Chapter 90: Gender-Swapped Little Qian, Online Cosplay

After Yan Yan Jianxian Yan took the spirit pill and regulated his breath, his complexion improved greatly. Among the three, Qian Chen's group finally had someone who had recovered a bit of vitality, no longer fearing harassment from ordinary samsara travelers. By now, the three bonfires lit by the few in the great hall had long since extinguished, and having gone through such a brutal, life-and-death struggle, they could be considered comrades who had shared trials and tribulations.

Naturally, there was no need to be as distant as before.

Thus, the three sat before the embers of a bonfire. Qian Chen leaned against a corridor pillar, his body still radiating a deep chill. Yan Yan Jianxian Yan cupped his fists and said, "Thanks to the fellow Daoist gifting this outer pill earlier, Yan was able to slay that white-bone demon... Now that the demon is gone, it should be returned to its rightful owner."

Having said this, he offered up the seventh-rank emerald outer pill.

Zhi Qiu then realized with a start, "So Fellow Daoist Qian was pretending to be controlled by that demon earlier just to give the outer pill to Hero Yan."

Qian Chen nodded slightly but pushed the outer pill away. "Brother Yan, I need to suppress those twelve white-bone evil objects, and the Ice Soul outer pill is sufficient. Having one more or one less of a lower-quality outer pill makes no difference. On the contrary, because of the evil objects' mischief, I cannot easily act and will need Brother Yan's protection. This outer pill is useful to you, so please accept it, fellow Daoist!"

Yan Yan Jianxian Yan frowned, saying, "How can this be? Such a precious item..."

Qian Chen interrupted him, "That can wait until we survive this tribulation... Right now, Brother Yan is the only one among us capable of fighting. Even if that demon was heavily injured and fled in terror, whether it is a great demon like General Lang or that group who came along with you and me, if they harbor murderous intent, we will need you to act, Brother Yan. Being one point stronger now is one point better; there is no reason to weaken ourselves."

Without waiting for Yan to refuse, Qian Chen introduced himself, "I am Qian Chen, a registered disciple of the Supreme Louguan. Greetings to both fellow Daoists."

Yan Yan Jianxian Yan formed a sword finger with his right hand, held it before his chest, and kept his upper body motionless. He performed the standard Daoist greeting: "I am Yan Shu, a disciple of Shaoqing... Greetings to Qian Shidi of the Supreme Louguan."

Qian Chen smiled, "Brother Yan, do you have a Daoist name, or a courtesy name like 'Red Glow' or something?"

Yan Shu was stunned: "Qian Shidi, you jest. How can I have a Daoist name without having formed a Golden Core? As for a courtesy name, they are not popular overseas. I am not a scion of a noble family either..."

After the two exchanged greetings, Zhi Qiu opened his mouth wide, not knowing how to introduce himself. He could only rub his head and say, "I am Zhi Qiu, a disciple of Western Kunlun... Both fellow Daoists should already know that. But where are the sacred mountains where Shaoqing and Louguan cultivate? Why have I never heard of them?"

Qian Chen smiled, "We are not from this realm, but from the Central Lands Realm."

Yan Shu nodded, "The Shenzhou of Chixian!"

Upon hearing this name, Zhi Qiu was somewhat inexplicably shocked: "The Divine Land of Chixian... Could it be that you are fellow Daoists from the Earth Immortal Realm? When my Kunlun Sect was granted the Heavenly Scripture by the Profound Heaven Great Emperor, I heard that there are three great Immortal Realms in the universe, the places where various Emperors, Daoist Venerables, and even Daoist Ancestors and Heavenly Emperors attained the Way and established their dojos. They are also the destinations for cultivators of this realm to ascend to after attaining the Primordial Spirit."

"The Venerable God worshipped by my sect—the Profound Heaven Great Emperor—resides within the Profound Tiangong of the Jade Emperor's Heavenly Court in the Heavenly Immortal Realm."

