"Yuan Ruoyu, ascend immediately!"
Hua Hongyi softly read the words aloud. Her eyes glimmered, and astonishment showed on her face.
Then it turned into deep envy!
What did this Immortal Court Decree mean? Had Yuan Ruoyu been granted special permission to ascend to the Immortal Realm immediately?
Could such a good thing really happen?
She was obsessed with ascending, longing every moment to soar to the Immortal Realm and become a carefree, immortal fairy!
Hua Hongyi pondered for a moment, then came back to her senses and said:
"But Yuan Ruoyu is only in the late Mahayana Realm. Wouldn't ascending directly be a bit absurd?"
"If she really ascends, can she skip Tribulation Transcendence and become a True Immortal?"
Hua Hongyi was no fool. A second thought was all it took for her to realize something seemed amiss.
But the decree in Jiang Youlong's hands was undeniably an Immortal Court Decree!
How could this be?
For a moment, she couldn't make sense of it...
Jiang Youlong put away the scroll and thought it over. Then he smiled. "There's no need to be surprised!"
"What is the Immortal Court, anyway? It's nothing more than a group of great emperors who ascended to immortality!"
Jiang Youlong continued, "Though immortals and mortals are different, and the Immortal Court can't interfere in mortal affairs at will, the Jade Pool Holy Land is an ancient power with a long history. Quite a few of its ancestors ascended to the Immortal Realm."
He spoke at length, laying out his guess:
"Granting Yuan Ruoyu permission to ascend immediately at a time like this is clearly a way of protecting her. Of course, if she doesn't appreciate it and insists on courting death, that's another matter."
After hearing him out, Hua Hongyi's eyes lit up, and she smiled. "That makes sense. The way you put it, everything falls into place."
Zuo Qingtian, who had been silent all this while, suddenly said, "So the Immortal Court is planning to make a move?"
At those words, the air fell quiet.
If the Immortal Court acted, that meant it was interfering in mortal affairs.
But they didn't think there was anything wrong with that.
After all, who were they working for if not the Immortal Court?
It was just that the decree Jiang Youlong had received didn't assign them the task. That meant the Heavenly Court would send someone else.
They didn't need to concern themselves with it for now.
Jiang Youlong nodded and smiled. "Just as we expected. We can finally enjoy some peace and quiet for a while."
"Come on, let's go listen to music at the pleasure house!"
"Hehehe..."
"I'm not in the mood for that now. I really hope the ancestors of our Hua Clan will work harder and get me special permission from the Heavenly Court, too!"
Hua Hongyi said enviously, "Ascending in the Mahayana Realm... That back door is wide open."
The enormous flying vessel sailed through the sky, making its way forward.
The mountains and rivers below streaked rapidly past. Before long, a majestic city came into view.
Jiang Youlong laughed heartily. "Come on, let's go take a look!"
"I have to say, ever since the Great Emperor's Diary was exposed, the mood in our Cultivation World has changed a lot!"
"People don't shut themselves away in seclusion like they used to..."
Hua Hongyi smiled. "That's right. Before, one person held up an entire sect. Now, one person's made an entire brothel famous!"
"I have to say, the Immortal Great Emperor really is a fascinating fellow!"
At that, Hua Hongyi seemed to remember something. She chuckled and continued:
"A few days ago, I heard a very funny story."
It was about a pleasure house.
A disciple from a cultivation family had nearly come to blows with an old man over a courtesan.
Only afterward did they realize they'd flooded the Dragon King's temple!
The old man turned out to be the young man's own ancestor!
"Ha ha ha ha!"
"No way! Wait, Hua, when did you sneak off to a pleasure house?"
Jiang Youlong and Zuo Qingtian exchanged knowing smiles.
They had been rushing around everywhere these past few days. It really had been a long time since they'd relaxed like this.
Hua Hongyi shot them a sidelong glance and continued:
"According to the young man..."
"Their family's ancestor was always in seclusion, so many of the younger generation had never even seen him."
"He never expected the first time he met his own ancestor would be in a pleasure house. They nearly came to blows!"
"Luckily, the young man introduced himself at the last moment. Otherwise, he might've been slapped to death!"
This time, after hearing her story, Jiang Youlong and Zuo Qingtian both fell silent.
They exchanged a glance, each able to guess what the other was thinking.
"What's wrong? Wasn't it funny?"
Hua Hongyi frowned, puzzled by their reaction.
