Chapter 130: The Higgins Family, Resurrection, and the Jade Cauldron Sect
The Star of God.
This was a world so beautiful it felt almost illusory.
It lacked the overt, top-tier technological aesthetic of a building in every city and a tower in every district that defined the Star of the Heavens, nor did it possess the ancient pastoral charm of Earth.
Set within a binary star system, this habitable planet was filled with colossal mountains floating in the sky. Viewed from a distance, it resembled a fairyland.
Birds and beasts roamed and flew among the peaks, and waterfalls cascaded from the summits, plunging all the way down toward the planet's surface below. It was magnificent and dazzling, like a celestial river falling from the nine heavens.
It was an immortal paradise, with all traces of high technology perfectly concealed.
Beneath those ethereal, mist-shrouded floating mountains were installed the Star of God’s most advanced anti-gravity systems, powered by energy derived from anti-gravity crystals.
A single fist-sized anti-gravity crystal could sustain operations for one hundred thousand Earth years.
The entire planet had long since achieved automated climate regulation, and all kinds of natural disasters were completely prevented and controlled.
On the Star of God, ordinary people lived on the planet's surface, while the nobility... resided within those floating mountains.
This was a world of strict stratification, jointly controlled by the emperor and the nobility.
The commoners living on the planet's surface did not lead a life of hardship. This was not a punk-styled apocalyptic wasteland, nor were the ruling authorities cruel enough to treat everyone like slaves.
Because there was no need to.
Even though the floating mountains and the planetary surface below seemed like two completely different worlds, the daily lives of ordinary people were still quite comfortable and pleasant.
Unlike the people of the Star of the Heavens, most of whom chose to upload their memories to achieve an alternative form of immortality, the inhabitants of the Star of God were far more enthusiastic about cultivation.
Billions of years ago, the pioneering ancestors of the Star of God departed from Earth, enduring long ages of interstellar drifting before finally finding such an ideal sanctuary.
In that era, people were more passionate about achieving eternal life through technology.
It wasn't until a few million years ago that the people here discovered a peculiar planet in this stellar region and verified that it had once possessed a tremendously powerful cultivation civilization.
Gradually, cultivation began to flourish on the Star of God.
People increasingly felt that no matter how high-tech paths developed, they would ultimately have to return to the exploration of one's own inner mysteries.
"Cultivation," once deemed ancient and even unscientific by many, had instead become the most cutting-edge "technology."
It was also from that time on that the people here finally thought of their ancestors' home—Earth!
According to the historical records of the Star of God, Earth was a very special place, having successively given birth to cultivation civilizations on multiple occasions.
During each cultivation civilization, at least one—or many—powerful life forms would emerge!
Those individuals could soar through the skies and tunnel through the earth, summoning wind and rain. Not only did they possess immense lifespans, but they could also freely enter higher-tier worlds that technological civilizations could never reach!
Only in those higher-tier worlds could humanity better develop itself and seize the opportunity to become gods...
Thus, the exploration of Earth by the Star of God had begun millions of years ago.
Unfortunately, Earth at that time had not yet entered the era of cultivation.
The Star of God's numerous expeditions ultimately ended in failure. They managed to find a few ancient tombs of cultivators on Earth and acquired some ancient cultivation techniques, but none of them were of high grade.
It was only in these past tens of thousands of years that Earth had finally welcomed a renewed explosion of cultivation civilization!
And that newly developed, young generation of human civilization on Earth, which had only grown for tens of thousands of years, had become the luckiest darling in the eyes of the people of the Star of God.
A naive human civilization still in its infancy had happened to catch the restart of the cultivation civilization and the successive emergence of various secret realms.
What kind of destiny was this?
The great nobles of the Star of God were consumed by envy.
At the same time, they actively took action.
Among them, the ancient Higgins family was the main driving force behind the exploration of Earth's secret realms!
They had already reaped massive dividends from this process.
Over the millennia, at least dozens of secret realms had been monopolized by the Higgins family, and all the cultivation resources obtained from their development were continuously shipped back to the Star of God.
Consequently, this family had also produced a large number of outstanding young cultivators.
The philosophy this family had always upheld was: "Acquire quietly, and never make enemies."
Therefore, for many years, the Higgins family—a clan that never sought the spotlight—had exploited Earth to the fullest and gained countless benefits.
They also maintained good relationships with the leaders of Earth's major factions, often presenting them with expensive gifts.
Prior to this, the Higgins family had mostly confined their silent development of secret realms to Earth's regional sectors.
It wasn't that they didn't want to enter the East; it was primarily because they couldn't.
The contemporary Earth human civilization, which looked tender and weak, actually concealed many terrifying powerhouses.
Especially Eastern China, which was a magical place.
In past human civilizations, China had produced far too many brilliant and breathtaking grand masters.
This generation also had quite a few—some known to the Higgins family, and some unknown. Additionally, many factions in the China region had dealings with the cultivation world.
