Ordinary members of the demon race wouldn't recognize Jiang Lianyi, but how could Clan Head Jin, as the leader of the Qiongqi Clan, not know her?
With the Demon Celestial's true appearance unknown, the two ancient ancestors of the Dragon and Phoenix Clans were the supreme powerhouses of the demon race and idols to all demons, commanding an effortless yet paramount authority among their kind.
Ancient Dijiang possessed a resounding reputation, but compared to those two, he still fell short.
The dragon and phoenix ancestors had participated in the Battle for Immortality; though defeated, their glory remained untarnished.
Ancient Dijiang had not even qualified to enter the Battle for Immortality—the gap between them was plain to see.
If the Little Ancestor had been here, Clan Head Jin would certainly never have begged for mercy.
The problem was that no one was backing him right now. Upon hearing that Ancient Dijiang had proclaimed himself emperor, the Little Ancestor had not shown the slightest interest in coming. If he tried to act tough in front of an ancient great demon of Jiang Lianyi's caliber, what could he possibly gain? A swift, painless death?
Besides, the grievance between Jiang Lianyi and the Little Ancestor stemmed from Immortal Kirin—it was an internal domestic conflict, or rather, drama between a wife and a mistress. Why should he bother getting caught up in that?
The Qiongqi Clan was thoroughly impoverished, and as clan head, he had his own way of surviving.
Be ruthless when called for, and cower when necessary.
Clan Head Jin sighed inwardly. The Little Ancestor was right: this struggle of the Golden Age was far more complicated than imagined. Even the Phoenix Clan Ancient Ancestor had quietly revived. Considering that behind her stood Immortal Kirin, what could their Qiongqi Clan possibly rely on to compete for first place?
Wait, wouldn't it solve everything if our Qiongqi Clan simply threw our lot in with Immortal Kirin?
At that thought, Clan Head Jin's mind cleared instantly, and the future suddenly looked bright and promising.
How could Jiang Lianyi know he had thought through so much in a mere instant? She felt irritation rise whenever she saw anyone from the Qiongqi Clan. She had originally intended to pick a random Qiongqi to beat up and blow off some steam, but with Clan Head Jin groveling like this, thrashing him wouldn't vent any anger at all—it would just be dull.
"Look into my eyes."
Jiang Lianyi's words seemed imbued with a strange magic, compelling Clan Head Jin to obey unconsciously.
As Clan Head Jin met Jiang Lianyi's gaze, he suddenly reverted to his true form—a winged, striped tiger—and found himself standing in an unfamiliar space, beneath a high-hanging moon with an ocean underfoot, utterly isolated and without aid.
Overhead echoed Jiang Lianyi's voice: "You are not permitted to mention meeting me to anyone, whether explicitly or implicitly."
When Clan Head Jin came back to his senses, he found himself back in the guest room. What had just happened felt like a dream.
"What did Senior Lianyi just do?" Lu Yang whispered to the Immortal Fairy. To an outsider, Clan Head Jin had merely dazed out for an instant before quickly recovering, but Lu Yang guessed Jiang Lianyi had employed some technique.
"That's her rudimentary Law of the Jungle Dao fruit. It can dictate what a defeated party must or cannot say. She just ordered that little tiger to keep everything about her a secret."
A so-called loser usually had to fight Jiang Lianyi first, but the gap in cultivation between Clan Head Jin and Jiang Lianyi was so vast that she could exert control with her rudimentary Dao fruit directly.
"She used this ability all the time back in the day."
"Why?" Lu Yang asked, puzzled.
It was rather troublesome to explain. The Immortal Fairy tilted her head back, blinking as she pondered for a moment before explaining:
"Well, didn't Immortal Kirin often sneak out to seduce female demons? In the beginning, Lianyi would just put on a stern face and bluff him, and Kirin would spill everything like pouring beans from a jar.
"Later on, Immortal Ying Tian coached Immortal Kirin, telling him that as an immortal, he needed a steady temperament—unshaken by circumstances and unflustered by events. Kirin learned his lesson well. From then on, no matter how Lianyi bluffed him, he wouldn't utter a word of truth, acting completely thick-skinned and shameless.
