Legend of the Immortal: Immortalized for Generations

At the Mount Taixu, there is a village not far away.

Su Qing'an and Fu Hua walked together through the exceptionally bustling streets.

For the past three months, neither of them has stepped out of Mount Taixu.

The reason is that the hibernation chamber, which has witnessed 55,000 years of history, has developed some problems after not undergoing regular maintenance for too long. Therefore, it is necessary to use the Soul Steel Quantum Computer as an external accessory of the Tome of Cangxuan to attempt to repair and inspect it.

However, such things are inherently risky. Even though Cang Xuan said it was possible to do so, it seems that due to the urgency of the situation, this Soul Steel Sphere, which was intended to leave a foreshadowing, did not have time to install the system that directly connected to the Tome of Cangxuan, and instead slept in Chiyou's belly for too long.

Therefore, Su Qing'an spent most of his time learning about modifying the Soul Steel Sphere using his Manas Consciousness to avoid unnecessary mistakes and accidents, and didn't pay much attention to other matters.

Now that he has descended the mountain, Xiao Xuan's mount has been replaced from the original scroll into a soul steel substance that can change size and is shaped like a Tai Chi ball.

She was supposed to immediately take on the important task of testing the hibernation chamber, but since tomorrow was the day of their wedding, and Su Qing'an was neither a cold-blooded monster nor a capitalist, she naturally had no intention of leaving the child to work in the deep mountains and forests. So she took her down the mountain with her, wanting to see what Chao Xian City looked like now.

But after completing the hardware upgrade, Xiao Xuan either became more mischievous or gained higher emotional intelligence, deliberately running off to watch the excitement elsewhere, and his figure has now disappeared.

Su Qing'an let her go. During their tour of the village, he discovered that the matter of their marriage was already beginning to unfold at the foot of the mountain, and in every sense, it seemed to be more enthusiastic than expected.

The news of the immortal's upcoming wedding was being discussed almost everywhere in the village. Even those some distance from Chao Xian City had hung red lanterns on their doors in advance, and posters about the event were plastered all over the place.

Not far away, a group of merchants were pushing carts laden with storybooks and novels related to the subject, with several burly men helping to hold up advertising flags that fluttered in the wind and hawk their wares. The scene blended harmoniously with the hustle and bustle of the city.

There were also vendors selling red lanterns by the roadside, profiting from the recent trend. The lanterns on display came in various sizes and styles, making one wonder if this was a pre-arranged interest group formed by [Chaoxian] who knew in advance that this trend would take off.

But what left Su Qing'an speechless the most were the contents of those novel collections and picture albums. It was obvious that the novel collections with the handwriting style of "[Chao Xian]" were completely different from the other scattered side stories and short story collections. Not only were they more exquisite in terms of packaging, but they were also thicker and had more words.

[The Immortals] must have hired relevant professionals. In just three months, the bizarre IP [The Legend of the Immortal], which seems to be a biography but is actually a romance novel, has been expanded to more than 500,000 words, divided into eight volumes. The main text has now been completed, but the side stories are still being serialized.

Aside from selling individually and through bundled sales, the business has expanded into various aspects of [Chaoxian]'s current operations, seemingly using the profits to continue advertising and repeating this snowballing cycle.

Su Qing'an glanced at the books with his Manas consciousness and immediately understood the situation.

The stories compiled inside are basically based on the traces left by Chi Yuan in history, combined with some of the politics of the time and the unofficial histories circulating today, to construct a complete logical chain on its own, filling in the story line with things that shouldn't exist, and connecting them with the existing information to ultimately form an entertaining product.

To be honest, if you weren't involved, you might even think that this romance novel called "[The Legend of the Immortal]" is quite credible. At most, it has undergone some artistic embellishment. Given the controversy surrounding the immortal's upcoming wedding, its sales would probably be much higher than those of later flops.

Of course, picture books and listening to storytellers in teahouses were more popular.

