"Sect... Sect Master," Qiu Zhangxin said, his heart pounding. "But... I'm almost at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage! Isn't it too late to switch to another path now?!"

"That's true. It's a bit slow to start over now."

"Sect Master? No, you actually considered letting me start over?!"

"Alright, whatever makes you happy! How about this, I'll give you a few days off, okay?"

"A...a holiday?" Did he used to have holidays?

"That's right, you should go out with the soul beasts to collect souls, travel around and see more, you might never see them again!" It's such a pity that such an excellent employee is about to go to work in that terrible place called the Underworld.

"Alright, it's settled then. The holiday starts today, and you can leave now!" You You sighed, then specially summoned the soul beast and handed it over to him, personally seeing him off from the True Exploration Sect. He repeatedly instructed the soul beast to take good care of Qiu Zhang, saying that the trip was uncertain and he could come back when he had fun. He also casually stuffed a bunch of requests from the sect about ghostly disturbances into the two of them.

Since he's going to join the Underworld anyway, and the sect isn't short of teachers, it's good for him to go out and familiarize himself with the business and get some pre-job training as a kind of pre-departure benefit.

Qiu Zhang, trembling with fear: "..."

Sect Master, please don't... What incurable disease do I have? Please tell me! There's still a chance to save me!

Watching the outstanding employees being dragged away by the soul beasts, Youyou sighed deeply.

Sigh! Today is another day of worrying myself sick over my disciple!

——————

As You You turned to walk back, she pondered the matter of the Heavenly Dao Book. Relying solely on the soul beasts and Qiu Zhang to search for it was clearly insufficient. It seemed she also needed to inform the other allied factions about clues related to ghosts, and even the Immortal Realm and Demon Realm couldn't be overlooked. Who knew where those few 'off-duty' Yin Books had gone off to? Just as she was thinking this, a chill suddenly ran down her spine, and an unfamiliar male voice rang out.

"Fellow immortal, do you have the ambition to reach the pinnacle of the Great Dao?"

Youyou paused, instinctively looking around, but found no one nearby. "Who is it?"

The next moment, the voice rang out again.

"The ways of Heaven are unpredictable. Even if one becomes an immortal, only the Great Dao is eternal. Fellow immortal, have you ever been unable to achieve something because of your limited strength? Have you ever felt heartbroken because of the loss of loved ones? Have you ever regretted your choices due to the impermanence of life? Do you wish to live forever, understand the laws of the world, comprehend the principles of all things, and attain the heart that yearns for the Dao? I can help you reach the pinnacle of the Great Dao, cultivate supreme techniques, traverse countless lifetimes of immortality, and ultimately ascend to godhood!"

"..." What's with this strong MLM vibe? You You frowned, and upon closer inspection, she realized that the voice wasn't coming from beside her ear, but rather directly into her mind. She instantly understood, "You're in my consciousness?"

"Fellow immortal, you possess great wisdom! I am temporarily residing within your consciousness," the voice replied without any hesitation.

Youyou immediately looked inside and indeed saw a small figure with a faint purple aura in a corner of her divine sense. The shadow was very small, looking like a miniature chibi version, but it could still be seen that it was an old man with a white beard.

"Who are you?" Youyou was taken aback, recalling the cool sensation on her forehead just now. "How can you just casually enter someone's consciousness?"

"I am but a wisp of divine thought from the realm of gods!" The old man seemed unafraid of being discovered, stroking his beard and exuding the air of a reclusive master. "To avoid the demons, I hid in the divination tablet for several years. Recently, sensing the dissipation of demonic energy, I have revealed myself here. It can be said that I am destined to meet you, fairy!"

"A spirit tablet?!" You You was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized something and immediately took out the wooden tablet that Hong Fei had given her last time. "You mean this?" Originally, this tablet was meant for Yuan Qi and the others, but she had been busy with the Heavenly Dao Book and forgot about it.

“This is it!” The old man stroked his beard and nodded. “This is a divine artifact. Once activated, it can summon a wisp of divine thought from a divine lord of the divine realm. That is what happened to me.”

"A divine artifact? I've seen plenty of divine artifacts, don't try to fool me!" Is there really such a shabby divine artifact?

"Absolutely true!" the old man explained solemnly. "Little fairy, don't panic. I meant no harm. My divine sense was injured by demonic energy, and I need to borrow yours to recuperate. Since we've met by chance, I will definitely help you ascend to the Great Dao and achieve great things on your immortal path. Are you willing...?"

"No!" Before he could finish speaking, Youyou immediately refused.

“Then you shall become my… Huh? Huh!” The old man froze, seemingly unable to believe her answer. He immediately said anxiously, “This is a chance to become a god! An immense opportunity, unlike your previous ascension to immortality. You must know that a little fairy like you simply…”

“I’m not a fairy!” Youyou interrupted again.

"What? How is this possible? Isn't this the Immortal Realm?"

"This is the human realm!"

"..." He froze for a moment, his face turning deathly pale. He then paced frantically in her mind's eye like an ant on a hot pan. "How could it be the human realm? The human realm! Impossible! The demons clearly said they were in the immortal realm, so how did they end up in the human realm? When will I ever be able to go back?!"

Youyou wasn't in a hurry. After watching him spin around for a long time, he finally stopped, as if forcing himself to calm down. After a while, he gritted his teeth and continued, "Never mind! Little girl, I'll teach you how to cultivate immortality first. After you ascend to the Immortal Realm, I will teach you the method of cultivating divinity. One day you will be able to cultivate a divine body and enter the Divine Realm."

“Oh, not interested!” she continued to refuse.

"No! Young lady!" The old man was almost in tears. He had never seen such a lack of ambition in a young girl, and he became even more anxious. "I'm not lying to you, I really have divine will! That's becoming a god, a god! How can you not be interested? Have you ever seen a god?"

"I've seen him! I see him every day!"

"I've seen him before..." Wait a minute, "You've seen him before?!"

Before he could ask, a familiar voice came from inside the sect, "Youyou, have you finished seeing Old Man Qiu off?"

Turning her head, she saw Feng Rong and Yuan Qi flying over from afar, clearly there to pick her up.

"This divine power is... from the ancient gods!" The old man, sensing the two through his divine sense, suddenly widened his eyes, his face even paler than before, his urgency deepening, and his words becoming somewhat incoherent, "Quick... run, little girl, get out of here! These two are not someone you can handle, hurry!"

Youyou paused in her steps, about to approach, "Why?"

"These are the ancient, extremely evil divine race, the Forsaken Sin Clan, who have long been banished from the God Realm. They are all utterly wicked, ruthless, and possess the power to destroy the heavens and the earth; they even eat women and children! Oh dear, I'm so worried, you have to run!"

"..."