Chapter 488: Deep-Rooted Love

The immortal mystical realm that Jiang Shangzhen was strolling through right now wasn't regarded as a small world, yet it was actually superior to a small world.

There were extravagant buildings and wondrous flowers here, with ethereal birds calling and spiritual energy as abundant as morning mist. Each step one took would make one feel relaxed and joyful, and Jiang Shangzhen clicked his tongue in wonder when he experienced this. He regarded himself as someone who had seen much of the world, owning the widely renowned Cloud Cave Blessed Land and having wasted sixty years in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land simply for the sake of helping his good friend, Lu Fang, untie the knot in his heart. Of course, he had also used this as an opportunity to rest and relax.

In reality, there were few cultivators as carefree and removed from mortal matters as Jiang Shangzhen. There were countless challenges and barriers on the path of cultivation, and whether or not one was fortunate enough to obtain fated opportunities was naturally very important. However, slowly accumulating experience and strength before quickly soaring to great heights one day was a paramount and timeless method that cultivators had to concede was incredibly effective.

When visiting Mural City back then, Jiang Shangzhen hadn't won over any of the female heavenly officials with his bold and ambitious words. Jiang Shangzhen hadn't thought much about this, but out of curiosity, he had asked Sect Leader Xun Yuan about the secrets of the Flax Robe Sect and the murals after returning to the Parasol Leaf Continent's Jade Tablet Sect. He had asked the right person, and the Immortal Tier cultivator's familiarity with the many celestial maidens and divine maidens in the world was, in Jiang Shangzhen's words, simply shocking.

Xun Yuan had especially traveled to the Middle Earth Divine Continent's Bamboo Sea Small World in the past simply for the sake of taking a look at the divine beauty on Azure Divine Mountain. He had lingered around the mountain and been unwilling to leave, yet he had ultimately failed to catch a single glimpse of the beautiful lady. Not only that, but he had almost let slip the opportunity to step up into the position of sect leader. In fact, the previous sect leader had sent a messenger flying sword through the continents, asking his Ascension Tier good friend in the Middle Earth Divine Continent to forcefully frag Xun Yuan out from the Bamboo Sea Small World.

It was said that after Xun Yuan returned to the Jade Tablet Sect, the old sect leader whose mind and body were withered like decaying wood and who was imminently about to pass away still forcefully summoned the last of his energy to viciously scold his disciple, becoming so furious that he directly threw the sect leader's token from the ancestral hall to the ground.

Of course, these were all unverified rumors that became increasingly dramatized as they were spread further and further. After all, only a few old ancestors who had already extracted themselves from worldly affairs for many years had been present along with the old sect leader and Xun Yuan at the time. Even so, the old cultivators of the Jade Tablet Sect still recounted this matter to their disciples as an interesting story.

However, taking into account the fact that the master and disciple were birds of a feather, Jiang Shangzhen felt like the rumors were most likely true. Perhaps one of the reasons why the old sect leader had become so furious with Xun Yuan was because he had surprisingly failed to catch a single glimpse of the divine beauty on Azure Divine Mountain.

Jiang Shangzhen stopped pretending to make seals with his hands, clasping them behind his back as he walked forward and recalled some secrets that only circulated between a few people at the peak of the mountains. He couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

Looking around at the breathtaking scenery here again, he couldn't help but feel heartache for those immortal big sisters.

Sect Leader Xun Yuan had once said that the fated opportunities linked to the eight murals of the female heavenly officials were a critical reason why the Flax Robe Sect had chosen Skeleton Shoal as the founding location for their sect. Perhaps they had planned to establish their sect at the southernmost region of the continent right from the very beginning, and their so-called explanation of being at odds with the sword immortals of the Complete Reed Continent and being forced to venture south was nothing more than a convenient excuse. Perhaps this was an excuse to cover up their true reason for choosing Skeleton Shoal.

