Confession Brings Leniency
"No, I meant my name is Bu Yaolian, Bu as in cloth, Yaolian as in shamelessness." The immortal immortal, having been beaten, became obedient, answering every question with a very good attitude.
The Immortal Fairy frowned. "Why such a strange name?"
Lu Yang thought to himself, "What right do you have to say someone's name is strange?"
The immortal sighed, "I didn't want to call it that either. Explaining this is a long story."
"Take your time," the Immortal Fairy said, conjuring up a small stool. She sat on it, propping her head up with her hands, wanting to hear what the Immortal Fairy had to say.
Yun Zhi and Lu Yang listened quietly from the side.
The immortal being truthfully stated, "I do not know where my consciousness came from, nor how I was born. Long ago, I developed my first consciousness, which was very faint, only able to vaguely perceive my own situation, like looking at flowers through fog, not seeing very clearly."
"I felt an unknown power constantly gathering within me, making me stronger little by little, but my consciousness remained hazy and blurred, unable to discern anything in the outside world."
"I can still feel many memories filling my consciousness, but I didn't have the ability to think at that time. I just accepted the memories without being able to organize or process these massive memories."
"My consciousness gradually grew stronger, and a faint voice echoed beside my consciousness, calling out 'Immortal Immortal'."
"I have the term 'immortal immortal' in my memory, but I still can't process the memory and don't know what 'immortal immortal' means."
"I don't know how much time passed, perhaps hundreds of years, perhaps thousands of years, but suddenly my consciousness became clear, like a drowning person being pulled out of the water and regaining my perception of the outside world."
"And the first thing I heard after I regained consciousness was—'Great immortal immortal Bhuta, please save your devout followers, save this world.'"
"'Shameless Cloth' became my name. I didn't have a name originally; it was the cult leader who called me 'Shameless Cloth,' and that's how I got the name."
"With a name, I was finally able to process my vast past memories and understand what they meant."
"In my memory, I saw someone accidentally discover a secret realm, stray into it, and learn that there was a High Antiquity immortal who protected the human race, called the Immortal Immortal. The Immortal Immortal possessed the Immortal Dao Fruit and could be resurrected from the dead. After leaving the secret realm, that person founded the Immortal Cult, attempting to resurrect the Immortal Immortal."
"The Immortal Cult has grown powerful, and more and more believers have joined it, using slaughter to please the immortals, calling upon their true names, and resurrecting them."
"At that time, I understood that I was the immortal immortal resurrected by the Immortal Cult. As long as someone truly believed in me, prayed to me, and worshipped me, I would gain their memories."
"The cult leader prayed to me, and I responded to his expectations by appearing in the world through the statue."
"I possess the cult leader's memories; I know everything the cult leader knows. I saw that he was severely injured and needed a century of quiet recuperation. Considering that he was my most devout and powerful believer, I stepped in to heal him."
"As I gained a name, I could feel myself wielding a golden light. Combining this with my memories, I guessed that this was the Immortal Dao Fruit."
"I used a portion of the Immortal Dao Fruit's power to heal the sect leader."
"But I don't know if I am truly an immortal being. My earliest memories come from my first believer, which are from more than ten thousand years ago. I have absolutely no memories of the High Antiquity."
"For example, when the sect leader asked me who exactly refined the countless stars, I couldn't answer that question, but I couldn't say I didn't know either, so I told him that this matter was at a very high level, beyond his knowledge."
"I'm not sure how my followers will react if they know my condition, so I can only pretend to have been resurrected from the long High Antiquity."
"But I've been in a soul state all along, which can't go on forever, so I told the cult leader that I wanted to possess another body, to return to my peak, and to save the world."
"The sect leader believed me and summoned all the Qi Refining Foundation Establishment Realm to hold a competition, from which I selected suitable targets for possession."
"And then they chose me?" Lu Yang asked.
The immortal nodded helplessly. "Indeed, I had no choice but to pick you. I was so blind to choose you, and I got a beating."
If it were anyone else, I would have successfully possessed them.
The immortal's explanation clarified some issues, such as why he didn't use High Antiquity techniques, why he needed to possess another body, and why he was called "cloth-wielding shameless."
But there are still some questions that even he himself cannot explain.
For example, who exactly is he? Where did he come from? How did the Immortal Dao Fruit come about?
Lu Yang looked at his senior sister and the Immortal Fairy with expectant eyes. This was the time for a knowledgeable senior to step in.
The immortal fairy frowned slightly, seemingly deep in thought, and didn't seem very reliable.
The eldest sister listened quietly to the immortal's experiences from beginning to end, trying to discern whether these experiences were true or fabricated.
The senior sister believes the general account of the experience is likely true.
She noticed Lu Yang's gaze and knew that this junior brother still had many questions and hoped to get answers from her. She said, "The Supreme Elder Dao Yan of the Tian Ce Sect once proposed a hypothesis that there are no immortal immortals or immortal Dao fruits in the world, and that the Immortal Sect is creating immortals."
Lu Yang nodded secretly; the senior was indeed very reliable.
Upon hearing Yun Zhi's words, the Immortal Fairy looked up abruptly. "Where did Daoyan Venerable come from? How dare he question the existence of my Dao Fruit?"
Do you even know how much effort this fairy put in to achieve her Dao Fruit?! Ying Tianxian and the other three are all incredibly envious!
Lu Yang suggested that the Immortal Fairy listen to her senior sister first, and then settle accounts with Dao Yan Shangren afterward.
Yun Zhi continued, "Where does the soul come from, and where does it go? This is a mystery that the cultivation world has been unable to explain until now. Daoyan Shangren believes that human will is a kind of power. As long as a person's will is numerous and powerful enough, it is possible for a soul to appear."
"Of course, this is a hypothesis and cannot explain how the first soul was born, but your situation fits this hypothesis."
"The Immortal Cult has existed for 14,000 years since its inception. During those 14,000 years, at least a million believers have prayed to a non-existent immortal. With such a long period of time and such a vast amount of intention, it is entirely possible to create a soul, namely you, the Immortal Immortal."
"However, your appearance might require adding one more condition—murder."
"Have you ever considered where that resentful demonic energy you just unleashed came from?"
"Humans are the most intelligent of all beings, the darlings of heaven and earth, born with 'spirituality.' The method of Devil Cultivator is to strip away the 'spirituality' of humans through slaughter and transform it into their own power."
"The believers kill to please you, creating boundless karma of killing. The power gained from this killing becomes your power, the power of the Tribulation Transcendence stage."