"Legend has it that many great beings, such as the Supreme Daoist Xie Xie Zushi, all originated from the Earth Immortal Realm. Only after attaining the Primordial Spirit did they head to the Heavenly Immortal Realm, finally attaining the Great Dao and opening up the cosmic realms. The cosmic realms opened by many Daoist Ancestors, Buddha Ancestors, and Heavenly Emperors surround the Heavenly Immortal Realm, also known as the Thirty-Three Heavenly Immortal Realms. In the Earth Immortal Realm, the Heavenly Immortal Realm, and the Thirty-Three Heavenly Immortal Realms, True Immortals of the Primordial Spirit emerge in endless succession, and even many Daoist Lords and Daoist Venerables have appeared. It is truly a sacred land for cultivation."

As Zhi Qiu spoke, he revealed a look of admiration and asked Qian Chen and the other eagerly: "Since both fellow Daoists come from the Earth Immortal Realm, your sects must surely be orthodox Immortal Realm lineages with a path to longevity?"

Yan Shu and Qian Chen looked at each other before shaking their heads and smiling bitterly: "The Shenzhou did indeed have glory in the past... but after several great tribulations, the ancestors of our sects and the great beings of the Four Seas have all ascended to the Heavenly Immortal Realm. Now, it has long since declined; True Immortals of the Primordial Spirit are rarely seen in the world. As for the path to longevity... it does exist. But for the various orthodox lineages today, being able to produce one True Immortal of longevity is already due to the protection of the ancestors."

After sighing, he asked Qian Chen: "I heard that the Louguan Sect you come from suffered a tribulation. I wonder..."

Qian Chen sighed deeply: "The Louguan Sect, I fear, has already been exterminated. If there are no other ancestors of our sect cultivating in seclusion elsewhere... I am the last disciple of the Louguan Sect. You have seen the murderer..."

"It was actually that demon?" Yan Shu was immediately solemn, and it took a long time before he said: "So that's how it is... So that's how it is. No wonder I couldn't calculate the culprit. Qian Shidi, since you are the last successor of the Louguan Sect, why not ask the seniors of the Daoist sects to uphold justice and continue the lineage of the Louguan Sect?"

Qian Chen looked up at the sun gradually rising in the east, a trace of confusion and sorrow appearing in his eyes. His acting skills reached their limit at this moment. He smiled bitterly and said: "Brother Yan! Once you enter the cycle of samsara, you are no longer your own master. Someone like me, who disappears from the Central Lands from time to time and doesn't know if I can survive the next mission, how dare I inherit the Louguan lineage?"

"And how can I explain it to the seniors? Should I say that a true successor of the Daoist Xie Xie Zushi was kidnapped by a hidden Lord of Samsara?"

Yan Shu felt a sense of shared bitterness and nodded: "Indeed, I dare not mention it to my master and senior brothers either. The Shaoqing Sword of my sect was the personal sword of the ancestor, yet it was lost here... It shows that the power behind the Lord of Samsara is truly terrifying. I once tried to mention the name of the Lord of Samsara to a senior brother, but I wasn't restricted; it's just that after hearing it, that senior brother could never remember the matter no matter how hard he tried."

"I was afraid of some hidden danger, so I never dared to try again."

Zhi Qiu, beside them, seemed to have skipped over the content regarding the Lord of Samsara, still immersed in the shock of meeting fellow Daoists from the Earth Immortal Realm. The orthodox path of the Great Wilderness Realm had been helped by the Profound Heaven Great Emperor to subdue the Blood Demon. Naturally, he knew that the Blood Demon had obtained the inheritance from the Nine Heavens Blood Sea, which was why it was so brutal, and he also knew that the terrifying abysses of this realm connected to the Nine Heavens.

He had also learned some common knowledge about the cosmic realms, unlike the closed-off Martial Path Realm of Qian Chen's previous mission.

