"One Hundred Ways to Make Men Take the Initiative"

Though autumn had already arrived in the outside world, carrying an air of bleak slaughter and desolation, the Red Dust Pure Land was fragrant with birdsong and blossoms. Green grass spread like a carpet, and tender pink peach flowers formed broad swathes, drifting down in a riot of color onto Daoist Qingyu's head.

Daoist Qingyu's cold, breathtaking face was somewhat gloomy as she let the peach petals fall onto her hair.

She gazed wistfully at Pure Heart Saintess's Cave Dwelling in the distance, feeling as though she had been abandoned.

There were three people inside the Cave Dwelling: Ancestor Hongchen lying on the bed, her own disciple, and the third person ought to have been herself no matter how she thought about it! Why had that person become Jiang Li instead?! Daoist Qingyu drooped in dejection. There was nothing she could do; she was not Ancestor Hongchen's descendant. She had merely been brought up the mountain by the previous Sect Leader in the bloom of her youth, and she had no resistance to Ancestor Hongchen's charm.

At first, she had refused to believe in evil, meeting Ancestor Hongchen's sleeping immortal visage with a heart full of anticipation.

Very quickly, that anticipation soured into possessiveness, and then Pure Heart Saintess and Jiang Li joined forces to escort her out.

Only, their methods had been somewhat rough.

Damn it, why was Jiang Li fine while I, the Sect Leader, looked like an outsider?!

Inside the Cave Dwelling, perhaps because she had changed environments, or perhaps because the time had simply come, Red Dust Fairy slowly awoke.

She opened her eyes, her clear black-and-white pupils looking at the two people before her.

The instant she opened her eyes, Jiang Li felt as though the entire Cave Dwelling had lit up, leaving him momentarily dazed.

Red Dust Fairy looked utterly bewildered as she softly asked, "Who are you? Where is that silly fellow from before, the one who only knew how to grin like an idiot?"

"36th Generation Descendant Jing Xin pays respects to Ancestor." Pure Heart Saintess performed a grand salute to Red Dust Fairy.

"The 72nd Human Emperor greets Red Dust Fairy."

"You are my descendant? Who am I? And what is a Human Emperor?" Red Dust Fairy's eyes were unfocused, and she did not understand Jing Xin and Jiang Li's actions.

Pure Heart Saintess asked, "May I ask how many old friends and past events Ancestor still remembers?"

Red Dust Fairy looked utterly lost. "I only remember waking up inside a Giant Crystal. There seemed to be something outside the crystal binding me..."

"After I undid the restraints, I walked down the mountain and kept heading east. I passed through two small towns and came to a forest. The farther I walked, the sleepier I became, until I finally found a large tree and fell asleep beneath it..."

"When I woke again, I found myself in a Golden House. A man was staring at me stupidly. I asked him questions, but he would not answer. He only kept grinning foolishly. I found it boring, so I went back to sleep..."

"After that repeated several times, you appeared before me."

Red Dust Fairy seemed unaccustomed to speaking so much at once and paused several times in between.

"Then do you remember anything about the Immortal World? Or perhaps about descending to the mortal realm?"

Red Dust Fairy gently shook her head.

Pure Heart Saintess and Jiang Li exchanged a look. Red Dust Fairy had lost her memories after resurrection—or rather, once her physical body became a living being, it had not retained its previous memories.

Jiang Li frowned slightly, feeling there was something wrong with Red Dust Fairy's account.

He used spiritual power to construct a three-dimensional map of the Red Dust Pure Land and showed it to Red Dust Fairy. "This is where you woke up. Then you went in this direction, correct?"

Red Dust Fairy nodded.

"Afterward, you passed through these two small towns and finally reached the forest?"

Red Dust Fairy nodded.

"You walked there during the daytime?"

Red Dust Fairy nodded.

The two spoke with Red Dust Fairy for a while longer, telling her of her past as recorded in ancient texts and of the current state of the Nine Provinces. Seeing that she wanted to sleep again, they settled her down and left the Cave Dwelling.

"What is the problem?"

"I don't know exactly what the problem is, but there is definitely a problem." Jiang Li said with a slight frown.

"Ever since I took the key to your Treasure Vault, you could not even afford to buy Spirit Grain. You had no choice but to go down the mountain and find a way to earn Spirit Stones. Although I returned the key out of consideration for you, you remembered the lesson. You obtained some mortals from the Meng Jiang Dynasty and had them settle here, correct?"

Everyone in the Nine Provinces could cultivate. The mortals of the Nine Provinces referred to cultivators who could only linger at Qi Refining Early Stage for their entire lives.

When Pure Heart Saintess heard, "I returned the key out of consideration for you," she blushed faintly, but still nodded.

"These mortals formed towns, planted Spirit Grain, and handed it over to us every year."

"The problem lies here. Red Dust Fairy passed through two small towns in succession during broad daylight, and she walked through them. With her appearance, how could the townspeople possibly not know? Yet you received no such news. Your own ancestor went missing for three years, and no one even knew!"

Before Jiang Li had finished, Pure Heart Saintess had already realized it.

That was right. The ancestor's tomb chamber was in a remote location, so it was understandable that no one saw her walk down the mountain. But it made no sense for her to pass through bustling towns in broad daylight without being seen.

"That should not be possible. Each town has a Golden Core Stage junior sister stationed there, and the Spirit Grain supplied by those two towns every year is of excellent quality. How could something have gone wrong with them?"

Jiang Li shot Pure Heart Saintess a glance, somewhat disdainful of her intelligence. "You discovered a problem, but instead of solving it, you denied that there was a problem."

With that, he transformed into a streak of light and flew toward the two towns.

Pure Heart Saintess stamped her foot in anger, took a book from her Storage Ring, and viciously threw it onto the ground.

Wasn't it said that men liked girls who were a little more foolish? Useless book, it did not work at all. And her master had sworn up and down that it was especially effective, supposedly an extremely bestselling book in the Nine Provinces.

The cover of the book lying on the ground clearly read: "One Hundred Ways to Make Men Take the Initiative"—Lust Teacher.

Pure Heart Saintess also transformed into a streak of light and followed Jiang Li.

A while after Pure Heart Saintess left, Daoist Qingyu saw the book still lying on the ground. She sighed softly and picked it up.

After all, she had written it herself.

The two small towns had been built along a small river. Thus, the town upstream was called Upper River Town, while the one downstream was called Lower River Town. Their names were simple and easy to understand.

Unlike Green City. Even after five hundred years, Jiang Li had never figured out exactly what part of Green City was "green."

The town was prosperous and thriving. The mortals lived and worked in peace, neither troubled by their inability to cultivate to higher realms nor ashamed of spending their lives serving a group of fairies.

The residents of Upper River Town were busy with their own affairs. Street vendors hawked their wares, boasting that their handicrafts could touch the sky. Shop attendants warmly greeted customers, while the kitchen staff cooked over raging flames and prepared delicious dishes. Families gathered around tables to eat, and others prepared for the autumn harvest.

Everything looked entirely normal, no different from other towns inhabited by mortals.

Yet in Jiang Li and Pure Heart Saintess's eyes, it was utterly eerie. Pure Heart Saintess's spine went cold, and she shuddered.

They could not see the slightest trace of life here!

Whether vendors, shop attendants, or cooks, they were all dead!

The entirety of Upper River Town was a city of the dead!

There was not a single living person!