Chapter 70: The Old Fantasy (2)

"Who are you and why are you in that person's body?"

The pressure that cuts through the skin almost oppresses the soul, and the sweet smell of the garden is so real.

Luo Xuanyi was completely confused. Perhaps she was too shocked. Her first reaction was - Can I understand what she is saying?

The Jade Spirit Crane spoke not a language of later times, but an ancient tongue from ten thousand years ago. Luo Xuanyi had learned some of it on her own, but she could only read it, not listen or speak. But at this moment, she understood the Jade Spirit Crane's words as if she understood them from the bottom of her heart.

She unconsciously showed doubt in her eyes and glanced at the soul guide's corpse.

Yu Linghe raised an eyebrow, and as if understanding something, he turned back to look at the Soul Guide. The Soul Guide was completely killed, but under Luo Xuanyi's astonished gaze, his entire body suddenly burned with blue flames, rising into the air and dissipating, leaving no trace on the ground.

"I see. You're the unlucky one who got swallowed by the Soul Guide, right?"

"It seems you haven't fully assimilated yet. Do you still remember which sect you belong to? Seeing how shabby you're dressed, I'm sure you're not from our Yu clan."

As she spoke, Yu Linghe's eyes softened slightly, and her imposing presence receded. As her mood calmed, the dark clouds in the sky dissipated, and the sun once again shone into the garden. Now, with a face full of curiosity, she looked like an ordinary girl.

Luo Xuanyi wouldn't treat her like an ordinary girl, but when she wasn't sure what was going on, she should try to answer as little as possible to avoid angering the person in front of her. Luo Xuanyi was a little worried about whether her words would be exposed, but the ancient language came out of her mouth naturally.

"I, I don't remember. I only remember that I should call Yi Sanmei?"

Yu Linghe's face was filled with surprise for a moment, and then he couldn't help laughing as if he had found an interesting toy: "It's you! I didn't expect to meet you like this."

What did she mean? Her tone suggested she might encounter someone named Yi Sanmei. Luo Xuanyi was filled with doubt. Even if she tried to calm down and think things through, Yu Linghe wouldn't give her the chance.

"Alright, get up quickly. You may not remember, but you're already dead. Now you're a spirit. Normally, you're invisible except for the arrogant weaklings of the Ten Thousand Souls Sect, but you're special."

"However, you have to follow me obediently, otherwise a soul like you will be captured by the Mingdu people if you are not careful."

When she mentioned the Myriad Souls Sect, her expression twisted subtly, a mixture of disdain and resentment, but quickly returned to normal.

The word "Ten Thousand Souls Sect" struck Luo Xuanyi. She stood up suddenly, finally realizing something.

Wasn't the girl before him the same one who died smiling at the altar? But doubts mounted. Was the Ancient Alchemist from the Myriad Souls Sect era? Did she, inexplicably, return to ancient times? Or was this just a re-creation of an illusion? What was the Ancient Alchemist's purpose in dragging future generations into this illusion?

Luo Xuanyi didn't think this was just an ordinary opportunity. Could the Wanhun Sect, who had once wiped out all the human world and unified the demonic path through the ghost world, have such simple kindness?

Wait, Yu Linghe's words were inconsistent with the books she had read. Luo Xuanyi remembered that the Wanhun Sect was the only sect among all the demonic sects to have achieved complete unification, but Yu Linghe said, "Those Wanhun Sect members are weaklings."

She was now completely confused. It seemed that she could only act cautiously and obtain more intelligence to better judge the situation.

Yu Linghe was satisfied to see Luo Xuanyi reluctantly accept the reality from the chaos. She was about to say something when a maid in a goose yellow dress stumbled over from the end of the garden, holding up her skirt and shouting, "Master Soul Guide! Please don't run around—ah!"

The moment the maid saw Yu Linghe, the lively yet flustered girl immediately knelt on one knee and said solemnly, "I pay my respects to the Taoist Master. I am disrespectful. Please punish me."

Daozu? Anyone with the word "Dao" in their name must be a person of great power, but Daozu has a deeper meaning. Only a master of the Spiritual Transformation Stage who has opened up a new path or first demonstrated a path can be given such a title. Luo Xuanyi was shocked, and her expression became more honest.

Yu Linghe's calm voice showed no trace of the girl's expression just now: "It's okay. What do you want to do with the soul guide?"