But for them, the Earth Immortal Realm was also a legendary, high-and-mighty Immortal Realm. Suddenly seeing two fellow Daoists from the Earth Immortal Realm was almost the same as seeing an Immortal of the Primordial Spirit. Although he heard that the Earth Immortal Realm had declined, Zhi Qiu still felt some regret. But no matter how much it had declined, it was still a cosmic realm with Immortals of the Primordial Spirit, not comparable to a remote, small realm like the Great Wilderness Realm, which hadn't produced a single person of longevity in millions of years.

The person closest to longevity in this realm was actually the Blood Demon who had wreaked havoc on the world two thousand years ago.

Zhi Qiu sighed: "After the Seven Heroes subdued the Blood Demon in the past, they shed their mortal bodies and ascended. I wonder if they went to the Earth Immortal Realm and attained the fruit of longevity?"

Qian Chen knew that the matter of the Seven Sword Heroes subduing the demon in the past was the most important clue for this mission. Since there was a cultivator like Zhi Qiu who knew the inside story, he asked directly: "Very few people ascend from the Earth Immortal Realm. If the seven seniors in the past received the decree passed down by the Profound Heaven Great Emperor, then after shedding their mortal bodies and ascending, they should have been received by the Profound Tiangong of the Heavenly Realm, or headed to the North Pole Star of the Stellar Heavenly Realm."

Zhi Qiu asked curiously: "If they were truly favored by the Emperor, ascending to the Profound Tiangong is natural, but why would they ascend to the Stellar Heavenly Realm?"

Yan Shu said: "The Profound Heaven Great Emperor is also the True Martial Demon-Sweeping Great Emperor and the Profound Martial Great Emperor, the Venerable of the North. In the Heavenly Court of the Jade Emperor, he is the Venerable Profound Heaven Great Emperor, but in the Stellar Heaven opened by the Ziwei Heavenly Emperor, he is also the Profound Martial Great Emperor, sitting in the Northern Profound Martial Star Region as the head of the Four Sages of the North Pole. This Great Emperor has extremely old qualifications and is worshipped in many Heavenly Courts. Even when a certain Daoist Xie Xie Zushi incarnated as the Yuanyang Great Emperor and opened the Yuanyang Heavenly Court, this Great Emperor was also enfeoffed."

"Is the Ziwei Heavenly Emperor not one of the Four Sovereigns of the Jade Emperor's Heavenly Court?" Zhi Qiu felt dizzy from the massive amount of information.

Yan Shu explained: "The Jade Emperor is the Heavenly Emperor supported by the Daoist sects, so he is respected by all Emperors, and the Ziwei Heavenly Emperor must also pay homage. But the Heavenly Emperors supported by the Daoist sects are not limited to the Jade Emperor Great Emperor alone. Such as the North Pole Ziwei Heavenly Emperor, the Earth Emperor, the South Pole Longevity Great Emperor, the East Pole Azure Flower Great Emperor... and the West Pole Gouchen Great Emperor. Their cultivation and Way practice are not inferior to the Jade Emperor."

"It is only because of the decree of the Primordial Daoist Xie Xie Zushi and the support of the three Daoist Ancestors that they pay homage to the Jade Emperor."

"Even so, the Gouchen Great Emperor still does not pay court to the Jade Emperor, calling himself 'the lonely one' while facing south."

"Today, the Heavenly Realm is divided into nine parts. The Ziwei Great Emperor and the Azure Flower Great Emperor even each have a Heavenly Realm, acting as feudal lords. The West Pole Gouchen Great Emperor is even the Venerable Demon Emperor, and many great sages under him are not even registered in the Jade Emperor's Heavenly Court."

After the few chatted for a while, Qian Chen felt that his knowledge had broadened significantly. Yan Shu was, after all, a disciple of the Shaoqing Sword Sect and the first true successor of a Daoist sect Qian Chen had seen since his reincarnation. His level was much higher than the others Qian Chen had befriended in the Central Lands. The news heard from him allowed Qian Chen to have an intuitive understanding of the current Central Lands.

