Immortal Road.

"How can it be?!"

Lin Shan quickly denied it, shocked by Qinglian Fairy's extensive information network, even knowing that Jinglian Jushi was secretly gathering people to besiege the Black Lotus Sect.

This indicates that the Black Lotus Cult has people in various holy sites, and their infiltration work has reached the higher levels. Among those recruited by Layman Jinglian, some may have already secretly betrayed them!

At this stage, I have not actually fully joined Layman Jinglian's group. I have only reached an agreement with Layman Jinglian remotely through the introduction of his disciple, Master Xiongshan.

They were just thinking of sneaking through the encirclement and suppression of the Black Lotus Cult and making a quick buck.

Now that the Azure Lotus Fairy has exposed him, he immediately felt a sense of foreboding!
It turns out they already knew, and had begun to win them over and form alliances. They'll set up an ambush, so be careful, Master Jinglian, don't let your plans backfire!
"You flatter me, Fairy. I knew nothing about the Black Lotus Sect's attack on the Pure Lotus Hermit. They never contacted me. This is the first time I've heard of such inside information. I guess their targets are all high-ranking members of the various holy lands. A rogue cultivator like me is not in their recruitment plan."

His words were quite articulate and well-reasoned.

The Azure Lotus Fairy played with her hair, looking at him with a half-smile, until Lin Shan became increasingly uncomfortable under her gaze, before finally nodding and speaking.

"Alright, I naturally know that Sect Leader Lin is innocent. While Pure Lotus Hermit does not try to win over rogue cultivators, my Black Lotus Sect welcomes them wholeheartedly!"

"Actually, besides you, I have secretly contacted many rogue cultivators in this world, including not only those with great supernatural powers, but even those with primordial spirits!"

"You were originally a disciple of my Black Lotus Sect, and we have some history together. If you can join my side today and lend me a hand, then the previous promise will still stand. I can contact the upper realm to open a special way for you to ascend!"

It might even offer the opportunity to join the ranks of immortals in the future!

In contrast, the conditions offered by Layman Jinglian were to witness the ascension and to share in the spoils of the Black Lotus Sect.

It's hard to say which of the two is more tempting.

The conditions for the Azure Lotus Fairy seem to be very high-class, but they are also somewhat illusory. When she ascends, she does not go through the Golden Palace Ascension Platform, but instead goes through the back door of your connections in the Upper Realm.

Joining the ranks of immortals also means joining your ranks, and the rewards can only be realized after you become an immortal yourself!

Of all the people in this world, how many will ultimately ascend to heaven? How many will become immortals?

She probably said the same thing when making offers to others: since she's made a promise and won't go back on it, if you can't ascend or become an immortal, then naturally I can't keep my promise.

As for the Pure Lotus Hermit, the profits gained from attacking the Black Lotus Sect, as well as the two things he witnessed—the immortal envoys ascending to the immortal realm—were tangible and visible benefits that he could reap in the mortal realm.

One focuses on the long term, while the other focuses on the present.

If Lin Shan had to choose, he would actually lean towards the latter.

What others think doesn't matter; his main goal is to obtain the Ancient Rhyme of the Black Lotus Sect!
As for what you said about ascension and becoming an immortal, that's too early for me; it can't be converted into immediate combat power.

However, now that we're under someone else's roof, we have no choice but to bow our heads.

Besides, this is an illusion, and it doesn't count in reality, so why not just agree?

"I am deeply grateful for your kindness, Fairy. If I hesitated, I would be ungrateful. Since that is the case, I am willing to serve you like a dog or a horse!"

"it is good!"

The Azure Lotus Fairy smiled, greatly admiring Lin Shan's decisiveness, and even threw him something on the spot.

"then."

Lin Shan was startled and unconsciously took a miniature black lotus Buddha statue into his hand.

"This is."

Even in the illusion, the enhancement panel is still incredibly powerful, and it can be appraised on the spot!
Black Lotus Buddha Statue

Quality: Magic Weapon

Description: This is a 'communication artifact' casually crafted by the Fairy of the Azure Lotus. Utilizing the principle of hyacinths and residing under the mother artifact, it allows for two-way communication anywhere in this world.

Enhancement required: 64 points

Classic Charm: 50 points (Virtual items cannot be absorbed)

It even has an ancient feel to it?!

He looked up in astonishment and found that Fairy Qinglian had already turned her back, waved her hand, and walked away into the distance.

"I know you enjoy collecting incense and religious offerings. These are some gifts for our first meeting. If you need anything in the future, just use this Buddha statue to contact me. Don't worry about the Black Skull Demon Lord; I've sealed away the memory of our meeting deep within his mind. There's no need to worry about it getting out."

Lin Shan subconsciously turned his head to look, and saw that the Black Skull Demon Lord looked bewildered, his soul fire calm and undisturbed, obviously having already been tricked by the Azure Lotus Fairy.

