaderless and was driven back to the Western Continent by the combined forces of others, thus bringing peace to the Azure Sky Continent for a thousand years, allowing the people to escape from suffering.

Your great-grandfather hadn't even reached the Nascent Soul stage yet, but he became the youngest alliance leader in the entire Azure Sky Continent. Because of Jiang Ziji's battle, no one dared to disobey the Jiang family.

Fortunately, the spiritual energy in the entire Southern Continent was abundant at that time, and the Jiang family had rich resources, so the young leader of the alliance advanced very quickly, ascending to immortality in just a hundred years.

But now, with less spiritual energy, advancement is slower, and few people ascend, the Green Mountain Sect has begun to pay attention to the spiritual energy of food.

Jiang Ning pressed further, "So, Father's trip to the Valley of No Return this time was related to the Demon Emperor?"

Madam Jiang nodded slightly: "That's right, not many people know about this. Apart from the direct disciples of the Jiang family and a few leaders of the Demon Clan, no one else knows that the Demon Emperor has been imprisoned in the forbidden area of ​​the Green Mountain Sect."

Madam Jiang seemed to hear her husband's words to her again: "I found a reason to let An'er help you manage the sect. This child is steady and reliable. If you have no other choice, it's okay to tell him the truth."

Then he immediately added, "But you must not tell Ning'er that I went to the Valley of No Return, otherwise, given his personality, if something happens to me, he will definitely come looking for me."

Just as Jiang Yunshu had guessed, Jiang Ning immediately said upon hearing his mother's affirmative answer, "Then I will also go to the Valley of No Return to find Father. I can save him."

Madam Jiang did not respond to his words, but continued, "Several years ago, when your brother was injured during his advancement, your father sensed something was wrong. After he had Doctor Shen heal your brother's leg injury, he kept it a secret and said that it was not healed, just to lure the snake out of its hole."

If Jiang An's life were truly in danger, Jiang Yunshu would have ordered the entire sect to help find a remedy. How could she possibly have allowed Jiang Ning and a few other disciples who hadn't even reached the Nascent Soul stage to gather snow mountain herbs and search for spirit rabbit marrow?

Jiang Ning hadn't expected this; it wasn't what he had thought before: "Then is my brother's injury also related to them? Wasn't it because of the people from the Heavenly Sword Sect?"

Remembering what Gu Yu had said before, Jiang Ning blurted out, "Is Shen Wensheng colluding with the Demon Clan?"

Jiang An was unaware of this matter. He asked, "Who told you they were colluding?"

Jiang Ning had also suspected Gu Yu's relationship with the Shen family, but he didn't want to guess. So he only told his brother, "It was a well-known figure in the martial arts world who told me. He didn't say it was collusion, but he said to be wary of the people from the Heavenly Sword Sect."

Madam Jiang: "Your father couldn't find any evidence either. He wanted to investigate further, but all the witnesses he had committed suicide. He only managed to get a glimpse of the edge of the demon race."

But this alone was enough to make Jiang Yunshu wary, so he didn't continue to suppress his cultivation and took the time to advance to the Nascent Soul stage. As a result, when he came out of seclusion, he noticed that the seal was loosening, so he immediately went to the Valley of No Return.

The two of them were reluctant to let their child go on a risk, so they planned to keep it from Jiang Ning. Only after the news of the demon clan spread did she tell Jiang An.

Madam Jiang looked at her husband's fate tablet and sighed heavily: "The reason I'm telling you this today is because your father's chances of survival are slim."

Moreover, if he doesn't step forward and allows the rumors to spread, the Green Mountain Sect's thousand-year-old reputation will likely be ruined.

Jiang An stood up and said firmly, "Let me go."

He is the eldest brother, and he should shoulder this responsibility.

Jiang Ning was taught from a young age to be respectful to his brother, but this time he did not defer to him.

He said directly, "My cultivation is higher than yours now, and I also have a tenth-tier demonic beast as my spirit pet. I have a greater chance of returning safely from the Valley of No Return than you do. If you go and fail to rescue Father, I will have to go and rescue you. It would be better if I went to rescue Father from the beginning."

These words left Jiang An speechless. He never expected that his own younger brother would use his cultivation level to suppress him.

He was about to say something more when Jiang Ning continued, "You've been learning how to manage affairs from your father before. If your father doesn't return soon, you and your mother will have to manage the affairs of the entire clan together."

Jiang Ning's expression was serious, and Jiang An had nothing to say. Logically and emotionally, he should indeed stay.

After they had finished discussing it, Madam Jiang said, "This time, your uncle will go down as well."

Jiang An was slightly surprised: "Uncle is coming back?"

