Chapter 43: Forty-Three Slashes "I am the Reborn Supreme Immortal Lord"...
At this moment, Xie Changming was in the midst of chaos. He asked the void in a cold tone, "So now, you're short-handed, is that it?"
The chaos beneath his feet gathered and spun, gradually becoming orderly and forming a string of words.
"Yes, originally, the Misty Star Sea requisitioned explorers' resources, and there was no need to ask the explorers about it."
The Misty Star Sea was communicating with Xie Changming in a way they could understand.
“But you, I can’t ignore your opinion—or rather, I need your consent before I can ask you to do anything.”
The Misty Star Sea's words were so complicated, but to put it simply, it originally planned to take Xie Changming away like it took Lu Yaoyao's green bracelet, and make him play another role. However, it didn't have the ability to take Xie Changming away, so it could only negotiate with him.
“I refuse,” Xie Changming said to Misty Star Sea. “I will not leave her to do anything else.”
“But—” Misty Star Sea communicated with him in writing, “with this identity, you can immediately return to her side—and rightfully so.”
"This place is ultimately just an illusion." Xie Changming pointed out the essence of the Misty Star Sea. This chaotic land will only become a real place in the present world after they explore it.
“I don’t think you’ll refuse this role,” Misty Star Sea said.
The chaos before Xie Changming transformed once more, taking the shape of a person. Although this person was tall, he had an ordinary appearance, the kind of person who would be indistinguishable from anyone else in a crowd.
His appearance was exactly the same as the "Supreme Immortal Lord" described by Han Yu.
Xie Changming looked at the person in front of him and fell silent. He had never imagined that the Supreme Immortal Lord, whom he wanted to kill day and night, would look like this.
“No other primordial spirit can control this body,” Misty Star Sea explained. “I don’t know why, but this is the image she’s thinking of.”
"Why?" Xie Changming asked.
“She’s a dragon, so naturally she doesn’t like fakes. She wants the real thing, so I can only try to give her the real thing,” Misty Star Sea said.
“I thought she would forget him,” Xie Changming said.
“Stop—” Misty Star Sea refused to listen to his inner monologue any longer. “I’m only responsible for peering into the explorer’s inner desires. As for the details, I’m not interested in hearing them. As for you, are you willing to play this role?”
Xie Changming remained silent for a long time, his eyes gazing into the depths of the endless chaos: "I don't need to play a role."
Soon, divine bone trees began to grow from his feet and wrapped around his body, like some kind of hug, enveloping him and trapping him in the dead divine body.
In the celestial realm, gods hold a much lower status than immortals, and even newly ascended cultivators are more vibrant and free. They are more like machines or tools, embodiments of concrete rules, acting only according to predetermined rules.
When a minor god dies, the Divine Bone Tree will give birth to the next minor god, so there is no need to worry about them becoming extinct or disappearing.
Similarly, the minor gods in the celestial realm do not have the diverse appearances of cultivators; their appearances are extremely ordinary, and even if you meet them once, you will not have any impression of them.
At this time, Xie Changming became the Supreme Immortal Lord with the ordinary face of a minor god. This face was also the image he used when he was lurking in the heaven for a hundred years.
"You must not reveal your identity," Misty Star Sea instructed Xie Changming.
Xie Changming nodded at the void.
At this moment, the chaos around him disappeared and he returned to the heaven in the exploration scene.
A piece of paper that had been casually discarded flew across the sky. Xie Changming took it and found the content familiar. It was the tabloid "Firsthand Real News from Heaven".
It took him a while to communicate with the Misty Star Sea. Perhaps because the flow of time inside and outside the Misty Star Sea is different, the contents of this newsletter have been updated a lot. The latest news today is as follows.
[The security captain of Wuji Temple has mysteriously disappeared?! A stunningly beautiful goddess says to ignore him! The powerful young master of the Yangchuan family has his chance and has been promoted to the new security captain of Wuji Temple! Don't underestimate a young man's potential—literary works come to life?]
Of course, the news was true. After Xie Changming disappeared, Luo Mingshu didn't even bother to use the Soul-Calling Bell to look for him, because she knew she couldn't find him anyway.
However, with Xie Changming absent, someone still needs to take on the role of security captain for Wuji Palace. The reason is that the stunningly beautiful goddess needs such a grand entourage.
Meng Weifang was very enthusiastic about this matter. He confirmed with Luo Mingshu three times that the position of security captain was equal to that of news editor. He then boasted about this to Xu Qian several times, only to be met with disdain from her.
Xie Changming was nowhere to be seen. The other person clapping and cheering in the Wuji Hall was Han Yu. She held Luo Mingshu's hand and said with emotion, "Beautiful goddess, you've finally decided to kick that demon out of the house. By the way, did you know that the Supreme Immortal Lord was coming back, so you were afraid?"
