Although it was already autumn outside, filled with a solemn and desolate vibe, in the Pure Heart Holy Land, the air was brimming with bird song and perfume of flowers. The grass was thick and green, and tender peach blossom petals fell like a curtain, creating a colorful display over Qingcheng Daoist nun's head.
Qingcheng Daoist nun, with her cold and beautiful face, seemed somewhat melancholic, letting the peach blossom petals fall on her head.
She gazed quietly towards Master Hongchen's holy cave in the distance, feeling somewhat abandoned.
Three people were present in the holy cave. Red Dust Master, her own apprentice, and that person who should have been her?! Why had it become Jiang Li?
Qingcheng Daoist nun hung her head in desolation, helpless. After all, she was not directly descended from Red Dust Master. She was simply brought back to the mountain by her predecessor leader when she was at the age of blooming youth, unable to resist the charm of Red Dust Master.
Having originally disbelieved it, she met Red Dust Master with an excited heart, looking at his sleeping face.
Soon, her excited heart turned into a desire to possess, only to be evicted by the Pure Heart Saintess and Jiang Li themselves.
Granted, their means were a bit brutal.
Cursed it, why did Jiang Li face no repercussions, and here she was, the leader, feeling like an outsider?
Inside the holy cave, unaware if it was due to the change in environment or simply due to the right moment, Red Dust Fairie gradually came back to her senses.
She opened her eyes, her distinct black and white irises gazing at the two people present.
The moment she opened her eyes, Jiang Li felt the whole cave was shining brightly, making him temporarily dazzled.
Appearing utterly confused, Red Dust Fairie softly inquired, "Who are you? Where is that silly man who was just giggling over there?"
"Thirtieth generation direct disciple, Pure Heart Saintess, pays her respects to our ancestor," Pure Heart Saintess gave a deep bow to Red Dust Fairie.
"The seventy-third Human Emperor pays his respects to Red Dust Fairie."
"You are my descendants? Who am I then? What is a Human Emperor?" Red Dust Fairie looked confused, not understanding the actions of Pure Heart Saintess and Jiang Li.
Pure Heart Saintess asked, "I wonder, Master, how many past acquaintances do you remember?"
With a baffled face, Red Dust Fairie said, "I only remember that I woke up from a massive crystal. It seemed as if something was binding me outside the crystal..."
"After I broke free from the bindings, I went down the mountain and kept walking east. I crossed two small towns and came to a forest. The more I walked, the more tired I became, so I finally found a big tree and slept..."
"When I woke up, I found myself in a Golden House. There was a man stupidly staring at me. When I asked him a question, he wouldn't answer and would only idiotically giggle. I found it boring and fell asleep again..."
"This cycle repeated a few times until you two appeared."
It seemed that Red Dust Fairie was not capable of speaking so much in a stretch, as she paused several times.
"Do you remember anything from the Immortal Realm? Or perhaps your descent to earth?"
Red Dust Fairie gently shook her head.
Pure Heart Saintess and Jiang Li glanced at each other. After reviving, Red Dust Fairie lost her memory, or rather, she did not retain her previous memory before being revived.
Jiang Li frowned slightly, feeling that there was something wrong with Red Dust Fairie's account.
Using his spiritual power, he created a three-dimensional map of Pure Heart Holy Land and showed it to Red Dust Fairie. "This is where you woke up, then you followed this direction to walk, right?"
Red Dust Fairie nodded her head.
"Then you passed these two small towns and finally arrived at the forest?"
Red Dust Fairie nodded her head.
"You traveled during the day, right?"
Red Dust Fairie nodded her head.
The two of them chatted with Red Dust Fairie for a while, told her about her past as accounted in ancient books, as well as the current situation of the Nine Provinces. Seeing she was tired and wanted to rest, they set her up comfortably and left the cave.
"Is there a problem?"
"I'm not sure what specifically is the issue, but there definitely is one." Jiang Li frowned as he spoke.
"Ever since I tried to take the key to your treasury, your side didn't even have the money to buy Spiritual Grains and had no choice but to go down the mountain to find ways to earn Spirit Stones. Although, seeing it was for my sake, I returned the key, but you also learned your lesson and brought some mortals here from the Dream River Dynasty, so they could settle down here, right?"
All the people in Nine Provinces could cultivate, but within Nine Provinces, the term "mortal" referred to cultivators who were stuck in the Qi Cultivation stage their entire lives.
Upon hearing, "Seeing it was for my sake, I returned the key," Pure Heart Saintess blushed slightly but still nodded.
"These mortals built cities, planted Spiritual Grains, and offered them to us every year."
"The problem lies here. Red Dust Fairie passed through two small towns in broad daylight. With her beauty, how could the townsfolk not have noticed? But you did not receive such information, which led to your ancestor being lost for three years without anyone knowing!"
Jiang Li was only half-way through when Pure Heart Saintess understood.
That was right. Considering the secluded location of the ancestor's tomb, it was reasonable that nobody noticed when the ancestor left the mountain. However, it was unreasonable for her to pass two bustling towns in broad daylight without anyone noticing.
"That's not possible. Each town has a Golden Core Stage sister stationed in it, and the Spiritual Grains provided by those two towns each year is top quality. How could they have experienced an issue?"
Jiang Li glanced at Pure Heart Saintess with a hint of scorn for her intelligence, "You're denying the problem instead of resolving it."
Having said that, he turned into a stream of light and flew towards the two small towns.
Pure Heart Saintess stomped her foot in anger. From her Storage Ring, she took out a book and threw it onto the ground angrily.
It was said that men preferred slightly "silly" girls. This ridiculous book was utterly useless. And to think, her master praised this book highly, claiming it was very effective. It was also known to be a best-seller in all of Nine Provinces!
The book that was left on the ground had the title clearly written on it: "One hundred methods to make a man take the initiative" — By Love Guru.
Pure Heart Saintess also turned into a stream of light and followed Jiang Li.
After Pure Heart Saintess had left for a while, the Qingcheng Daoist nun saw the book left on the ground. She sighed softly and picked up the book.
After all, she was the one who had written it.
...
The two small towns were built along a river. Hence, the upstream town was called the Upper River Town and the downstream town, the Lower River Town. The names were simple and straightforward.
Unlike Qingcheng, it took Jiang Li five hundred years to figure out what exactly was "green" about Qingcheng.
The small town was bustling; everything was energetic and vibrant. The mortals were living a happy life. They didn't feel troubled because they couldn't cultivate to a higher level, nor did they feel inferior because their lives were devoted to serving a group of fairies.
The residents of Upper River Town were all busy with their own matters: vendors hawking on the streets, innkeepers warmly welcoming guests, the fire roaring in the back kitchen while they cooked delectable dishes, families eating together, people preparing for the autumn harvest.
Everything seemed perfectly normal and was no different from other small towns inhabited by mortals.
However, to Jiang Li and Pure Heart Saintess, it all appeared extremely eerie. Pure Heart Saintess even felt a chill running down her spine, causing her to shudder.
They could not feel any life force here at all!
Whether they were vendors, innkeepers, or cooks, they were all dead people!
The entire Upper River Town was a dead city!
Not a single living person could be found!