They were bound by ancient pacts, meaning that the seemingly fragile contemporary Earth human civilization was not something that could be trampled upon at will.
In response to this, the Higgins family had repeatedly warned their family members entering Earth: drop your condescending and arrogant attitudes, and do not make enemies casually.
Everything had been fine until Levante Higgins died within the borders of Eastern China on Earth.
When the news was transmitted back to the Higgins family, it instantly caused an uproar.
The entire family immediately split into two factions, arguing fiercely.
The more radical faction insisted that troops should be sent directly into Earth to demand, in the most aggressive posture, that China hand over the murderer and henceforth open the development rights of the Eastern secret realms to the Higgins family.
In the cognition of these people, those so-called ancient pacts with the cultivation world and the presence of numerous experts in contemporary Earth civilization were all illusory!
They were merely stories made up by the Earthlings themselves specifically to scare people!
Just like many animals that would display their fiercest side upon the arrival of danger in hopes of intimidating an enemy, they would ultimately still fall to a hunter's bullet.
"People in the cultivation world view all living beings in the mortal realm as mere ants!"
"Even people like us are nothing more than bugs slightly larger than ants in the eyes of those cultivators. Why would they ever care about the feelings of those mortal commoners?"
"That's right, powerful cultivators are immortals in the eyes of mortals. Those immortals can go to whichever secret realm they please, without needing any interaction with worldly mortals whatsoever. Only the ignorant would believe that those grand cultivators need to rely on mortals for anything!"
"Members of the Higgins family cannot die in vain; that murderer must be severely punished!"
The other faction adhered to the Higgins family's long-standing style of conduct, advocating for "acquiring quietly and never making enemies."
"No civilization should be underestimated. Given a suitable opportunity, a true genius can advance by leaps and bounds in a single month or even soar straight to the skies! Perhaps Levante provoked precisely such a person, and since he provoked them first, broke the rules, and killed someone, his death was well-deserved and a disgrace to the family!"
"Those who do not know how to respect life and have forgotten the family's ancestral teachings deserve to die. You still want to avenge him? Do you dare use a planet-destroying dreadnought to bombard Earth? Without Earth's civilization even lifting a finger, countless grand masters of the cultivation world would strike down. They would cleave our battleship in two with a single sword and tear every single person inside to pieces!"
"Bombarding Earth with a planet-destroying dreadnought is utterly ridiculous; only a brainless fool like Higgins would say something like that."
The two factions argued endlessly, each voicing their own opinions. Both sides believed they had sufficient reasons to persuade the other, but by the end of the argument, neither could convince anyone.
Until another person arrived outside the floating mountains of the Higgins family.
That person appeared quite abruptly, as if materializing out of thin air. The moment he appeared, he was immediately captured by the defense system of that colossal floating mountain, and a massive array of weapons locked onto him instantly.
Unflustered, the man retrieved a brand-new talisman from his person, which looked as though it had been casually sketched with a few strokes on the most ordinary piece of white paper.
He activated this talisman and flung it toward the highest peak of the floating mountain.
No one lived there, but every member of the Higgins family regarded it as a sacred mountain!
Because there was an ancient ancestral hall at the summit, enshrining the successive ancestors of the Higgins family.
The instant the talisman flew toward the mountain peak, various offensive high-tech weapons opened fire directly!
No unknown object was permitted to approach the sacred mountain housing the ancestral tablets.
Amidst a violent roar and blinding flashes of light, the talisman continued flying toward the sacred mountain of the Higgins family unscathed.
Then, under the dumbfounded gazes of many, it detonated at the summit of the sacred mountain!
The defensive array formations there simply could not withstand the talisman's bombardment.
Following the explosion, the sacred mountain was reduced in height by at least a hundred meters!
Vanishing along with it was the ancestral hall of the Higgins family!
Countless people collapsed on the spot!
The ancestors... had been blown into oblivion!
Instantly, countless attacks surged toward the man outside.
A screen of light materialized before him.
The powerful high-tech weapons were utterly incapable of breaching that layer of light shield.
Soon, the upper echelon of the Higgins family ordered a cessation of attacks, and someone emerged to question the man—who was clearly a grand cultivator—with grief and indignation: why act this way when there was no enmity between them?
The man replied indifferently, "Think about what your family's descendants have been doing on Earth! Their methods are vicious and cruel, taking human lives right across the business negotiation table. Coming here today is merely to give you a lesson. If there is ever a next time, the thing getting blown away... won't just be your family's ancestral tablets!"
Having said that, the man's figure flickered and he vanished into the void.
With that, the two factions of the Higgins family stopped arguing altogether.
Then, someone came to report that the official authorities of Eastern China on Earth had sent a diplomatic note, severely condemning the family member Levante Higgins...
