As her consciousness returned from the depths, Meng Shuying suddenly opened her eyes.
It was pitch dark, with not a glimmer of light to be seen.
She had experienced temporary blindness before, and for a moment, she was disoriented, unable to distinguish whether she had gone blind again or if the place was truly enveloped in complete darkness.
She waited quietly for a moment, listening intently to her surroundings. Hearing no sound, she slowly moved her fingers and then sat up.
Although there was no light, her senses were still intact.
The black mist had brought her to a narrow, claustrophobic space. It was surrounded on all sides by hard, cold stone slabs—rough in texture, seeming neither fully stone nor wood.
It felt like... a coffin.
She extended her hands, pressing her palms against the stone slab above her head. Gathering spiritual energy in her palms, she gently pushed, opening a narrow crack in the stone.
Fresh air rushed in through the opening, and light from outside filtered through. As Meng Shuying stood up, she noticed someone standing beside the coffin.
The person wore a robe with tight sleeves, revealing well-toned arms. Her long hair was tied up, giving her a simple and efficient appearance.
It was clear from the first glance that, despite her noble status, this person was not a pampered lady of leisure. The title of the demon realm's top weapon master was not without reason.
Seeing her, Meng Shuying's face showed no surprise, as if she had already known who was behind bringing her and her senior sister to this place.
She surveyed the room; besides the black coffin and the two of them, there was nothing else. Meng Shuying frowned slightly and asked bluntly, "Where is my senior sister?"
The woman looked at her, a hint of curiosity in her eyes. "Why don't you ask me who I am first, or what I brought you here for?"
"What's the point in asking? There are only a few people in the demon realm I've interacted with, and even fewer would go through the trouble of bringing me and my senior sister here together."
Moreover, this woman's appearance bore some resemblance to her own, making the connection obvious.
"The sister of Demon Lord Fuguang, the demon realm's top weapon master, Ming You. If we go by the customs of our world, I should probably call you... aunt."
"The last time I saw you, I thought you were quite interesting." Ming You circled around Meng Shuying, scrutinizing her from head to toe before her gaze settled on Meng Shuying's eyes.
"Your eyes... they're very similar to your father's."
"I have no father," Meng Shuying responded coldly.
Neither the man who had tormented her in her childhood nor the Demon Lord in the demon palace deserved to be called her father.
That's right, Meng Shuying had long known about her origins.
A hundred years ago, when she traded half of her divine bone with Ming You in exchange for a way to resurrect her senior sister, Ming You, for some reason, had decided to tell her a secret.
A secret about her lineage.
Over two hundred years ago, Fuguang, unable to heal from his injuries, had personally ventured into the human realm in search of a divine bone.
During his search, an unexpected incident occurred, and he forced himself on a mortal woman.
That woman was her mother.
Meng Shuying had shown no emotion when she heard this, remaining as cold as she was now. She was neither thrilled by her father's prestigious status nor dejected by the taint of the demonic blood in her veins.
She remained as calm and composed as ever.
This demeanor only made her resemble Fuguang even more, Ming You thought to herself.
"You still haven't answered me. Where is my senior sister, who was taken along with me?" Meng Shuying was not interested in getting involved with Ming You or the Demon Lord. Her only concern at that moment was her senior sister's safety.
Seeing that Meng Shuying was indifferent to anything unrelated to her senior sister, Ming You sighed and opened a nearby door, gesturing for Meng Shuying to enter.
The room they entered was almost identical to the one where Meng Shuying had awoken. The only difference was that the coffin in this room was white, whereas the one Meng Shuying had been in was black.
Meng Shuying pushed open the coffin lid and found her senior sister lying quietly inside, her expression calm and serene, as if she were merely asleep.
"Don't worry. Her cultivation isn't as strong as yours, so she woke up a bit later."
Ming You watched as Meng Shuying carefully lifted her senior sister out of the coffin and placed her gently on a soft bed in the side room. She then smoothed out her senior sister's clothes and tidied her hair.
When Meng Shuying had finished all of this, she still showed no interest in conversing with Ming You and instead sat down by the bed, quietly watching over her senior sister.
