Volume 14, Chapter 905 – Why Are the Celestials So Powerful?

“We’ve confirmed it. The Celestial Ancestor that Fang Yuan is in contact with is named Zhao Li. He’s a Celestial Soldier from the Heavenly Court.”

An Xuan gave a brief introduction.

“His surname is Fang. Why would his ancestor be called Zhao Li? Does that make sense?”

Qi Huang asked instinctively.

“Why are you so dense? Haven’t you heard that all Tianjizi outside the Immortal Alliance are illegal? As a Tianjizi, how could he go around using his real name?”

Cheng Hongling rolled her eyes flirtatiously at her partner.

“That’s right. Not only Fang Yuan, but even his father operated in the Celestial Realm under an alias. That’s why no one has known who his ancestor is all these years.”

An Xuan added.

“Hah, so that’s how it is!”

Qi Huang tugged awkwardly at her long hair.

“By the way, this ‘Heavenly Court’ you mentioned… is that the governing court of the Celestial Realm?”

Cheng Hongling pressed further.

“Yes, the Heavenly Court is the governing body of the Celestial Realm. It functions just like a royal court in the human realm, managing all affairs of the Celestial Realm. The highest authority is the Celestial Emperor, followed by the major Celestial Kings and countless Celestial Soldiers and Generals. There are, of course, some unranked subordinates like Celestial Slaves and Celestial Servants. Generally speaking, the higher your position, the stronger your power.”

An Xuan gave a rough overview.

“Celestial Slaves and Celestial Servants are just low-tier grunts in the Celestial Realm?”

Qi Huang was a little stunned.

“That’s exactly what makes the Celestial Realm terrifying. The difference between Celestials and Immortals is as vast as the gap between Immortals and mortal cultivators. Even a low-level Celestial Slave or Servant can annihilate an entire world. They’re simply not in the same league as us.”

An Xuan said with a sigh.

“Then why are Celestials so incredibly powerful? Even Lu Yao back in the day couldn’t withstand a single strike from that Celestial Soldier.”

Qi Huang couldn’t help asking.

“There’s no other reason: it’s simply because their Divine Sense is powerful enough!”

Rеаԁ on КatRеаⅾіոgCαfе

An Xuan summarized first before going into detail: “When an Immortal ascends to the Celestial Realm, it signifies full recognition by the Heavenly Dao. At that point, the Immortal sheds their mortal body which is bound by birth, aging, illness, and death, and becomes a pure soul-form. After undergoing baptism in the Celestial Realm, their soul-form becomes tremendously powerful. With just Divine Sense alone, they can perceive the most basic Five Element spiritual particles in the surroundings. That means wherever their Divine Sense can reach becomes their source of power. This is what’s known as a domain.

“Some of the stronger ones can even sense the smallest particles of time and space, meaning they command domains of time and space.”

“No wonder they abandon their physical bodies upon ascending. At that stage, they truly don’t need flesh to store power.”

Cheng Hongling said thoughtfully.

“That extreme? I still can’t even sense the most basic particles of spiritual energy around me.”

Qi Huang’s phoenix eyes widened.

“Young Mistress, that’s because your Divine Sense isn’t strong enough. It just means you haven’t reached the level of ‘microscopic insight’.”

An Xuan pointed out bluntly.

“But wait… if ascending means shedding the flesh entirely, doesn’t that make my path of training only Divine Sense the right one? Doesn’t that mean every other cultivator is walking the wrong path?”

Qi Huang suddenly had a revelation.

“You could say that. The physical body is, after all, a shackle imposed by the Heavenly Dao. The earlier one discards it, the better. There’s no need to place much importance on it, though I’m only referring to cultivators here.”

An Xuan agreed.

Cheng Hongling cast a complicated glance at Qi Huang. She had always assumed her lover’s path was unorthodox, but it turned out Qi Huang was walking the proper path all along, while she had been the one going astray.

“But ordinary cultivators can’t help it. Even if they know this truth, so what? They still have to improve their cultivation to strengthen their Divine Sense. There’s no getting around the physical body.”

Cheng Hongling explained after some thought.

“Exactly. After all, not everyone has Boundless Demonic Hair.”

An Xuan agreed.

“Now I finally understand why even someone as strong as Lu Yao couldn’t withstand a single blow from a Celestial. They really aren’t beings of the same level.”

Qi Huang sighed, her heart growing heavier.

“All right, enough of that. Let’s focus on what matters; dealing with our current enemy.”

Reaԁ oո ΚаtRеαdiոɡСаfe

Cheng Hongling felt the pressure as well and got to the point. “Next, we should make contact with that Fang Yuan, right?”

“Yes, we need to reveal Yan Yi’s true intentions to him. That way, he won’t speak on behalf of the Immortal Alliance at the Clarification Assembly.”

Qi Huang confirmed.

Several days later, members of the Immortal Alliance brought An Xuan again to extract Fang Yuan’s blood. Steward Ping used the chance to secretly leave behind the storage ring containing Qi Huang and Cheng Hongling inside the room.