The current family head, Kennett Higgins, sighed and said to the assembled family elites: "The people of Eastern China have an ancient saying: 'to lose the wife and forfeit the troops.'"
"Immediately dispatch people to China on Earth and assure them that Levante has been struck from the Higgins family registry, that this incident was an isolated case, and that such an event will never happen again."
"In addition, bring a set of the most advanced equipment and use genetic technology to resurrect that innocent girl who died. Although she will suffer a temporary loss of memory, this is the best remedy we can offer."
"As for compensation, handle it as you see fit. I have only one demand, and all of you seated here better listen well: keep your people under control and stop stirring up trouble on Earth!"
"Whoever violates this will bear the responsibility!"
...
Song Yue had enjoyed a rare period of leisure lately.
Ever since he stepped down from his position as the branch director of the Hangzhou Administration Division, his entire person had become much more relaxed.
He had gone back once, seeing Old Wolf and quite a few new faces.
Old Wolf told Song Yue that he wouldn't stay in this position for much longer either; once he rebuilt the Hangzhou Administration Division, he too would leave.
"I have reclaimed the cultivation base I once discarded, and I cannot linger in this mortal realm for much longer..."
Old Wolf felt a bit emotional, candidly stating that he had thought the Master never had a chance to leave the mortal world, and he himself had been considerably affected.
"In those years, my heart turned to ash. Even petty demons whose food I would have once found too shabby dared to come and bully me a little, and I endured it all... Until I saw Old Lu rise again. Heh, if I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, this decaying blood of mine actually started boiling once more..."
"A mission! It sounds like a joke; the ignorant will mock it, the foolish will ignore it, and only those who likewise hold a mission in their hearts understand that responsibility."
Song Yue had chatted with Old Wolf for a long time that day, truly understanding for the first time this limping wolf demon with an aging exterior and a youthful heart.
He came to read what the world looked like through the eyes of a demon, and understood the inner yearning of a demon walking the mortal realm to be recognized and accepted.
"The world is magnificent, and only tolerance allows for endurance. Enlightened individuals in both the cultivation world and those alien planets understand this truth, yet many still do not. Their minds are filled with self-importance, foolishly believing that with formidable strength they can solve everything with their fists, completely unaware that there are heavens beyond heavens. No matter how hard a fist print is, it will always encounter a harder one."
Upon parting, Old Wolf looked at Song Yue and said earnestly: "I hear you've been quite prominent lately. Well, young people... hot-blooded and full of vigor, liking to stand out isn't much of a problem, but extreme rigidity is prone to breaking. You must learn to conceal your brilliance."
Old Wolf's words were heartfelt and seasoned advice, and Song Yue smiled to express his gratitude.
He bid farewell to Old Wolf very politely.
The Administration Division, which had carried a chapter of his memories, would likewise fade further into the distance within his memory.
Over the next few days, Song Yue followed Xiao Meng to a few more places.
As the universal spokesperson for the Elite Martial Arts Academy, this was also an obligation he ought to fulfill.
What Song Yue hadn't expected, however, was that Xiao Meng—the former martial arts championship gold medalist turned successful young businessman whose mind was entirely consumed by commerce—had actually... also acquired a Heaven-Reaching Stele!
"I didn't even know what that thing was! I woke up one morning, and a stone tablet was inexplicably sitting on my bedside table. I fucking thought I was dead and lying in a coffin. Brother Yue, do you know how terrifying that feels?"
Xiao Meng was extremely expressive, vividly describing to his various holy-shit experiences after acquiring the Heaven-Reaching Stele.
"I asked the housekeeper if she had placed it there, and she looked so aggrieved, crying and saying, 'Manager Meng, if you feel I've done something wrong or dislike me, just fire me. I am not taking the blame for something I know nothing about...'"
Song Yue: "..."
Meng Xudong rolled his eyes: "I spent forever sweet-talking and coaxing her. Man, I really don't know what goes on in women's minds. No wonder people say women are made of water. She's much older than my mother, yet her emotions were wildly unstable; I was just asking a casual question..."
Song Yue thought about it: "Menopause?"
Meng Xudong pondered it seriously and said, "I don't get it!"
If you don't get it, what are you pondering for?
Then Xiao Meng began talking about his encounters after acquiring the Heaven-Reaching Stele.
"I threw it away a few times, but every time, it would inexplicably reappear right in front of me. Later on, I surrendered to fate and asked it what it wanted?"
Song Yue looked at him speechlessly: "And it told you?"
Xiao Meng shook his head: "It ignored me. Then I tried using my spiritual power to communicate with it, and it responded!"
Song Yue looked at him: "You even have spiritual power?"
Xiao Meng instantly deflated, looking somewhat depressed as he said, "Of course I do! Although I'm infatuated with business, I've been cultivating too. Unfortunately, my spiritual power is rather weak, so I can barely communicate with it. I feel like it looks down on me, because I can only open the stele's energy gate and enter that space, but I can't get past the inner door..."