Jiang Mian is rarely home, and he had forgotten when he last saw him.

Madam Jiang received a message from her brother-in-law yesterday, and she said, "He should arrive tomorrow."

Jiang Ning asked, "What about Grandpa and Grandma?"

They said they were going to rescue their uncle. If their uncle comes back, then they should be almost there by now.

Madam Jiang shook her head: "They have other things to do."

She didn't know the specifics of what happened.

With one day left before his uncle's return, Jiang Ning approached Ye Lan that evening to discuss the matter and bid him farewell.

But Ye Lan immediately said after hearing this, "I'll go with you."

Faced with his request, Jiang Ning refused for the first time: "No, only members of the Jiang family can enter the Valley of No Return."

Ye Lan didn't believe it: "You're lying. There were other senior brothers who were locked up there before."

Jiang Ning slowly explained to him, "I'm not lying to you. The Valley is dark and the Demon Emperor is imprisoned there. Our ancestors set up multiple restrictions inside to prevent outsiders from entering. My senior brothers are only imprisoned in the outer layer. Only those with Jiang family blood can enter the inner layer."

Ye Lan then asked, "What if I were to become your Daoist partner?"

If they were a Daoist couple, then he should be considered a member of the Jiang family.

Seeing Jiang Ning remain silent, he knew the answer, but Jiang Ning refused to accept it.

Ye Lan had his own way of dealing with Jiang Ning. He said, "If you don't agree, I'll go find Jiang Nan and become his Daoist partner. He's also a member of the Jiang family, so I can still go in and find you."

Jiang Ning looked helpless: "Don't be silly, it's fraught with danger inside. There's not even any spiritual energy in the deepest part. I don't want you to take the risk."

Even his father, a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, couldn't handle it, so he wasn't confident he could come out alive. That's why he specifically sought out Ye Lan to say goodbye.

He naturally wouldn't agree to Ye Lan's request.

Ye Lan's tone was unusually serious: "Jiang Ning, I know you don't want me to be in danger, but that's precisely why I don't want you to go alone."

Put yourself in my shoes. If you were me, about to go to a dangerous place where you could die, and I were leaving you here worrying, would you want that?

Jiang Ning shook his head. Although he had never said it, he valued Ye Lan's life more than his own.

Ye Lan took his hand from the table and explained, "I'm not going to hold you back, but if I go with you, Xiao Bai can come along too. It's a Demon-Devouring Lion, so it'll always have a way to deal with demonic energy."

Seeing that Jiang Ning still hesitated, he continued, "There's one more thing. If there's a lack of spiritual energy inside, my space might be able to help."

He told Jiang Ning about the constant flow of spiritual energy in the space. Jiang Ning had previously seen him planting things in there and assumed he was using spirit stones to nurture them, but he never expected it to be like this.

After listening, Jiang Ning didn't say anything else, but solemnly said, "You must not let outsiders know about your space."

Ye Lan responded with a "Mm".

In the cultivation world, killing and robbing are not illegal. He has always been careful, and he wouldn't have brought this up if it weren't for the need to persuade Jiang Ning.

He has always kept his mouth shut and has never mentioned anything about his past life to Jiang Ning, nor will he ever. He intends to bury the matter deep in his heart and let it rot away.

In the end, Jiang Ning compromised when faced with Ye Lan.

Ye Lan smiled and reassured her, "Don't worry, we will definitely come back safely."

Putting everything else aside, he has great confidence in Jiang Ning's "protagonist halo." Although he doesn't know where the plot is going, the "protagonist" will die, right?

The world he was in was so different from the synopsis he had read. The characters' personalities didn't match up, and even their genders didn't match up. He often wondered if he had actually read the book.

Or perhaps you were watching a pirated copy?

But it shouldn't be a pirated copy, since he always reads the official books by Tomato.

For the first two years after he arrived, he was very confident in his memory, but the longer he stayed in this world, the more blurred his memory of what happened that day became.

Jiang Ning agreed, then stood up and said, "I'll go tell my mother about our plan to become Daoist partners."

The reason he originally didn't want to agree was partly because he didn't want Ye Lan to be in danger, and partly because he didn't want this once-in-a-lifetime event to end so hastily.

As Jiang Ning walked out of the room, he couldn't help but show a look of regret. He had already planned what kind of grand occasion he would give Ye Lan on the day of their Dao-union ceremony.

Upon seeing this, Ye Lan reached out and rubbed his face, saying, "The most important thing is to survive. All the rituals can be made up later."

Jiang Ning's brow relaxed upon hearing this: "Yes, I'll make it up to you later."

Ye Lan smiled and gently patted his face: "Go ahead, I'll be waiting for your good news."