On the other side, Chen Xingcai enthusiastically dragged Xiyan to wander around Immortal Spirit City.
The prosperity and scale of this massive city far exceeded Xiyan's imagination.
The streets were wide enough for ten carriages to pass side by side.
Buildings on both sides stood in dense rows, towering into the clouds.
Each had different styles—some with ancient flying eaves and bracket sets.
Others had crystal stone structures driven by spiritual power, full of strange and beautiful forms.
People flowed like weaving, shoulder to shoulder.
Among them were not only cultivators of varying strength.
There were also large numbers of ordinary people with no cultivation at all.
They lived and worked here peacefully.
They ran various shops and stalls.
They sold spirit herbs, pills, and magical artifacts.
They also sold ordinary food, cloth, and sundries.
The sounds of hawking, bargaining, and children laughing never ceased.
Between immortals and mortals, there seemed to be no strict barrier.
A strange harmony and vitality filled every corner of the city.
In the air, cultivators could occasionally be seen riding streams of light or spirit beast mounts.
On the ground, ordinary people looked up, already accustomed to the sight.
This scene was extremely rare in the upper realm.
There, immortal cities were often strictly hierarchical.
Mortals were rarely allowed in the core areas.
The noise, vitality, and diversity of this city were no less impressive than international metropolises on Blue Star.
Chen Xingcai acted like the most competent tour guide.
She dragged her through various lively markets.
She introduced her to the specialties of Immortal Spirit City.
Whenever she saw something novel or delicious, she'd buy two.
One for herself and one to stuff into Xiyan's hands.
"Try this, candy art made from spirit wheat—sweet but not cloying!"
"Look over there! That's a snake dancer from the Southern Frontier."
"All the snakes are non-venomous jade snakes—they're so fun!"
"This shop's cloud silk handkerchief is unique to Immortal Spirit City."
"When you inject spiritual power, the patterns change—I'll get you one!"
Xiyan was dragged along passively.
Her hands quickly filled with various snacks and trinkets.
She looked at Chen Xingcai's unclouded, brilliantly sincere face beside her.
She felt the other's genuine enthusiasm and care from the heart.
Then she compared it to her own "undercover" identity.
A subtle but clear sense of guilt involuntarily sprouted from deep within.
She treats me so well... like a true friend.
But... I'm not sincerely here to be her friend.
I'm just a liar.
I'm an undercover agent with ulterior motives infiltrating this place.
What if one day in the future, my Master really wants to move against the Heavenly Alliance?
What if he wants to be enemies with the Immortal Spirit Holy Land?
Then what will happen to Chen Xingcai?
Will she still smile at me like this?
Will she hate me?
Thinking of that possibility, Xiyan's heart suddenly felt a bit stuffy.
She bit her lower lip, secretly making up her mind.
'No matter what happens later, if that day really comes, I must desperately beg my Master to spare Xingcai's life no matter what!'
'She absolutely cannot be hurt!'
Just then, another figure automatically flashed through her mind like playback.
That cold-faced, infuriating person who had saved her at a critical moment.
Jiang Che—whom she had "saved" once.
A voice quietly added in her heart: 'Right... and that person... must protect them too.'
Then, as if trying to convince herself, she quickly rationalized in her heart.
'After all... he's technically my life-saver!'
'I, Xiyan, always repay kindness!'
'Yes, that's it!'
She tried to use this reason to suppress that slight ripple in her heart.
After wandering for a long time, Chen Xingcai finally felt a bit tired.
She pulled Xiyan into a rather elegant and quiet street-side inn.
She ordered several famous Immortal Spirit City spirit food delicacies.
They prepared to rest their feet and satisfy their hunger.
While waiting for the dishes, Xiyan's gaze unconsciously swept across the scattered tables in the inn's main hall.
Suddenly, her gaze fixed on a table by the window.
There sat a man and a woman.
The man had his back to her, so she couldn't see his face.
She could only see his straight back and tied-up black hair.
He wore an ordinary green Daoist robe and didn't seem particularly special.
But the woman across from him was turned slightly toward Xiyan's direction.
The woman wore a simple, clean moon-white long dress with a graceful figure.
Her long black hair was simply pinned up with a jade hairpin.
A few strands softly hung by her cheek.
She wore no veil.
She revealed a stunningly beautiful profile that carried a hint of cold aloofness and distance.
Her brows and eyes were like a painting.
Her nose was elegantly straight.
Her lips were slightly pale.
Combined, they formed a breathtaking beauty.
But that beauty was like an ice-sealed snow lotus.
It carried an unreachable pride and a faint sorrow.
Xiyan's pupils contracted slightly.
This woman... she seemed to have seen her before!
She quickly searched through her memories.
It was in the upper realm!
Yes!
Many years ago, this woman had come to the Heartless Dao Sect seeking an audience with her Master!
At that time, Xiyan happened to be walking on a mountain path outside the sect.
Her cultivation had hit a bottleneck, her mood was depressed.
She had caught a distant glimpse.
The impression was deep because this woman's state at the time was very peculiar.
Clearly her cultivation wasn't weak—she seemed to be at the peak of the Heavenly Being Realm.
But she was surrounded by an extremely contradictory aura.
It contained both determination and endless pain and struggle.
Later, she heard her senior sisters in the sect privately discussing this woman's background.
They said she originally had a childhood sweetheart, a deeply loving partner.
But for some reason, she personally betrayed and caused that lover's death.
Details of the story varied.
She thought she could rise to great heights.
But the person she gave her heart to was merely using her.
Now that the usefulness was over, naturally she was discarded like grass.
After being abandoned, they said her Dao heart was damaged.
A massive inner demon formed.
Her cultivation advanced slowly.
Originally extremely talented, with the Saint Realm within reach.
But tens of thousands of years passed.
Her cultivation remained stuck at the peak of the Heavenly Being Realm.
She was unable to glimpse the door to the Saint Realm.
With nowhere else to turn, through some connection, she found her way to the Heartless Dao Sect.
She sought the Heartless Dao method.
She attempted to break through her inner demon by severing all emotional ties.
She thought the so-called Heartless Dao meant being heartless and cutting off desire.
She thought it meant forgetting all emotions.
But she didn't know that true Heartless Dao isn't about being heartless and unrighteous.
It requires entering the world then leaving it.
It emphasizes the word "understanding."
If it were simply about being heartless, there are countless heartless people in the world.
So why is the Heartless Dao lineage so withered?
So naturally, her request was directly rejected by her Master.
Her Master didn't even appear in person.
He only had the mountain-protecting child pass on an ice-cold message:
"My Heartless Dao Sect does not accept garbage with filthy Dao hearts who deceive themselves."
This statement caused quite a stir at the time.
Some said her Master was too harsh.
Others felt it hit the nail on the head.
Xiyan had listened and just thought the woman was both pitiful and detestable.
She didn't dwell on it.
After all, the Heartless Dao Sect had rejected countless disciples.
But she never expected to see her here in Immortal Spirit City!
Why would she be here?
In the lower realm?
In this Immortal Spirit City?
Right, what was her name?
Xiyan frowned, trying hard to recall.
The name mentioned when her senior sisters discussed it years ago.
It seemed to be...
Ji...
Ji Yunshu?
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