Xun Yuan had gone through many secret documents passed down through the generations by the top-notch immortal sects and forces in the Middle Earth Divine Continent, and he had especially gone through many records of the ancient clan that looked after the Confucian Sect's etiquette. From this, Xun Yuan speculated that the eight female heavenly officials from the Heavenly Court were equivalent in status to palace stewards from the censorate or Six Ministries in the imperial courts of mortal empires.

These female heavenly officials were likely responsible for patrolling heaven and earth and supervising thunder deities, wind lords, rain gods, and other similar beings in the Ancient Heavenly Court, preventing any faction from abusing their power and acting wantonly. As such, the eight female heavenly officials who had been sealed in the murals by some powerful ancient cultivator had once occupied low-ranking positions but assumed huge responsibilities in the Ancient Heavenly Court. They couldn't be underestimated.

Following the collapse of the Heavenly Court and the crumbling of the Divine Dao, the virtuous sages of the past had established a new order where heaven and earth were isolated from each other. Almost all of the ancient deities with extraordinary innate mystical powers who had been fortunate enough to survive the calamity had been exiled and imprisoned at a few "mountain tops" that no one knew about. They could atone for their sins through meritorious acts, which entailed helping the mortal world balance wind and rain and water and fire.

It was rumored that people could directly communicate with some primordial deities in a great hall at True Martial Mountain — an ancestral temple of the Militarian Sect — or at the ancestral hall of the Wind Snow Temple. In fact, the scholarly temples of the Confucian Sect didn't prohibit this behavior. In stark contrast, this special treatment wasn't afforded to the Divine Edict Sect, the number one sect in the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, or the Cloud Forest Jiang Clan, a clan that had produced many grand priests in the past.

Jiang Shangzhen shook his sleeves. The abundance of spiritual energy here was astounding, so much so that it was as if he were walking on a small path through the mountain forest after a bout of rain. There were beads of water on his clothes, and Jiang Shangzhen thought to himself that those below the Ascension Tier, including himself, could receive huge benefits if they were able to stay here and cultivate. As for those at the Ascension Tier, the richness or paucity of spiritual energy was no longer the most important consideration for where one cultivated.

Jiang Shangzhen raised an arm and sniffed his sleeve, remarking, "What a refreshing smell. This probably carries the fragrance of those immortal big sisters."

He looked up with a smile, gazing at a distant residence that had a golden plaque with blurry characters. The spiritual energy near the residence was especially rich, and immortal mist lingered around the waist of a divine maiden standing at the entrance, undulating slightly as it did so. There was an inkstone, Flash, hanging by her waist, and it was vaguely visible from a distance.

There was another divine maiden sitting on the roof and gently twirling her fingers, causing a small and adorable auspicious cloud to rapidly fly around like a snow-white sparrow. She peered down at Jiang Shangzhen with a hint of a smile.

The Hanging Inkstone Divine Maiden smiled coldly and said, "How impudent. You dare to travel far away to this place with your yin soul simply because you're at the Unpolished Jade Tier."

The Rain Bringer Divine Maiden sitting on the roof smiled faintly and said, "No wonder you were able to deceive everyone and secretly breach the Flax Robe Sect's mountain and water formation as well as our immortal palace restriction."

Jiang Shangzhen bowed and said, "It's been many years, Big Sister Hanging Inkstone and Big Sister Rain Bringer, but Jiang Shangzhen is finally able to meet the two of you again. This is truly a great fortune and a blessing from my ancestors."

Arcs of purple lightning crackled near the Hanging Inkstone Divine Maiden's sleeves, and it was clear that the mere words of this glib person, despite his heart actually being as calm as still water, were enough to make her feel displeased.

"We once reached an agreement with the Flax Robe Sect that we wouldn't observe the matters outside of Mural City. So, has your physical body gone to look for our big sister?" the Rain Bringer Divine Maiden asked.

As the two parties conversed, a seven-colored deer jumped across the roof ridges in the distance, appearing nimble and ethereal as it moved.