Song Yue thought to himself, with your level, it would be a miracle if you *could* get in. At the same time, he felt a bit puzzled: why would the stone tablet choose Xiao Meng?
Could it be that the Nine Passes World was short of people to this extent?
Even a weakling like Xiao Meng could catch its eye?
Of course, he didn't say this aloud, fearing it would wound classmate Meng's self-esteem.
"Brother Yue, do you know what this is?" Meng Xudong looked at Song Yue with a thirst for knowledge. "That door I can't get through—do you think it might connect to a much larger world?"
"Yeah."
Song Yue nodded.
"You really know?"
Meng Xudong was somewhat surprised.
"That's the Heaven-Reaching Stele. Its most basic function is storage. You can think of it as a warehouse where you can put all kinds of fresh produce, and it won't rot."
Song Yue said.
"Oh, oh, oh, I get it. The previous... um, seafood! Right, seafood!" Meng Xudong suddenly enlightened, "It was packed inside this kind of space, wasn't it?"
Song Yue nodded.
"And then?"
"The door inside leads to a legendary ancient battlefield. It is a..."
Song Yue briefly told Xiao Meng about the Nine Passes World as he knew it.
Xiao Meng was very excited after hearing this.
"Brother Yue, do you think we can open the Elite Martial Arts Academy in that world in the future?"
Song Yue: "..."
This kid had gone mad.
"Actually, it might not be impossible!"
"So what if it's a high-tier world? Do young people in high-tier worlds not need martial arts basics?"
"We won't do high-end; we'll only provide basic education!"
"In a world like that, basic education must be terrible, right? This is a huge blank market waiting to be captured!"
The more he spoke, the more excited he became, and he couldn't help but start daydreaming.
As for the world Brother Yue mentioned being the final barrier against the Demon race, he didn't take it to heart at all.
When the sky fell, there were tall people to hold it up; what was there to be afraid of?
Since it was a vast grand world whose distances were measured in light-years, boundless business opportunities were bound to exist!
What was the fun of doing business on Earth?
And how much a sense of accomplishment could building an interstellar chain store give you?
If you were going to do it, you should take your business to the highest-tier world, making those top-tier ancient sects and celestial Buddhas send their youngest disciples to the Elite Martial Arts Academy—now that was true capability!
Of course, these were all Xiao Meng's internal thoughts, and he felt that a martial-arts-obsessed person like Brother Yue wouldn't understand.
Not understanding didn't matter; he could just help out later on.
When Song Yue finished running through the celebration ceremony for a newly opened branch with Xiao Meng, he received a call from Sun Tong.
"People from the Higgins family have come."
Song Yue's first reaction upon hearing this was: revenge!
However, Sun Tong didn't give Song Yue a chance to erupt, speaking quickly: "They've come to sue for peace."
Sue for peace?
Song Yue was somewhat dazed.
Since when did the high-and-mighty alien lords... start lowering their proud heads... to sue for peace?
It felt a bit surreal.
Weren't they always talking about using planet-destroying dreadnoughts to blow Earth to smithereens?
Song Yue abandoned Xiao Meng and left first, tossing him a bottle of medicinal pills and telling him to cultivate properly, lest he embarrass himself later by failing to even enter that door.
Soon, he arrived at the Beijing headquarters of the Administration Division and met the emissaries from the Higgins family of the Star of God.
A handsome young blond man, whose appearance bore a resemblance to the previous one, greeted Song Yue with a friendly smile, immediately standing up to say hello and bowing in apology.
"Apologies, our family's descendants lacked discipline and caused you trouble!"
"To express our apologies and sincerity, we have specially brought the most advanced equipment, which can use genetic extraction to resurrect that innocent female..."
Song Yue frowned slightly. Genetic extraction... resurrection?
Was this sort of thing reliable?
Would the resurrected individual still be the original person?
In theory, yes.
But what about the soul?
If their technological means were truly this bullsh*t, why bother cultivating at all?
How was this any different from the memory uploading on the Star of the Heavens?
At this moment, Sun Tong spoke from the side: "A person copied out in this manner certainly won't have those past memories. However, I have heard of an art that can summon the souls of the deceased... back from an unknown, mysterious place."
Such an art existed?
Song Yue was somewhat surprised.
Sun Tong nodded: "An elderly person of my acquaintance should be skilled in this path, but so much time has passed; whether it can succeed is not something I can guarantee."
Song Yue said: "As long as there is a sliver of hope, we must try."
At that moment, a woman accompanying the blond youth suddenly looked at Song Yue with a pleading expression and said, "Those members of our family who died here previously..."
"Burned," Song Yue said.
"..."
The woman smiled bitterly and said nothing more.
It was the blond youth who earnestly explained to Song Yue: "Mr. Song, please don't misunderstand. Even if those people are successfully resurrected, they will still have to face trial upon returning to the family. For them, living might be more painful than dying."
