Chapter 622: The Panicked Zhu Tian

The moment the words slipped out, Zhu Tian felt as if he suspended by a single thread, caught between life and death.

Jiang Lianyi cast a cold glance at Zhu Tian, but she did not raise her hand against him.

This was a matter of sheer helplessness; she had feared Zhu Tian might lie, and so, using the power of her embryonic Dao Fruit, she had secretly commanded him to conceal nothing, to speak whatever entered his mind.

Mending the fold before all was lost, Zhu Tian hastily offered, "I meant to say, I had thought the Qilin Immortal passed away long ago."

Having spoken, Zhu Tian wished nothing more than to slap himself hard across the face.

In days past, every word he uttered was born of deep deliberation; why was he like this today, speaking entirely without thought?

Jiang Lianyi remained silent.

It appeared that forcing someone to speak the absolute truth carried its own disadvantages.

Ah well, by the looks of it, let alone knowing any clues regarding her husband, Zhu Tian did not even know if he was dead or alive.

Once Zhu Tian calmed himself, a cold sweat drenched his back, and his limbs turned to ice.

Jiang Lianyi’s inquiry meant the Qilin Immortal was undoubtedly still alive; that he himself had felt no suppression from a superior Dao Fruit was merely because his own cultivation was vastly insufficient.

The Qilin Immortal lived, yet he had dared to raise his hand against Jiang Lianyi; this...

Zhu Tian dared not imagine the consequences of this matter; if he crossed paths with the Qilin Immortal, even several lives would not suffice to keep him whole!

"Do you recognize Sister Buyu?"

"Who?" Zhu Tian looked utterly bewildered, having never heard the name before.

"This Immortal." The Immortal Fairy revealed herself with grand poise, emerging from Lu Yang's body; in any case, Zhu Tian had been branded with the master-servant seal, so he could not leak her identity.

The sight of the Immortal Fairy made Zhu Tian's flesh crawl, and believing himself to be hallucinating, he sprang to his feet, unable to control his own voice.

"An Immortal!!"

He had lived through the era when the four ancient Immortals ruled the world, frequently attending their discourses, and was all too familiar with their kind.

This depth of power, unfathomable at a single glance, belonged without question to an Immortal!

To think that a true Immortal lay hidden within the body of this Young Sect Master Lu!

Connecting this to the matters of the Ancient Heavenly Court, could this Immortal be the Lord of the Heavenly Court, Heavenly Venerate Dou, the fifth Immortal of antiquity?

No wonder Young Sect Master Lu had not been controlled by the Dijiang Decree; previously, he believed Jiang Lianyi had intervened to intercept it, but now it seemed it was this Immortal who had acted.

Zhu Tian suddenly realized that despite being a great demon of the ancient era, he knew far too little about the events of old; like a frog at the bottom of a well, what he knew was merely superficial.

"Well, it seems here is another who does not recognize this Immortal." The Immortal Fairy curled her lip, not particularly surprised; Jiang Lianyi was closest to her and possessed immense combat power even among half-immortals, yet even she could not remember her, so a fellow like Zhu Tian could hardly be expected to.

Discerning the situation well, Zhu Tian politely brought forth a fourth imperial chair for the Immortal Fairy to sit upon.

The four of them gathered in a circle to continue chatting, exuding a heavy atmosphere reminiscent of rustic village life.

"Tell us, what made you think of falling into a deep slumber, and choosing to revive at this exact time?"

"This matter must be traced back to that world-destroying battle waged by the four ancient Immortals, though it has never been known who their opponent was..."

As Zhu Tian spoke, the gaze he directed toward the Immortal Fairy grew amiss, shifting into a panic far greater than before.

The Lord of the Heavenly Court, the hidden fifth Immortal, the enemy of the four ancient Immortals—could it be that the opponent the four ancient Immortals fought back then was this very almighty being?

The Immortal Fairy glared at him: "Don't look at me, keep talking."

"Oh, oh." Zhu Tian hastily calmed his terrified heart, feeling as though he had just walked along the boundary of life and death.

The Qilin Immortal could kill him as easily as turning a hand, yet this Lord of the Heavenly Court could engage in a fierce battle against the four ancient Immortals; her power was likely even above that of the Qilin Immortal.