After it turned into wisps of green smoke, this guy finally came to his senses, scratched his head, and looked around.

"Hey bro, what just happened?"

The other two powerful cultivators had also gone far away with Fairy Qinglian, leaving the place empty except for the two people standing at the cave entrance.

Lin Shan was deeply shocked.

He never expected this illusion to be so real, giving him a dazed feeling that if it were brought into reality, it might actually happen in the future!
"Truth and falsehood intertwined, falsehood and truth"

He stood alone for a long time, holding the black lotus Buddha statue in his hands, and fell into deep thought.

The wonder of the mortal world and the starry sea is manifested here in an instant!
The Earth's magnetic field interacts with this world, and the Heavenly Calculation collects everyone's past. Even reincarnated immortals cannot escape information collection and are presented in the depths of the mantle through illusions.

in case,

After his spiritual tide subsided and he left, he recklessly went to the Black Lotus Sect to rescue the Black Skull Demon Lord, who had likely leaked most of his information. Would he encounter the Azure Lotus Fairy?

Will the Azure Lotus Fairy still be as easy to talk to as she was in the illusion, giving me 50 points of Ancient Charm as a greeting gift?

"Very likely."

After careful consideration, Lin Shan came to this conclusion.

Because of the causes and consequences in the illusion, and the secret confrontation with the Pure Lotus Hermit, the great battle between the two factions of reincarnated true immortals is about to begin, right after the end of the Wanhui year!

The scattered information I obtained from Master Xiongshan and Layman Jinglian has already confirmed this claim.

With the wisdom of the Azure Lotus Fairy, there is absolutely no way she wouldn't take some action!

Therefore, if I actually go there, the Black Lotus Cult will most likely not make things difficult for me, but rather try to win me over, because from their perspective, imprisoning the Black Skull Demon Lord and ambushing me is meaningless.

The Fairy Qinglian is so busy with her affairs, why would someone with nothing better to do than plot against Lin Shan?
Recruiting is possible.

Because for other powerful beings and Nascent Soul stage cultivators, in addition to the vague promises of ascension and joining the ranks of immortals, they must also offer considerable benefits!
Lin Shan was different; all he needed to do was offer him some incense and that would be enough.

The Black Lotus Cult discovered this, so it was easy for them to find the right solution. Incense offerings are scarce for others, but they are not easy for them to obtain.
Therefore, from this perspective, Lin Shan is very easy to win over.

Therefore, if he agrees to Fairy Qinglian's conditions when he goes to rescue the Black Skull Demon Lord, he can get Gu Yun for free!

"It smells so good, so delicious."

Lin Shan held the black lotus Buddha statue in his arms, but unfortunately, he was in an illusion and could only stare helplessly. The fact that the enhancement panel couldn't absorb the enhancements proved that this wasn't reality.

The Black Skull Demon Lord, who had regained his senses, felt a pang of anxiety seeing him standing there dumbfounded at the cave entrance, and urged him to leave quickly.

"Brother, what are we waiting for? Let's go! If the Black Lotus Sect reacts and sends people to intercept us, we won't be able to leave!"

When it left the Xun Gu Sect, Lin Shan's cultivation was only at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm. So it naively thought that no matter how strong this kid was, he would at most be hovering around the middle and late stages of the Nascent Soul realm. It never imagined that he had already become a great supernatural being and had left it far behind.

"Yeah, that's okay."

Using the token left by the Kong family patriarch, Lin Shan led the Black Skull Demon Lord on a flight to a mountain range.

I saw the patriarch of the Confucius family sitting cross-legged on the ground, facing a mountain wall and listening intently, as if he were listening to a sermon.

After waiting a short while, the other person got up.

"Master Lin, it's over, let's go."

The two traveled eastward until they returned to their hometown in the State of Lu, when the scene before them suddenly changed.

shuh~
Colorful ribbons fluttered in the air, while heavy pressure weighed down on their shoulders.

Once again, I returned to the mortal world and the starry sea. The black halo behind me slowly rotated, and the magnetic levitation track beneath my feet glided into the distance.

This fourth illusion was beneficial to both of them, and it wasn't very dangerous, which was evident from the surface. They were also wise not to inquire about what had happened to the other.

Looking around, there were still many disciples of the Vast Holy Land. It was clear that the higher one's cultivation level, the greater the danger one would encounter, while the lower one's cultivation level was relatively less dangerous, although this was not absolute.

Since they hadn't consumed too much energy, they didn't need to recover and hurried on to the next location.

"I want to see Leader Lin."

The second level is located in the Jade Shattered Cold Pool, within the camp of the Ancient Sect.

Elder Huicong, the envoy of the Ghost Valley Holy Land, is currently meeting with Lü Xiuming in his tent. He hasn't seen Lin Shan for a long time and wonders why he suddenly wants to meet him today.

