Miss Fairy, Please Hear Me Out

“Those wicked dual cultivation sects really do know how to keep things interesting. Even a spirit puppet can be made this lifelike. That ass, that waist, those legs. Heh.” The shameless old man stared at the stone-carved young matron’s departing back, clicking his tongue in wonder.

The corner of Xu Yuan’s eye twitched. A man really shouldn’t... Oh. Right. This old man was no longer technically a man. Never mind then.

Xu Yuan glanced at him with a faint smile. Old Luo, your appetite is impressive. But isn’t that stone woman a spirit-born being?

Spirit-born beings were a kind of naturally born spirit creature. Famous swords that had nurtured sword spirits belonged to this category.

Of course, naturally born was only how it had begun. After cultivation had developed to this day, and cultivators had unraveled some of the mysteries behind them, spirit-born beings could now be refined artificially.

The Beguiling Divine Sakura was one such example. Through man-made means, Saintess Yuchu’s soul essence had been refined into the Beguiling Divine Sakura.

The method looked like something out of the demonic path, but the soul-refining technique itself had no inherent good or evil.

In the Great Flame Empire, every year, officials nearing the ends of their lives or respected elders of some renown would willingly be refined into spirit-born beings. They would then be enshrined in city god temples, mountain god temples, and similar places to protect the peace of the local people.

Hearing his question, the Sage’s remnant soul glanced at Xu Yuan and chuckled. “If she were truly a spirit-born being, she would have killed you the moment she saw you. You are a man. How could you possibly be Sagess? Only a spirit puppet would follow rules this rigidly.”

Xu Yuan thought about it for a moment, then nodded. Now that you put it that way, fair enough.

A smile tugged at the corner of the Sage’s remnant soul’s mouth. “Back when I was reading through the ancient records of the Heavenwatch Pavilion, they said many disciples of the once-flourishing Joyous Union Sect liked to keep a spirit puppet by their side. Day or night, they were useful. Seeing this one now, I suppose there was some sense to it. Boy Xu, do you have any way to take this second-rank spirit puppet with you?”

Xu Yuan rolled his eyes. No.

What, you think you can just kidnap the boss from the boss room?

Seeing this, the Sage’s remnant soul sighed softly and murmured, “What a pity. If you could take this spirit puppet outside and repair it properly, it would probably be barely equivalent to a half-step Transcendent.”

Xu Yuan frowned. Repair it properly? It’s damaged?

The Sage’s remnant soul explained at once. “Too much time has passed. Even without any fighting, the years alone have pushed the internal formation structure of this spirit puppet to the brink of collapse.”

Then how much strength does it have now? Xu Yuan asked the question he cared about most.

“Peak second rank. If it fights one more time, it will probably fall apart right after.” The Sage’s remnant soul had already inspected its condition.

Xu Yuan let out a quiet breath of relief. Even once was enough. As long as it could hold Tian Yan back.

Still, the gap between reality and the game really was huge. In Azure Point, if you did not kill the boss, then no matter how little health it had left, the next time you entered, it would be sitting there at full health, waiting for you.

The Sage’s remnant soul, meanwhile, stared at the perfectly intact Deep Archive around them for a long while before sighing with emotion. “I truly wonder what happened to Splendorbloom Sect back then. Its mountain gate was left intact, yet the sect itself was wiped out...”

As he spoke, the Sage’s remnant soul glanced meaningfully at Xu Yuan, his gaze carrying a faint, hidden depth, as though hoping Xu Yuan could clear up his confusion.

Xu Yuan shrugged without the slightest shame. Don’t look at me. I don’t know either.

He really did not know. Back in Azure Point, this was just how the map looked. Coming into a dungeon and worrying about boss drops and side quests was already complicated enough. Who would dig into why the sect map was still this complete?

However, the old man’s sigh did make Xu Yuan realize another problem.

There were far too many powerful beings inside this Dome Palace.

