Answers

Considering Immortal Elder Changcun's advanced age and that he should not be subjected to great joy or sorrow, Jiang Li decided to phrase his question more tactfully.

"Red Dust Fairy has been resurrected. What do you think?"

Immortal Elder Changcun's blood surged. He sprang to his feet, cast several immortal-art-level cleansing spells on himself, gradually straightened his back, groomed himself before a bronze mirror, and changed into Immortal Clothes.

Pure Heart Saintess merely blinked, and he had transformed from an old farmer tilling the fields into an elderly yet graceful gentleman.

Without another word, Immortal Elder Changcun turned into a streak of light and flew toward the Red Dust Pure Land.

Before he could even leave the cave entrance, Jiang Li caught him by the ankle and dragged him back.

"Let go of me, let go! Don't stop me from seeking love!" Immortal Elder Changcun struggled fiercely, but Jiang Li locked him down with both hands, leaving him unable to move.

"You call that love? I'm embarrassed just talking about you." Jiang Li curled his lip.

Back when Red Dust Fairy had first descended to the lower realm, she had caused quite a stir. Immortal Elder Changcun's interest had been piqued, so he went to take a look. On the spot, he dropped to his knees and declared that he had found love, that he would worship Red Dust Fairy for the rest of his life.

Only after calming down afterward did he say that Red Dust Fairy was the embodiment of Heavenly Dao's "beauty."

He was too embarrassed to say that in front of Pure Heart Saintess.

"Let go of me! Bullying an old man!"

Pure Heart Saintess watched the scene in astonishment—not because of Immortal Elder Changcun's loss of composure, but because Jiang Li could so easily subdue a genuine immortal!

Only after quite a while did Immortal Elder Changcun finally calm down.

"Now you've seen Red Dust Fairy's charm. Even immortals can't resist it," Jiang Li said to Pure Heart Saintess.

The example before her was highly convincing.

She had not witnessed Meng Jiang Emperor and the other two lose control, nor did she know why Daoist Xuan'ai had staged a coup and seized the throne.

This was Pure Heart Saintess's first time seeing someone go mad over Red Dust Fairy—and that someone was an immortal.

"So Red Dust Fairy truly has been resurrected?" Immortal Elder Changcun knew Jiang Li would not toy with him over such a matter, yet he could not help asking.

Jiang Li and Pure Heart Saintess took turns recounting the entire course of events to Immortal Elder Changcun. He pondered for a moment, then said, "It seems the flesh has become a living being and given birth to a new soul!"

"There are precedents for this in the Immortal World. After an immortal dies, if Immortal Power remains in the body without leaking out, the flesh stays incorruptible. Given enough time, it may develop intelligence. It has none of the body's original memories and becomes an entirely new existence. This is most likely to happen to immortals who ascended through body cultivation."

"Didn't you propose the theory of newly born souls? A flesh-born living being falls under that category. Whether spiritual power or Immortal Power, both can ultimately lead to the birth of a new soul."

"Then why does she keep sleeping?"

"A psychological problem. A newly born soul knows nothing about itself or the world, yet possesses incomparably vast power. They feel lost and afraid, and like to use sleep as an escape."

"Didn't you say that after you told Red Dust Fairy some things about herself, the time she spent sleeping kept decreasing? That is the process of gradually accepting herself."

Immortal Elder Changcun had spent tens of thousands of years in the Immortal World and was truly well-traveled and knowledgeable. After hearing everything, he could make a reasonable deduction and resolve Jiang Li's doubts in just a few sentences.

Seeing Immortal Elder Changcun itching to make a move, Jiang Li warned, "Don't sneak off to the Red Dust Pure Land just because Red Dust Fairy has only just been born."

"How could I? Do you think I'm that kind of person?" Immortal Elder Changcun felt Jiang Li was insulting his character, so he turned his head away and dared not look at him.

How had this brat seen through his thoughts at a single glance?

