Su Bai fell silent.
She didn’t say anything more, simply yanking her arm out of the man’s grasp and turning to head back into the room, leaving Zhou Xuan standing there, lost in thought.
The Heavenly Emperor’s Spirit-Sealing, the path to immortality is severed.
Supervise the world, extract cultivation.
Deceive all beings, the Dao vanishes.
Cattle and horses, all sentient beings, immortality is cut off.
For some reason, as she lay on the bed, these words echoed over and over in Su Bai’s mind, a nameless fury welling up inside her.
Indeed, through her blood-bound body, she had learned that this wretched child of hers had nearly wiped out the entire cultivation civilization, but she’d never imagined that he wouldn’t even spare the mortals.
Even if you multiplied the number of cultivators across the Five Domains and Two Heavens by ten or a hundred times, compared to the vast sea of mortals, they were but a drop in the ocean.
Not only had her wretched child severed the road to immortality for cultivators, but he had also stripped mortals of their freedom to gaze upon the stars.
“Mother, are you angry at Little Hei because of those bugs?” A cute little boy in a white robe suddenly appeared, plopping down on the edge of the bed. His big, watery eyes looked up at the beauty, sulking all by herself.
“Bugs?” Su Bai’s voice rose three degrees higher. Maybe it was because of her own kind, even knowing this was all a simulation, her education made the anger in her heart flare up uncontrollably.
“Su Xiaohei, Su Xuantian, let me ask you—before you entered the Dao, what difference was there between you and those mortals you now despise?”
“You came from among them, and in the end, you’ll return to them. Now you think yourself superior, calling them ‘bugs.’ Isn’t that arrogant and conceited of you?”
“No, Little Hei has never been arrogant or conceited. On the contrary, Little Hei has always worked hard in cultivation.”
“Calling them bugs doesn’t mean any contempt, because it’s simply the truth. Before heaven and earth, everything is but a bug.”
“And besides, Little Hei could do without them, but they can’t do without Little Hei. If not for Little Hei, the blood cultivators of the Southern Frontier would run rampant, the East Sea would be flooded by tsunamis, sandstorms would rage across the Western Desert, blizzards would constantly hit the Northern Plains—so many people would die.”
“Their lives now are peaceful and pleasant. They rise with the sun, rest at sunset, no more schemes or betrayals like before, and they no longer have to fear demon cultivators suddenly massacring villages. Even salt and oil are provided by Little Hei.”
“If you don’t believe me, Master, you can ask any mortal. Who isn’t grateful to the Azure Emperor Divine Palace’s sun? Who isn’t satisfied with the life they now lead, with food and drink?”
“Of course, most importantly—” The little boy waved his tiny fist.
“Little Hei is the Nascent Soul Heavenly Lord, whose words are law. The [Heavenly Emperor’s Spirit-Sealing Array] covers the Five Domains and Two Heavens, sealing the world. Who dares defy? Who dares rebel? Who could rebel?”
“This is what Master taught me~ Fists make the greatest reason.”
Su Bai wanted to scold, “Utter nonsense, sheer absurdity,” but for a moment, she couldn’t find a single argument to refute him. Deep down, she even felt slightly convinced.
Compared to the Immortal Alliance era, when demon cultivators would massacre villages for blood and battles between cultivators would easily devastate whole regions, now, under the Azure Emperor Divine Palace, the lives of mortals truly were protected.
Would mortals thank the Azure Emperor Divine Palace?
Would mortals be content with their lives now?
Was this model of management truly suitable for the mortals of the Five Domains and Two Heavens?
Su Bai mulled over these questions the entire journey, but still couldn’t figure them out by the time, several days later, their flying vessel arrived at the endless, cloud-piercing Congyun Mountains, where a village was nestled.
After Zhou Xuan and Su Bai disembarked from the flying vessel, Zhou Xuan told Su Bai to stroll around and enjoy the scenery nearby, while he carried his black spear toward the Congyun Mountains. Before leaving, of course, he didn’t forget to issue a tiny warning:
If you want to try escaping, feel free to see if your legs can outrun a Nascent Soul Heavenly Lord. Oh, right, and if you get caught and dragged back, then Master can spend the rest of her life lying on the Azure Emperor’s bed in the palace.