"Then burn them too," Song Yue said indifferently.
He didn't know why these people had come to apologize and sue for peace in person. Perhaps the warnings from Earth's upper echelon had worked, or perhaps they had been dealt with by some other grand masters. In any case, Song Yue didn't believe it was because the family members had found their conscience.
None of that mattered anymore, however. He called his sister and told her about the matter.
Song Yu became immensely excited upon hearing it.
Although many days had passed, the shadow cast by this incident would never fade for a lifetime.
Now, hearing that her best friend had a chance of being resurrected and returning, even though it felt somewhat unbelievable, she readily agreed to it all.
The person had already been buried.
Song Yu sought out her best friend's parents, who initially refused.
In their eyes, so-called resurrection was nothing more than alien high-tech cloning technology.
To conjure up someone who looked identical to their daughter, yet remained like a blank slate... wouldn't that make things even more painful?
Would that person understand their daughter's thoughts and feelings?
Had she experienced what their daughter had lived through?
It wasn't until Song Yu told them that there were masters in China who could deploy soul-summoning techniques to attempt to call back their daughter's departed soul that the two elders were truly moved.
They agreed on the spot.
Soon, everything was prepared.
Using cloning technology to perfectly replicate a physical body was no difficult task for the people of the Star of God.
The real main event was the subsequent soul-summoning process!
Song Yue also met the mysterious old woman.
To his slight surprise, the other party turned out to be a kind-looking old grandmother.
Accompanied by Sun Tong and others, Song Yue, his sister Song Yu, and the deceased friend's parents escorted the soul-less, cloned body to this location.
A small quadrangle courtyard in the center of Beijing.
It was very quiet here, with guards standing watch outside.
Upon entering, people would subconsciously soften their footsteps and lower their voices.
The old grandmother was very kind and greeted everyone warmly.
Song Yue surveyed the reception hall and discovered that many legendary immortal and Buddhist figures were enshrined here.
The hall was also wreathed in curling wisps of incense smoke.
Speaking of which, in this era where everyone cultivated and horizons were exceptionally broad, very few people still superstitious about unknown things.
As for the destination of humans after death, it no longer mirrored the ancient eras of the past where people believed they entered the underworld; instead, numerous schools of thought had branched off.
Some firmly believed that death was like a lamp going out, with only a mental body composed of countless electrons remaining for a short period before rapidly dissipating.
Some believed that souls existed, but their destination was by no means any netherworld; rather, it was some mysterious, unknown space awaiting reincarnation.
Still other cultivators believed that if a powerhouse who had achieved great mastery of the infant stage had their physical body destroyed, their nascent golden core—which bore the initial semblance of an infant—would degenerate into a "ghost immortal" if it failed to find a target for possession. That was a different kind of powerful soul...
In any case, each had their own theories, and no one could convince anyone else.
As for Song Yue, he still believed that souls existed after death, or at least that powerful spiritual willpower remained.
Otherwise, what were the things he saw in the Kunlun Underground Palace and the Star of the Heavens Underground Palace?
"This body has a high degree of affinity with her; that is the key to success," the old grandmother said softly after seeing the cloned body of Song Yu's best friend, extending a withered hand to gently touch that cold face.
The best friend's parents suppressed their inner grief and boundless hope, not even daring to voice a plea for the old woman's help.
They were terrified that a single misstep might displease her and cause her to wash her hands of the matter.
Piteous were the hearts of parents worldwide; only matters concerning their children could reduce them to such humility in the dust.
"I cannot guarantee success!"
The old grandmother looked at everyone and said, "After a person dies, if they harbor strong lingering obsessions, they may linger in the mortal realm for a while longer. If they have no obsessions, they will depart swiftly, entering another level of world. That world is neither the cultivation world nor any alien world; I once glimpsed it in a dream, and it is very beautiful yet extremely distant—a place living people... can never reach."
Saying this, she smiled and said, "I will try my best, but whether it succeeds depends on this child's fortune and her destiny."
With that, she had the body carried into the inner room, where she began burning incense and devoutly praying to the statues of gods and buddhas enshrined in the hall.
Her prayers finished, she entered the inner room.
Before long, Song Yue's spiritual sea suddenly sent waves of throbbing palpitations.
Subconsciously, he opened his spiritual eye and discovered that an invisible domain... had enveloped the entire small quadrangle courtyard.
At the same time, in the endless distance... as if separated by countless light-years, a burst of intense golden light erupted!
That light was incomparably resplendent yet not dazzling at all, instead giving people a very gentle feeling.
The next instant, a bridge formed of golden light instantly extended to the space above this quadrangle courtyard.
Song Yue was somewhat stunned!
He thought to himself, could this really be so miraculous?
Could that old grandmother really summon back a dead soul?