Her expression of deep affection made Ming You's smile deepen.
Their family had always been focused on the path to immortality, emotionally detached. Especially Fuguang, who never valued matters of the heart. How could someone like him have a daughter as devoted as Meng Shuying?
If Meng Shuying's blood and aura didn't bear such a strong resemblance to Fuguang's, Ming You might have doubted her own conclusions.
Remembering her brother's instructions, Ming You suppressed her curiosity and said patiently, "The reason I brought you here is because my brother wants to see you."
Fuguang wanted to see Meng Shuying, but not while she was still in the early stages of the Nascent Soul stage. He had instructed Ming You to ensure that Meng Shuying's cultivation quickly advanced to the Great Ascension stage by any means necessary.
This was to help him carry out his next plan.
The plan to invade the human realm.
Although Ming You didn't yet understand the connection between invading the human realm and Meng Shuying's cultivation level, it didn't stop her from following her brother's orders and bringing Meng Shuying here.
Since Su Luowei was her Dao companion and the only person who could help suppress her internal poison, Ming You had brought Su Luowei along as well.
"If he wants to see me, does that mean I have to agree?" Meng Shuying looked up at her, her tone unchanged. "He's the god of the demon realm, but I'm a human cultivator. Who he wants to see or doesn't want to see has nothing to do with me."
"Humans and demons are fundamentally opposed," Ming You said slowly, her tone serious. "You and I both know this isn't just empty talk. Don't you naively think that when the human cultivators learn about your demonic bloodline, they'll still accept you?"
Her gaze shifted to Su Luowei, tinged with a hint of pity. "Forget about the other cultivators—your senior sister might not even be able to accept you."
In the eyes of those self-righteous human cultivators, all demons were despicable. The more righteous a sect was, the more deeply ingrained this belief was.
Could Su Luowei truly accept her once she knew the truth about her lineage?
After a brief silence, Meng Shuying responded firmly, "Others might reject me because of my bloodline, but my senior sister... no matter what I become, she will love me."
Ming You sighed. "Is that so? I hope things turn out as you say."
Leaving those words behind, Ming You turned and left, giving the young couple their space.
On a small ebony table sat an unremarkable lotus lamp, quietly burning.
Meng Shuying waited patiently for a long time, but her senior sister did not wake. Growing increasingly concerned, she decided to ignore the potential danger of the surroundings, sitting by the bed and holding her senior sister's hand. She then allowed her consciousness to enter her senior sister's spiritual sea through their Dao companion bond.
Inside Su Luowei's spiritual sea, the peach blossoms were still in full bloom.
The little Nascent Soul sat under the peach tree, its expression serious and unmoving.
Sensing the presence of another in the spiritual sea, the little Nascent Soul slowly opened its eyes, looking at Meng Shuying. Upon recognizing her, the little figure's face softened as it flew over, grabbing onto Meng Shuying's consciousness and leading her to the peach tree.
Meng Shuying had intended to ask why her senior sister had not yet awakened, but before she could speak, the little Nascent Soul reached up to touch her face, initiating their dual cultivation technique.
At that moment, a strange force suddenly surrounded her, causing Meng Shuying's consciousness to blur as she was drawn into the flame of the lotus lamp on the table.
The moment the lotus lamp absorbed their two consciousnesses, a soft click was heard, and the sealed faith energy within was released, instantly creating three thousand miniature worlds.
If one looked closely, they would see two familiar figures within one of these worlds.
Outside, sensing that the artifact had begun to operate, Ming You returned to her forge, sitting cross-legged as she added another handful of faith energy to the roaring flames in the center.
To help Meng Shuying reach the Great Ascension stage as quickly as possible, Ming You had brought out all the faith energy she had painstakingly accumulated over the years.
She could only hope that Meng Shuying wouldn't squander her efforts.
And as for her Dao companion, since Meng Shuying had such confidence in her, they would see whether, after entering the three thousand worlds and forgetting all past lives, Su Luowei would still love Meng Shuying, no matter what she became.