Chapter 313: The Reason for Human-Demon Love: Bai Suzhen

Zhang Taixuan: "No, anyone who enters the Lishan Old Mother's sacred grounds has some karmic connection—unlike wild demons."

Zhang Sanfeng: "A prime minister's gate produces seventh-rank officials; to be connected to a great transcendent, Bai Miss, your fortune is truly profound."

Su Xiao: "Indeed, in the original tale, Xiao Qing also became an immortal—clearly, this karmic bond is heavier than Bai Suzhen imagines."

Kasahara Shiho: "I don't understand one thing: why does suppressing Bai Suzhen grant such immense merit that one can become an immortal? If suppressing demons grants this much merit, then where are any demons left in Bai Suzhen's world? They'd all have been crushed by ancient sages long ago."

Kasahara Shiho: "After all, the chance to become an immortal—you seize it yourself. Who would leave it for later generations?"

Han Paopao: "That makes sense. Could Bai Miss have committed unspeakable evils in a past life—a monstrous villain—so that suppressing her would yield such great rewards?"

Chitanda Eru: "That can't be right. I've seen how kind Bai Suzhen is—how could she have done such things?"

Han Paopao: "So the guess is it's about her past life!"

Ye Hei: "No—if she had committed such great evil, Bai Suzhen wouldn't even have gotten the chance to reincarnate as a snake."

Zhang Sanfeng: "That's true. If she were truly a supreme demon, she'd have been slain long ago. After reincarnation, suppressing her for eighteen years grants immortality—so before reincarnation, slaying her outright would've been an even greater merit!"

Bai Suzhen: "I wasn't a demon in my past life, was I?!"

Xiao Mai: "@Zhang Taixuan, Brother Taixuan, do you know the reason?"

Zhang Taixuan: "I did some calculation—I've roughly figured it out."

Su Xiao: "You can calculate that? As far as I know, Bai Suzhen's world has actual immortals! Can you really calculate it with your current strength?"

Zhang Taixuan: "Immortals have ranks too. Bai Suzhen's world is a middling world—the strongest are merely Jin Xian. And they're terrible at hiding heavenly secrets. To me, the mysteries of heaven and earth are as plain as day."

Su Xiao: "Just Jin Xian? Wow, you don't treat Jin Xian like anything special."

Ye Hei: "Just Jin Xian? I'd love to become a Jin Xian too."

Zhang Sanfeng: "I wouldn't mind either!"

Ying Zheng: "+1"

Bai Suzhen: "Immortal Zhang, could you please reveal the reason? I shall never forget your great kindness."

Su Xiao: "Whoa, the white snake repays her debt! Zhang Taixuan, hurry up—the opportunity's here!"

Miyamura Miko: "Little Xiao, you seem even more eager than Brother Taixuan—what's going on with you?"

Amane Hiyori: "Huh… you're not trying to take a detour again, are you?"

Su Xiao: "I just don't want Bai Suzhen to walk the old path. Xu Xian? How could he compare to Brother Taixuan? @Zhang Taixuan, Brother Taixuan, hurry up—I want to know the reason too."

Raikou: "【Curious】"

Chitanda Eru: "+1"

Inuyasha: "+1, I really want to know why Bai Suzhen's story—such a kind demon—is so harshly targeted."

Zhang Taixuan: "Targeted? Are you joking?"

Bai Suzhen: "Isn't it? I came down to repay a debt, then encountered so much trouble, and was finally suppressed for eighteen years—is that really fate?"

Zhang Taixuan: "You're right, Bai Miss—it is fate."

Su Xiao: "I can't understand! Brother Taixuan, did you get injured after slaying the Great Sage yesterday? Is your mind not clear?"

Huang Rong: "Husband, are you alright? Shall I come over to take care of you?"

Raikou: "Should I call that fox over to check on you?"

Zhang Taixuan: "【Speechless】"

Zhang Taixuan: "Of course I'm fine. Don't you remember what we were discussing earlier?"

Han Paopao: "Spiritual roots? Does the Dao in Bai Suzhen's world also restrict cultivators with spiritual roots?"

Su Xiao: "That's impossible. I remember Bai Suzhen's world is a classical xianxia setting—no spiritual roots exist there."

Zhang Taixuan: "You're right. But you've forgotten—spiritual roots are merely a means. What's the purpose?"

Ye Hei: "To keep spiritual energy at a stable level."

Zhang Taixuan: "Exactly. Bai Suzhen's world has no spiritual roots—but its middling world has grown so prosperous, with countless immortals, that heaven and earth now restrict spiritual energy!"

Zhang Taixuan: "Under these conditions, trying to become an immortal by absorbing spiritual energy is pure fantasy. The heavenly tribulation will show you why the flowers are so red. @Bai Suzhen, haven't there been no new immortals in your world for many years?"

Bai Suzhen: "As far as I know, in the last thousand years, only great Daoists and Fomen masters have ascended—no hermits have ever made it."

Bai Suzhen: "But what does that have to do with it? They still cultivated to immortality—doesn't match what you're saying."

Zhang Taixuan: "No, precisely the opposite!"

Zhang Taixuan: "Aren't these Daoist and Buddhist masters the ones whose stories are widely told, legendary in every detail?"

Bai Suzhen: "【Shocked】 Even this you calculated? The immortals and Buddhas who ascended mostly left behind tales of slaying demons or human-demon love—could this be tied to becoming immortal?"

Ye Hei: "Human-demon love? Isn't that exactly what Bai Suzhen and Xu Xian had?"

Zhang Taixuan: "That's the main reason!"

Su Xiao: "I don't get it—can spreading stories really make someone immortal?"

Lin Fengjiao: "It's the incense-and-offering path to godhood!!!"

Zhang Taixuan: "Exactly—it's the incense-and-offering path. Most misunderstand incense: they think only burning incense at temples or shrines counts. In truth, when stories spread, the characters within them also receive incense."

Zhang Taixuan: "In Bai Suzhen's world, spiritual energy is tightly controlled by heaven's Dao. Anyone daring to cultivate and ascend using spiritual energy will face a tribulation that kills nine out of ten. But if you absorb only a little spiritual energy, then use incense to complete the rest of your cultivation—then heaven's Dao will turn a blind eye and let you ascend. After all, heaven only restricts—it doesn't seek to extinguish cultivation itself."

Zhang Taixuan: "As for why Guanyin guided you to repay your debt, and why your red phoenix star stirred—it's because human-demon love stories have far greater popularity and gather incense faster. Otherwise, how could eighteen years of suppression lead to immortality so easily?"

Bai Suzhen: "So that's why!! No wonder, when I first transformed, I felt a deep dread. I thought it was because I hadn't repaid my debt—but it was heaven's warning: I was forbidden from absorbing more spiritual energy!"

Bai Suzhen: "But I still don't understand—I'm just an ordinary white snake. What merit do I have to make Dao and Fomen care enough to craft such a legendary tale to gather incense for me?"