With an ability like this... wouldn't one be able to live forever and never die?
At this moment, Sun Tong whispered beside Song Yue: "Actually, among those alien planets, there are also people skilled in this kind of method, but such individuals are extremely rare. They are innately capable of connecting to another world—this isn't an ability brought by cultivation, but an innate gift!"
Song Yue said, "If that's the case, why do aliens even bother cultivating?"
Sun Tong smiled: "Do you think summoning souls is that easy? Furthermore, cloned bodies likewise have an upper limit."
"I've read some alien literature stating that there is a lock inside the human body. This lock determines the upper limit of a person's lifespan. Even if one can be repeatedly resurrected through cloning followed by summoning the deceased's soul, once this upper limit is reached, one will ultimately die."
"The true key that can unlock this lock and break through the lifespan upper limit is to cultivate oneself!"
Song Yue thought about it, figuring that for the vast majority of people, cloning physical bodies combined with soul summoning was probably a much more reliable method.
Because cultivation truly relied on talent!
At this moment, in the spiritual realm of existence, Song Yue was surprised to discover a figure walking from afar along the bridge paved with golden light.
Moving at lightning speed!
Arriving above the quadrangle courtyard, it actually glanced toward him!
The next instant, it vanished into the quadrangle courtyard at high speed.
Not long after, the old grandmother emerged from the room looking exhausted, smiling as she said, "Fortunately, that girl's unfulfilled wishes and deep obsessions remained, so I did not fail the mission. She has returned!"
The parents of Song Yu's best friend burst into tears on the spot, standing there wanting to rush in, yet not daring to.
The old woman glanced at the two of them and let out a light sigh: "Go take a look. But do not be too emotional; her divine soul is still unstable right now, and she will need some top-tier soul-stabilizing pills to recuperate for a period before returning to normal."
The two elders could no longer hold back. Hearing this, they rushed into the inner room, and soon, a muffled sound of weeping drifted out.
When Song Yue and the others followed them in, they saw that although the delicate-looking sister appeared somewhat fatigued and her eyes still carried a trace of faint bewilderment, her overall state was quite good.
Seeing Song Yue, she spoke directly: "I just... saw you!"
Song Yue nodded and smiled gently: "You've suffered, sister."
Afterward, he had his sister and the others accompany the newly resurrected woman and her family back to rest first, while he and Sun Tong remained behind for the time being.
On one hand, it was to express their gratitude.
Although the old woman hadn't made any demands, Song Yue still felt he needed to show something.
He retrieved a bottle of pills refined by Wen Rou and presented them to the old grandmother.
The old woman didn't refuse, accepting them with a beaming smile. She opened the bottle, sniffed them, and said with some surprise: "The quality of this medicine is very high! Giving this to an old woman like me is somewhat wasteful."
Song Yue smiled: "Grandmother, you're being too polite. Giving medicine to kind people like you is never a waste!"
The old woman scrutinized Song Yue with kind eyes and remarked, "This child really knows how to talk. You are not ordinary!"
Sun Tong smiled from the side: "Of course he's not ordinary. Lately, he's beaten back quite a few misbehaving aliens and cultivators who came to our China."
The old woman nodded: "A hero out of youth!"
As she spoke, a trace of hesitation flickered across her wrinkled face. Pondering for a moment, she said, "You bear extremely deep karmic ties with the celestial Buddhas and deities. I perceive immortal qi, Buddha light, and divine essence upon your body..."
Song Yue was slightly stunned.
The old grandmother continued: "But there is also demonic nature... and a demon's bone. It's a bit strange; I cannot see through you."
Song Yue was somewhat bewildered.
Sun Tong softly explained to Song Yue at this moment: "Elder Huo is actually someone who strongly insists on lingering in the mortal realm."
Song Yue was somewhat startled.
The amount of information in Sun Tong's remark was quite substantial!
Being addressed as "Elder" was nothing out of the ordinary, but "strongly insisting on lingering in the mortal realm"... that was rather formidable.
What did it mean to strongly insist on lingering in the mortal realm?
It wasn't the kind of ordinary person's understanding of hanging onto a breath of life without dying. In Sun Tong's phrasing, it was clearly implying that the kind-looking old grandmother before him had broken through the mortal realm's cultivation ceiling, yet used methods to shield the heavenly secrets and remained in the mortal realm, refusing to leave!
If so, her true realm was at the very least the Nascent Infant stage.
And it might even be higher.
The old woman laughed heartily: "Where is there anything so exaggerated? It's just that I happen to prefer a world full of worldly bustle and commotion, and I detest those cold, freezing places."
She shook her head, then looked at Song Yue with earnest advice: "I can tell you are a kind child, so I don't understand how the demonic nature and demon bone on your body came to be. If you go to the cultivation world in the future, you'd best find a truly trustworthy grand master to help you examine... what is actually going on?"
