Mysterious mirror hanging high

Jing Yu looked at the now empty throne of the Heavenly Emperor, feeling a sense of loneliness in his heart for no apparent reason. "Although our paths differ, Emperor Xiao Tian was, after all, a destined child born to meet the calamity. If it weren't for us, the Chosen Immortals, descending to the lower realms to disrupt the situation, he might have truly completed this path in the lower realms."

Lu Yingzhao sighed, "That's not necessarily true... After all, there's more than just the [Palace of Eternal Life] in the Upper Realm. Even if we haven't descended to the Immortal Continent, how can we be sure that Xiao Guanying won't encounter other Immortal Chosen from the Lower Realm?"

"It's a pity that despite his extraordinary talent, he ultimately became our enemy... On the vast road of cultivation, we've lost a fellow Taoist who can discuss profound truths with us."

Jing Yu turned around and smiled, "That's not something the egocentric Lu Tianjun would say."

Lu Yingzhao shook his head. "I'm the only one who's supreme? That's no good... I'm not interested in a path where everyone is my enemy. If I had to choose, I'd want to be surrounded by fellow Taoists who would walk side by side on the path of cultivation."

Jing Yu was surprised, slightly bewildered. "Back when Lu Yingzhao was in the Immortal Selection Hall, his personality was quite violent. I didn't expect that after all these years, his temperament has become much gentler and more peaceful. Logically speaking, shouldn't a domineering fate like [I Am the Only One] have some negative consequences?"

After all, as time went by, under the influence of the fate of [Longevity and Long Vision], due to the effect of [Long Vision], Jing Yu could even clearly feel that his temperament was becoming more and more indifferent and lofty, and the [humanity] part was gradually fading, and gradually revealing the [divinity].

Even he who possesses the magical skill of [Long Vision] that can ensure the authenticity and break illusions is inevitably affected by his fate. Why can Lu Yingzhao avoid it?

He could only attribute it to some powerful inheritance left by Lu Yingzhao, the master who taught him in his dream.

As for the gradual loss of humanity?

He couldn't tell whether this change was good or bad, but he had a vague feeling that both [humanity] and [divinity] were essentially part of [nature], and the lack of either one was not a good thing.

In order to neutralize this influence, in recent years he has deliberately spent more time with his disciples and Zhao Yuanxi, and on weekdays he has been more true to himself, laughing and scolding, just to prevent himself from losing his humanity too quickly.

After continuous exploration and experimentation, he finally achieved a perfect balance between [humanity] and [divinity], so that neither side would gain the upper hand and cause him to lose his true nature.

At this moment, Yang Dingfeng came over and bowed to Lu Yingzhao:

"Lu Tianjun, we just found the remains of Qiu Xuandong among Xiao Guanying's belongings. Penglai Zhengdao sent Yang to ask Lu Tianjun what should be done with these remains."

Lu Yingzhao usually treated Xiao Zhenyu and Qi Tianhua, mid-stage Spiritualization cultivators, with coldness and even the bother of saying hello. However, when it came to Yang Dingfeng, an early-stage Spiritualization cultivator, he looked up to him somewhat, rarely looking him in the eye. However, his tone was not overly polite, but rather straightforward:

"I never get involved in such trivial matters. You can ask Xuan Jing or Sanniang."

Yang Dingfeng looked embarrassed and looked at Jing Yu for help. Jing Yu quickly tried to smooth things over:

"Fellow Daoist Yang, how about we go there first and take a look at this divine remains?"

"Alright!"

Yang Dingfeng nodded and said with a smile: "The transportation in the Immortal Continent is not smooth now, so I need the Mysterious Mirror to take me there."

----

So Jing Yu took Yang Dingfeng through Taixu and soon arrived at the bottom of the Zhongzhou area thousands of feet underground. They found the remains of Qiu Xuandong in an underground palace that was obviously man-made.

Deep in the dark underground palace, a mysterious yellow stone platform stands quietly in the inner hall.

On the stone platform, the young-looking Qiu Xuandong sat cross-legged with his hands placed on his knees.

His face was peaceful as if he were sleeping, and the mysterious earth mark between his eyebrows still glowed with a faint light - he looked clearly alive, but there was no trace of life flowing in him.

A ray of divine consciousness condensed from Jing Yu's fingertips and probed into the center of his eyebrows. Touching it was like falling into a bottomless abyss.

The Niwan Palace of this body was empty, with neither fragments of the residual soul nor signs of possession, as if someone had extracted the soul with the most delicate technique without harming the body at all.

What's even more bizarre is that his dantian still retains a deep pool of earth-based true energy, which circulates through his meridians, causing faint Dao patterns of earth laws to flicker under his skin, as if he is still practicing.

"This is the power of the Slave Seal...Once the master dies, the slave dies instantly, with no chance of recovery."

Yang Dingfeng couldn't help but touch Qiu Xuandong's wrist. It felt as warm and smooth as a living person, but the spiritual power shock coming from his fingertips made him shrink his hand in horror - the remains instinctively shook out a dark yellow aura, tearing a hole in his protective spiritual light.

"The late stage of the transformation of the spirit is already powerful, and this late stage of the transformation of the spirit that was forced to connect with the Penglai earth veins is even more magical... What Xiao Guanying said is true. If he is refined into something like a corpse puppet, it will be enough to protect the peace of the Penglai fairyland." Yang Dingfeng murmured.

"Fellow Daoist Yang, what do you think should be done with this relic?" Jing Yu asked.

Yang Dingfeng hesitated for a moment before choosing his tone and saying:

"The various sects of the Penglai Orthodox Path intend to refine Qiu Xuandong's remains into corpse puppets, which will be controlled by each sect in turn..."

Unexpectedly, Jing Yu said bluntly: "No."

Yang Dingfeng didn't show any anger at all. Instead, he said softly, "What do you think, Xuan Jing?"

Logically speaking, Yang Dingfeng's proposal is perfectly justified. After all, the remains of Qiu Xuandong can only move within the scope of Penglai Fairyland, and Tianming Tower's sphere of influence is in the East China Sea, which has nothing to do with it.

However, due to the existence of Lu Yingzhao, the righteous Penglai sect had to carefully consider the attitude of Lu Tianjun. To put it bluntly, if Lu Yingzhao wanted to use Qiu Xuandong's remains to refine treasures, the righteous Penglai sect could only accept it.

And Jing Yu fully represents Lu Yingzhao's will, so Yang Dingfeng naturally has to pay great attention to the opinions of the Taoist Xuan Jing in front of him.

But Jing Yu said, "Fellow Daoist Yang, it's not that I don't trust the various sects of the Penglai Orthodox Path, but as the saying goes, if you have a sharp weapon in your heart, you will naturally harbor murderous intentions. You said that each sect will take turns to control the remains, but in reality, whichever sect takes control will be the undisputed number one sect in Penglai Immortal Continent!"

"If someone with bad intentions were to use the remains to dominate the world and unify Penglai, I'm afraid no one would be able to stop them."

"Xuan Jing is absolutely right," Yang Dingfeng sighed. "But things like corpse puppets always need someone to control them. As long as they are controlled by someone, that person will definitely have selfish motives. This is unavoidable."

Jing Yu frowned. He also understood that Yang Dingfeng was right. Everyone has selfish desires. Even a cultivator who has reached the Divine Transformation stage cannot be detached from the world and absolutely fair and just.

But at this moment, the [Immortal in the Pot] chuckled in his ears: "Master, why worry about this? I have a solution."