Wait, How Did My Digital Girlfriend Become a Sword Immortal?

Chapter 897: Let This Venerable One Do It

… "Your Holiness, do you have a plan?"

Li Qingran gazed at the vast forest, unsure how to lure the World Beasts out. In the Cangyun Realm there were special scents that could entice demonic beasts, but so far she hadn't found anything similar in the Canglan Realm.

"World Beasts are extremely sensitive to sound. If we fight out here and make a ruckus, those World Beasts will think other beasts are invading their territory. They'll come out to investigate, and we'll take this chance to wipe them out in one sweep!"

Bixixi clenched her fist, saying it with absolute confidence.

Chen Huaian's mouth twitched; he still felt it sounded unreliable.

From what Li Qingran had told him, the Battle Soul Hall was now infamous, basically like rabid dogs. Whoever passed by would get shown up by the Battle Soul Hall. Yet the Battle Soul Hall truly had the power to make enemies on all sides. Just Bixixi alone was enough to deter top-tier forces of several nations from moving. The Battle Soul Hall cast a shadow over the continent like a gloom. And World Beasts, especially those over a hundred thousand years old, had already developed intelligence. Their cleverness often surpassed many humans, and they carried extensive life experience. Simply making some noise would probably be insufficient to trick them into coming out…

Still, he had only come with Li Qingran to take a look. How to operate precisely would depend on Bixixi’s performance.

…

Bixixi raised her right hand; a silver-white ring on her index finger faintly glittered.

"World Bone Technique — Heaven Net Illusion."

Hum.

The air rippled like water, and an invisible curtain instantly covered the area where she and Li Qingran stood. Light was refracted, breath cut off, and from the outside it still looked like a few old trees and weeds, with no one there.

"Hide well."

Bixixi lowered her voice; the dignity of a pope felt a bit sinister in the shadow.

"My aura is too strong. Those beasts with refined intelligence can smell it from eight hundred li away. Once they sense me, they’ll just bury their heads in the ground and play dead."

She pointed at the red-robed Deacons waiting outside, a cruel curve lifting the corner of her mouth:

"But they are different."

"Over the years, the World Beasts that died by their hands number eight or nine hundred, if not a thousand. The bloodstain and killing intent on them is, to World Beasts, like a lamp in the night, an enemy etched into their bones."

"As soon as they start fighting, those hot-tempered hundred-thousand-year World Beasts absolutely cannot resist wanting to come out and tear these humans apart."

Bixixi was brimming with confidence.

"Begin!"

At her command.

Boom—!!!

Outside, several Peak Battle Masters instantly began to "fight fiercely." They weren't acting; they were truly exchanging blows. Flames, frost, thunder — dazzling battle techniques rained into the surrounding woods as if cost meant nothing. Ancient trees toppled, the earth cracked. The noise was as if they were trying to tear the forest apart.

Bixixi nodded in satisfaction, peering through a gap in the illusion, staring hard into the deep woods, patiently waiting for prey to appear. Li Qingran, meanwhile, took out the World Bone she had won as the competition champion the day before, thinking about what kind of soup to make for her master. With only two World Bones, it felt embarrassing — barely enough to fill a tooth gap.

…

At the same time.

Deep within the core of the Starry Sky Great Forest.

Here lay a tranquil lake; the water glowed an odd jade green, surrounded by giant ferns a hundred meters tall.

Splash.

The lake churned. A huge, single-horned, dark-green dragon head broke the surface, its golden vertical pupils flashing a humanlike puzzled expression. It was a hundred-thousand-year-old Jadewater Jiao. On the shore, a bear that stood ten meters tall, its body ablaze with purple-gold flame, was clawing at a giant tree, irritably scratching its belly. A hundred-thousand-year-old Purple-Gold Flame Bear. Between the jiao and the bear sat a petite girl. She wore a pink dress, twin tails hanging behind her, and was biting into an apple — none other than Little Rabbit, whom Tang Er regarded as his "beloved."

"Roar—"

The Purple-Gold Flame Bear snorted, its huge paw pointing toward the forest's edge, its voice deep and muffled: "So noisy."