After all, education was not widespread in this era. According to the interpretation of Manas, the villagers in the vicinity chose to buy it not because they were literate, but purely because of the halo effect of the Immortal Chi Yuan.

The feeling that buying a picture book or novel collection produced by [Chaosan] is like paying a gift creates very complicated emotions for the two protagonists caught in the middle of it all.

Readers who have read this collection of novels, "The Legend of the Immortal," probably empathize deeply with the character based on Su Qing'an, who plays a role in the "past events."

If this were in later generations, this kind of writing would be called "knife-wielding writing."

Because its fundamental purpose is to enhance readers' sense of identification with the grand wedding of immortals, the stories in the collection are all pieced together by tracing back thousands of years of history in Shenzhou, and are all due to the duty of slaying demons and monsters, or even the separation and reunion caused by external forces.

In the beginning of time, slash-and-burn agriculture, the Nine Nether Netherworlds and Chiyou, and the secret elixir of immortality.

Dynasties changed, the dragon vein shattered, the East Sea overturned, and demons wreaked havoc.

The entire series comprises eight volumes with named characters, clearly a fantasy/cultivation story, somewhat ahead of its time.

In fact, it does contain a lot of hardcore content. Those in the know can clearly see that it references a large number of existing Qi cultivation frameworks, as well as some vague and ethereal sayings and scriptures from ancient books. Therefore, it spread like wildfire in the martial arts world without much promotion and was regarded as a bible.

The author's level of knowledge is very high in many ways. It can be seen that he is well-read and has a rich imagination. His style is gentle and delicate, but his choice of words and sentences does not deliberately go in the direction of being highbrow and inaccessible. Instead, it is very close to the vernacular.

As for the plot?

It started with candy and a knife.

And so it went—the sugar knife, the...

Although the later epilogues are all sweet stories, readers will feel particularly pained if they connect them to the unfulfilled ending of the main story. It feels like all the sweetness is turned into bitterness as it gets sweeter.

Therefore, it maximized the audience's anticipation for the day of the Immortal Chi Yuan's wedding.

In a sense, the author deliberately placed the final volume in reality, so that those who wanted to read it could only go to Chao Xian City to attend the wedding banquet.

This indirect form of publicity is extremely cunning.

However, for Su Qing'an, who digests the novel collection using her Manas consciousness, the most crucial point is that both the image of the Immortal Chi Yuan and her own character design within the story are strangely and vividly portrayed, making it extremely absurd for her to read.

The boy silently used his Manas consciousness to transmit the information to the red string on his wrist, and then allowed the Little Feather to briefly connect with the immortal's consciousness, transmitting the information and arriving at the result that was read in an instant.

After Fu Hua finished processing the information, she was somewhat unsure how to evaluate it.

She thought for a moment and said:

"This was probably written by Shishi."

Aside from Jiang Rongyue, only Li Shishi could understand the two of them to this extent.

Even though the former had the ability to build and manage a force within five years, he was still half-illiterate and completely incapable of writing such a high-quality work.

As a former Courtesan, Li Shishi received an excellent education from a young age and was quite talented. Even though she had remained stagnant for five years, she still possessed this ability.

Given the choice between the two, it's obvious who the real author is.

Su Qing'an picked up a book and looked at the advertising slogan written at the back of the cover.

--Two thousand years of waiting, has there ever been a cycle of reincarnation in this world? Even a mayfly holds a fairyland as clear as crystal, and a speck of dust harbors the longing of immortals...

The boy ignored the riddle-maker's biography, scanned the last line, and his gaze suddenly became deep and thoughtful.

--She is the Number One Under Heaven demon slayer, a former Courtesan renowned throughout the Capital City, a prodigy taken away from the Capital City by an immortal and accepted as a disciple under the watchful eyes of millions, and now the vice sect leader of [Chaoxian].

--Li Shishi.

Wow, Senior Sister Shishi! You're really something!