Zhou Xuan stood with his hands behind his back, tall and straight as a pine. The black spear in his hand glinted with a cold light. In a flash, he soared toward the magnificent Congyun Mountains.
The mountain range undulated, soaring into the clouds, with mists swirling among the peaks, like a barrier between the immortal realm and the mortal world.
A white figure darted through the mountains, quickly arriving before a certain cave mansion. This cave was hidden in the cliffs, surrounded by dense spiritual energy, yet a tense atmosphere lingered in the air.
“Heavenly Lord, must you truly wipe us all out?” A woman’s voice echoed through the mountains, like a wounded lone wolf howling in sorrow, her grief and helplessness so thick it seemed to dye even the mountain mists in mournful hues.
“True Lord Qinglian, I suspect the thief who recently destroyed a sub-array of the [Heavenly Emperor’s Spirit-Sealing Array] is hiding here. Open up and let me search.” Zhou Xuan’s expression was icy, his voice like frost lingering in the mountain air.
With a swipe of her small hand, Su Bai’s neat professional outfit instantly transformed back into the resplendent emerald imperial robe. She strode into the village with the bearing of a dragon or a tiger.
The two [Divine Emperor Guards] stationed at the entrance, seeing their former superior, were instantly excited and shouted, “Loyalty to the Sun!” Though which sun, no one knew.
Su Bai’s arrival instantly lit up this village of less than two hundred households, where outsiders rarely ever set foot. Though the villagers didn’t know who she was, when they saw the [Divine Emperor Guards]—who often delivered salt and oil—showing such respect, they too naturally grew respectful, quickly gathering around Su Bai.
And what Su Bai liked—and indeed enjoyed—was precisely the feeling of being surrounded and celebrated by the crowd.
Otherwise, why would she become an official?
For the sake of contributing to all the people of the Federation?
Well… that was indeed part of it, but on the other hand, it also satisfied her craving for status and power.
“Old Village Chief, how is our work going? Are you satisfied?”
The old chief’s hair was gray, his eyes cloudy, but seeing Su Bai so full of spirit, he could only muster the courage to answer tentatively, “Mm…satisfied?”
“That’s good. Old Village Chief, do you have any suggestions for the Azure Emperor Divine Palace’s management system?”
“Satisfied.”
“…Old Village Chief, what about these two grassroots staff we assigned—”
“Satisfied.”
Su Bai was dumbfounded, glancing around. Only then did she remember she was in the Realm of Longevity, not accompanying her father on a rural inspection back during the Huayuan Federation High School Student Council days.
“Big Sister, are you an immortal from the heavens?”
Suddenly, a little boy squeezed out from the crowd, clutching the hem of the emerald imperial robe and gazing up at Su Bai, eyes brimming with tears and hope.
“Mm, you could say that.” Remembering her cultivation before she was sealed, Su Bai nodded.
Thud!
The boy dropped to his knees and knocked his forehead three times on the ground. “Immortal, I beg you, I beg you.”
“Child, get up. If there’s anything I can help you with, I certainly will.” Su Bai gently helped the boy to his feet.
Having received her promise, the boy’s face lit up with joy. “Immortal, please bring my parents back to life! They were the ones who loved me most in this world, who treated me the best.”
“After I was found to have talent, the [Divine Emperor Guards] brought chicken, duck, and fish every time, but my parents always let me eat first.”
“In summer, they played in the water with me; in winter, they rubbed lard on my skin; in autumn, they picked fruit with me; in spring, they made me new clothes. The best, the most precious things, they gave all to me.”
“But a few days ago, my parents died. The [Divine Emperor Guards] said they went to the Human Emperor Banner and the Earth Emperor Cauldron, but I don’t want them to go anywhere.”
“They were the best parents to me.”
“I can’t live without them.”
“Immortal, please, please bring my parents back to life.”
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