And Zhi Qiu was even more dazzled; many of the secrets of the Heavenly Realm and ancient times mentioned by Yan Shu were things he had never heard of.

Qian Chen also learned from him the whereabouts of the Seven Demon-Subduing Heroes of the past. Those seven sword heroes who subdued the Blood Demon basically all shed their mortal bodies and ascended in the end. For example, the sword immortal who came from Western Kunlun shed his mortal body sixty years after subduing the Blood Demon, and his Yin Spirit turned into a rainbow and ascended.

"... After the Red Dragon True Person ascended, only the Fire Chi Sword remained. His other personal treasure—the Demon-Subduing Sword Box—is nowhere to be found. Judging from the True Person's legacy, it should have been left to someone fated." Zhi Qiu explained: "My trip down the mountain this time, besides investigating the cause of the demon disaster at Heavenly Tian Shafeng, also carries the responsibility of searching for the whereabouts of this sword box."

"I suppose my master also sensed something wrong."

"The Demon-Subduing Sword Box is the supreme treasure of demon-subduing that the True Person painstakingly refined in order to subdue the Blood Demon. Now, behind the demon disaster at Heavenly Tian Shafeng, there are actually traces of the Blood Demon's actions. Is the Blood Demon chaos of two thousand years ago about to repeat itself? If so, we must find this magic treasure."

"The Demon-Subduing Sword Box!" Qian Chen finally heard the key point.

Before he could ask further, someone else arrived.

By this time, it was about the hour of the Tiger (3-5 AM). The sun was rising high, and footsteps came from outside the great hall. Not long after, the half-collapsed hall door was gently pushed open. A large yellow chicken, six feet tall with a five-colored tail, walked into the hall first, head held high and chest out, stepping over the threshold. It looked left and right. Qian Chen actually saw a trace of majesty in its bean-sized eyes.

Immediately following it, a young girl wearing a pale ink-green shirt with a cold temperament also walked into the hall. She first stepped in with one leg, then followed by sticking her head in, tilted her head to look at the three of them, and only then entered the hall completely.

The girl was carrying a copper-colored flying sword that looked like purple clouds. Qian Chen noticed that it was also a flying sword of excellent quality.

Qian Chen was still sighing in his heart that after entering the land of samsara, there were many more people with flying swords, making him feel that his own net worth had shrunk and he was no longer as wealthy as before. In the battle with Miaokong, besides the twelve white-bone relics that could not be used and brought backlash, he gained nothing and even destroyed several magic tools...

"The road to wealth is long and arduous!"

"Why did you come to this desolate place, Miss?" Qian Chen smiled: "This place just had a demon disaster, and the wolf blood is foul. And we are three men; if you are alone, it might be inconvenient. The two monk quarters nearby, although dilapidated, are cleaner than here."

The girl held her sword and cupped her fists: "Hmm! I am Ning Qingchen, and I am here to investigate clues about the demon disaster."

Yan Shu nodded slightly: "My surname is Yan. This is the Western Kunlun Daoist Zhi Qiu, and this is Qian Shidi..."

"Miss Ning?" Qian Chen stroked his chin, feeling that this abandoned Lanruo Temple was very fitting for the scene. He nodded thoughtfully and said: "You can also call me Little Qian... Hmm! Little Qian." His tone rose slightly, and he quickly sat up a bit more properly.

Because he had just disguised himself as a left-leaning demon, he hadn't tied his hair up yet, and coupled with his injuries, the current Qian Chen had disheveled hair, a slightly pale complexion, and was leaning against a pillar in white clothes like a ghost, radiating a chill. The overall sense of déjà vu was too strong.

"This is completely passive cosplay... and a gender-swapped version... what the hell?" ===== CHAPTER 91 =====