Chapter 945: The Fallen Immortal Pavilion

Jiang Ruyi looked up at the sky, where thick clouds churned endlessly, pressing heavily upon her.

Before her, the two kneeling Shanwei devotees had fallen silent, afraid of disturbing the young leader.

In just one battle, the two had switched masters again.

And this white-robed girl, cruel in method and cold in demeanor, seemed no easier to please than the Western Wilderness devotees.

Jiang Ruyi suddenly asked: "What exactly exists in the sky to cause such a commotion?"

Instantly, all the Yu Fu devotees perked up their ears.

The two Shanwei disciples exchanged glances; one stammered: "W-we don't know, but it might be..."

"Only gods or demons could produce such a disturbance," came a voice from afar.

Jiang Ruyi turned to see the Western Wilderness female disciple, upright and strikingly bold.

Jiang Ruyi nodded thoughtfully; after so long, she had begun to discern a pattern.

Whenever the sky roared loudly, holy spirit energy would drift down half a day later.

And this so-called holy spirit energy was a force one level higher than divine power!

Human devotees could neither cultivate nor manipulate it—they could only touch it with their flesh, and the holy spirit energy would automatically merge into their bodies.

Her earlier hypothesis must be correct.

Above, gods and demons were fighting.

Each battle between gods and demons scattered energy from their true forms, while human devotees toiled faithfully as servants, gathering that energy for the gods.

Then how did the gods recover this energy from humans?

Jiang Ruyi frowned slightly.

Regardless, the slaughter among humans in this realm was already set in stone.

Human cultivators, who should have remained in the Great Xia realm to guard cities and protect the people,

were chosen by the gods and constantly cast into Holy Spirit Mountain.

To die in this Holy Spirit Mountain.

Is this... right?

Shouldn't a god's followers be as numerous as possible?

The more followers, the more faith energy the gods harvest—and the higher a devotee's realm, the purer the faith energy they provide!

Yet the reality is, the gods are making their followers die?

As she pondered, Jiang Ruyi's expression grew colder.

The sharp-witted girl had already realized something.

Are gods and demons colluding?

The gods feed on human faith.

The demons feed on human negative emotions.

Humans grow generation after generation, their strongest among them chosen by the gods, pulled from the mortal realm, and thrown into this slaughterhouse called Holy Spirit Mountain.

Thus, the mortal world remains stable.

The demons feast endlessly.

The gods remain perpetually depended upon, receiving the unwavering devotion of generation after generation.

"Lady Luoshan," Xue Fengchen gripped the divine weapon, Kai Shan Axe, and stepped before Jiang Ruyi.

Jiang Ruyi showed no reaction.

At this moment, her world had collapsed.

Now that she understood, she felt she had lived within a colossal lie—a world controlled by gods and demons.

In truth, most human devotees accepted their fate, acknowledging themselves as gods' servants.

But Jiang Ruyi, at this moment, saw one layer deeper.

Humans weren't even worthy of the word "servant."

They were livestock, raised and jointly exploited by gods and demons—oppressed, stripped, slaughtered—forever, with no hope of escape.

"Lady Luoshan?" Xue Fengchen tensed.

The girl before him was years younger and slightly lower in cultivation realm.

Yet Lady Luoshan's aura far surpassed everyone around her.

Gao Yunyan, seeing this, hurried over.

"Madam?" Song Yu approached from behind Jiang Ruyi, whispering a reminder.

"Hmm." Jiang Ruyi finally came back to herself.

Even with the lower half of her face veiled, everyone could see her face was grim.

Jiang Ruyi suppressed the turmoil within her—some thoughts must not be spoken.

Not until she held absolute control.

After all, every follower beside her was a god's devotee.

"I was distracted," Jiang Ruyi said softly, nodding apologetically to Xue Fengchen.

Xue Fengchen dared not press further; he understood protocol and offered the divine axe to his leader.

Gao Yunyan stood behind and to the side of Xue Fengchen, silent, ever vigilant.

As the saying goes: serving a lord is like serving a tiger.

No matter how young the white-robed woman, she was a noble and illustrious sect mistress—and the absolute leader of this team.

Their experience from Tianhuang Mountain told Gao and Xue:

Such a person must be treated with utmost caution.

"You two use axes—take it," Jiang Ruyi said softly.

Hearing this, Gao Yunyan's regard for Lady Luoshan rose sharply.

This was a divine weapon!

In the mortal realm, divine weapons were priceless treasures—let alone here in Holy Spirit Mountain, where life hung by a thread.

"Thank you, Madam," Xue Fengchen bowed respectfully.

He turned to Gao Yunyan and handed her the great axe: "I already have a weapon. Sister Yan still lacks a suitable one."

Tianhuang Mountain had no shortage of weapons, given how many humans they had captured and enslaved.

But most were swords, spears, daggers—axes were uncommon.

Since her axe shattered months ago, Gao Yunyan had fought empty-handed.

"Hmm." Gao Yunyan reached out and took the humming divine axe.

Her gaze held deep meaning as she glanced at Xue Fengchen.

Not bad—you're worth the effort.

Jiang Ruyi steadied her emotions and spoke gently: "Thanks to your aid in this battle."

Her demeanor now stood in stark contrast to the relentless, stern questioning she had shown before the fight.

Gao and Xue both bowed with clasped fists, saying nothing.