Luo Mingshu's jade bracelet emitted a shrill scream as if she had never seen anything like it before: "Congratulations, host, the favorability of the mission target Han Yu has exceeded fifty."
This is just ridiculous. As soon as Xie Changming left, Han Yu's favorability rating skyrocketed. Luo Mingshu even began to suspect that this fairy might have a crush on her.
“It’s not that I’m scared,” Luo Mingshu said slowly, sitting on the throne and sipping fruit tea. “It’s that he’s scared and ran away first.”
"Damn it! How dare you betray me?" Luo Mingshu gritted his teeth and said, "Once we get out of the Misty Star Sea, I'll cheat you out of 80 million and then trick your entire Demon Realm into coming to me."
She figured she could handle the trouble here without Xie Changming's help. On the contrary, without him, the last rumor that she was "keeping a gigolo from the demon race" could no longer be used as the last tool to attack her.
In the war of words with Dongzhi Wonderland, Luo Mingshu defeated them one after another. However, she discovered that the news published by the "Heavenly Gossip Gazette" these days had become a little more intelligent - they had even learned to publish the gazette later, waiting for her to publish it first, and then launching targeted attacks based on their statements.
"A capable person has joined the game." While playing Dou Dizhu (a popular Chinese card game), Xu Qian was eating steamed buns and discarding cards.
"Is it the remaining team of explorers?" Luo Mingshu knew that Wei Qing was one of the last team of explorers because he was holding the soul-calling bell.
"It's definitely true. I don't think either the Cold Fairy or the Oh Fairy have the intelligence. The Oh Fairy might know, but she won't say it. But the Cold Fairy is a complete idiot," Xu Qian commented.
"Who cares? We're in the lead anyway," Luo Mingshu said, crossing her legs. Now all she had to do was wait for the Supreme Immortal Lord to return, torment him until he was furious and ready to kill his wife to prove his Dao, and then she could put up a reasonable resistance.
The script has been written, just waiting for the male lead to appear.
These days, Luo Mingshu, wielding the powerful system, has been playing a game and has been cultivating the favorability of all the little fairies in Wuji Palace. Now, the little fairies in Wuji Palace have great faith in her.
In fact, Luo Mingshu didn't know any tricks to please people. She was just simple and straightforward... relying on her looks. The more the little fairies in Wuji Palace looked at Luo Mingshu, the more they felt that the Supreme Immortal Lord was blind. The goddess was so beautiful, why was he so confident that he dared not like the goddess?
Luo Mingshu's plan to gain influence was very successful. She even went around to the forces around Wuji Palace and successfully won over several forces. When she got serious, she could still fool people to some extent.
So, when Xie Changming returned, this was the situation he faced.
He entered the Wuji Hall, where the surrounding immortals greeted him respectfully, saying, "Immortal Lord, you've returned?"
Xie Changming returned under a different guise, first concerned about himself—or rather, about Luo Mingshu's attitude towards him: "Before I came back, I read the tabloids. You've changed your security captain?"
"Yes, Immortal Lord," the little immortal bowed.
"Aren't you going to look for the ones from before?" Xie Changming asked knowingly.
"The stunningly beautiful goddess didn't say she was looking for someone, yet she promoted the capable young master of the Yangchuan family that very day." Xiao Xian scratched her head, puzzled.
Xie Changming: "..." She really doesn't seem to care about me.
He walked into the Wuji Hall. Hanyu noticed his arrival and hurriedly reminded Luo Mingshu, "Beautiful goddess, the Supreme Immortal Lord has returned... You... You have waited for him for so long, and finally the clouds have parted and the moon has shone."
Luo Mingshu threw out her last card and said, "Oh."
Xu Qian and Meng Weifang, who had lost again, sat to the side sighing. Luo Mingshu roused herself and said, "I'm going to start torturing him."
Luo Mingshu, who was ready, raised her head, and her eyes met Xie Changming's.
"Wow!" she exclaimed in surprise.
Xie Changming wondered if she still recognized him.
As a result, Luo Mingshu turned her head to whisper to Xu Qian, and pointed and said: "I heard Han Yu and the others say that the Supreme Immortal Lord has an ordinary appearance but a noble character. I thought that when the Heavenly Realm said ordinary, it meant an ordinary handsome guy. I didn't expect that he really is ordinary."
“No wonder he was able to cultivate to become an Immortal Lord; his appearance alone makes him stand out from the crowd,” Xu Qian chimed in.
Meng Weifang, who had long felt inferior under the shadow of Xie Changming's good looks, straightened up and said, "I'm more handsome than him."
They were whispering amongst themselves, which a normal Supreme Immortal Lord wouldn't have heard, but Xie Changming overheard the entire discussion.