Jiang Shangzhen nodded and focused his gaze on the seven-colored deer, asking in curiosity, "In the past, I heard about Celestial Maiden He Xiaoliang from the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent's Divine Edict Sect possessing unparalleled fortune in the continent. She's even established a sect in the Complete Reed Continent now, and she's still accompanied by a divine deer as always. I do wonder, is there any relationship between her deer and the deer here?"

"Make haste and leave the immortal palace, common person," the Hanging Inkstone Divine Maiden commanded in slight impatience.

Jiang Shangzhen's expression was solemn as he replied seriously, "Please feel free to hit me or scold me if you find me annoying, Big Sisters. I definitely won't fight back. If cultivators from the Flax Robe Sect come to drag me out, however, I do have some pride and backbone even though I don't have any impressive abilities. I'll refuse to leave no matter what."

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Ferocious arcs of lightning instantly thundered into existence around the Hanging Inkstone Divine Maiden, causing her ribbons to flutter in the air and making her immortal dress appear like a dress of purple lightning. It was clear that there was no need for the old ancestors of the Flax Robe Sect to offer incense and knock on the door to enter this realm. As per the agreement that said no one was allowed to enter this realm to disturb their peaceful cultivation, the Hanging Inkstone Divine Maiden was already planning to deal with Jiang Shangzhen by herself.

However, the lithe Rain Bringer Divine Maiden with a cloud bun hairstyle slowly stood up and gracefully descended by the Hanging Inkstone Divine Maiden's side, saying softly, "Let's wait for Big Sister to return first."

The Hanging Inkstone Divine Maiden was nowhere near as graceful and restrained as the Rain Bringer Divine Maiden, and she was quite reluctant to hold back at this moment. She still wanted to teach this glib lecher a lesson. What did it matter that he was an Unpolished Jade Tier cultivator? His yin soul had come by itself, and this was their immortal palace, after all. As such, his combat power was at most at the Nascent Tier.

To say nothing of the fact that two of them were present, just she alone would be enough to comfortably kick him out of this realm. However, the Rain Bringer Divine Maiden gently tugged her sleeve, and only then did the Hanging Inkstone Divine Maiden hold her tongue and relent. The purple lightning around her slowly flowed into the small inkstone hanging by her waist.

Three knocks sounded outside the mural, yet these knocks reverberated through heaven and earth like the thundering drums of deities in the Immortal Palace Mystical Realm.

The Rain Bringer Divine Maiden looked up and said softly, "It's been a while, Esteemed Immortal Guochi."

Jiang Shangzhen turned around and looked up. A huge pair of embroidered shoes broke through the sea of clouds, yet the esteemed immortal had already returned to a normal size by the time she landed on the ground.

This was an ordinary-looking woman who wasn't very tall. However, her aura was overwhelming, and there was a Dao saber by her hip with its hilt having the decoration of a dragon jewel.

As powerful as Jiang Shangzhen was, even he couldn't help but feel a slight headache. This woman wasn't attractive, and her temper was truly very bad. In fact, he had suffered at her hands in the past. They had both been Golden Core Tier earth immortals at the time, and Guochi had believed some of the "rumors" about him and thus traversed across countless mountains and waters to hunt him for almost half a year.

They had clashed thrice during this time, and Jiang Shangzhen hadn't felt comfortable about going all out against Guochi. She was a female, after all, and her status was also very special. She was the only daughter of the Flax Robe Sect's previous sect leader, and Jiang Shangzhen hadn't wanted his journey home to be blocked by a mentally challenged person. As such, there was the rare case of Jiang Shangzhen suffering again and again in the Northern Complete Reed Continent.

Esteemed Immortal Guochi was now the sect leader of the Flax Robe Sect already, and she had finally stumbled her way to the Unpolished Jade Tier after much struggle. The future of her Great Dao didn't look too bright, but there was nothing that could be done about this since the Flax Robe Sect seldom focused on one's cultivation base when choosing the new sect leader. More often than not, it was the person with the strongest temper and the most courage to make personal sacrifices who got chosen as sect leader.

