“Yuan Ruoyu is to ascend immediately!”
Hua Hongyi softly read it out, her eyes brightening with surprise.
Then her expression shifted to one of intense envy!
What did this decree from the Heavenly Court mean? Yuan Ruoyu had received permission to ascend to the Heavenly Realm immediately?
Such a good fortune existed?
Hua Hongyi was someone who dreamed of ascending, constantly yearning to become a carefree immortal living forever!
After pondering for a moment, she snapped back to reality and said, “But Yuan Ruoyu’s current cultivation is only at the late stage Mahayana. Wouldn’t it be somewhat ridiculous for her to ascend directly?”
“If she really ascends, can she skip the Tribulation Crossing and become a true immortal?”
Hua Hongyi was not a foolish person. Upon reflecting, she sensed that something seemed off.
But the scroll in Jiang Youlong’s hand was genuinely a decree from the Heavenly Court!
How could this be?
She couldn’t quite grasp it…
Jiang Youlong put away the scroll, pondered briefly, and then smiled, “No need to be surprised!”
“The Heavenly Court is nothing more than a group of ascended immortals who formed it! Although immortals and mortals are different, and the Heavenly Court can’t casually interfere with mortal affairs, but the Jade Pool Holy Land has a long legacy, with many ancestors who have ascended to the Heavenly Realm!”
He spoke confidently, sharing his thoughts: “At this point, having Yuan Ruoyu ascend immediately clearly shows that the Heavenly Court is protecting her. However, if she refuses to appreciate it and insists on seeking her own doom, then that’s another story.”
After hearing this, Hua Hongyi’s eyes lit up, and she laughed, “That makes sense! Now I understand.”
Zuo Qingtian, who had been silent, spoke up, “So, the Heavenly Court is preparing to take action?”
As soon as he said this, the air fell silent for a moment.
If the Heavenly Court took action, it meant they were now directly intervening in mortal affairs.
But none of them thought it was strange.
After all, weren’t they currently working for the Heavenly Court?
However, since the decree Jiang Youlong had received hadn’t instructed them to act, it implied the Heavenly Court would send others to take action.
For now, they didn’t need to be concerned about it.
Jiang Youlong nodded and smiled, “Just as we expected, it seems we can finally have some peace for a while.”
“Let’s go, let’s head to the brothel and listen to some music!”
“Hehe…”
“I’m not in the mood for that right now. I really wish our Hua family’s ancestor would work harder and grant me a decree from the Heavenly Court too!” Hua Hongyi said enviously, “Being able to ascend at the Mahayana stage, that’s quite a big backdoor privilege!”
The huge ship sailed through the skies, moving forward slowly.
Below, the beautiful mountains and rivers rushed by in reverse, and soon a majestic city came into view.
Jiang Youlong laughed heartily, “Let’s go down and take a look!”
“I must say, ever since the Immortal Emperor’s diary was revealed, the atmosphere in our cultivation world has changed a lot!”
“Now, nobody is into closed-door cultivation anymore…”
Hua Hongyi replied with a smile, “Yes, before it was one person holding up a sect, and now one person can make a brothel famous!”
“I have to admit, the Immortal Emperor is quite a character!”
At this point, Hua Hongyi seemed to remember something and chuckled a few times before saying: “A few days ago, I heard a very interesting joke.”
It was about a brothel.
A disciple from a cultivation family almost got into a fight with an old man over a courtesan. Afterwards, they realized it was a classic case of flooding the Dragon King’s temple!
That old man turned out to be the ancestor of the young man’s family!
“Hahaha!”
“Really? No way! Wait, when did you sneak off to a brothel, Hua Yao?”
Jiang Youlong and Zuo Qingtian exchanged knowing smiles.
In recent days, they had been so busy that it had been a long time since they had relaxed like this.
Hua Hongyi shot them a sideways glance and continued: “The young man said…”
“Their ancestor often goes into secluded cultivation, to the point where many younger family members haven’t even met him.”
“He didn’t expect that the first time he’d meet his ancestor would be in a brothel, almost leading to a fight!”
“Fortunately, at a crucial moment, the young man revealed his identity; otherwise, he might have been slapped to death!”
This time, upon hearing this, Jiang Youlong and Zuo Qingtian fell silent.
They exchanged glances, each guessing what the other was thinking.
“What’s wrong? Isn’t it funny?”
Hua Hongyi frowned, puzzled by their reaction.
