Volume 14, Chapter 911 – Cheng Hongling Fuses with the Heart Fragments (Part 1)

“What Elder Yan said is absolutely right. Since they fear the power of Assimilation so much, why don’t they take care of those evil spirits themselves? If I remember correctly, the Celestials aren’t bound by spatial laws, are they?”

“That’s correct. The Celestials are acknowledged by the Heavenly Dao, having shed their physical bodies. They exist purely as soul forms and naturally aren’t constrained by spatial laws.”

“How strange. With their abilities, shouldn’t dealing with evil spirits be a piece of cake? Why bother having us do their dirty work?”

“Now’s not the time to get hung up on that. Please, Grand Elder, explain the situation to them. Getting them to act personally is the most urgent priority.”

A group of Immortal Alliance higher-ups all raised their hands in support of Yan Ying’s proposal. If the Celestials acted, they could sit back and reap the benefits—only a fool would object.

“Fine, I’ll have the Grand Elder give it a try. But…”

Yin Wan trailed off, then gave a reminder: “But don’t get your hopes up too much. If they were truly willing to step in, they wouldn’t have left the task to us in the first place.”

The upper-level members fell into silence, but the hopeful glint in their eyes remained. It was clear they were still clinging to wishful thinking.

Once the meeting adjourned, Yin Wan called Yan Ying over, and the two of them went together to the tower to meet Grand Elder Lu Hong.

“Grand Elder! I beg you, please avenge my father!”

The moment they met, Yan Ying dropped to her knees.

“Sigh…”

Lu Hong let out a deep sigh, his body appearing even more stooped and frail. “I watched that child Yan Yi rise step by step to where he was. He did like playing little tricks now and then, but his heart was always with the Immortal Alliance. His death is a tremendous loss for all of us.”

Yin Wan’s expression grew somewhat awkward at those words. He knew the Grand Elder was referring to the scheming he and Yan Yi had done behind the old man’s back.

“Don’t worry, child. Your father and I worked together for hundreds of years. We were practically family. I will definitely avenge him.”

Lu Hong then solemnly gave his promise to Yan Ying.

“Thank you, Grand Elder! Thank you!”

Tears of gratitude welled up in Yan Ying’s eyes.

“You may go now. I still have matters to discuss with the Grand Elder.”

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Yin Wan waved her off.

“Yes, sir.”

Yan Ying respectfully withdrew.

“Grand Elder, you really don’t have to push yourself. Your health is more important.”

Yin Wan offered a sincere-sounding plea.

“Is that really how you feel?”

Lu Hong asked with a faint, unreadable smile.

Yin Wan gave a helpless chuckle. “Grand Elder, I know I can’t hide anything from your eyes. I’ll just be honest: the future of the Immortal Alliance does matter to me, but so do you. Duty and affection aren’t mutually exclusive.”

“Heh heh…”

Lu Hong gave a knowing smile and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll do my best. Even if I have to bleed dry, even if the Heavenly Court forbids it, I will help you sweep away every obstacle to the Immortal Alliance. I only ask that you take good care of my descendants.”

“The Lu Clan’s descendants.”

Yin Wan said nothing, simply bowed deeply, then took his leave from the tower.

Lu Hong turned around, brooding for a long while. Then, without hesitation, he drew a dagger and sliced open his scarred, emaciated wrist. This time, his resolve was firmer than ever before.

Perhaps it was his sincerity, but he managed to establish contact with his ancestor, Lu Wei, once more.

“You actually managed to reach me again? I have to admit, your persistence is impressive.”

Lu Wei’s voice was tinged with surprise.

“Ancestor, have you had any results regarding the request I made?”

Lu Hong wasted no time and got straight to the point.

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Sigh… “Just as I expected, the Heavenly Court hasn’t relented. The power of Assimilation is the greatest threat to the Five Elements Heavenly Dao, far more deadly than the evil spirits. There’s no way they’d allow you to use it.”

Lu Wei sighed heavily.

Lu Hong was silent for a moment, then asked, “Then, may I ask one more thing of you? Could you have the Heavenly Court personally deal with those evil spirits?”

“Are you joking? If the Heavenly Court could act personally, would we even need you?”

Lu Wei’s tone turned displeased.

“Why can’t the Heavenly Court intervene? Those spirits are openly rebelling against the heavens. Their crimes are heinous. And Celestials, having no physical bodies, should be able to move freely between worlds. Shouldn’t killing them be easy?”

