Lu Yang felt that, as a mere middle Nascent Soul cultivator, he truly could not shoulder the responsibility of being both Lord of the Demon Domain and Lord of the East Sea.
"Aiya, it's just a token of Xiao Ling's and Lianyi's goodwill. It's only the Demon Domain and the East Sea—just accept them!" the Immortal Fairy said carelessly.
"If you really don't dare take them, this immortal can gladly accept them on your behalf."
Clearly, if Lu Yang didn't dare to take them, plenty of others did.
Lu Yang thought about it. The Immortal Fairy was already Lord of the Heavenly Court and the founding emperor of the Great Bean Dynasty. If she now held the titles of Lord of the Demon Domain and Lord of the East Sea as well, her authority would truly be staggering, unmatched by anyone alive.
"Even if you accept them, Fairy, do you honestly know how to manage them?" Lu Yang recalled that during the ancient era, the Immortal Fairy disliked administration, so she had only governed the North Star—and even that had been forced upon her by the Four Ancient Celestials.
Lu Yang suspected they had thrust the North Star upon her merely to stop her from wandering all over the place and to give her a stable home.
"What's so hard about management? I can just have Xiao Ling and Lianyi run the East Sea and the Demon Domain."
Even though the Immortal Fairy couldn't manage things herself, her strength lay in knowing how to delegate.
"Elder Sister Immortal, could you show us where you usually stay?" Jiang Lianyi asked.
"Sure, sure!" the Immortal Fairy readily agreed.
Ao Ling and Jiang Lianyi each sent out a strand of divine sense, slipping into Lu Yang's spiritual space.
"Come in, come in! Make yourselves at home; sit wherever you like!" The Immortal Fairy warmly welcomed the two half-immortals.
She had long since drained the seawater from the spiritual space, which had now returned to its original tender-pink state. A bed rested against the wall, flanked by tables, chairs, stools, and other furniture.
Lu Yang watched all this in silence, not uttering a word.
Whose spiritual space was this, anyway?
Once Jiang Lianyi sat down, she remembered that the purpose of her visit was not merely to greet Ao Ling.
"What on earth was that immortal battle in the East Sea about? Xiao Ling, who targeted you?"
Ao Ling pondered for a moment. "It's rather complicated to explain. If I told you everything, you would be in danger too. How about this: I'll tell you only what I can safely share. Back then, after my husband and the other three celestials fought the culprit, you entered a feigned-death state, while I followed my husband to establish the Xinhuo Dynasty..."
"Wait a minute," Jiang Lianyi interrupted after just one sentence. "Didn't we agree back then that both of us would use the feign death technique together?"
***
In the Great Xia Imperial Palace.
Carrying a hoe after finishing his farming, Jiang Ping'an sat on a small folding stool wiping his sweat, then looked up at his visitor.
"Fellow Daoist Yun, what brings you here?"
Yun Zhi drew a palm-sized red bundle from her sleeve and lifted the red cloth, revealing an exquisitely crafted dragon-pattern bracelet.
Jiang Ping'an was immediately drawn to its design. "Such exquisite refining technique! Who crafted this?"
"An immortal artifact crafted by Immortal Ying Tian. When fully charged with energy, it can withstand several attacks from an immortal."
"An extraordinary treasure indeed." For an immortal artifact to be refined to such a degree was already the pinnacle of perfection. "I see the bracelet is completely empty inside. Do you want me to recharge it?"
"Precisely."
Jiang Ping'an turned the dragon-pattern bracelet over in his hands twice. "Very well, allow me to examine it."
While studying it, Jiang Ping'an recalled the intelligence he had just received and chatted casually, "Fellow Daoist Yun, who did you clash with in the East Sea? Was it one of the Four Ancient Celestials?"
Because celestials possessed the property of being forgotten, the world could only remember that an immortal battle had occurred in the East Sea, yet no one could recall the details of their clash.
Yun Zhi shook her head. "An ancient celestial, but not one of the Four Ancient Celestials. It is inconvenient for me to say more about her origin. If you know too much, she will kill you as well."
