As soon as the Immortal Celestial appeared, he immediately drew everyone's gaze.
"Xiao Lian?"
Although the Immortal Celestial was only five days old, his face was so aged he looked as if he had only five days left to live. In no way could he be associated with a name like "Xiao Lian."
"Are celestials always this modest?" Qiu Jin'an found the Immortal Celestial's timid and fawning demeanor rather strange.
Glancing at Yun Zhi, Qiu Jin'an could only conclude that she must have terrified him into obedience.
"Looking at his cultivation level, it seems he hasn't reached the celestial realm?" Aside from Yun Zhi, the abbot of the Hanging Temple possessed the highest cultivation among those present.
The abbot of the Hanging Temple channeled his Heavenly Eye, examining the Immortal Celestial from head to toe. He found that the being had indeed not reached the level of a celestial; at best, his cultivation was comparable to his own, perhaps even slightly inferior.
Emperor Xia looked at the Immortal Celestial with hesitation, feeling as though he sensed something familiar in him.
"Is this... the power of incense and faith?"
The foundation of the Great Xia Dynasty was similar to incense and faith, yet it was a concept that transcended them. In Emperor Xia's words, it was called "the hearts of the people."
Thus, Emperor Xia saw the origin of the Immortal Celestial most clearly. While the other immortal sect masters could perceive a few clues, none saw through it as thoroughly as Emperor Xia did.
"Could he be a new soul born from the collective thoughts of the Immortal Cult's believers?"
Yun Zhi nodded. "Yes. And not only was he born this way, but his rudimentary Dao fruit was also formed in the same manner."
"He possesses a rudimentary Dao fruit?!" At these words, everyone was shocked.
In the Immortal Fairy's eyes, a rudimentary Dao fruit was mere specious trash that couldn't even be shown in public—but that was because she was a celestial herself, and the true holder of the Immortal Dao fruit.
What did a Dao fruit represent? It was virtually synonymous with a celestial—a supreme treasure without equal.
As an incomplete form of a Dao fruit, a rudimentary Dao fruit ranked just below supreme treasures in rarity. In ancient times, one would be enough to ignite wars capable of shattering stars.
The glittering golden rudimentary Dao fruit was revealed before everyone, the supreme laws concerning "immortality" within it constantly flickering and shattering.
The supreme law of immortality was far too profound. If someone lacked a steadfast will or sufficient cultivation, even a single glance would affect their mind, thereby compromising their future cultivation path.
This was precisely why the Immortal Fairy had forbidden Lu Yang from looking at the rudimentary Dao fruit.
Everyone present was, at the very least, an invincible existence within the Body Integration stage. Having already established their own paths, they would not lose their minds to the supreme law of immortality.
"This is the rudimentary form of the Immortal Dao fruit."
"The Immortal Dao fruit?" None of them knew of the Immortal Fairy's existence.
From an onlooker's perspective, the Immortal Fairy's existence was the ultimate secret of the ancient era, a taboo buried deep beneath the dust of history, unknowable and untraceable. If her existence were revealed, it would trigger earth-shaking events echoing through eternity.
It was just that neither Lu Yang nor the Immortal Fairy had any real sense of this.
Yun Zhi had no intention of disclosing matters concerning the Immortal Fairy. While everyone present was indeed trustworthy and dependable, and there was no need to fear eavesdroppers here, if the Four Ancient Celestials were determined to investigate and resorted to extreme measures like soul searching those present, the secret of the Immortal Fairy could no longer be kept.
Yun Zhi was uncertain how the Four Ancient Celestials would react upon learning of the Immortal Fairy's resurrection.
She explained calmly, "According to my deduction, the Immortal Dao fruit, just as the name implies, allows one to achieve immortality."
"How does immortality differ from a celestial's longevity?" Emperor Xia asked.
As far as he knew, once one became a celestial, they transcended the limits of lifespan and would never die of old age; that was true longevity.
At the previous meeting of the Five Great Immortal Sects, Yun Zhi had introduced the method to revive the Immortal Celestial, so the five sects already understood what immortality meant.
However, Emperor Xia had not been invited to that meeting.
Yun Zhi said, "Celestials possess longevity, but they can still perish in battle or be slain by others without the ability to revive. However, a celestial who possesses the Immortal Dao fruit can be revived on the spot simply by someone chanting their honorific title and true name, achieving true imperishability and immortality.
"In other words, as long as someone knows of this celestial's existence, the celestial cannot die.
"And if someone happens to chant the honorific title and true name by sheer chance, the celestial can also be revived."
Emperor Xia's pupils contracted. Truly worthy of a Dao fruit capable of altering the laws of the world—such an ability was unreasonably domineering.
"This rudimentary Immortal Dao fruit was also generated through the faith of the cultists. Although it cannot compare to a mature Dao fruit, given sufficient time, it is entirely possible for it to mature."
The Sect Master of the Prison Suppressing Sect frowned deeply. "Meaning that the Shining Sun Cult, the Nine Nether Cult, and the Emotionless Cult might all have similar rudimentary Dao fruits?"
The Shining Sun Cult, the Nine Nether Cult, and the Emotionless Cult were the other three demonic cults.
The Shining Sun Cult believed that the sun was a supreme existence, the origin and end of all things, containing the power to birth and terminate everything in creation; they even believed that the omnipresent spiritual energy of heaven and earth emanated from the sun.
The Nine Nether Cult believed that after death, souls would travel to a place called Nine Nether, where their sins would be washed clean before they reincarnated to return to the mortal realm.
The Emotionless Cult was the most peculiar. Though its members were all humans, the mainstream cultivation world referred to them as "fiends" and did not consider them human.
The Emotionless Cult believed emotions were shackles placed upon living beings by the heavens, restricting their potential. They advocated casting off these shackles to embrace freedom, claiming that only then could one maximize their full potential.
The members of the Emotionless Cult were all people who had cast off these shackles; unburdened by emotion, they would stop at nothing to achieve their ends.
According to a captured believer of the Emotionless Cult, the moment he broke free of emotional shackles, his body felt weightless and the entire world seemed boundless.
Family, friends, lovers... None of them restricted his cultivation any longer; instead, they could all serve as materials for his cultivation.
"That the remaining three demonic cults might possess rudimentary Dao fruits is merely my speculation. It may not necessarily be true."
Yun Zhi could not guarantee her deduction was accurate. For instance, when she previously discussed the purpose behind the Immortal Cult's existence with Venerable Daoyan of the Heavenly Strategy Sect, Venerable Daoyan's deduction had been closer to the truth, while hers had fallen short.
"In any case, the Immortal Cult has been eradicated. Fortunately, this issue came to light in time, giving us a new understanding of the other three demonic cults," Emperor Xia concluded.
Next, Emperor Xia proposed a series of countermeasures to crack down on the demonic cults, drawing frequent nods of approval from the masters of the Five Great Immortal Sects.
Emperor Xia excelled at this sort of thing.
Before the meeting concluded, Yun Zhi brought up one more matter.
"Your Majesty, once the interrogation of the Immortal Cult's Cult Master and Vice Cult Master is finished and all intelligence has been gathered, could the two of them be handed over to the Dao Seeking Sect to deal with?"
Emperor Xia was taken aback, but quickly nodded. Strictly speaking, the entire Immortal Cult was Yun Zhi's spoil of war; she had simply declined to keep it and gifted it to the Great Xia Dynasty. If she wanted to take them, she certainly had every right to do so.
"If I may ask, what does Daoist Yun Zhi intend to do with those two?"
"The sect needs a slaughterhouse."
"Huh?"
Some people are dead, but not completely dead...
Chapter 205