Xie Changming pretended not to hear - there was nothing else he could do except pretend not to hear.
He walked up to Luo Mingshu and said with clumsy acting, "I'm back."
"Then you're back." Luo Mingshu didn't recognize Xie Changming. The reason she didn't recognize him was the same as why Lu Yaoyao didn't recognize Wei Qing. Generally speaking, she recognizes people by their faces. Xie Changming was so handsome that she didn't pay attention to any other details about him.
Just like in the Sandstorm Crossing, she had clearly seen Xie Changming wearing a hood once, but when she arrived in the Misty Star Sea, he wasn't wearing a hood, and she didn't recognize him at all.
Luo Mingshu didn't recognize him either. She was thinking of ways to anger the Supreme Immortal Lord. She was somewhat regretful that Xie Changming had left because she felt that Xie Changming's suggestion of having a male concubine was actually quite good.
But Meng Weifang was too foolish, and his looks weren't good enough for her, so she didn't really want to use him.
Fortunately, Xie Changming didn't have mind-reading abilities and didn't know what Luo Mingshu was thinking. Otherwise, just sitting there doing nothing and letting her mind wander would have been enough to make him impotently furious.
"Make way," Xie Changming said to Luo Mingshu, indicating that he wanted to sit on the throne.
Luo Mingshu spread her legs wide: "I'm a bit chubby, Immortal Lord, there's no room for me to sit down."
Xie Changming thought that Luo Mingshu might really treat him differently, because before, when he wanted to sit, Luo Mingshu had always given up her seat for him.
He was comforting himself, but Luo Mingshu felt that her legs lying across the throne were a little sore.
"Have you finished watching? If you have, go do your own thing." Luo Mingshu waved to her.
Xie Changming finally remembered the script: "The injury you sustained while saving me hasn't healed yet?"
Luo Mingshu was not injured at all. She shook her head and said, "Immortal Lord, that's not true."
“Then I’ll stand behind you,” Xie Changming said.
Luo Mingshu was puzzled. Couldn't this immortal lord act like an immortal lord? What did he mean by standing behind her? Was he the captain of the security team?
"No, not behind me," Luo Mingshu said. "Behind my throne is the position of the security captain."
Xie Changming thought to himself, "You're talking nonsense. Your position as security captain is clearly just sharing a chair with you."
He spent a long time confirming that Luo Mingshu really did not recognize him. She was not aware of his current or previous appearance at all.
With the Supreme Immortal Lord watching over her, Luo Mingshu became a little clumsy at playing Dou Dizhu (a card game), and she even lost a round.
The cultivators have excellent card counting and calculation abilities. Whether they can win depends on luck and teamwork. Luo Mingshu was brutally besieged by the peasants under the dual attack of Xu Qian and Meng Weifang.
"Immortal Lord, what are you doing back here?" Luo Mingshu asked Xie Changming, "Is it because I haven't managed Wuji Palace well enough?"
Xie Changming thought for a moment, then said confidently, "I am your Daoist partner."
"Are you crazy?" Luo Mingshu couldn't keep up the pretense any longer. "You're my Daoist partner, what right do you have to tell me how to play Dou Dizhu?"
Xie Changming now understood how men of average appearance were treated in front of Luo Mingshu.
"Shall I go first?" he thought for a moment and then asked tentatively.
Luo Mingshu really didn't expect the Supreme Immortal Lord to have such a good temper. She touched her forehead, which seemed a little itchy.
Wouldn't that ruin her sarcastic and sarcastic plan?
As Luo Mingshu watched the Supreme Immortal Lord leave, Xu Qian clapped and cheered from the side, saying, "The super beautiful goddess is skilled at managing her husband."
Luo Mingshu: "..." Please stop talking. It's also miserable for a young girl to become a married woman.
She stroked her chin thoughtfully: "Given the Supreme Immortal Lord's behavior, is it possible that we can't find an opportunity to make him angry and do something bad first?"
"You really want to kill him and unify the Immortal Realm?" Xu Qian didn't expect that Luo Mingshu hadn't forgotten this plan.
“When I first came to the Misty Star Sea, this was my goal, and it will affect my exploration progress.” Luo Mingshu analyzed reasonably, “The size of the goal we set at the beginning is linked to the reward we get in the end. For example, if you love to eat and want to become the number one news editor in the Celestial Realm, then we only need to destroy the tabloid group in Dongzhi Wonderland, and you will naturally be number one.”
“However, because your goal is too small, your reward won’t be much in the end. My goal, although the reward will be much greater, will also be more difficult.” Although Luo Mingshu seemed to be enjoying himself every day since arriving here, she was actually very clear-headed.
"You can't possibly accomplish this... Killing the Supreme Immortal Lord and unifying the Immortal Realm..." Xu Qian was incredulous; she wouldn't even dare to dream of doing such a thing.