“Cough—”
Jiang Youlong forced a bitter smile and said lightly, “To be honest, some of our family’s ancestors are also often in secluded cultivation. There are some I haven’t met either!”
“If I ran into them outside, I really wouldn’t recognize them!”
Hua Hongyi paused for a moment, as she hadn’t thought about that. Then she laughed and said: “What’s wrong?”
“You’re not worried about running into your ancestor in a brothel, are you? Don’t worry; here in Azure Province, you definitely won’t encounter them!”
Jiang Youlong shook his head lightly; his concerns were certainly not about that.
He then said, “If I grow old and spend all my days in closed-door cultivation, how miserable would that be?”
Zuo Qingtian replied, “Closed-door cultivation is mostly for breaking through to the next realm; otherwise, as one’s lifespan dwindles, there will inevitably come a day of downfall.”
Without becoming an immortal, lifespan will eventually come to an end!
A cultivator at the Divine Transformation stage has a lifespan of around 10,000 years.
For a Mahayana cultivator, it’s about 70,000 to 80,000 years.
And for an Emperor, without ascending, their lifespan won’t exceed a 100,000 years at most!
Therefore, the gate to the Heavenly Realm opens every few thousand years.
It allows those who reach the Tribulation Crossing stage to ascend and become carefree and long-lived immortals.
According to the ancient texts, cultivators had to reach the late Tribulation Crossing stage to undergo the heavenly tribulation and become immortals.
However, over time, the conditions for becoming an immortal seem to have relaxed significantly.
The last time the gate to the Heavenly Realm opened, even an Emperor at the early Tribulation Crossing stage could ascend!
Some speculated that this was because the spiritual energy of heaven and earth today was not as rich as in ancient times. There were simply too few cultivators who could reach the late Tribulation Crossing stage.
Thus, the Heavenly Court allowed this practice of ascending first and becoming an immortal later!
What a great blessing from the heavens!
At this point, Hua Hongyi said again, “So, I just hope that those above will see our merits and grant us a backdoor too!”
Jiang Youlong nodded, “Don’t worry; they definitely will! As long as we do well with the tasks assigned from above.”
“Otherwise, who would want to keep running errands in the future?”
“Hehe, that makes sense!”
———
Time passed quickly, and several days went by.
During these days, a significant event occurred in Azure Province, causing quite a stir.
That was the alliance of the Profound Azure Sect, Jade Pool Holy Land, Primordial Holy Land, and several ancient cultivation clans with the Liyue Immortal Dynasty!
Although everyone knew that alliances were often just formalities and didn’t mean much in critical times, this still indicated that at least the Profound Azure Sect was considered a powerful force by the major factions.
With two Emperors as their backing, what other description could suffice for their immense prospects?
This alliance was a major event for Azure Province.
Many sects in Azure Province were invited to the Profound Azure Sect as witnesses.
At the same time, it also served a purpose of establishing authority!
Yan Changkong aimed to gradually build the prestige of the Profound Azure Sect through these events!
———
Jade Pool Holy Land!
In the secret realm, Yuan Ruoyu suddenly felt something, her eyes snapping open.
Then, her gaze narrowed!
Because at that moment, just dozens of feet away from her in the secret realm, there was actually another person.
That person stood in the void, their dress flowing elegantly.
With a blank mask covering their face, a terrifying aura erupted from their body, exuding extraordinary presence.
Yuan Ruoyu felt a chill in her heart, as if facing a formidable enemy!
She fixed her eyes on the person across from her, her expression extremely grave.
This was the secret realm of Jade Pool Holy Land, a place accessible only to the Holy Lord. Yet now, another person was able to silently enter this space without alerting the Holy Land.
This truly alarmed her.
Moreover, the deep and powerful aura emanating from the other person made her not dare to let her guard down in the slightest.
Yuan Ruoyu slightly stood up, a radiant glow rising behind her, with the manifestation of lotus flowers appearing within the light.
Her own aura also surged, breathtakingly powerful!
Yuan Ruoyu said solemnly, “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time!”
However, the response was a dead silence.
She didn’t know how much time had passed. Above in the void, beneath the mask, a vague and ethereal voice finally emerged: “By decree of the Heavenly Court, Yuan Ruoyu is to ascend immediately!”
The masked figure waved their hand, sending a streak of flowing light toward Yuan Ruoyu.
She caught it and saw that it was a fragment of a jade slip.
The masked figure spoke again, “This is the jade talisman for ascending to the Heavenly Realm; with this talisman, you can ascend immediately!”
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