Including the Beguiling Divine Sakura and the Leech King from Sakura Leech Lake earlier, Xu Yuan already knew of three peak second ranks, four ordinary second ranks, and eight third ranks inside the Dome Palace.

When this had been a game, he naturally had not thought much of it. After all, it was a Level 80 dungeon. If the bosses were too low-level, players would just walk in and harvest them for free. But once everything became reality, this kind of power was enough to send a chill down one’s spine.

And more importantly, these were only two areas within the vast Dome Palace.

Aside from these two places, there were still the sect master’s sleeping palace and the sect’s rear mountain.

After a pause, Xu Yuan lowered his voice and asked the Sage’s remnant soul in return, Old man, how many powerful experts do you think the Splendorbloom Sect had back then?

These spirit puppets and demonic beasts were only what had been left behind after the Splendorbloom Sect had fallen. Before its destruction, the full glory of the sect was truly hard to imagine.

“Hmm?” The Sage’s remnant soul let out a soft sound of surprise, then smiled and asked back, “Isn’t this your sect? Why are you asking me?”

Xu Yuan shot him a glance, his tone helpless. I already told you, I’m not like you. I only happened to obtain a bit of fortune and happened to know about this secret realm.

The Sage’s remnant soul pondered for a moment, then analyzed, “Fine. Judging from these remaining spirit puppets and demonic beasts, before the Splendorbloom Sect was wiped out... hmm, it was probably no weaker than your Chancellor’s Manor.”

Xu Yuan’s pupils shrank slightly.

The Sage’s remnant soul, however, smiled as if this were nothing worth fussing over. “What is so strange about that? Ten thousand years ago, aside from the Pavilion Master and the elders, our Heavenwatch Pavilion still had more than a dozen Sage Venerables.”

Xu Yuan’s heart jolted. He asked tentatively, Old Luo, these Sage Venerables of Heavenwatch Pavilion... what cultivation level were they?

“Sages, of course.”

Xu Yuan fell silent.

The Sage’s remnant soul stared into Xu Yuan’s eyes for several breaths. After failing to spot any flaw in his reaction, he shook his head lightly.

“You actually don’t need to think too much about it. The overall strength of an era is affected by the heaven and earth source qi. Back in our time, we happened to live during a great tide of source qi, and that was what created such a flourishing age.

“And every era has its own advantages and disadvantages. If I could choose, I would actually prefer to be born in this present era.”

As the Sage’s remnant soul spoke of the past, his tone grew distant, carrying a faint trace of nostalgia.

Why? Xu Yuan immediately played along.

“Heh.” The Sage’s remnant soul chuckled and glanced at him.

The corner of Xu Yuan’s eye twitched. He had the faint feeling that this old bastard was about to start speaking in riddles again.

Fortunately, after laughing, the Sage’s remnant soul did give him an answer. “Because cultivators nowadays at least do not have to live each day wondering if they will survive until tomorrow.”

Xu Yuan stared at the Sage’s remnant soul without speaking, waiting for him to continue.

The Sage’s remnant soul weighed his words briefly, then said softly, “Boy, have you heard of wraithfiends?”

Xu Yuan froze for a moment, then nodded. Of course I have.

Those things appeared in quite a few secret realm dungeons in Azure Point. For example, the main character had gone to one such place before, Everbow Valley.

A complicated look flashed through the Sage’s remnant soul’s eyes, and he said slowly, “Ten thousand years ago, our Pavilion Master suddenly summoned a group of us Sage Venerables for a meeting. She said she could no longer see the future, and needed us to investigate.”

The Sage’s voice was calm and casual.

Xu Yuan suddenly asked, Like how Tian Yan is with me?

“I’m not sure, but most likely not. Judging from that girl’s performance earlier, she can clearly still see the immediate future. But when our Pavilion Master used the Heaven Deriving Art to divine the future, all she saw was complete, absolute darkness.”

And then the wraithfiends appeared?

“Mhm. Even though experts were as common as clouds back then, more than half the world was still slaughtered clean by those things.”