Jiang Ruyi understood their mindset and asked: "Are you both at the Jiang Realm's high stage?"

Xue Fengchen answered honestly: "Peak! We're both Jiang Realm Stage Five!"

Jiang Ruyi nodded slightly.

Xue Fengchen was ranked low—eighth-seventy-seventh on the Heavenly Prodigies list.

But his combat strength and cultivation level were far from low.

Precisely because he advanced to the Jiang Realm earlier, the judges on the Heavenly Prodigies list deliberately lowered his score.

Poor kid.

Others say, "I'm weak, so I'm right." Xue Fengchen? "You're strong, so you deserve it."

Even after the full year of the Heavenly Prodigies list, he still lingered near the bottom.

"Today, you two have clarified your hearts and wills, severing ties completely with those filthy ones!" Jiang Ruyi's eyes held a trace of approval. "Your inner state and future paths have changed profoundly.

Perhaps this will allow you to break through a major realm."

A person's caliber could be judged in three words.

Xue Fengchen and Gao Yunyan bowed again:

"Thank you, Madam!"

"We owe this to Lady Luoshan's auspicious words!"

In Gao Yunyan's hand, the divine axe still hummed, struggling to escape her grip.

Yet all Western Wilderness disciples possessed the divine art: Western Wilderness Power—and Gao Yunyan was a Peak Jiang Realm cultivator; how could a first-tier divine weapon break free?

Still, Jiang Ruyi gave a careful reminder.

Gao Yunyan nodded eagerly, vowing to subdue the weapon soon.

"BOOM!"

The sky above erupted again with violent noise.

When the thunder faded, Xue Fengchen promptly reminded: "Madam, we must not linger here! Tianhuang Mountain captured eight Shanwei devotees, and six more remain in the mountains.

They'll eventually notice this squad is missing and come to investigate."

Jiang Ruyi nodded slightly: "Which direction is Tianhuang Mountain? How strong are they?"

Xue Fengchen immediately explained.

Jiang Ruyi's expression grew even more solemn.

The Tianhuang Mountain sect has hundreds from Jiangjing, and over ten from Haijing?

With so many powerful cultivators, if they remained in the human realm of Daya, how many cities would they need to guard, how many civilians protected?

Therefore, the gods forbade it!

This further confirmed Jiang Ruyi's earlier hypothesis.

After a moment, she asked, "Do you know which way the sea lies?"

This left Gao and Xue speechless.

Since entering Shengling Mountain, they had been struggling to survive in the Wàn Rèn Mountain region—where had they ever seen the sea?

They'd never even heard of it!

"Clear the battlefield, gather everyone, we depart as soon as possible," Jiang Ruyi instructed softly.

Behind them, Song Yu replied solemnly, "Yes!"

A few minutes later, Jiang Ruyi set out once more toward the east, leading four Yu Fu disciples, two Xihuang disciples, and twelve Shanwei disciples, in search of the sea.

Above, terrifying sounds continued to rumble, unsettling everyone's nerves.

Song Yu flew to Jiang Ruyi's side and asked, "Madam."

"What is it?"

"Our numbers are growing, our strength increasing—should we take a name, like Tianhuang Mountain or Lie Shan Bang?"

"Hmm," Jiang Ruyi paused to consider.

Naming is minor; defining roles and responsibilities within the organization is paramount.

Song Yu's suggestion likely stemmed from his desire to formally claim an official title, solidifying his status and authority.

A group truly needs a name to be managed effectively, to foster collective honor and belonging.

Jiang Ruyi pondered a moment, then thought of the words "Luo Xian."

As the saying goes: even geese leave their calls behind.

With her growing force traversing Shengling Mountain, the name would inevitably spread.

If, somewhere, someday, the words "Luo Xian" reached Lu Ran's ears—

He would understand everything!

Thinking this, Jiang Ruyi spoke: "Luo Xian."

Though she was a Yu Fu disciple, she used the name of a sect's territory from Xiang Xianyang's faction.

An Xian followed beside her, silently grumbling inside but dared not object.

After hesitating a long while, she whispered, "Luo Xian… Zong? Bang? Dian?"

Jiang Ruyi turned to look at An Xian's delicate face, her mood lifting slightly.

She always felt that Tian Tian, from her memories, had remained by her side.

Jiang Ruyi reached out and gently ruffled An Xian's hair: "How about 'Ge'? Luo Xian Ge?"

An Xian was far livelier than Tian Tian, even a bit fiery in temperament.

She was also six full years older than both Tian Tian and Jiang Ruyi!

Yet before Jiang Ruyi, An Xian behaved like a gentle, obedient little sister, just like Tian Tian, nodding eagerly: "Mm-hmm, nice!"

Luo Xian Ge!

So much better than "Bang" or "Zong"!

An Xian thought to herself: then the Luo Xian Madam would become the Luo Xian Ge's leader.

Lu Tianjiao would be the leader's husband… or the leader's consort?

"BOOM!"

The earth-shaking sound came again.

"Damn it! Just kill me already with all that shaking!"

In a highland region of Shengling Mountain, at the boundary between green grassland and arid desert, a young man clad in a green reed cape and green bamboo hat, wielding a Green Dragon Crescent Blade, cursed angrily.

"Neigh!"

"Neigh!!"

His voice was drowned out by the scattered hoofbeats and the continuous whinnying of horses.

Five hundred chapters—flowers everywhere~

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(End of chapter)