Did he sense something was wrong?
Lu Xiuming harbored suspicions and naturally wouldn't let him have his way.

"The sect leader recently fought several battles with the patriarch of the Kong family and is now in seclusion to recuperate. He does not see any outsiders, including me, who dare not disturb him."

"Steward Lü, this is the treasure distribution between the third layer of the magma sea and the fourth layer of the Yin-Yang Mystic Ladder. I want to hand it over to Sect Leader Lin for his personal inspection."

"No need, I can count them all."

Huicong felt slightly displeased when he saw that the other party took the harvest so naturally.

After all, in his eyes, as an envoy of the Holy Land, he should directly communicate with the leader of the Ancient Search Sect. What right does a subordinate like you have to sit on equal footing with me?
However, given that Lin Shan's influence was still strong and Hui Miao's fate was a recent example, he could not openly show his dissatisfaction. He could only ask for the harvest from the upper two floors of the Xun Gu Sect.

"Don't worry, I won't miss you."

Lu Xiuming prepared about 80% of the items and handed them to Huicong. Huicong checked them and found no problems, so he happily accepted them.

However, before he came to the upper level, his senior brother Liang, the sect leader, had instructed him to keep a close watch on the movements of the Xun Gu Sect, especially the sect leader Lin Shan!

This was his duty as an inspector.

I haven't seen Lin Shan for several months now, and I feel something is off, so I made my request at the right time.

"Since the Xun Gu Sect allows me, the inspector, to exist, it should fulfill its agreement with the Ghost Valley Holy Land. Otherwise, I won't know how to explain it to those below."

Lü Xiuming sneered.

"Explanation? Master Liang once promised that one day he would allow me to descend to the fourth level of the Yin-Yang Mystic Ladder through the Xun Gu Sect. But so much time has passed, the ladder should have been built a long time ago, why haven't we been notified to go down?"

"Well, the situation on the front lines is still unclear, and my senior brother has his own considerations."

"Hmph, I've heard from rumors that the fifth level was breached a few months ago. Why didn't your Ghost Valley Holy Land share its spoils from the fifth level with us, the Seeking Ancient Sect?"

"Where did you hear about this fifth level of information? I had no idea."

Elder Huicong panicked and began to pretend to be confused even though he knew the truth.

Lu Xiuming smiled coldly and did not expose him further. Falling into a stalemate would not benefit anyone, so he simply stopped there.

“The affiliated forces of other holy sites are all talking about it in private. You can’t hide the truth forever. My Ancient Searching Sect isn’t entirely blind either.”

“You abandoned the inspection team I sent down in the third layer of the lava sea and prevented them from participating in the Yin-Yang Mysterious Ladder process, which was already a violation of the rules.”

"If we secretly hold the final battle now, we won't get any of the benefits from the fifth level. The sect leader is very dissatisfied with this and doesn't want to see you. Have I made myself clear?"

"."

Elder Huicong remained silent.

At the same time, he found it somewhat amusing.

So that's why the leader of the Ancient Cult is avoiding me. It feels like he's a sulking child who has grievances but can't vent them, so he can only avoid seeing me to keep quiet.
What's this called? Passive-aggressive behavior?
However, he didn't need to answer Lü Xiuming's questions too seriously; he just gave a few vague replies and moved on.

After all, the final battle has now begun. Great supernatural beings and even primordial spirit masters from the holy land have secretly descended. No matter how arrogant the Ancient Searching Sect is, it can no longer act arrogantly, and its backbone has become much stronger.

"Since Sect Leader Lin is unwilling to see me, then so be it. I will not disturb his seclusion any longer. Just remember to let me know when he comes out of seclusion and wants to see me."

After saying this, Elder Huicong left gracefully.

Lu Xiuming's face was ashen, and he could only clench his fists. However, if someone were to look closely into his eyes at this moment, they would find that they were completely calm and there was no anger in them.

Qianbu was covered in sweat at this moment.

In the fifth layer of the mortal world, he encountered the most absurd crisis in history, which actually came from the Bear Mountain Master in the illusion!

"Hahaha, Qianbu, you coward, come and have a go at me! Aren't you so capable?"

"That's great! That's really great! I never thought I, Old Bear, would have a day like this!"

"I told you long ago, without the elite army of the Ghost Valley Holy Land, you are nothing but a fart, and you wouldn't even last a few rounds against me!"

"Today, I will tear you to pieces! Die!"

The men on Xiongshan Mountain unleashed their full power, using whatever they had, and drove Qianbu into a panicked retreat.

Because he was without his army in this illusion, he had to fight alone and happened to run into the Bear Mountain Man, who chased him around.

"Master Xiongshan... He hasn't appeared since he was rescued by the mysterious person. Could he have also infiltrated the mortal world and starry sea?"

A chill ran down his spine, and a sense of unease surged to its peak. (End of Chapter)