Chapter 596: Trust

When Lu Yang heard Jiang Lianyi say, "Who are you?" his heart violently constricted with a wrenching pang.

It seemed the mastermind behind the scenes had utterly erased the very existence of the Immortal Fairy, doing far more than merely replacing the title of a book; they had altered memory itself, wiping every trace of her from the minds of all living souls, a grand purge from which even one as formidable as Jiang Lianyi was not exempt.

Jiang Lianyi was a peerless Half-Immortal, fully qualified to contend for a seat among the deities, and if even she could not escape this blight, one could easily imagine the plight of ordinary cultivators and mortals.

No wonder, then, that after the Immortal Fairy’s demise, no one had ever spoken her name to bring her back to life.

"The Immortal Fairy, Huang Doudou?"

Jiang Lianyi checked her tears, the name striking her as utterly foreign, carrying not the faintest glimmer of recognition, and her eyes filled with a profound bewilderment.

The smile slowly faded from the Immortal Fairy's face, for though she had steeled herself for this outcome, the stark reality of Jiang Lianyi forgetting her still brought a heavy wave of sorrow and disappointment.

"Yes, I am the Immortal Fairy, Huang Doudou, known together with the Qilin Immortal, the Nine-Layered Immortal, the Yingtian Immortal, and the Epoch Immortal as the Five Immortals of Antiquity, and I was the last of the five to achieve immortality!"

"The last to achieve immortality was my husband, who was the fourth; Antiquity knew only four Immortals, so where could a fifth possibly come from?"

"Then what of your culinary skills, and Xiao Ling’s? Your cooking was taught to both of you by my own hand."

Xiao Ling was none other than Ao Ling, the ancient progenitor of the Dragon Race.

"The two of us were self-taught, without the guidance of any master."

"And the Art of Feigning Death, the very technique you just employed—I was the one who taught it to you and Xiao Ling."

"The Art of Feigning Death was discovered by Xiao Ling and me during our explorations of a hidden realm, an ancient ruin so distant in time its origins defied tracing; after our departure, the realm collapsed into rubble."

"When the two of you married the Qilin Immortal, I even gifted you an immortal fruit, inscribed with the words: 'To the most beautiful of the Demon Race'!"

"I have no recollection of such a thing from my wedding to my husband; when we wed, the Immortals Nine-Layered, Yingtian, and Epoch came to offer their blessings and presented us with immortal fruits, but none bore any such inscription."

"We used to dine together constantly, and your grotto-heaven, your very bedchamber—I have visited them all!"

The Immortal Fairy recounted these instances one by one, painting each memory in vivid, colorful detail, yet her words were met only by Jiang Lianyi's silence.

Jiang Lianyi remained silent for a long, heavy moment.

"I am sorry, but I have no impression of anything you speak of."

The last traces of slumber had vanished from Jiang Lianyi's mind, and she had swiftly reviewed the entirety of her memories, recalling even the events immediately preceding her deep sleep with perfect clarity.

Her husband's actions back then had been exceedingly strange, stubbornly insisting that she cast the Art of Feigning Death to enter a state of demise without offering a single word of explanation; out of pure trust, she had performed the art, only to awaken to the sight of this unfamiliar woman and a Golden Core cultivator.

She was certain her memories were crisp and complete, devoid of any gaps, possessed of a seamless logic from beginning to end that held not the slightest fragment concerning the Immortal Fairy.

The Immortal Fairy’s eyes grew glassy, tears pooling and swirling within them, held back only by a stubborn refusal to let them fall.

Yet, as Jiang Lianyi looked upon the woman in this state, an intense, inexplicable ache bloomed within her own chest, arising from a source she could not fathom.

"Fairy..." Lu Yang began, wishing to comfort her, but when he reached out to pat her shoulder, his hand passed directly through her form.

The Immortal Fairy existed now only as a soul.

Just as Jiang Lianyi was about to offer some words of consolation, she felt a presence against her chest and, reaching in instinctively, drew forth a small stone.

"A Shadow-Recording Stone?"