Su Qing'an began to wonder if anyone from the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties could write something even more outrageous than this. Had the information he casually shared with Li Shishi during their conversations caused her imagination to leap to a level thousands of years in the future?

Otherwise, how could they have produced a "world classic" in just three months?

Fu Hua clearly noticed that her guess had been established, and for a moment she felt somewhat bewildered.

She thought about it and said hesitantly:

"I hope this collection of short stories won't be passed down to future generations and become some strange classic."

Su Qing'an instantly imagined that if he woke up after Awakened for thousands of years, he would still see a bunch of netizens' various complaints and comments about [The Legend of the Immortal] on the Shenzhou internet. That would be the greatest public execution in the world.

Deny immediately:

"Impossible, it's not like Water Margin or Journey to the West."

The girl's usually calm and composed expression turned into one of extremely complex emotions, and she said softly:

"Now, [The Legend of the Immortal] is their predecessor."

Su Qing'an calculated the dynasties in which the Four Great Classical Novels were written and was immediately speechless.

Moreover, if [Chao Xian] were to develop as a force, even after a hundred years, it would likely use this thing as a kind of teaching material to spread throughout Shenzhou land, laying the groundwork for future followers.

In other words, if this force hadn't been eradicated as a cult, it wouldn't be surprising if it had become well-known in later eras.

But the two of them were just getting rid of Jiang Rongyue and Li Shishi to prepare for their wedding. How could they directly publish a series of picture books and novels, and even develop an industry line that would later be called an IP? That's too strange.

The boy was silent for a moment, then said:

"... It feels a bit like stepping off the train at Canghai City Railway Station."

"Really."

In a sense, it's like going back to those days.

Afterwards, the two strolled around the villages at the foot of the mountain for a while, only to find that it seemed like no matter where they went, they could find a connection to their wedding banquet.

Is it really... common knowledge?

Su Qing'an reluctantly felt that it was acceptable.

However, Fu Hua, who has never been comfortable with these things, began to wonder if the acceptable limits had not been agreed upon beforehand, which led to the train derailing.

However, this is at the Mount Taixu, so this level of publicity is quite normal.

Even if the situation in Chao Xian City and the cities within the Radiation Range Mount Taixu is even more exaggerated, there should be no news outside of that range. It's fortunate that the technology level of this era is very limited, otherwise, given the scale of this event, there would probably be an overwhelming information bombardment.

But no matter how much noise and turmoil there is in the outside world, the two people at the center of the discussion can still find their own peace under the protection of Udu-dust.

During this process, Su Qing'an realized that even strolling the streets together seemed like a rare occurrence.

The young man thought of this and glanced at the person beside him.

Although she usually dressed like this, she was dressed unusually plainly today, like a female Daoist priestess from a Daoist temple. Her clothes were without any patterns or embellishments, naturally outlining her slender and graceful figure. Her blue eyes also seemed more lively than usual, and one could vaguely see that she was more interested than before.

At this moment, Su Qing'an was already much taller than his opponent. The aftereffects of consuming a large number of demons from the [Lostbelt] had completely erupted during this period, causing his physical age to revert to the number before his death in the previous era.

Therefore, when standing with him now, the impression of an older sister leading her younger brother has faded, and they look more like a perfect couple pulling a deer-drawn cart together, exuding natural harmony.

Su Qing'an thought for a moment, then suddenly recalled the false experiences she had encountered in the dreams of the Herrscher of Consciousness.

At that time, he became lovers with Fu Hua in his dream and often traveled around the world to try out various famous or unknown places.

Their social media accounts are filled with countless photos of them together and beautiful scenery.

Looking back now, I think that I subconsciously believed that being with someone you like meant going through things together.

It can be interesting or boring.

But as long as you're surrounded by people you like, then everything has meaning.

He said softly:

"Hua, we're getting married."

She readily agreed, smiling.

"Yes, we're getting married."