"I can definitely do it," Luo Mingshu said firmly. She had already discovered the enormous wealth hidden beneath the Misty Star Sea. How could someone as greedy as her possibly give up such a lucrative opportunity?
After playing a few more rounds of Dou Dizhu with them, Luo Mingshu returned to her room. Before leaving, she casually gave Han Yu the spirit stones she had earned that day. Han Yu had performed well these past few days, which made her very gratified.
At the same time, the system popped up, as if to take credit: "Congratulations, host, your favorability towards Han Yu has increased by five points."
Due to the different levels of the task objects, the favorability points that Luo Mingshu easily gained can be exchanged for points according to different multiples. The exchange multiple of Han Yu is ten times. Luo Mingshu can exchange fifty points for something in the system exchange interface that is almost equivalent to the spirit stones she just spent.
Luo Mingshu just thought it was fun; of course, she didn't know that the system's voice had reached someone else's ears.
It was Xie Changming, who was standing under a tree outside Wuji Hall, in seclusion. He wasn't stupid; he could naturally analyze the significance of his existence as the Supreme Immortal Lord. Luo Mingshu regarded the Supreme Immortal Lord as a heartless man who had abandoned her for a thousand years—of course, this figure was definitely exaggerated.
He certainly didn't abandon her; it's just that the story is complicated, and besides, Luo Mingshu seems to have forgotten everything, or perhaps she has sealed this memory away. No one knows what happened.
Xie Changming wouldn't bring these things up with Luo Mingshu, because Luo Mingshu didn't need to know and cause her any trouble. She had already forgotten everything, and forgotten it completely.
Moreover, even if he did tell her, she probably wouldn't believe him and would just think of him as some strange liar.
In short, Xie Changming stood under the tree, his mind replaying these thoughts countless times. Because of Luo Mingshu's indifference, he began to withdraw into himself.
When the system voice sounded, he immediately lost his composure. Because he had cast a special spell, only he and Luo Mingshu could hear the system voice.
She actually raised Han Yu's favorability rating to 55 points. If this continues, his position will be in grave danger.
Xie Changming thought for a moment and walked towards Luo Mingshu's room. He was now her nominal Daoist partner, so he could be more assertive.
At this moment, Luo Mingshu was observing the crystal mirror in front of her in the room. Crystal-clear water flowed from her fingertips, wetting her forehead.
She leaned closer to look at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were still graceful and delicate, and the small mole at the end of her eye near her temple was still the same, without any change. The slightly curled ends of her hair hooked her cheek, making her look somewhat charming.
Luo Mingshu narrowed her eyes, her fingertips brushing against the hot and itchy spot on her temple. She had felt this way the moment she first saw the Supreme Immortal Lord, but she was so engrossed in playing Dou Dizhu at the time that she didn't notice it.
Now that she was alone, the slight itch became stronger. Luo Mingshu looked in the mirror and scratched her forehead.
At this moment, it slowly ran out of the cage, making a loud "clucking" sound.
Luo Mingshu gently rubbed that area with her fingertips. She felt the same way on both sides of her temples. It wasn't uncomfortable, just a little strange.
She rubbed it for a long time but couldn't see any changes. When her magical power passed through her forehead, it seemed to be blocked by something. Although it could flow normally by bypassing this point, it still made her feel a little strange.
Just as Luo Mingshu was trying to study the two unusual spots on her forehead using other methods, someone gently knocked on her window frame. The sound seemed somewhat familiar.
Luo Mingshu thought of Xie Changming, who knocked on her window at night. He could have used the front door, but he preferred to knock on the window.
"You actually dare to come back?" Luo Mingshu stepped forward, confidently opened the window, and immediately cast a spell. She planned to punch Xie Changming first to retaliate for his sneaking away to do other things these past few days.
However, it's true that the spell hit the person outside the window, because the other party didn't dodge at all, but the spell didn't cause him any harm. Xie Changming simply brushed away the faint purple light with one hand.
Luo Mingshu stared at him, meeting his gaze. Yes, it was this utterly ordinary face that intensified the itch on her forehead.
Of course, in Xie Changming's eyes, she saw a faint light emanating from Luo Mingshu's forehead, with sharp edges, like the luster of some kind of jewel.
He nimbly leaped onto the windowsill, and to Luo Mingshu's astonishment, he cupped her forehead and gently pushed her into the room.
"Croak, croak!" He slowly raised the roasted chestnuts in his hand, making excited sounds, because he saw the light shining on Luo Mingshu's forehead.
Luo Mingshu had never had such a strange experience before. Although she did feel something unusual in her temples, she knew it wasn't a bad feeling.
Because it seemed as if something... was about to grow from her forehead.
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