Jiang Lianyi's confusion deepened; she remembered distinctly that this stone had not been upon her person before she slept, leaving her to wonder if her husband had slipped it into her robes.

As she channeled her spiritual energy into the stone, intricate and magnificent patterns of light rippled across its surface in complex arrays.

Above them, the phantom projection of a man with coral horns materialized, elegant and poised, clad in a black robe embroidered with the likenesses of ten thousand beasts.

"The Qilin Immortal?"

"Husband?"

This phantom figure was indeed the Qilin Immortal.

Lu Yang recognized him as well, realizing that, counting their encounter through the reflection of history, this was now the second time he had seen the Qilin Immortal, though this instance was a mere phantom projection.

"Lianyi, you likely harbor many doubts in your heart, and you will come to meet a certain person; please do not panic, for this person is entirely worthy of your trust—indeed, worthier of trust than myself, or Yingtian, or any of the others!"

"You will find this person utterly strange, possessing no memory whatsoever of her origin, but I ask you to consider this: if she truly had nothing to do with you, how could she possibly have undone your Art of Feigning Death?"

Jiang Lianyi caught her breath, startled.

It was true; the ancient ruins had vanished, and the Art of Feigning Death was known only to herself and Xiao Ling; her husband, Yingtian, Nine-Layered, and Epoch had never learned it, nor had they any need to.

How then could this woman, who styled herself the Immortal Fairy, possess knowledge of the technique?

"Someone has altered your memories, an entity whose identity remains hidden from me for now; you need not concern yourself with the details of this matter, nor should you involve yourself, for this is a clash at the level of Immortals; the sole truth you must grasp is that the one who woke you is to be trusted!"

The phantom of the Qilin Immortal then turned toward the Immortal Fairy, a smile gracing his features as he clapped his hands in celebration: "Immortal, you have finally returned to life; though I cannot know how vast a gulf of time separates your era from my own."

"I must apologize that we were never able to resurrect you; the methods of our foe exceeded all our expectations, affecting not only the Half-Immortals but even ourselves, leaving us capable only of remembering you by the title 'Immortal', while your true name remained forever lost to our lips."

"We attempted to call out your name by trying every combination in sequence, yet with every name we uttered, we would instantly forget the one spoken before, trapped within an endless, futile cycle."

"Our only solace lay in our conversation through the temporal conduit, which confirmed that you would indeed be restored in the future."

"Lianyi's affection for you runs deeper even than her bond with me, and because I could not bear to see her bound by the limits of her lifespan, dying without ever beholding you again, I arranged this meeting between you."

"Even if she has forgotten you entirely, I know she will still rejoice to see you living once more."

"To ensure you would find her, I established this hidden realm and concealed Lianyi within its fourth tier."

"To the cultivators of later generations, this place will likely be regarded as an ancient hidden realm, or perhaps simply an ancient domain—it matters little; what matters is that its worth will be immense and its fame widespread among future cultivators, and since you are one who never misses a spectacle, you were bound to come here."

"I set this realm in place as a convenient means to bestow a fragment of fortune upon our Demon Race as well."

"Through our dialogue across the temporal conduit, we learned you would be in a soulless state, accompanied by a minor cultivator of the Golden Core stage, and that you would likely reside within the mental space of this young cultivator."

"This hidden realm was designed to draw you in, just as it would draw him."

"The trial of the first tier is a fundamental test of martial prowess; with you at his side, the young Golden Core should find passing it no trouble at all."

"The trial of the second tier is more intricate, but your intuition has always been unerring, guiding you to the correct choice, so that stage will pose no difficulty for you either."

"The third tier serves to distinguish you from the young prodigies of the Demon Race; the questions posed there are such that only you could possibly answer them."

"Ah, as for myself, I am currently locked in combat through various means with the one who took your life, and I cannot say where I shall be when you awaken, so I have left no coordinates for you, lest you wander in vain; if you are truly resurrected, the world is only so large, and we shall surely cross paths in the end."

"And so, farewell."

(End of Chapter)