Luo Xuanyi looked at the situation in front of her and simply stood beside Yu Linghe as if she were a ghost, watching silently. Yu Linghe glanced at her, and Luo Xuanyi felt that Yu Linghe's mood had inexplicably improved a little.

The maid shuddered, but answered without hesitation, "Daozu, it was the clan elders who requested the Soul Guider to come to the ancestral temple for a discussion. However, the Soul Guider trespassed into the Daozu Garden without permission. He truly deserves death! I will find the Soul Guider and punish him. Daozu, please don't worry about it. Leave these trivial matters to me."

"No need. You don't need to look for the soul guide anymore. I will report this matter to the elders. You can go back to your duty."

The maid immediately realized that the soul guide had probably died at Yu Linghe's hands, but she answered without hesitation. She knelt on the side of the road, as if to respectfully see Yu Linghe off before rising.

Yu Linghe's expression inadvertently revealed a hint of helplessness. She beckoned Luo Xuanyi to walk towards the garden exit together. As she passed the maid, she suddenly remembered something and asked, "Did you see the person next to me?"

The maid respectfully raised her head slightly and quickly looked around, a puzzled look on her face: "No, forgive my stupidity, I didn't see anything."

At Yu Linghe's signal, Luo Xuanyi tried to make a sound to greet her, but the maid still heard nothing.

Yu Linghe stood there thoughtfully for a while, then threw off his sleeves and strode out of the garden.

Everything Luo Xuanyi saw along the way was so different from what would happen in later times. Seeing her looking around with such curiosity, Yu Linghe didn't care if others would think her monologue was strange, so he explained it to her, with a hint of boasting in his tone.

The wooden structures common in later times were nowhere to be seen here. Instead, there were towering stone palaces, each one enormous and magnificent. Every visible surface was covered in carved patterns or painted with magnificent murals in vibrant mineral powder. Everywhere was ablaze with dazzling colors, with almost no hint of subtle styles like black, white, or blue.

At first, Luo Xuanyi thought that these rooms, which were larger than the palace, were built with some structure, but Yu Linghe told her that these palaces were all integrated into one.

The Yu family was a family practice, and everyone lived in the "ancestral home" that was hollowed out of an entire mountain. Therefore, the palace was seamlessly integrated, including the furniture.

"Only poor people would live in a room carved out of small pieces of stone. A family like ours would live in the mountains."

Luo Xuanyi thought of the vast underground palace and finally understood that perhaps it was the difference in time. However, there was one thing that concerned her more: Yu Linghe, the Taoist ancestor, was too lively.

Generally speaking, Daozu, as a veteran monster in the Spiritual Transformation Stage who opened up a new path, would have lived for over a thousand years. However, Yu Linghe showed all his emotions on his face, and like a child, he wanted to show off to others.

Luo Xuanyi completely forgot that she was only thirteen or fourteen years old.

But this also has its advantages. Information is constantly coming out of the Jade Spirit Crane's mouth, and Luo Xuanyi doesn't need to think of a reason to ask, she just needs to listen quietly.

Everyone he met along the way, Daozu, knelt on one knee by the roadside, respectfully avoiding Yu Linghe. No one dared to look up or question Yu Linghe. Yu Linghe paid no attention and walked on.

Luo Xuanyi looked at those who were obviously cultivators, but she realized that even cultivators were different from those in later generations. They didn't seem to have storage bags, and all their magic weapons were hanging on their bodies. They were ostentatious like vendors. In later generations, they would be saying, "Look at my trump card!" or "Come and rob me!"

Upon closer inspection, Luo Xuanyi actually discerned a clue. This family seemed to primarily cultivate with mirror-shaped magical instruments. While there were a few who wielded swords, they were few and far between. However, those who wielded swords generally seemed to possess higher levels of cultivation than the other cultivators, and they also showed greater respect for the Jade Spirit Crane.

"Oh, are you looking at those? They are indeed rare talents of this generation in the tribe. However, we still haven't found the next generation of adventers."

Yu Linghe sighed and, with the respectful farewell of the crowd, entered a magnificent stone palace. Compared to this palace, all the other palaces immediately seemed dwarfed. This was the ancestral temple.

Luo Xuanyi looked at the circle of cultivators whose cultivation levels were unknown as they knelt down and saluted in the direction of Yu Linghe, and swallowed inexplicably.