Once the Immortal Alliance people left with An Xuan, Qi Huang and Cheng Hongling revealed themselves and immediately deployed Sound-Blocking Talismans and Divine Sense barriers.

“Who are you?”

Fang Yuan’s face turned pale with fear. Already ghostly white from blood loss, it now looked almost deathly.

“We’re here to save you.”

Qi Huang got straight to the point.

“Save me? I don’t need saving. As long as I do what the Immortal Alliance tells me, after the Clarification Assembly, they’ll let me go.”

Fang Yuan shook his head disinterestedly. He had, in fact, voluntarily chosen to stay.

“Is that so? Then take a look at this.”

Qi Huang immediately took out the Shadow-Retaining Mirror and played the footage she had recorded.

“These shameless bastards! I’ve already compromised this much, and they still want to wipe me out completely?”

After watching, Fang Yuan trembled with rage.

“Now do you see your situation? If you want to live and protect your ancestor in the Celestial Realm, then you’ll need to follow our lead.”

Qi Huang laid down her conditions.

“What do you want me to do?”

Fang Yuan asked after some brief thought.

“Since you’re in contact with someone from the Celestial Realm, then you must’ve heard of the Great Purge?”

Qi Huang tested.

Rеаⅾ оո KatRеαⅾiոɡСаfe

“The Great Purge? What’s that?”

Fang Yuan asked, clearly confused.

“So you really don’t know. I thought you were just keeping quiet out of self-preservation.”

Qi Huang chuckled bitterly.

“That doesn’t add up,” Cheng Hongling suddenly noticed something. “If you don’t know about it, then that means your ancestor Zhao Li doesn’t either. So why would he be so certain there would be a great catastrophe in the Immortal Realm nineteen years from now?”

“How do you know who my ancestor is?”

Fang Yuan’s face paled further in shock.

“Answer the question.”

Cheng Hongling narrowed her beautiful eyes and pressed him.

“U-Uh…”

Fang Yuan flinched, stammering, “He only heard that the Immortal Realm’s immortals would face annihilation nineteen years from now. He doesn’t know exactly what kind of disaster it is.”

“I see. It makes sense. The Great Purge is the kind of event the Heavenly Court would never let regular Celestials know about. Otherwise, what Immortal or cultivator would still risk their life for them?”

Qi Huang quickly understood.

“So? What is the Great Purge, exactly?”

Fang Yuan asked urgently.

“There’s a rule in the Celestial Realm: whenever the evil spirits of a world are completely extinguished, they send troops to wipe out every cultivator and Immortal in that world, then remove all the elemental spiritual energy. That is the so-called Great Purge.”

Qi Huang explained.

“There’s something like that? Then the catastrophe nineteen years from now must be the Great Purge!”

Fang Yuan immediately connected the dots.

“Exactly. That’s why I want you to expose the true face of the Heavenly Court and the Immortal Alliance at the Clarification Assembly. In return, I’ll help you escape.”

Rеаԁ οո KatRеаⅾingСαfе

Qi Huang laid out her demand.

“I’m fine with that myself… but I’d still like to get the opinion of the Fengming Empress. Do you have a way for me to contact her?”

Fang Yuan asked after a short pause.

“No need. We’ve already contacted her, and she supports your decision.”

Qi Huang then took out the Shadow-Retaining Mirror again and played footage of the Fengming Empress giving her approval.

“Then there’s no issue. I’ll definitely reveal the ugly truth of the Immortal Alliance and Heavenly Court.”

Fang Yuan said with newfound determination. Truth be told, he never wanted to deceive the public in the first place. He had always wanted to stay true to his conscience.

Days passed, and countless Immortals and cultivators from all over the Immortal Realm began to gather in Fengqi City, the imperial capital of the Fengming Immortal Kingdom. The city grew more crowded by the day, as everyone wanted to know if the rumored catastrophe was real.

When the day finally arrived, the gates of the imperial palace were surrounded from early morning. The crowd murmured with heated speculation.

“I heard the Tianjizi of Fengming Immortal Kingdom is going to retract his earlier statements—that there’s no catastrophe coming to the Immortal Realm. Who knows if that’s true?”

“It probably is. The Immortal Alliance has been in the palace constantly these days. They must be pressuring him. After all, that kind of talk damages the Celestials’ reputation.”

“If he’s being forced by the Immortal Alliance, then who’s going to believe anything he says at the Assembly?”

“Then how do you know what he said before about a catastrophe was true in the first place?”

“Yeah! Saying that nineteen years from now, all cultivators and Immortals will be wiped out? Who could do that… Celestials? Why would they kill us? We’re the ones working for them now. Those who tried to rebel have already been purged.”

The Immortals in the crowd debated back and forth.

Meanwhile, inside the imperial palace, An Xuan was in the middle of one final blood extraction. If she still couldn’t figure out who Fang Yuan’s ancestor was, she would be in grave danger.

“Well? Have you confirmed who his ancestor is yet? We still need him to speak at the Clarification Assembly, you can’t keep drawing his blood forever.”

Yan Yi urged An Xuan as time grew short.

“You’d better say yes, or today will be your last.”

Yan Ying threatened, her tone grim.