"I'm not joking. What exactly are we supposed to do about Red Dust Fairy? It's manageable if she stays in the Red Dust Pure Land, but what if she wants to go out? Should we let her? I still have no clue. Only a few people know about her right now, so don't make trouble!"

Seeing Jiang Li's serious expression, Immortal Elder Changcun knew he was not joking. Telling him that Red Dust Fairy had been resurrected was itself a display of trust. As an elder, he naturally could not betray a junior's trust.

"Mm, I understand."

Only after seeing Immortal Elder Changcun make a solemn promise did Jiang Li's expression soften. "There's one more matter."

Jiang Li then told Immortal Elder Changcun about the Black-Clothed Man spreading the Demonic Path and laying plans three hundred and eighty years in advance.

More than two months had passed since Jiang Yixing's cultivation of the Demonic Path had come to light, and Jiang Yixing had long since been executed. As Human Emperor Jiang's cousin, Jiang Li had personally sent Jiang Yixing to prison. Such eye-catching news had already spread throughout the Nine Provinces, causing an enormous uproar.

Some believed Jiang Li had placed righteousness above family and supported him. Some felt that Jiang Li should have executed Jiang Yixing the moment he discovered Jiang Yixing cultivated the Demonic Path, rather than following legal procedures. Others believed that Jiang Li had sent his own cousin to prison and was utterly inhuman.

Yet no one suspected that Jiang Li himself cultivated the Demonic Path.

The most direct consequence was that the Bronze Cauldron in the Human Emperor Palace collected Faith Power at a slightly slower rate.

However, Immortal Elder Changcun had spent years secluded in the Dao Sect, while Pure Heart Saintess had only recently left the mountain. Neither knew about this matter.

"Why was this Black-Clothed Man able to lay plans in advance? If I were not strong enough to have no need for Faith Power, his scheme might truly have succeeded."

Jiang Li no longer believed that someone had coincidentally spread the Demonic Path to Jiang Yixing. To casually point a finger and raise Jiang Yixing from the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage to the Golden Core realm required at least late-stage Spirit Transformation cultivation. Back then, Jiang Yixing's talent had been ordinary and he had possessed no backing. Who would have been so idle as to spread the Demonic Path to him?

He believed this was a conspiracy aimed at him—or rather, at the Human Emperor! Immortal Elder Changcun stroked his beard in silence. Only after a while did he slowly say, "Either someone saw your future through the Time Dao, or someone is proficient in Fate Affinity or the Aura Observation Technique, and saw that you were fated for the position of Human Emperor—or observed that you possessed the aura of a Human Emperor."

The Time Dao was not exclusive to the Great Zhou Royal Family. Perhaps some hidden cultivator had learned the Time Dao.

"Fate Affinity? Aura Observation Technique?" Jiang Li found the terms unfamiliar.

"It is normal that you do not know. Fate Affinity concerns destiny: what you are fated to have, you will obtain eventually; what you are not fated to have, exhausting every means will still leave you chasing a mirage. The Aura Observation Technique holds that everyone has a current of aura above their head. Different aura colors lead to different achievements."

"These are cultivation methods that have been lost for ages. Who knows whether some ruined temple or dilapidated Daoist monastery might contain surviving cultivation methods, only to be found by someone by chance."

Though he had gained a clue, Jiang Li had no idea where to begin investigating.

"Why would anyone destroy the Human Emperor's Faith Power?" Pure Heart Saintess asked, puzzled.

Would weakening the Human Emperor benefit the Black-Clothed Man? Then who would resist the Extraterrestrial Demon?

It was a simple truth, yet both Jiang Li and Immortal Elder Changcun had overlooked it. Only when Pure Heart Saintess inadvertently awakened them to it did they realize.

They exchanged a glance, confirming the answer in their hearts.

Weakening the Human Emperor benefited only the Extraterrestrial Demon!

There was a traitor in the Nine Provinces!

It was even possible that an Extraterrestrial Demon had secretly infiltrated the Nine Provinces!