"Are humans fighting?"

The Jadewater Jiao flicked out its tongue; a flash of ferocity crossed its eyes and disappeared: "This noise… sounds like mutual annihilation. And that nauseating scent is strong…"

"Shall I go take a look?"

The jiao was eager to act. Although World Beasts had developed intelligence, their ferocity remained. Especially when they sensed the loathsome aura of Battle Soul Masters, instinct drove them to either take advantage of the chaos or swallow the invaders whole.

"Bear Two, watch the young lady."

The jiao twisted its body, ready to spring into the air.

"Wait!"

A clear voice rang out. Little Rabbit flung aside her apple, leapt onto a large rock, her brows knitted tightly into a frown.

"Big tiger, don't go!"

"That's a trap."

The jiao froze midair, puzzled as it turned back: "A trap? But it sounds like a fierce fight…"

"Exactly because it's too fierce."

Little Rabbit stood, her gaze fixed on that direction, a weariness and vigilance in her eyes beyond her years.

"I've stayed in the human world so long that I know those Battle Soul Masters well."

"World Beast uprisings are for survival or mating; their roars are dull and raw. This noise…"

She pointed at the continuous explosions in the distance: "That's a frequency unique to human battle techniques, not something World Beasts can make."

"Also…"

Little Rabbit inhaled deeply; her face paled slightly, a flash of hatred in her eyes: "Now the Battle Soul Hall has mobilized entirely. They are scouring the world for high-rank World Beasts. At this time, making such a commotion at the forest edge — besides luring us out, what else could it be?"

"Don't forget how you were targeted before!"

At her words, the Purple-Gold Flame Bear and the Jadewater Jiao shuddered. They had lived farther out originally, but because Battle Soul Masters from the Battle Soul Hall kept harassing them, they had been forced to migrate closer to the core. Within that core were horrors they dared not provoke. Fortunately, the one there seemed asleep and paid no attention to their approach.

"Damn humans! Devious! Too devious!"

The Purple-Gold Flame Bear angrily snapped a giant tree in half with one paw, then sat back down, shrinking its enormous body into the shadows.

"Listen to the young lady."

The Jadewater Jiao slowly sank into the water, leaving only a pair of wary eyes above the surface.

"We won't go out."

"Let's see how long they can perform."

…

At the forest perimeter.

Half an hour later.

Boom! Bang! Crack!

The fight continued. The Peak Battle Masters panted, their battle qi nearly exhausted, yet they forced themselves to continue "pummeling" one another. The surrounding forest had been leveled into a wasteland, a complete mess.

However.

Aside from a few blind thousand-year-old wind baboons and ten-thousand-year-old mandrake snakes that came out and were casually crushed by them, there wasn't a single hair of a hundred-thousand-year World Beast in sight. The deep forest was as silent as a still pool, seemingly mocking their strenuous performance without a sound.

Inside the illusion.

Bixixi's face visibly darkened. She gripped her scepter so tightly her knuckles creaked. That sense of confidence being smacked by reality left the pope with an old, unwelcome sting of embarrassment and anger. Especially since…

She caught sight of the White-clothed Swordsman's battle soul beside her, arms folded, wearing a half-smile. Though silent, his look plainly said: Is that it?

"A bunch of shrinking turtles…"

Bixixi ground her teeth, cursing under her breath.

"When did these beasts get so clever?"

She was in a dilemma. If she retreated, she'd lose face, and Li Qingran's enhancement plan hadn't started. If she advanced, the Starry Sky Great Forest core was perilous — the World Beasts' home turf. If they charged in rashly, they could fall into an ambush or encounter those legendary tyrant beasts… even she would be hard-pressed.

"Damn."

Bixixi drew a deep breath, brow knitted.

"This is… troublesome."

If nothing else worked, they'd have to force their way in. She was about to give the order.

A figure in white landed before her first.

"It's just luring out a few demons… cough, World Beasts, isn't it?"

Chen Huaian's mouth curved. "Let this venerable one do it!"

…