Chapter 197: Confess Frankly for Leniency

"No, I mean my name is Bu Yaolian. The Bu from fabric, and the Yaolian from shameless." The Immortal, thoroughly beaten into submission, answered every question honestly with an excellent attitude.

The Immortal Fairy frowned, "Why such a strange name?" Lu Yang thought to himself, what right do you have to call someone else's name strange?

The Immortal sighed, "I didn't want to be called this either, but explaining this issue would be a long story."

"Take your time." The Immortal Fairy conjured a small camp stool, sat upon it, and rested her chin in her hands, eager to hear what the Immortal had to say.

Yun Zhi and Lu Yang also listened quietly from the side.

The Immortal spoke truthfully, "I do not know where my consciousness came from, nor do I know how I was born. A long time ago, I generated my very first sliver of consciousness. It was very faint, only allowing me to vaguely perceive my own condition, like looking at flowers through a fog, not very clearly."

"I felt a power of unknown origin continuously gathering upon my body, making me stronger bit by bit, yet my consciousness remained hazy and blurred, unable to distinguish external affairs."

"I could also feel many memories being filled into my consciousness, but at that time I lacked the capacity to think, merely accepting the memories blindly, unable to organize or process this vast amount of information."

"My consciousness gradually grew stronger, and a faint, indistinct voice echoed beside it, calling out 'Immortal'. Within my memories was the term 'Immortal', but I was still unable to process the memories and did not know what an Immortal was."

"I do not know how much time passed, perhaps hundreds of years, perhaps thousands of years. In short, my consciousness suddenly became clear, like a drowning person being pulled out of the water, regaining perception of the outside world."

"And the first sentence I heard upon regaining clarity of consciousness was—Great Immortal Bu Yaolian, please save your devout believers, save this world."

"'Bu Yaolian' became my name. I originally had no name; it was because the Cult Leader called me 'Bu Yaolian' that I obtained a name."

"Upon obtaining a name, I was finally able to process the vast memories from before and understand the meanings those memories represented."

"In those memories, I saw someone accidentally discover a secret realm, wander into it, and learn that in ancient times there was an immortal who protected the human race named the Immortal, who possessed the Immortal Dao Fruit and could return from the dead. After that person left the secret realm, he founded the Immortal Cult, attempting to resurrect the Immortal."

"The Immortal Cult grew powerful, and more and more believers joined, pleasing the Immortal through slaughter, calling upon the immortal's true name to resurrect the immortal."

"At that time, I understood that I was the Immortal resurrected by the Immortal Cult. As long as someone truly believed in me, prayed to me, and worshiped me, I would obtain their memories."

"The Cult Leader prayed to me, and I manifested in the world through the statue, responding to the Cult Leader's expectations."

"I possessed the Cult Leader's memories; whatever the Cult Leader knew, I knew. Seeing that he was severely injured and required a century of quiet recuperation, and considering he was my most devout and powerful believer, I took action to heal him."

"As I obtained my name, I could feel that I mastered a cluster of golden light. Combining this with the memories, I surmised this was the Immortal Dao Fruit."

"I utilized a portion of the Immortal Dao Fruit's power to heal the Cult Leader's injuries."

"But I did not know if I was truly the Immortal. My earliest memories originated from the first believer, memories from over ten thousand years ago; I did not possess a single shred of memory regarding ancient times."

"For instance, when the Cult Leader asked me who exactly refined the starry skies, I could not answer the question, yet I could not say I did not know, so I told him this matter was of a very high level and not something he could know."

"I was uncertain how the believers would react if they knew my state, so I could only pretend to have awakened from a long ancient slumber."

"Furthermore, I had always been in a soul state, which definitely would not do in the long run, so I told the Cult Leader that I wanted to seize a body, return to my peak, and save the world."

"The Cult Leader believed my words, gathered all those in the Qi Refining and Foundation Building stages, and held a tournament for me to select a suitable target to possess."

"And then you chose me?" Lu Yang asked.

The Immortal nodded helplessly. Exactly. Of all the people I could have chosen back then, why did my eyesight have to fail me so badly that I chose you, only to receive a sound beating?

Had it been anyone else, my possession would have succeeded.

The matters confessed by the Immortal explained a few questions, such as why he did not know ancient techniques, why he wanted to seize a body, and why he was named Bu Yaolian.

But there were still some questions that even he himself could not explain clearly.

For example, who exactly was he? Where did he come from? How did the Immortal Dao Fruit appear?

Lu Yang looked at the Eldest Senior Sister and the Immortal Fairy with expectant eyes; at times like this, well-traveled and knowledgeable seniors needed to step up.

The Immortal Fairy's delicate brows knit slightly, unknown what question she was pondering, appearing not particularly reliable.

From beginning to end, the Eldest Senior Sister had been quietly listening to the Immortal's experiences, discerning whether these experiences were real or fabricated by him.

The Eldest Senior Sister believed the general experience should be true.

Noticing Lu Yang's gaze, she knew this little junior brother still had many questions and hoped to get answers from her. She spoke, "Daoist Master Daoyan, the Supreme Elder of the Tiance Sect, once proposed a hypothesis stating that there was originally no Immortal and no Immortal Dao Fruit in the world; the Immortal Cult was creating a god."

Lu Yang secretly nodded; the old senior was indeed very reliable.

Hearing Yun Zhi's words, the Immortal suddenly snapped her head up. From which corner of the earth did this Daoyan pop out, daring to question the existence of this Fairy's Dao Fruit?

Did he have any idea how much effort this Fairy wasted to form the Dao Fruit! The four of them, including Yingtian Xian, were all incredibly envious!

Lu Yang suggested that the Immortal Fairy listen to the Eldest Senior Sister first and settle accounts with Daoyan afterward.

Yun Zhi continued, "Where the soul comes from and where it returns to is a difficult problem that the cultivation world has been unable to explain to this day. Daoyan believes that human intent is a form of power; as long as there is enough human intent and it is powerful enough, it is possible for a soul to appear."

"Of course, this is a hypothesis, and it fails to explain how the very first soul was born, but your situation aligns with the circumstances of this hypothesis."

"From its founding to the present, the Immortal Cult has existed for a total of fourteen thousand years. During these fourteen thousand years, at least millions of cultists have been praying to a non-existent Immortal. Over such a long period of time, a massive amount of intent could entirely create a soul, which is you, the Immortal."

"However, your appearance might require an additional condition—killing."

"Have you ever thought about where the power you displayed just now, that demonic energy carrying resentment, came from?"

"Humans are the leaders of all things, the darlings of heaven and earth, born with 'spirituality'. The practice of demonic cultivators is to strip away human 'spirituality' through slaughter and turn it into their own power."