"Lianyi couldn't beat Immortal Kirin and was at her wit's end, so she went knocking on the doors of suspicious female demons, had a fight with them, and after defeating them, used her rudimentary Dao fruit to make them tell the truth.
"And after the truth came out, Immortal Kirin had to kneel on a sword formation."
Lu Yang: "..."
Immortal Kirin and Immortal Ying Tian were truly good brothers: the lies were taught by Immortal Ying Tian, and the sword formation was forged by Immortal Ying Tian.
"Hm? Didn't I tell you? It was also Immortal Ying Tian who told Lianyi and Xiao Ling that the sword formation had been rigged.
"Immortal Kirin was kept completely in the dark, thinking Lianyi and Xiao Ling had discovered it by accident, and felt endless remorse over his trick being exposed."
Lu Yang felt that the situation in ancient times was truly intricate; even immortals engaged in scheming and intrigue against each other.
"Senior Lianyi seems very certain that Immortal Kirin is still alive?"
From Lu Yang's observations along the way, Jiang Lianyi was always pondering how to locate Immortal Kirin, seemingly convinced he was still alive and had not fallen prey to the mastermind behind the scenes.
"You noticed. Since she's sure Immortal Kirin is alive, then he's alive."
The Immortal Fairy paused, then explained, "You remember when I told you that once Immortal Kirin became an immortal, Lianyi and Xiao Ling could no longer do so, right?
"Lianyi was originally qualified to achieve immortality, but Immortal Kirin defeated her and took the step before her, which caused her to lose the chance.
"If Immortal Kirin had passed away, she would sense that the power suppressing her rudimentary Law of the Jungle Dao fruit was gone, and she could become an immortal right now."
Lu Yang came to a sudden realization.
"Lianyi and Xiao Ling's situation is an extreme rarity among half-immortals.
"There were plenty of half-immortals in the ancient era. Why didn't they achieve immortality? It wasn't because the five of us suppressed them, but because those half-immortals simply couldn't cultivate to that step. It was a matter of innate talent." The Immortal Fairy showed a touch of disdain for those half-immortals, especially Ancient Dijiang, who lacked the talent himself yet blamed the era, insisting on waiting until now to attain immortality.
This was also why Jiang Lianyi and Ao Ling were universally acknowledged as the strongest beneath the immortals—not because they had a good husband in Immortal Kirin, but because they were inherently powerful to the utmost extreme.
When it came to achieving immortality, hard work alone didn't cut it; what mattered most was that single spark of enlightened insight.
Back then, the Immortal Fairy had many choices for her Dao fruit and struggled to choose precisely because she had so many such flashes of inspiration.
Among the half-immortals of her era, not a few held rudimentary Undying or Imperishable Dao fruits. Once condensed from a rudimentary Dao fruit into a full Dao fruit, it would grant inherently invincible standing—who wouldn't want to condense one?
Yet condensing that kind of Dao fruit was exceedingly difficult; had the Immortal Fairy not received inspiration from Immortal Suiyue, even she wasn't certain she could have succeeded.
"Alright, you may go back."
Jiang Lianyi tossed Clan Head Jin right out the door. To her eyes, a Demon King–rank Qiongqi was barely any different from a little tiger cub.
If he couldn't serve as a punching bag, keeping him around was useless.
...
How could Clan Head Jin still be in any mood to stay and watch the founding ceremony? Feeling as if granted an imperial amnesty, he sped through the night back to the Qiongqi Tomb to seek an audience with the Little Ancestor.
"Little Ancestor, disaster has struck..." Clan Head Jin scrambled in on hands and knees to find the Little Ancestor. The moment he tried to speak, however, he realized he couldn't utter a single word.
Seeing Clan Head Jin in such a state, the young girl's expression shifted slightly.
"The rudimentary Law of the Jungle Dao fruit? Jiang Lianyi's method? She's still alive?"
In the ancient era, she had been one of the female demons Jiang Lianyi had paid a visit to, and was all too familiar with Jiang Lianyi's methods.
Zhu Tian did not use the rudimentary Dao fruit like this.
She grasped the situation instantly, and a cold sneer curled on her lips.
"I had originally not intended to stir up trouble, aiming only to become a top-ten faction in the struggle of the Golden Age. But since Jiang Lianyi has appeared, then I shall make us a top-eleven faction instead!"
Chapter 605