"Ahem—"
Jiang Youlong gave a wry smile, then said lightly, "To be honest, some of the ancestors in our families are in seclusion year-round, too. There are some I've never met myself!"
"If we happened to run into them out in the world, we might not recognize them at all!"
Hua Hongyi froze for a moment. She hadn't thought of that. Then she smiled again:
"What?"
"Are you worried you'll run into your ancestors in a pleasure house, too? Don't worry. We're in Qing Province; there's no way we'd run into them!"
Jiang Youlong shook his head faintly. That wasn't what he was worried about, of course.
Only then did he say, "If I end up spending my old age in seclusion every day, how miserable would that be?"
Zuo Qingtian said, "Most people go into seclusion to break through to the next realm. Otherwise, their lifespans keep dwindling, and they'll eventually die."
Unless one became an immortal, one's lifespan always had an end!
A Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator lived for only about ten thousand years.
A Mahayana Realm cultivator lived for around seventy or eighty thousand years.
And even a great emperor could live no more than a hundred thousand years without ascending!
That was why the Gate of the Immortal Realm opened once every few thousand years.
It allowed cultivators who had reached Tribulation Transcendence to ascend through the clouds and travel to the Immortal Realm, becoming carefree immortals who lived forever.
According to the ancient records, cultivators once had to reach late-stage Tribulation Transcendence before they could pass the heavenly tribulation and become immortals.
But as time went on, the requirements for becoming an immortal seemed to have eased considerably.
The last time the Gate of the Heavenly Realm opened, even great emperors in the early stage of Tribulation Transcendence could ascend to the Immortal Realm.
Some speculated that this was because the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was less abundant now than in ancient times.
There were simply too few cultivators who could reach late-stage Tribulation Transcendence.
So the Heavenly Court had allowed people to ascend first and become immortals later!
What boundless heavenly grace!
At that point, Hua Hongyi said, "So I just hope the people up there notice our contributions and open a back door for us, too!"
Jiang Youlong nodded. "Don't worry, they definitely will! We just have to get the job they assigned us done."
"Otherwise, who'd run errands for them in the future?"
"Hehehe, that's true!"
A few days passed in the blink of an eye.
During those days, another major event shook Qing Province.
The Xuanqing Sect, Jade Pool Holy Land, Primordial Holy Land, several ancient cultivation clans, and the Liyue Immortal Dynasty had formed an alliance!
Everyone knew that alliances were often just a formality.
Allies were often useless when it mattered most.
But this showed that, at the very least, the Xuanqing Sect was now worth winning over in the eyes of the major powers.
With two great emperors backing them, their prospects were boundless. What else could anyone call it?
The alliance was a major event for Qing Province.
Many sects from Qing Province were invited to the Xuanqing Sect to witness it.
It was also meant to establish a measure of authority!
Yan Changkong planned to use these events to gradually build the Xuanqing Sect's prestige!
Jade Pool Holy Land!
Deep within a secret realm, Yuan Ruoyu suddenly sensed something and snapped her eyes open.
The next instant, her pupils shrank!
For there was another person in the secret realm, just several dozen feet away from her.
That person hovered in midair, robes fluttering.
A blank mask covered her face. An oppressive aura burst from her body, and she carried herself with extraordinary poise.
Yuan Ruoyu's heart tightened. She was on guard as if facing a great enemy!
She fixed her eyes on the person opposite her, her expression grave.
This was a secret realm of the Jade Pool Holy Land, a place only the Holy Venerable could enter.
Yet now another person had managed to enter without a sound, without alerting the Holy Land.
The thought sent a chill through her.
Moreover, the profound and powerful aura radiating from the other person left no room for carelessness.
Yuan Ruoyu slowly rose to her feet. A clear radiance lifted behind her, and within it appeared the phantom of a lotus.
Her aura surged higher and higher, shaking heaven and earth!
Yuan Ruoyu said solemnly, "I've been waiting for you."
But the only answer was a silence as still as death.
No one knew how long passed.
Only then did an ethereal voice drift down from above, from beneath the mask:
"By special permission of the Heavenly Court, Yuan Ruoyu is to ascend immediately!"
The masked figure casually waved a hand, sending a streak of light flying toward Yuan Ruoyu.
Yuan Ruoyu caught it and took a look. It was a jade slip.
The masked person spoke again. "This is the Jade Talisman for ascending to the Immortal Realm. With this talisman, you can ascend immediately!"
Before you continue