Wu Cheng’s prompt response immediately brightened my eyes: “Where?!”
“Xi Wang Mu made a major advancement in her cultivation technique! She just emerged from seclusion the day before yesterday! The spiritual energy throughout Kunlun surged tremendously. For an entire day, from inside to outside, everyone felt it! Don’t you remember?”
I: “…”
Damn, after five hundred years, I’d forgotten about that…
“Also, the day before yesterday, the high immortal in charge of Kunlun’s flora—the one in Meng Meng’s department—ascended. The tribulation lightning struck all night, and by sunrise, that plant deity Jing Nanshou successfully ascended, becoming the Wisteria High Immortal. Don’t you remember that either?”
No, I didn’t remember…
“And then yesterday,” Wu Cheng continued, “while we were in the Snow Bamboo Forest, there was quite a commotion outside Kunlun’s southern entrance! Two great immortals from the Southern Wilderness and the Western Sea, touring the world, happened to meet outside our Kunlun and engaged in a friendly duel at the gate! The spiritual energy fluctuations were so intense that they even made the Pangu Fu barrier shake!”
Three consecutive days… like a continuous celebration, with huge spiritual energy fluctuations every day…
I held my forehead and sighed.
No wonder. I was puzzled.
Having lived in the past five hundred years and also served in the defense forces, if there had been massive abnormal spiritual energy fluctuations, how could I have no memory of them?
It turned out that during these three days, major events occurred daily. With so many abnormal spiritual energy fluctuations mixing, who could distinguish them?
“What about evil energy?” I asked, grasping at the last possibility. “Has anyone detected any evil spirit energy?”
Wu Cheng shook his head: “That I don’t know…”
“Evil spirit energy?”
A slightly deep voice came from behind me. I turned to see a thin figure lifting the tent flap, silhouetted against the light as he entered. The newcomer’s face had an unnatural grayish-blue tint. Looking at him, my eyes widened slightly. A chill immediately ran up my spine.
It was him! This face, this high immortal, was the only one ever executed by Xi Wang Mu! The Man-Eating High Immortal!
—Jing Nanshou!
He was the high immortal who had just ascended two days ago, in charge of Kunlun’s seasonal flora. He was Meng Meng’s direct superior and also the one who caused Xie Zhuo to be wrongfully accused after our marriage!
He was known as the highest immortal with the shortest tenure since Kunlun’s establishment.
In just over a year, Xi Wang Mu discovered that he had been consuming immortals to absorb their spiritual energy. When he was about to fall into the path of demonic cultivation, he was executed by Xi Wang Mu.
“Wisteria High Immortal,” Wu Cheng respectfully bowed to Jing Nanshou. “You’ve just ascended, and already we trouble you.” Wu Cheng pointed at me, “This is our defense force commander, Fu Jiuxia. Please check if there is any evil energy in her body.”
Is he serious? Having him check if I have evil energy?! He’s probably the closest to becoming an evil spirit among all cultivators in Kunlun!
“It’s no trouble,” Jing Nanshou replied politely. His voice was deep and even somewhat weak.
But when he stood before me, silhouetted against the light, looking at me in the golden net, I felt his eyes were completely devoid of emotion, as if he were examining a corpse.
Although I hadn’t had much interaction with him before, I had met him twice. Back then, perhaps because I didn’t know what he would later do, I had no particular impression of him, only thinking he seemed somewhat frail. I had assumed it was because his ascension had been too strenuous…
Thinking about it now, his condition must be a symptom of spiritual energy conflicting with evil energy. With such symptoms, it was enough to prove that he had already…
Eaten human flesh…
He had just ascended two days ago, and he had already consumed human flesh?!
As I was pondering this, Jing Nanshou had already bent down. His hair hung before me, and his entire being carried a damp, cold, moisture-laden aura. His withered, pale fingertips passed through the golden net and touched my wrist.
I immediately shuddered, wanting to pull my wrist away.
But in that brief moment of contact, Jing Nanshou’s gaze seemed to be ignited by something. Those lifeless eyes suddenly lifted, fixing on my face with a chilling gleam like the cold light in the night.
He opened his mouth.
I saw his stark white teeth…