121: The Secret of the Ancient Fairyland

The next moment.

Visibly, the frozen black lotus seemed to melt, turning into a black stream that flowed into Lin Sheng's palm pressed against the ice block.

At first glance, this scene...

...looked as if Lin Sheng was absorbing dark power.

Mu Xianyan and the others exchanged glances but didn't think too much of it; after all, it only looked like that on the surface. Besides, even if it truly was a dark and ominous power, they believed Lin Sheng could control it.

[Absorbing...]

[Upgrade Progress: 1%]

[Upgrade Progress: 2%]

[...]

Seeing the black stream in the ice diminish while the upgrade progress slowly increased, Lin Sheng made a rough estimate in his heart and found that a single black lotus wasn't enough to complete the progress.

As expected.

When the black lotus in the ice was completely absorbed, the upgrade progress before Lin Sheng's eyes had just reached 50%!

'It takes two black lotuses to upgrade...'

'It seems I need to find the other small avatars that the Truth Black Lotus left in the lower realms.'

Lin Sheng knew of a few such places in his mind.

One place he could reach in the near future might be the White Tiger Secret Realm of the Xiaoyue White Tiger Clan; there's also a black lotus inside.

He withdrew his hand from the ice block, looking at the Immortal Court Empress still frozen inside, and felt troubled again.

"Hiss... this fellow... how should I deal with her?"

Only when he spoke did Mu Xianyan and the others gather around him.

"Master, who is this inside?" Baili Fengming asked naturally.

"Exactly, is she from the Human Clan?" Wen Qin asked doubtfully.

They didn't ask what Lin Sheng had just absorbed; since he actively absorbed it, it must be more beneficial than harmful to him.

Things that bring benefits are generally considered opportunities, and asking directly is also seen as impolite.

"Do you know about the Ancient Immortal Court?"

Lin Sheng didn't keep them in suspense but spoke frankly: "She is the last Immortal Emperor of the Ancient Immortal Court, named Wen Liangyu, and belongs to a now-extinct race among the Demon Clan called the 'Succubus Clan'."

!!?

Hearing this, the girls looked astonished.

"The Ancient Immortal Court!? The one that suddenly vanished overnight a hundred thousand years ago!?"

"An Immortal Emperor!? How could an Immortal Emperor be frozen?"

"So she's from the Demon Clan!? But why could someone from the Demon Clan be an Immortal Court Emperor? I heard the Immortal Court Emperors were all from the Human Clan?"

Lin Sheng slowly walked to the stone table and sat down.

The girls followed him like curious babies, massaging his legs and shoulders and offering him tea after he sat down, their beautiful eyes full of eagerness to learn.

There was no urgent matter at the moment.

Lin Sheng simply leaned back in their attentive service and slowly began to tell them: "When heaven and earth were first created... never mind, that's too long ago. Let's start directly from the Ancient Immortal Court."

"Hundreds of thousands of years ago was the era of the Ancient Immortal Court. At that time, the Human, Demon, and Monster races didn't have irreconcilable conflicts and coexisted. The Ancient Immortal Court was founded under that historical backdrop, so the emperors throughout its history could be human, monster, or demon."

"For a long time, the Immortal Court Emperors were all from the Human Clan, and they passed down a Human Emperor Sword among themselves."

"Later, foreign realms invaded. The Human Emperor at the time took the Human Emperor Sword and charged into the battlefield, disappearing without a trace. The Immortal Court was left leaderless, so Wen Liangyu, who had the highest cultivation, was nominated as the wartime leader, unexpectedly becoming the last one."

"The Immortal Court was destroyed?" The girls widened their eyes.

"Strictly speaking, it wasn't destroyed, but scattered."

Lin Sheng took a sip of tea and continued: "Among the invading foreign races was a powerful expert. To avoid destroying this world, he opened a massive teleportation array, intending to transport the entire battlefield along with the Ancient Immortal Court to the Star Sea."

"Unfortunately, that expert overestimated his power. The energy within the teleportation was too immense, and the array collapsed after only halfway through the transmission."

"Consequently, the Ancient Immortal Court, along with countless immortal cultivators on the battlefield, were all lost and scattered within the boundless Star Sea."

So that's how...

...the Ancient Immortal Court that once dominated the world vanished overnight...

The girls looked astonished.

"Why did the foreign realms invade the Immortal Court?" Chen Nanzhi suddenly asked.

"Oh? Heh heh, you've asked the crucial question."

Lin Sheng placed the teacup down on the table with a 'clatter', his gaze fixed on the ice block not far away, his expression melancholic: "What else could it be for? Naturally, it was for profit."

"Specifically, it was for the black lotus that was just inside the ice block!"

Hearing this, the girls widened their eyes and exchanged glances.

"Just for that one black lotus?"

"Yes!"

"Then what is this black lotus!?"

"Actually... Immortal Emperor is not the end of the cultivation path. Above Immortal Emperors, there exists an even higher realm!"

As soon as he said this...

...all the girls revealed looks of disbelief.

In their worldview, an Immortal Emperor was everyone's ultimate goal, an invincible and omnipotent existence defying the heavens.

But now, the person they trusted most told them that an Immortal Emperor was not invincible and could even be instantly killed by an enemy!

After the shock, a deep sense of dread followed.

What if one day an existence stronger than an Immortal Emperor suddenly appeared? Wouldn't the decision of whether or not to destroy this world be entirely up to that person's whim?

"Above Immortal Emperor... there's another realm?"

"How powerful must that be!"

"Could it be that with that black lotus, one can step into that higher realm?"

"......"

The girls spoke one after another, their expressions clearly showing some panic.

"Don't worry."

Lin Sheng's words seemed to possess a magical power, truly calming their hearts: "In just a few months at most, I will be able to reach that level."

The warm sun shone upon everyone.

The breeze was gentle and warm.

There had always been a barrier set up within the courtyard – this was the most basic means of self-preservation when going outside.

After the girls gradually calmed down, Lin Sheng spoke everything else he hadn't finished saying.

"That black lotus is indeed important energy for reaching a higher realm. Without it, perhaps only one or two out of a hundred thousand Immortal Emperors could break through to a higher realm, but with it, perhaps sixty or seventy thousand out of a hundred thousand Immortal Emperors could break through to a higher realm."

No wonder a great war erupted over it...

They understood why the foreign races would invade.

"As for..."

..."why the Immortal Emperor was frozen..."

"Heh heh, she is not an Immortal Emperor, but someone in a realm above Immortal Emperors. This ice is naturally not ordinary ice either."

Lin Sheng stood up and, amidst the girls' shock, walked back to the ice block.

In his heart, he began to ponder how to deal with this thing.

He wasn't at ease putting her anywhere else... If an accident happened and she got out, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Should he put her into his palm-sized world?

While he was musing, Wen Qin suddenly walked up to him, stood on her tiptoes, and whispered in his ear: "Little Demon God, since this Empress is from the Demon Clan, is there a way to make her listen to you?"

She thought very simply: if it succeeded, wouldn't Lin Sheng have another heaven-defying expert by his side?