"Are you really named Huang Doudou?" Lu Yang asked skeptically.
The Immortal Fairy's expression hardened. "Junior! How can a mere mortal speak this seat's immortal name so casually? You are to address me as the Immortal Fairy!"
"So, Immortal Fairy, you really are named Huang Doudou?"
Her face fell completely. "My parents gave me that name. It's not like I could just change it."
Yun Zhi cut off their pointless banter. "Explain yourself. What did you do to end up entangled with an immortal after barely two months away?"
The Immortal Fairy corrected Yun Zhi's wording. "Mind your phrasing! I didn't 'entangle' myself with him! You make it sound like we're lovers caught in some bitter romance!"
All that answered her was Yun Zhi's cold, detached gaze. The Immortal Fairy considered the situation: she had only just revived, her immortal soul was still frail, and she knew nothing of the current world. There was no need to make an enemy right off the bat.
Even so, she was a dignified immortal who had once shaken the heavens in the ancient era. She still had to maintain some backbone. She needed to take a firmer stance and make it clear she was no pushover.
"Please, carry on as you like."
Lu Yang glanced at the suddenly meek Immortal Fairy, met his Eldest Senior Sister's cool eyes, and obediently recounted everything that had transpired over the past month and a half.
"We really didn't do much. Meng Jingzhou and Man Gu came looking for me, saying there was a tiger demon terrorizing the mountains of Yanjiang Commandery, and that slaying it would earn us contribution points. The three of us talked it over, figured it was a guaranteed win with zero downside, and went.
"Slaying the tiger demon went smoothly. But when we took inventory of the spoils afterward, we realized the beast had ties to a demonic cult. We followed the trail to the demonic cult to see if we could take out a few cultists and rid the people of a menace.
"Later, we heard the demonic cult was recruiting, so we seized the chance to dip our toes in and test the waters. We never expected our luck to be so good—all three of us got in.
"Once inside, the local leader took a liking to us and made us deacons.
"Though our bodies walked the demonic path, our hearts remained righteous. During our time there, we pieced together clues and discovered that the local leader had secretly laid down a Reverse Lifespan Formation to break his core and form a Nascent Soul. After a heroic struggle and a few cunning tricks, we managed to kill him.
"Right around then, an inspector from the upper echelons arrived. Seeing that the three of us had solid foundations and sharp minds, he promoted us to Branch Masters—and sent us right back to our Dao Seeking Sect to act as undercover agents."
Listening from the side, the Immortal Fairy was thoroughly amused. "What a foolish demonic cult! Actually sending you back as undercover spies! What is this cult called? If I ever run into them, I'll be sure to mock them relentlessly."
"The Immortal Cult. You're the one they worship," Lu Yang said.
The smile froze on the Immortal Fairy's face.
Lu Yang continued, "The people from the Immortal Cult told us that back when the Ancient Nameless One refined the stars into a continent, the Immortal Celestial saved the human race. They said that by chanting 'Immortal Celestial' along with your immortal name, one could resurrect you to save humanity once again.
"On the way back, the three of us got bored, so we tried guessing what the Immortal Celestial's name was. We were also worried that actually resurrecting an immortal would make things impossible to clean up, so we changed 'Immortal Celestial' to 'Immortal Fairy.' And well, Eldest Senior Sister, you saw what happened—I called her back to life."
Yun Zhi gave a faint nod. "Your experiences were certainly eventful. Successfully infiltrating the Immortal Cult and even rising to Branch Masters is indeed a great achievement. The demonic cult's recruitment methods have many merits and can tell the righteous from the demonic; managing to get in was truly no easy feat.
"I had also heard of the Immortal Cult's attempts to resurrect the Immortal Celestial, though I didn't know the exact method. Who could have thought you would stumble into success by pure accident?"
Yun Zhi turned her gaze to the Immortal Fairy, who was frowning in deep thought. "And what about you? Do you have anything to say?"
The Immortal Fairy shook her head. "I've never heard of any Immortal Cult, I know nothing about this Ancient Nameless One refining stars, and I don't recall saving the human race.
"The era I lived in was known as the Prosperous Age of Heaven's Mandate, meaning that heaven favored us and the true destiny lay with our people. I was born human and attained an immortal Dao fruit during that flourishing age, becoming an immortal. Because of my Dao fruit's unique ability, people called me the Immortal Fairy."
Yun Zhi offered a calm explanation: "The Prosperous Age of Heaven's Mandate is what we commonly refer to as the Ancient Era."
The Immortal Fairy continued, "Aside from me, four others attained immortality back then. Later, someone ambushed me from behind and obliterated me completely, ending my life for good.
"Just as the Immortal Cult claims, as long as someone calls out our title and immortal name, I can be revived. I just don't know why it was falsely passed down as 'Immortal Celestial,' delaying my resurrection until now. Even now, I have no idea how long I've been dead."
The Immortal Fairy felt deeply aggrieved. She had only just revived and wanted to show off her might before a junior, scaring him into obedience. Instead, the brat had summoned his Eldest Senior Sister on the spot. And to make matters worse, this Eldest Senior Sister was absurdly strong and had suppressed her without breaking a sweat.
Who could she even complain to?
Why did she have to run into someone so freakishly powerful the moment she woke up?
After hearing her out, Yun Zhi analyzed, "It may not have been a misunderstanding. It could be that someone with ulterior motives wished to resurrect you, yet refused to incur karma with you directly. Thus, they used the Immortal Cult's hands to chant your title and name, intentionally misleading them with 'Immortal Celestial.' Once the Immortal Cult tried every name and realized something was still off, they would naturally wonder if they had gotten the title wrong. That way, the Immortal Cult would be the ones resurrecting you and bearing the karmic ties, leaving the mastermind entirely detached."
The higher a cultivator's realm, the more they respected karma, believing that karma subtly governed all things behind the scenes.
At this point, Yun Zhi's brows knitted slightly. Now, instead of the Immortal Cult being bound to the Immortal Fairy, Lu Yang had blundered into shouldering this monumental karma all on his own.
"As for how long you've been dead..." Yun Zhi paused before asking, "You truly do not know who refined the stars?"
Her tone remained flat, yet Lu Yang caught a thread of gravity in it, a clear sign that his Eldest Senior Sister attached immense weight to the matter.
The Immortal Fairy shook her head in complete bewilderment. "I really don't! What's the situation now? When I was alive, everyone lived on stars. Did someone actually refine the stars into a continent?"
Yun Zhi nodded. "Before the Great Xia Dynasty was the Great Yu Dynasty. Before the Great Yu Dynasty was the Great Qian Dynasty. And before the Great Qian Dynasty was the Prosperous Age of Heaven's Mandate you spoke of—what we call the Ancient Era.
"Both Great Qian and Great Yu endured for a hundred thousand years before being replaced. Great Xia has also existed for a hundred thousand years. Some say this is a curse hailing from antiquity: that every dynasty can only last for a hundred thousand years. Once that period ends, the dynasty inevitably collapses, and rising talents forge a new dynasty upon the ruins.
"At the end of the Ancient Era, an immortal refined the stars into a continent, forever changing the shape of the world into what is now the Central Continent.
"In other words, you have been dead for at least three hundred thousand years."
The Immortal Fairy gaped in astonishment. "That long?! If I had known, I would've deposited all my spirit stones in a bank! Just imagine how much interest that would've earned!"
Lu Yang: "..."
Fairy, isn't your focus just a little bit misplaced?
Chapter 105