As such, a big reason why Jiang Shangzhen was unwilling to linger around during this trip to Skeleton Shoal with Chen Ping'an was because of Esteemed Immortal Guochi, someone whom he had nicknamed "Shorty Tigress" back then.

However, there were some small surprises, and Jiang Shangzhen would have expected Guochi to be doing battle at Malicious Ghost Valley. If that were the case and the Unpolished Jade Tier cultivator from the ancestral hall of the Flax Robe Sect had come instead, then Jiang Shangzhen wouldn't have been worried at all.

Casting one's gaze over the entire Majestic World, Jiang Shangzhen didn't regard himself as top-notch when it came to combat power and fighting ability. Even though he had made a huge name for himself in the Parasol Leaf Continent which was no smaller than the Northern Complete Reed Continent, earning the praises "slaying earth immortals with a single willow leaf" and "rather become enemies with the Jade Tablet Sect than Jiang Shangzhen," he never took these matters seriously.

When it came to the ability to flee, however, Jiang Shangzhen truly wasn't blowing his own trumpet when he felt sincerely that he was quite talented and capable. Many years ago, an old ancestor of his sect had joined forces with some traitors in his Cloud Cave Blessed Land to set up a certain death trap for him. However, Jiang Shangzhen had still managed to flee, and it wasn't long before the Jade Tablet Sect and the Cloud Cave Blessed Land had suffered bloody massacres.

Xun Yuan had watched from the sidelines, witnessing the brutal scenes playing out in the Cloud Cave Blessed Land owned by the Jiang Clan. Along with his subordinates, Jiang Shangzhen had directly slaughtered all of the earth immortals and Middle Five Tier cultivators with the potential to become earth immortals in the blessed land. His blade had reached every corner of the blessed land, and he had risked huge losses to the Jiang Clan to resolutely execute all of the traitors and potential threats.

One had to realize that Jiang Shangzhen had a catchphrase that was well-renowned throughout the Parasol Leaf Continent: "The romance between men and women should be long-lasting, but enmity from last night is like leftovers from last night — it doesn't taste good. Even if I eat shit, I'll definitely eat shit that's still warm."

Guochi placed her hand on the hilt of her saber and stared intently at the "esteemed guest" who had traveled here from far away, saying with a smile, "You've walked into this trap yourself, so don't blame me for confining you here and beating you up."

Jiang Shangzhen blinked as if he didn't recognize Esteemed Immortal Guochi. After a brief moment, however, he put on an expression of realization and asked, "Are you Quan'er? How have you become so beautiful?! When you advance to the Immortal Tier someday in the future, you don't need to make any big changes and only need to make some slight adjustments to your appearance. At that time, Quan'er's beauty will make my eyes pop out of their sockets!"

Guochi narrowed her eyes, keeping one hand on the hilt of her saber and gesturing with her other hand as she said with a fake smile, "I'll let you say a few more final words."

Jiang Shangzhen was "in a trance" as he stared at Guochi, and he murmured, "Sure enough, Quan'er is indeed different from those basic women who have nothing but skin and makeup. Speaking honestly from the bottom of my heart, Quan'er can't be regarded as the most beautiful woman in the world. Even so, you're still the same as before, and men will find it extremely difficult to forget your appearance after taking a single glance at you."

Guochi chuckled and replied, "Mhm, your words sound very familiar. Do you still remember Gao Liu from the Lightning Marsh Sect? She was one of the most beautiful women from the central region of the Northern Complete Reed Continent at the time, yet she still doesn't have a Dao partner right now. She once mentioned your name to me in private, and these words of yours were deeply imprinted in her mind. It's been so many years already, yet she still hasn't forgotten your words. Jiang Shangzhen, your cultivation base has risen quite a bit after all these years, so why hasn't your glib tongue improved at all? I'm truly very disappointed."

Jiang Shangzhen was unfazed as he smiled faintly and replied, "This is indeed my bad. I've been completely focused on cultivation for the past few years, so I've somewhat let the more important things fall by the wayside. Quan'er, your feelings toward me are much more sincere, so I'll definitely work even harder for you in the future."