"Oh? Could it be Fellow Daoist Yun believes I am inferior to that celestial?" Jiang Ping'an said with an 'oh,' a subtle pride tinting his tone.
As the founding emperor who had enabled Great Xia to stand unbroken for a hundred thousand years, his contributions were immense. This was due both to his wise leadership and to his unfathomable cultivation.
Yun Zhi nodded. "You indeed cannot defeat her."
"Fine. If I can't beat her, then I can't." Like a frost-bitten eggplant, Jiang Ping'an lowered his head and accepted reality.
***
When Yun Zhi returned to the Dao Seeking Sect carrying the fully charged dragon-pattern bracelet, she saw Lu Yang, Ao Ling, and Jiang Lianyi lying side by side neatly on the ground.
Yun Zhi tapped Lu Yang on the forehead, knocking everyone out of his spiritual space.
"Eldest Senior Sister, you're finally back!" Lu Yang was overjoyed to see Yun Zhi. At last, their backbone had arrived. Dealing with the two ancestors of the dragons and phoenixes by himself had been utterly beyond him, to say nothing of the trouble-stirring Huang Doudou.
Just now inside the spiritual space, a fight had almost broken out twice.
Yun Zhi handed the dragon-pattern bracelet to Ao Ling, then turned to ask Jiang Lianyi, "Senior Lianyi, did you come to see Senior Ao Ling?"
Jiang Lianyi gave a cold snort. "Who cares to see her? I came to gather intelligence on the East Sea."
Yun Zhi let out an 'oh' and said nothing more.
The Immortal Fairy popped out of Lu Yang's body in high spirits and began counting heads.
"Me, Second-in-Command, Xiao Ling, Lianyi... yep, everyone's here!"
"Everyone's here for what?" Lu Yang's brain couldn't quite follow.
"For our team to challenge Girl Yun, of course!"
Lu Yang: "..."
*Wait, Fairy, if you guys are going to throw your lives away, could you leave me out of it?*
With a grand wave of her hand, the Immortal Fairy puffed up with confidence. Though she hadn't yet returned to her peak and couldn't match Girl Yun on her own, she now had Ao Ling and Lianyi backing her up, plus Second-in-Command serving as her think tank. She could barely be considered to have enough capital to battle Girl Yun!
Seeing this, Lu Yang hurriedly stopped the Immortal Fairy before she could wave her arm again. "Wait, wait, wait, Fairy, please calm down!"
"I am very calm!" the Immortal Fairy shouted boisterously.
"No, no, no, Fairy, think about it: our—bah, your team to battle Eldest Senior Sister isn't fully assembled yet."
"Not fully assembled? Who else is missing?"
Lu Yang kindly reminded her, "Third-in-Command! As a half-immortal, he is a crucial combat asset!"
The Immortal Fairy slapped her forehead. "Oh, right! I forgot about him."
Tianmen Peak was not far from the barbecue shop on the commercial street, so the Immortal Fairy could control the Immortal Celestial from afar.
The Immortal Celestial, who was busy counting money inside the barbecue shop, felt the Immortal Fairy's summons. As if pulled backward by the collar of his clothes, his body bent like a cooked prawn as he flew backward through the air toward Tianmen Peak.
Upon seeing the luxurious lineup on Tianmen Peak, the Immortal Celestial was visibly dumbfounded.
What kind of situation was this?
"Greetings, First-in-Command, Second-in-Command. First-in-Command, did you summon me?" the Immortal Celestial asked cautiously, a terrible premonition rising within him.
The Immortal Fairy nodded and declared with utter conviction, "This immortal has decided to launch a campaign against Yun Zhi today! A strategy has already been devised. As a member of our Immortal Lineage, you must make your contribution."
As a leader, she naturally had to be clear about rewards and penalties. "Here, this immortal will grant you a chance to earn merit. You shall serve as our vanguard and test Girl Yun's strength! As long as you can defeat Girl Yun, the seat of First-in-Command will be yours!"
"Huh?!"
Chapter 881