Diary, Paradise, Immortal Spirit Spring!

"They're here! They're here!"

"Fellow Daoists, the Diary has been exposed again!"

On the Communication Array that spanned the entire land of Nine Provinces, the light screen shifted, and characters appeared one by one.

The Diary has been updated again.

Page 66 of the Diary of the Immortal Great Emperor:

[I'm coming clean, I'm here for the secret techniques of the Mudball Ancestral Palace!]

[That female demon Han Xingmian, she really has a clever plan...]

She said she had two conditions for wanting the Mudball Secret Art, one of which was to help her find the person behind the Punishment Hall Master!

[During this period, the Extreme Ice Immortal Palace will fully cooperate with me, and I can mobilize most of its forces.]

This condition is difficult!

[I interrogated the Lord of the Punishment Hall for months, working myself to the bone, but I didn't get a single useful piece of information.]

[There's a deeper reason: someone who dares to infiltrate the Extreme Ice Immortal Palace and has such a long-term plan must have an extraordinary backing; otherwise, they might get themselves into serious trouble.]

[There's another very important reason!]

[What worries me is that perhaps even the Master of the Punishment Hall can't contact the next level up, and has no idea who's above them; they only have a one-way communication channel. If an investigation were to be launched, it would be incredibly difficult.]

I glanced at her and could sense her hatred for the mastermind, as well as her strong determination. I thought to myself, "She's tough; she's really set on targeting me."

[After thinking about it, I had no choice but to ask her what her second condition was...]

Who knew!

[The female demon smiled faintly, her alluring eyes sweeping over me. Her smile grew even brighter as she said she hadn't thought of anything yet, but would tell me naturally after completing the first condition!]

[I was startled, my scalp tingled. That look was familiar... hmm, just like the young girls at the Drunken Spring Pavilion...]

[Sigh, speaking of the Drunken Spring Pavilion reminds me of your days at the Xuanqing Sect, those days of balanced cultivation, truly gone forever.]

[Uh, getting back to the main point.]

[After a moment's thought, I sneered inwardly: This woman, could she be from the novel The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber? Does she think she's Zhao Min and I'm Zhang Wuji?]

[After completing one, I'll mention another...]

[What if, after I fulfill the first condition, I use that condition to create two more conditions? I absolutely cannot agree to something so uncertain.]

[Final!]

[After some bargaining, the second condition was nullified; she can only bring up the second condition if I fail to fulfill the first one.]

[But there are prerequisites: you can't lust after my body; you must protect my physical and mental safety; if you really can't control yourself, you must provide sufficient nutritional expenses and compensate me with various elixirs...]

[I was kicked out before I could finish speaking. I noticed her face was flushed; I guess I hit a nerve and she was embarrassed!]

[After all, she's a female tyrant, the head of a palace, managing so many people, and she doesn't have much experience in this area, so it's normal for her to be shy.]

[Next...]

[Over the next six months, the Extreme Ice Immortal Palace unleashed a massive storm—a brutal crackdown on spies, a veritable bloodbath that ultimately brought many more to justice.]

[This involves many core departments of Asgard.]

[Unfortunately, these people were all trained by the Lord of the Punishment Hall, and they know nothing about the people behind the scenes, having no idea who's in charge.]

[You can't get any information out of them at all.]

[These people were turned into ice sculptures by the female demon and displayed throughout the celestial palace to awe future generations.]

[As it turns out, going undercover never ends well...]

Thankfully, I'm not an undercover agent now.

[The spies within the Extreme Ice Immortal Palace have been dealt with, but where can I find the mastermind behind it all? After much thought, I realize the only way is to make a breakthrough with the Master of the Punishment Hall!]

But she's incredibly stubborn!

Even Han Xingmian's use of all the Extreme Ice Immortal Palace was useless. She confessed to some things, but those things were simply insufficient to find the mastermind behind it all, or even to narrow down the scope of the investigation.

The trail had reached a dead end, which was really frustrating!

Let me think...

[If Conan were in this situation, what would he do? Where would he begin, unraveling the mystery step by step to find the culprit?]

[Okay, I can't think of that!]

[That female demon Han Xingmian is still pressuring me all day long, asking if I've found any leads? Didn't she swear she'd solve the case in three months and find the real culprit in five? What's she saying now?]

[Well, lately I've been spending more time with her, and our feelings... no, our friendship has warmed up a bit. I've definitely made some boasts and bragged a bit in front of her.]

[I just made a mistake that any monk would make.]

Who doesn't boast?

[Actually, I've considered other methods, such as investigating the background of the Lord of the Punishment Hall, the places he's been, and the people he's interacted with.]

[However, the Master of the Punishment Hall was brought back by an elder from the Immortal Palace. He had cultivated there for thousands of years without ever making a mistake, and that elder had also died, so the deeper leads had run out.]

[Everything else is fine.]

All of this proves that it's not that I'm incapable, but rather that my opponent is too cunning and too powerful.

[Besides, I joined the Immortal Palace halfway through, only to repair the grand formation, not to catch spies. I've already done a great job; there's no need to blame myself!]

[There's really no other way...]

[So they tricked the female demon into temporarily imprisoning the Lord of the Punishment Hall, intending to wait and see.]

Since we can't find them, let's just let them come to us.

[The other side went to such great lengths to orchestrate this, pushing the spy to the high position of Master of the Punishment Hall, and it seemed they were about to succeed. Now that this has suddenly happened, they certainly won't give up easily.]

[Once the other side realizes that the Lord of Punishments is imprisoned, they might give themselves away. If they manage a raid on the execution ground, that would be perfect.]

[We can catch a few more if we take advantage of the situation!]

[Haha, Han Xingmian was indeed convinced by my idea and hasn't been urging me anymore for the time being.]

However, several more months passed during this wait.

[Nothing happens!]

[I'm getting anxious. When will this ever end? I can't stay in this hellhole forever, can I?]

[Furthermore, I discovered...]

[Lately, the female tyrant has been summoning me all the time, always in her personal palace or the Extreme Ice Paradise...]

[Deep within the Immortal Palace lies an Immortal Spirit Spring; a soak there can increase one's cultivation by five hundred years and is also highly beneficial for improving one's physical constitution.]

[Let me accompany her after the celebration at the Celestial Palace to check if there have been any changes in the water quality and effects of the Immortal Spirit Spring!]

[Something feels off to me; this tactic seems so familiar.]

Should I go or not?

I hesitated; I had a feeling this trip wouldn't be so simple.

[But!]

[After all, I am a righteous gentleman, and over the past two years, I have enjoyed various resources and benefits from the Celestial Palace.]

[I simply couldn't bear to refuse the Palace Master's small request!]

Therefore, after much deliberation, I made a decision that goes against the wishes of my ancestors...

This Diary entry ends here.

Needless to say.

This caused another uproar among cultivators Nine Provinces and various Immortal Mansion, who stared in disbelief.

Almost everyone was looking at the last few sentences of the Diary.

They all wore expressions of envy, along with slightly lewd smiles...

Tsk tsk tsk.

Does the female demon summon them frequently, either in her personal palace or the Extreme Ice Paradise?

Extreme Ice Paradise is a natural scenic Holy Land within the Extreme Ice Immortal Palace, said to offer many breathtaking sights that defy imagination.

There's an Immortal Spirit Spring deep within the Extreme Ice Immortal Palace? The Desolate Heavenly Emperor is truly blessed!

No wonder he has such incredible luck!