Fei Bai Mu cleared her throat to disperse the awkward atmosphere. "To be honest, it might be better to have some more people involved. As far as we know, the only sect that has indulged in such practices is the Chun Feng Sect but there will be a few others that will be of a similar opinion as them and I'd say it's very likely that they won't give up on the disciples they have imprisoned willingly either. While we can force them to speak with us, it will be more difficult to make them release the disciples. After all, they are also part of the righteous side. We can't have a total fallout with them."
Qiu Ling gave Jinde a triumphant look. "That sounds as if we should get involved after all."
Fei Bai Mu gave a wry smile. "I'm just saying that it is difficult for us to force them to release anybody. But whether you should get involved or shouldn't … I really wouldn't dare to say so. You know better how much you and your people would be affected."
Qiu Ling nodded and pondered. There was no denying that the weapons of the Chun Feng Sect had an adverse effect on dragons. And it would be even worse for somebody who had demon blood flowing through their veins like him. That did make it difficult.
Nonetheless, he still felt that they should get involved in this. The question was how to do that without being hurt. After all, while it was reasonable for him to ask his people to get involved in this matter since one of the imprisoned people was of their own race, it would not be reasonable to do so at the price of somebody else losing their life. Getting some of them killed just to save one person … That wasn't really worth it.
If he send somebody, then he definitely had to make sure that they didn't have any kind of demon blood. But even a pure-blooded dragon would be at risk. Maybe there was a way to counter those weapons? Some special kind of armor maybe? That would make his people less endangered by the attacks. Together with their own abilities, it wouldn't be impossible to break those disciples out and teach those guys a lesson.
He turned to Fei Bai Mu, his expression serious this time. "Those weapons of the Chun Feng Sect … Was there anything developed that is able to counter them?"
Fei Bai Mu shook her head. "If it was that easy, the demon-hunting sects wouldn't exist anymore. They've been hunting demons for several thousand years. Even if there had been a way to counter their weapons originally, I doubt it still exists. They've perfected their methods over time.
"Anyway, the materials that are used for these weapons are already harmful to demons even when just growing in nature. They only become more deadly after being processed by the demon-hunting sects. So the most you could do would be to somehow reduce these additional effects if you found out how they forge their weapons. But even then, the original effects would remain.
"I'm sorry I can't tell you anything better but I'm afraid it won't be easy. If you don't come up with a plan …"
Qiu Ling furrowed his brows. This wasn't a good thing for him. "Well, then what about the gods?" He didn't have much hope that they would help them but they were allies. Maybe they would send a few people at least. His uncle-in-law should still be pretty grateful for what he had done regarding Bai Mu as well.
"What do you mean?" Fei Bai Mu looked at him in confusion.
Meanwhile, Leng Jin Yu nodded, already having understood what Qiu Ling was talking about. "The weapons are only harmful to those of demonic descent. Whether that's the demons, the dragons or the demonic beasts. The gods or spiritual beasts, on the other hand, wouldn't be harmed. Just like the humans don't feel any special effect. To them, they are just normal weapons that can cause injuries if they are struck by them."
Qiu Ling nodded slowly. That meant that the gods would be in a much better position to deal with this. He should indeed ask his uncle-in-law what he thought about this.
Qiu Ling already wanted to take the transmission stone back out when he thought of something else. He narrowed his eyes and then got up, stepping outside so Jinde wouldn't be in sight. He raised the transmission stone after all but the one he contacted wasn't Qiang Yan. Instead, he tried to reach An Bai.
The stone lit up but went dull immediately. Afterward, nothing happened. Qiu Ling furrowed his brows and imbued his spiritual energy again but the result was still the same. It seemed something was wrong on the other side.
He pondered and then contacted Xiang Yong again.
"What might be the matter, Your Majesty? I haven't finished your task yet."
"Where's An Bai? Why isn't he reacting?"
Xiang Yong gave him a deep look and hesitated to speak up.
"What?"
Xiang Yong cleared his throat and put down the book that he had still been perusing. "Your Majesty, you do remember that the demon king took your beloved's reincarnation hostage a while back, yes? And that he then demanded one of our people to be exchanged for him? An Bai was the one who offered to take that place and was then taken away. He should still be in the demon realm's dungeon right now."
"Oh." Qiu Ling blinked his eyes. Right, there had been something like that. "Well, I need him now. We should probably go and break him out."
In the room behind him, Fei Bai Mu raised her brows, not quite sure what to think about everything she was hearing today. It seemed that life in the immortal realms was quite exciting.