In those simple and plain words lay a subtle happiness I had never tasted before.

The two remained silent for a while, savoring this emotion that had never seeped into their hearts before, and suddenly found themselves at a loss for how to express their feelings at this moment.

The boy's memories of the wedding can only be traced back to his parents, but he finds that there are no wedding photos of the two of them, whether in the apartment in Canghai City or in their home in the Magic City of the previous world. As for the relevant documents, he has no recollection of them at all.

Is it... that the memories burned Soul Scale couldn't be fully retrieved?

Or were they all collected, sealed, or destroyed in advance by relevant departments due to the special nature of their profession?

However, this doesn't make sense either, because even tracing back to childhood memories, no relevant information could be found.

Su Qing'an only remembered that his parents didn't like taking pictures, so from childhood to near adulthood, he hadn't been able to leave behind a single family photo. He felt the happiness that was sprouting in his chest being covered and spread by a strange loneliness. His delicate face was a little stunned, and he couldn't help but purse his lips, but then he squeezed the soft hand in his palm even closer.

The desire to see how people lived after undergoing such rituals was thus diminished.

But Su Qing'an wasn't particularly disappointed.

Regardless of what happened in the past, and regardless of how much was lost...

At least for now, he will build a brand new home with the person he truly loves.

That's enough.

Fu Hua and Su Qing'an share some similarities, the only difference being that Fu Hua's mother died earlier. However, she has more memories of what could be called a wonderful childhood. Even the somewhat tedious martial arts training in that small eastern town has significance in retrospect.

The jelly in the porcelain bowl, the rust on the billboard, the mailbox under the banyan tree.

The ground beneath the apartment building was covered in golden osmanthus blossoms; the tactile sensation of two small hands being held by an adult; the faint, distant clouds and the boundless expanse of blue sky...

At that moment, the girl suddenly felt a sense of gratitude for the existence of hyperthymesia. It was such a distant time, separated from the present by 55,000 years, so profound and weighty that it seemed to have existed in another completely different world, like two permanently parallel lines that could never intersect again.

If one cannot use the Thousand Worlds One Ride to observe parallel worlds and actively glimpse similar scenes, it will be difficult to trace back to the source.

Even if she uses this method to glimpse the beauty experienced by another version of herself, it is ultimately not the past she experienced in her Proper World.

Everything has its own laws, like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow, like dew, like lightning.

The immortal can only cling to the reality he can access, using this special connection gained at the cost of approaching Artificial Honkai Collapse to empathize with his past self.

She vaguely remembered the brief period of deep affection between her parents, and afterwards, only a photograph, gradually fading with time, proved the existence of the past, but it was completely lost in the Honkai.

Even though they had experienced a lot of pain and sorrow, and even though the happiness and beauty of the past were like unhealable scars etched into their hearts in that cruel era, the fact that the two of them knew and loved each other and eventually had him was still an undeniable fact.

The immortal subconsciously wanted to recall more, but then suddenly realized that the so-called hyperthymesia was just a byproduct of becoming Fusion Warrior through the Hyper-Mutation Factor. It could not make the things he experienced before becoming Fusion Warrior more vivid; it could only maintain the clarity of his past memories at that time.

On the other hand, the emotions corresponding to the visuals are also the same.

Even if you freeze the images in your mind to your childhood, you can never recapture the feeling of being cared for by your elders and loved by your family.

She thought that her life might have been frozen at a certain moment a long, long time ago, until she was about to establish a relationship with the boy holding her hand, a relationship that was perfectly reasonable in the mortal world. Only then could she suddenly hear the gentle flow of life.

It turns out that this ritual, which I once thought was nothing more than optional, actually held a weight in my heart that I hadn't even realized I had.

Su Qing'an said softly:

"Let's go, to Chao Xian City."

The girl nodded slightly and agreed:

"Good."

And this consistent answer may well remain unchanged throughout their lives.