The Hanging Inkstone Divine Maiden sniggered and remarked, "How has someone like this survived until today?"

"You can step forward and support Esteemed Immortal Guochi in a moment. I won't stop you," the Rain Bringer Divine Maiden said.

Jiang Shangzhen looked around and mused, "Ah, it's truly as if I'm dying for love amid the peony flowers."

The Rain Bringer Divine Maiden's expression suddenly became serious.

She focused her attention and paused her breathing, fixing her gaze on some certain place.

It was as if the Hanging Inkstone Divine Maiden were facing a huge enemy, and she gestured for the Flax Robe Sect's Esteemed Immortal Guochi to wait for a short moment.

Inside Mural City...

A young woman from Lion Peak stood under the mural of a female heavenly official, reaching forward with a hand and asking calmly with her mind's voice, "You're still not going to come out?"

The Hanging Inkstone Divine Maiden's heart jolted at almost the exact same moment, and she looked toward someplace else where a man had traveled from a faraway place and arrived at the Northern Complete Reed Continent. This man was looking up at her right now, and his expression appeared exhausted. However, as if sensing her presence, he smiled knowingly at the female heavenly official in the mural and said, "After dreaming of you every night yet not being able to see you, I've finally found you now."

Meanwhile, the Deer Rider Divine Maiden was walking side-by-side with Jiang Shangzhen's true body near the river god temple along the banks of the Swaying River. TheFlowing Iridescent Boat rapidly descended in front of them, following which a female sect leader walked out. After the Deer Rider Divine Maiden saw her, it was as if the impurity in her mind was immediately wiped away. Even though she didn't understand why, she was extremely certain that this young Daoist nun with a majestic aura was the master whom she should truly serve.

Standing on the bank of the Swaying River, the stunningly beautiful young Daoist nun looked at Jiang Shangzhen and asked with a frown, "Are you his Dao guardian?"

This was a very sudden and unexpected question.

However, Jiang Shangzhen instantly understood the situation. Some results and truths might be unclear, with the path to them twisting and turning, but this didn't actually inhibit anything.

Jiang Shangzhen laughed loudly and replied, "No, no, I wouldn't dare to."

However, the Deer Rider Divine Maiden immediately contradicted him, saying something that was rife with killing intent. "His words carried hidden meaning just then, and he was still trying to persuade me to serve that young wanderer. He has ill intentions and ulterior motives, and he almost killed off the fate between Master and me."

Jiang Shangzhen rubbed his chin and said in a pitiful voice, "It appears that I'm not very welcome in the Northern Complete Reed Continent. I guess it's time for me to flee."

The Deer Rider Divine Maiden's expression suddenly became distant, and she said in a quiet voice, "Master, it seems like my two sisters have come across their fated opportunities as well. Who would have thought that we'd each be going our own way in the span of a single day?"

The young Daoist nun who was the esteemed leader of a sect didn't pay too much attention to this. She was slightly travel-worn after rushing to this place, and she furrowed her brows as she battled against a rare moment of indecision.

It was only at this moment that Jiang Shangzhen started to feel surprised.

This was because the Daoist nun, whom he had already guessed the identity of, had developed killing intent.

When it came to the romance between couples in the mountains, getting beaten was an expression of care and getting scolded was an expression of love. Jiang Shangzhen truly couldn't be any more familiar with this.

Being willing to develop killing intent was a sign of deep-rooted love. This was a feeling of love that was almost impossible to escape even after the fated encounter was over.

The young Daoist nun ignored Jiang Shangzhen, instead smiling at the Deer Rider Divine Maiden and saying, "Let's make a trip to Malicious Ghost Valley's Skeleton Wall City."

"Master has only just advanced to the Unpolished Jade Tier, so it might not be appropriate for Master to go there before stabilizing your cultivation base," the Deer Rider Divine Maiden suggested in a soft voice.

The young Daoist nun shook her head and replied, "It's okay. This is only a minor matter."

She had major matters to settle.