Lu Hong pressed the question, unwilling to let go.

“They’re openly rebelling? That is indeed a grave offense. But even Celestials need spatial rifts to enter the Cultivation Realm. You should understand how difficult it is to tear through spatial barriers from a higher world.”

Lu Wei explained.

“If the Heavenly Court is willing to help, the Immortal Alliance is willing to exhaust every effort to open even a tiny crack in the spatial wall.”

Lu Hong quickly offered.

“Forget it. I’ll be honest with you. The spatial rift is secondary. The main issue is that the Heavenly Court strictly forbids Celestials from wandering into other worlds without permission. If caught, it’s immediate execution… no exceptions, not even for rebels.”

Lu Wei explained helplessly.

“Why?”

Lu Hong asked, still unwilling to give up.

“Don’t ask. Just think it through before making demands next time. Don’t put me in a tough spot. I’ve already gone above and beyond for you.”

Lu Wei’s tone turned stern.

“I’m sorry, Grand Ancestor. I really had no other choice, or I wouldn’t have troubled you like this.”

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Lu Hong hurriedly apologized.

“I heard your cultivation has reached the eighth level of the Heavenly Immortal Realm?”

Lu Wei changed the subject.

“Yes, but due to my age, my strength has already fallen to that of an ordinary Earth Immortal. I can only delay the aging process with large amounts of pills.”

Lu Hong replied truthfully.

“Your body may be aging, but your soul strength hasn’t changed. With an eighth-level Heavenly Immortal cultivation, you could easily incinerate those evil spirits using just your Divine Sense. Why not simply allow your cultivation to fall below the Immortal level? Then you could enter the Cultivation Realm freely.”

Lu Wei offered a suggestion.

“That’s true, but in my condition, if my cultivation drops below Immortal, I won’t be able to suppress the aging anymore. My end will come quickly. As the saying goes, even ants cling to life… I… I still want to struggle a little longer.”

Lu Hong spoke hesitantly.

Sigh… “Knowing there’s no hope, why continue to struggle?”

Lu Wei sighed with pity, then added, “But since you are of the Lu bloodline, I’ll help you one more time. I’ll put in a word with the Heavenly Court, but don’t get your hopes up.”

“Thank you, Grand Ancestor! Thank you!”

Lu Hong choked up as he spoke.

“But you must take care of yourself too. I worry I may not hear your voice again.”

Lu Wei gently reminded him.

“Thank you for your concern, Grand Ancestor.”

Lu Hong wiped away the tears at the corners of his eyes, then quickly stopped the bleeding on his wrist. As long as there was even a sliver of hope, he refused to die for his beliefs.

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Inside a stone chamber of the Honghua Sect, Cheng Hongling sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion. In front of her, on a small stool, lay five fragments of Lu Yao’s heart. These fragments had incubated the evil spirits of the Immortal Realm for over one hundred thousand years. If she could fully integrate them into her body, she would be able to sense all remnants of the ghost clans within the Immortal Realm.

This, of course, was her current task.

Qi Huang and An Xuan stood beside her to guard her, as the process was incredibly dangerous.

“An Xuan, are you sure this will work?”

Qi Huang once again sought confirmation.

“Young Mistress, I’m a hundred percent sure. Yin energy has a decay cycle. The Yin energy from a hundred thousand years ago is long gone. So the ghost clans of today must have absorbed the residual Yin energy from these fragments. If you integrate them into your body, you’ll sense all the ghost clans in the Immortal Realm. It’s like a source of Yin, mothers always have a keen sense for the children they’ve birthed.”

An Xuan gave a clear and confident answer again.

“There’s really no exception? The Immortal Realm is vast beyond imagining. There’s no way the Yin energy from just five fragments could have spread to every corner in a hundred thousand years. How can you be sure today’s ghost clans all absorbed it?”

Qi Huang raised a valid concern.

“Young Mistress, Yin energy is dead, but ghost clans are alive. No ghost clan could go a thousand years without absorbing Yin energy, let alone a hundred thousand! Naturally, they would gather in places where the Yin energy lingers. Do you understand now?”

An Xuan explained with a touch of exasperation.

“But…”

Qi Huang still seemed uneasy.

“No more buts. Just merge it and you’ll know.”

Cheng Hongling interrupted their chatter with irritation and extended her sharp nails, slicing open her pale wrist.