“No manners! I ascended to immortality decades before you, so I’m your senior.” Fang Xuan pointed at Li Jinchu’s nose through a bunch of random, unidentifiable things.
"...Aren't you afraid you won't be able to accept me calling you 'senior'?" Li Jinchu commented. "I even raised you when you were little."
Surprisingly, Fang Xian did not refute what he said.
Normally, Fang Xian would definitely fight back and cite classical texts to prove that Li Jinchu was meddling in everything.
But at this moment, he not only remained silent, but also shifted his gaze away from Li Jinchu.
Li Jinchu frowned, then realized something, stepped over the pile of clutter in front of him, walked to Fang Xian's side, and followed his gaze.
A puppet lay on the ground not far away.
He leaned unsteadily against another refining product, because Fang Xian had poured things out so quickly that other things had hit him.
It looks very uncomfortable, but it's just a puppet. It doesn't have any sense of touch, so what's the point of talking about comfort?
What made them feel disconnected was still the puppet's face.
—It is the Jimo Fan that they have been talking about all day today.
"Is this really a puppet?" Fang Xuan walked over and reached out to pinch the motionless Ji Mo Fan. "Although it can't move, it still has body temperature."
"If I stuff spirit stones into it, will it be able to move again?" Li Jinchu also squatted down in front of him, carefully examining the appearance of the puppet in front of him.
A face that had been relegated to the corner of memory for over eighty years was now being dragged back into the spotlight. Every detail matched perfectly; this wasn't a replica made later based on Ji Mofan's appearance, it was absolutely him.
Even though they heard the details of how the Demon Lord had made the changes from his own mouth, the shock of seeing the reality before their eyes was still indescribable.
The living people who had lived with them for so many years were actually just puppets in their true forms.
“It can’t move. I’ve already tried it.” Xiao Wangyan also slowly walked over. “When Lu Tong created the puppet, he set the core component in the position of the human body’s spiritual platform.”
"So after the spiritual platform was damaged, the entire puppet was ruined. If Lu Tong himself were still alive, there would probably be a chance to repair him. But none of the weapon refiners in the world today can match his level."
“Back then, Master Lu Tong didn’t ascend to the upper realm. Instead, he was reincarnated after his lifespan was exhausted,” Li Jinchu said. “His physical and mental memories were all washed away in the cycle of reincarnation. Even if you could find his original soul, it would be of no use.”
“Since it’s completely broken, why isn’t Ji Mofan considered ‘dead’? And why hasn’t the underworld received his soul?” Fang Xuan reached out and poked the puppet in front of him.
"Ji Mo Fan" sat there silently, his eyes half-open, staring unfocused at the ground in front of him.
It didn't react at all when touched, looking like a large, exquisitely crafted ornament.
"Could it be because the way a puppet dies is different from a human's?" Xiao Wangyan began to speculate wildly. "For example, it would only be considered 'dead' if all its parts were disassembled into pieces?"
It was clear that Fang Xian was actually planning to reach out and try.
Suddenly, a white light appeared before their eyes, catching them completely off guard.
"Spare his life!"
A familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar voice suddenly rang out, and it entered my mind directly, seemingly without any airborne medium.
Xiao Wangyan rubbed his ears. "What the hell? A ball of light?"
The demonic energy within him made him subconsciously feel that the thing in front of him was extremely disgusting, even more so than he disliked any righteous cultivator.
"The Way of Heaven?" Li Jinchu reacted faster than Fang Xian.
After all, he had just met this guy this morning.
Xiao Wangyan blinked, his eyes wide. "You mean this thing, whose appearance you can't even see clearly and which is so blindingly bright it's like the sun, is the Heavenly Dao of this world??"
He looked the ball of light up and down several times, and finally rubbed his sore eyes.
This was completely unexpected for him.
"What do you mean by 'please spare their lives'?" Fang Xuan looked up at the sky and asked.
The ball of light drifted over and blocked Fang Xuan's claws reaching for the puppet. "Don't break it. If you do that, not only will you not be able to help him reincarnate, but you might even make him disappear from this world completely."
Fang Xian twitched his fingers and hid them behind his back.
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Xiao Wangyan came to his senses. "This is a little figure that I painstakingly created."
"So here I am." The ball of light swayed from side to side, just like a proud sway of the waist.
It was just a feeling; after all, although the light took on a human shape, it was so dazzling that it was impossible to look directly at it.
“I’ve even figured out a way to save him,” the ball of light said, twisting and floating above Fang Xuan’s head. “You, use the power of your Celestial Rank to help him rebuild his physical body and give him a chance to start over.”
Li Jinchu touched her chin. "What will happen to Fang Xian if he loses his immortal status?"
"Not so great, anyway, he was going to be stripped of his immortal status anyway." The Heavenly Dao seemed to point with its hand to the mangled human figure lying on the ground. "You have been interfering in the affairs of the lower realm without authorization. I was summoned here to deal with this matter."
"Now is the perfect time to make use of him. It's just that he will never be qualified to ascend again, even if he reaches the level of past and present lives."
"Why are you willing to help us fulfill our wishes?" Fang Xuan suddenly became very perceptive. "As the Heavenly Dao, don't you treat all things as straw dogs?"
"What's wrong with the Heavenly Way? Even the Heavenly Way can be biased." The ball of light made a gesture as if putting its hands on its hips. "I just like this young man, and I just want to get him moving again."
Fang Xian was speechless.
If even Heaven is so unreasonable, what opinions can ordinary people like them possibly have?
Besides, he never really expected to be able to return to the Upper Realm smoothly after this.
Life in the upper realm is so boring, I might as well give it up and find some other fun.
Heaven watched as the people before it fell silent, and did not urge them to make a decision.
He floated down from mid-air and looked back at the motionless puppet.
Actually... although he really liked this young man, after all, he was talented and good-looking, and he just happened to be the one who came to his heart.
But the reason I made a special trip to the mortal realm for him wasn't just because of my fondness for this little guy.
Willing to protect every small act of kindness, willing to go through fire and water for the sake of all living beings, one man with one sword guarding eternal peace...
It's not that Heaven is biased, but rather that it's giving him an equal reward for his efforts.
Because he deserves it.
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