If it had been this being who struck just now upon the Heaven Altar...

Zhu Tian shuddered.

Seeing that this Young Sect Master Lu shared an excellent relationship with the Lord of the Heavenly Court, if he could not curry favor with the Lord of the Heavenly Court, pleasing Young Sect Master Lu would serve as a roundabout way to save himself.

Zhu Tian continued, "Fellow Daoist Jiang, you witnessed that battle as well, did you not? That is a realm we half-immortals can never hope to reach; the chasm between us is insurmountable, driving one to despair..."

Jiang Lianyi corrected him: "I did not despair."

"...driving me to despair."

"I thought to myself at the time, no existence in this world is eternal, and the four ancient Immortals cannot rule the world forever. Since I cannot shine brilliantly in their era, why not enter a deep sleep and awaken when there are no Immortals left in the world, preferably when there are no half-immortals either?"

"The more I thought about it, the better the idea seemed. I quickly gathered a hoard of heavenly materials and earthly treasures meant for deep slumber, buried myself within a coffin, and was laid to rest in the earth."

"I left a message for my descendants, instructing them to revive me in an era devoid of Immortals."

"This became an absolute secret that only successive clan heads of the Dijiang Clan were qualified to know, passed down from generation to generation."

"A little over two hundred years ago, my descendants finally awakened me."

"Upon waking, I looked around and thought, what a splendid era indeed, where half-immortals reign supreme."

"Then, I spent two hundred years recovering my strength while preparing to establish a demon kingdom; and just this morning, as soon as the demon kingdom was formed, you all came charging in."

Seeing that Zhu Tian truly knew nothing of substance, Jiang Lianyi wasted no more time with questions and prepared to depart.

"As I have said before, the Feng Clan will become a part of the demon kingdom. The demon realm shall be unified, and you must focus your efforts on governing the demon kingdom; I will be monitoring you at all times."

In the ancient era, an Immortal ruled over thousands of living planets; half-immortals fared slightly worse, governing a few hundred, while the Immortal Fairy was the exception, ruling over a single one.

Zhu Tian possessed the experience of governance.

Leaving the imperial palace of the demon city, the Immortal Fairy returned to Lu Yang’s body.

"Where do we go next?"

"To the Feng Clan."

...

The Qiongqi Clan.

A petite figure intently studied the image-recording orb that Clan Head Jin had purchased at an exorbitant price, her expression grave.

A battle between two half-immortals was well worth repeated study.

"It really is Jiang Lianyi, and she is at the absolute peak of her power."

The petite figure clicked her tongue; she had assumed Jiang Lianyi had only recently awakened and would be far from her peak form, but seeing her now, her movements were grand and unconstrained, handling Zhu Tian without even resorting to her hidden trump cards.

"Could it be that Ashi gave her some wondrous treasure?"

"Little Ancestor, our next step..." Clan Head Jin inquired from the side, trembling with fear.

"First, we join the demon kingdom. Though it does not show on the image-recording orb, knowing Jiang Lianyi's character, she has undoubtedly left a master-servant seal upon Zhu Tian. This demon kingdom belongs to Zhu Tian in name, but in truth, it belongs to Jiang Lianyi."

"With Jiang Lianyi present, the unification of the demon kingdom is a foregone conclusion. It would be unreasonable for our Qiongqi Clan to hold out forever; it is far better to take the initiative and join the demon kingdom now, so we may still retain a measure of control."

The petite figure had clashed continuously with Jiang Lianyi during the ancient era, and she knew Jiang Lianyi's character better than anyone; using the cover of swirling smoke to imprint a master-servant seal might deceive others, but it could never deceive her.

"This Heavenly Court, I never heard Ashi mention it before."

Seeing that there was nothing left to glean from the half-immortal battle, the petite figure casually tossed the image-recording orb backward, throwing it to Clan Head Jin.

"You may keep this image-recording orb or destroy it, but in short, do not let outsiders see it."

Clan Head Jin was puzzled: "Is it because a battle between half-immortals is of such monumental importance that it cannot be lightly shared?"

"It is because the Baxia Clan raised the price on the spot, and the humiliating process of you buying the image-recording orb was recorded right into it."

"Oh."

The second update will be at eleven o'clock.