"Otherwise, I fear that one day, the demonic nature and demon bone within you will rebel and backfire upon you."
"Of course, it is also possible that this old woman is just rambling nonsense, and that in truth, it is actually your great fortune—who can say?"
Song Yue recalled the scripture page in his lungs and the Dark Scripture in his kidney, feeling that what the old grandmother spoke of was very likely related to these two items.
He solemnly expressed his gratitude.
Accompanied by Sun Tong, he bid farewell and departed.
On the way back, Sun Tong said: "High experts like Elder Huo who live in deep seclusion among the populace are actually quite numerous in our China. It's just that their areas of expertise differ; not all of them are skilled in combat. And even those who *are* skilled in combat dare not easily unleash it, otherwise they would end up like your master..."
Song Yue nodded, indicating that he understood.
"Therefore, our mortal realm has never been all that weak; it's just that monstrous young people like you are truly unprecedented."
Song Yue chuckled.
...
Jade Cauldron Sect.
The soul tablets of two early-stage Nascent Infant cultivators who had entered the mortal realm and excelled in combat had shattered once again.
This matter... was blowing up even further.
It alarmed the Sect Master of the Jade Cauldron Sect.
The Sect Master was a woman.
She looked very young, around twenty-three or twenty-four years of age.
With cascading waterfall-like hair, she wore a pale, lotus-tinted long dress. Her bright eyes sparkled with intelligence, her arched eyebrows were like painted strokes, her slender neck was graceful, and her skin surpassed snow.
At this moment, she was yawning repeatedly, leaning lazily against a soft couch as if she hadn't gotten enough sleep.
Her name was Yan Yuzhen, and her Daoist title matched her name—she was known as True Person Yuzhen.
Her true age had already exceeded two thousand years.
Yan Yuzhen had firmly occupied the position of Jade Cauldron Sect Master for over three hundred years.
The organizational structure of the Jade Cauldron Sect followed a model of a Sect Master plus an Elder Council.
The Sect Master controlled the overall situation, while the Elder Council divided responsibilities and each fulfilled their duties.
Normally, Yan Yuzhen never managed sect trivialities. Some she didn't want to manage, and others... the eighteen elders of the Elder Council didn't want her to manage.
So she simply ignored everything.
And devoted herself entirely to cultivation.
In the cultivation world, the Jade Cauldron Sect was neither overly large nor particularly small.
It certainly couldn't compare to those colossal ancient sects that had existed for endless ages, but its overall strength was not weak either.
In its region, it wielded considerable influence.
It had been many years since the Jade Cauldron Sect had suffered such heavy casualties.
Under normal circumstances, disciples would still fall.
Some made enemies and were killed, while others died in the major dangerous zones of the cultivation world.
Yet in the nether mortal realm, let alone dying, they hadn't even suffered a loss prior to this.
Lately, however, the soul tablets of disciples entering the mortal realm had been shattering one after another. Initially, the Divine Transformation Elder in charge of this sector had even tried to cover it up, unwilling to let others know.
As the death toll mounted, however, this matter could finally no longer be kept under wraps!
Nascent Infant-tier cultivators could undoubtedly be considered true backbone forces within the Jade Cauldron Sect.
The death of even one would cause intense ripples throughout the sect.
Now that more than one had died, the news finally reached Yan Yuzhen's ears.
Even earlier than that news, however, came a formal reprimand from an ancient sect!
The moment she received that reprimand, Yan Yuzhen was somewhat bewildered.
Out of the blue, without provoking anyone—even if you were a massive, ancient sect of great prestige, there was no reason to come scolding us, was there?
After reading the contents, she became even more bewildered.
Thus, she summoned the Divine Transformation Elder in charge of mortal affairs.
It was none other than the young Divine Transformation grand master who had previously dispatched a male and female cultivator duo into the mortal realm to retrieve four great medicines from Song Yue.
On his way here, this Divine Transformation Elder of the Jade Cauldron Sect already knew why the Sect Master was calling for him.
So the moment they met, he directly reported the events that had transpired in the mortal realm to the Sect Master.
He didn't embellish or exaggerate, nor did he conceal anything.
Because he knew very well that this Sect Master who seemingly paid attention to nothing was not so easily fooled.
Although she was somewhat marginalized by their eighteen elders, if she truly flew into a rage, not many elders could withstand it.
"That medicinal garden in the mortal realm... Oh, I remember now," Yan Yuzhen arched an eyebrow. "Elder Zhai, if I remember correctly, I was the one who conquered that place back then, right?"
The Divine Transformation Elder in charge of mortal affairs was named Zhai Yuping, and was respectfully addressed by those below as True Person Yuping.
At this moment, he nodded, a trace of bitter laughter appearing on his seemingly youthful face: "Indeed. But now, the very best of the great medicines in our garden have been taken by someone else, and for this... we paid the price of three Nascent Infants."
Yan Yuzhen said indifferently: "Because of this matter, I was reprimanded by the Deputy Sect Master of the Yaoyue Ancient Sect, who berated us for indulging our sect disciples to wreak havoc in the mortal realm..."
Zhai Yuping instantly flared up, frowning as he said, "What does this matter have to do with their Yaoyue Ancient Sect? Are they trying to bully others with their power?"
Yan Yuzhen glanced at him: "The Deputy Sect Master of the Yaoyue Ancient Sect is a native of Earth, China. You touched his old home, so naturally he's unhappy. Besides... you think the Yaoyue Ancient Sect is bullying others with power, but what about those disciples of ours who entered the mortal realm... what of them?"
Zhai Yuping frowned, looked at Yan Yuzhen, and said in a deep voice, "Junior Sister..."
"Call me Sect Master."
"Does the Sect Master also feel... I did something wrong?"
Zhai Yuping said with indignation, "Someone stole things from our medicinal garden; shouldn't..."
Yan Yuzhen calmly interrupted him: "I said back then that although that medicinal garden was conquered by us, we should try our best not to touch it. Earth's civilization undergoes repeated iterations; there is clearly some kind of karmic destiny pulling the strings from the shadows. I remember Master saying back then that that world is the most important corner on the chessboard of the celestial Buddhas and deities."
"I attacked that place because it was occupied by demonic beings at the time. Across all heavens and myriads of realms, we are irreconcilable enemies with the demon race."
"As for the medicinal herbs inside, if we need them, we take them; if we don't, we leave them for those destined ones on Earth. Did Elder Zhai take my words as farting?"
Zhai Yuping: "..."
He glanced wistfully at the beautiful Sect Master junior sister: "Speak in a civilized manner."
"I just got chewed out by someone! And now you're telling me to speak in a civilized manner?" Yan Yuzhen looked at Zhai Yuping and said, "Furthermore, would someone capable of taking top-tier great medicines from that secret realm garden be an ordinary person? I've told you before, that mundane mortal realm is not simple. Since antiquity, how many supreme grand masters and ancient sect masters have originated from that place? Did you take any notice of my warnings?"
Zhai Yuping took a deep breath, looking at Yan Yuzhen: "Then according to the Sect Master's wishes, our disciples died in vain?"
Yan Yuzhen met his gaze with a calm expression: "First, have someone summon back the souls of those useless pieces of trash, and stuff them casually into the bodies of cats and dogs. Since they couldn't manage to be proper humans, let them spend this lifetime as beasts."
Zhai Yuping looked speechless, saying: "The golden cores of two early-stage Nascent Infant disciples managed to escape back..."
Yan Yuzhen said: "Turn them into cats and dogs too!"
Zhai Yuping: "..."
"Second, dispatch people to the mortal realm to apologize in person to China's higher-ups, guaranteeing that such an incident will never happen again."
Zhai Yuping found this somewhat unacceptable, saying: "Those worldly mortals..."
"If you don't want to see our sect wiped out one day, do as I say!"
"Fine."
"Third, find the person who took those great medicines..."
"They were several top-tier great medicines."
"Oh, marvelous!" Yan Yuzhen mocked, looking at the elder martial brother before her. "And stop interrupting me! If your Elder Council is truly capable, handle the dissatisfaction from the Yaoyue Ancient Sect yourselves!"
"You speak." Zhai Yuping was rebuked until he had no temper left.
He truly didn't care about the mortal realm, but he genuinely couldn't afford to provoke a Deputy Sect Master of the Yaoyue Ancient Sect.
Yan Yuzhen continued: "Find that person and tell him that the matter is settled; the Jade Cauldron Sect disciples who committed wrongdoing have already been punished, and he should not hold a grudge over this. The Jade Cauldron Sect... is not a demonic sect, so he can rest easy. We are not enemies!"
Zhai Yuping hesitated for a moment, but ultimately nodded: "Alright! I understand."
"Then go do it."
Yan Yuzhen issued a direct order to see him out. Just as Zhai Yuping was about to step out, she suddenly said indifferently: "Before you came, I cast a divination. The hexagram showed a candle flickering in the wind."
Zhai Yuping paused, turned back, and looked at this Sect Master junior sister with disbelief.
Yan Yuzhen's greatest strength wasn't combat, but divination and deduction!
In this domain, she was universally recognized as the number one in the cultivation world!
Even apart from the Jade Cauldron Sect, members of top ancient sects like Yaoyue acknowledged this point.
"So, don't stir up trouble. The repeatedly reincarnating Earth might exist for the sole purpose of producing a single person, or a group of people. And what you inadvertently provoked just might be that kind of person!"
Yan Yuzhen waved her hand after finishing: "Go on, go on. I'm so exhausted; casting that divination cost me three liters of blood and nearly killed me! By the way, tell the others not to bother me with trivialities; I'm going to make up for lost sleep!"