The stone chamber was empty.

Qu Duanyun didn't know whether to be happy or worried. He was pleased that the hundred-year plan was a world-shaking achievement, but worried that the situation was strange, far from his previous understanding—he had only thought that immortals resided in the clouds, with flowing robes, usually only seeing their shadows but not the people themselves. Having just heard that Flesh God Statue Grandmaster describe it out of thin air, he felt confused and couldn't react.

According to that Flesh God Statue Grandmaster's explanation, the True Immortal should be the last person who ate the Shi Rou.

He or she only provided the intellect for the Suspended Tree, with no humanity left inside. When Shi Jingzhi consumes the Shi Rou and becomes the new True Immortal, this person will have to travel to a foreign land and bury themselves in the earth.

In other words, the "immortal" was about to leave Dayun, so why choose this time for an audience?

Despite his thoughts, Qu Duanyun still obediently knelt down with Jiang Youyue and paid respects to the empty space.

After the salutation, the stone chamber rumbled. It seemed as if invisible fine roots emerged from the stone cracks, intertwining with each other and oozing dark red flesh out of thin air, gradually forming the shape of a person. At first glance, it looked as if the person's internal organs and bones were growing out of the void, then covered with skin, which was quite eerie.

After the skin and flesh were fully formed, countless fine roots turned milky white, wrapping around him like silkworms spinning cocoons. Soon, a simple white robe took shape. The long hem dragged on the ground without picking up a speck of dust.

Qu Duanyun looked closely and found the pearly white substance quite familiar, extremely similar to the Three Thousand Anxiety Silks after manifesting.

A man thus appeared out of thin air underground.

Contrary to Qu Duanyun's expectations, the man was not an "ethereal old man". He was tall and robust, with deep-set features, his face could be called handsome. Only his eyes were hidden in shadows, emitting a bright fluorescent green light. Looking at those eyes alone, they resembled those of a beast in the dark night.

The man's face was expressionless, with an undeniable air of determination between his brows, giving a strange sense of familiarity. However, his gaze was quite terrifying. Although Qu Duanyun had roamed the jianghu for a long time, he was still startled by those eyes.

Like a fierce tiger glancing at a small insect, those green eyes held no malice or curiosity, almost pure. Their might spread out in all directions, with no intent to intimidate, yet still made one unable to raise their head.

Qu Duanyun was half-informed and mentally prepared. Unfortunately, the fear in his bones exploded on its own, and he couldn't suppress it at all.

Is this what a True Immortal is like?

After the True Immortal appeared, he stood quietly in place, not only without the slightest movement, but even the rise and fall of breathing was not visible on his body. If one could ignore the hair-raising aura, this person was truly no different from a tree.

"This is the second generation True Immortal of our Dayun," Jiang Youyue said in a low voice. "You must have heard of this shell, it's one of the founding heroes—Marquis Lie'an, Sun Wang."

"This required a simple shell, it's excellent material. However, after using it for about three hundred years, its limits have long been explored. If it weren't for Yan Budu giving up the Shi Rou, he should have left this place to 'sow seeds' long ago."

Jiang Youyue knelt respectfully on the ground, not raising his head. His voice wasn't loud, but it was enough for the immortal in front of them to hear. Yet that immortal just looked at them, still motionless as ever.

Qu Duanyun suddenly had a strange feeling that this thing wearing human skin didn't "not understand", it simply "didn't care."

He... or it only required their obedience and respect, everything else simply didn't matter. Come to think of it, how vast is the Suspended Tree, it naturally wouldn't care about these "tiny creatures" at its roots.

Jiang Youyue continued: "I brought you here this time, just to let that Suspended Tree mark you first. Even if you suffer serious injuries, you won't appear... um, in the state of 'breaking a horse' as your Taihengs say."

Qu Duanyun, following his master's example, also bowed his head very low: "Thank you, Master."

Jiang Youyue bowed respectfully to the True Immortal, who finally moved, turning towards Qu Duanyun.

Countless snow-like fine roots crawled over his skin, emitting a faint green glow, pricking countless tiny blood spots on his body. The blood spots quickly scabbed and fell off, as if something heavy was being extracted from his body, and Qu Duanyun felt a sense of lightness all over.

This feeling was extraordinarily strange, as if he had been locked in a damp tomb for a lifetime, and now suddenly found himself in the boundless world, truly tasting the cool, refreshing breeze.

Before Qu Duanyun could finish marveling, the True Immortal wearing Sun Wang's shell resumed his original stance, like an exquisitely crafted statue. His pair of emerald eyes locked onto Jiang Youyue, not blinking at all.

Jiang Youyue maintained his kneeling posture and straightened up. He took out a roll of fine silk paper from his bosom, and just as he was about to unfold it, he saw the True Immortal's expression change—for an instant, that thing seemed to have triggered some mechanism, finally revealing a hint of humanity.

"The desire child is in trouble, I'll go and return shortly."

Its voice was clear and pleasant, also extremely human-like, only the tone was exceptionally indifferent and detached.

Then, it turned into flesh paste on the spot, quickly disappearing into the air.

The oppressive aura in the air suddenly vanished, and both men let out a sigh of relief. Qu Duanyun had no time to savor the changes in his body, wiping the fine sweat from his forehead.

"...Second generation True Immortal? Isn't Sun Wang from the founding period?"

"Who do you think led the way in conquering this world?" Jiang Youyue sighed, "The sage specifically chose Xu Li, gradually establishing Dayun's territory. At that time, national power was insufficient, and Xu Li's abilities were limited. The True Immortal served as a civil official and couldn't meddle in military affairs anymore... It just so happened that the Shi Rou was mature, so the sage gifted the Shi Rou to Sun Wang."

When it came to worldly affairs, Qu Duanyun understood immediately.

After True Immortal He Cheng'an gifted the Shi Rou, he disappeared under the pretext of "offering sacrifices to heaven", going to foreign lands to "sow seeds". Xu Li passed away, and the National Teacher died. Compared to the young prince, Sun Wang had greater prestige and was an excellent choice.

Facts proved that the sage had not misjudged—once Sun Wang became the True Immortal, he acted as a "loyal" regent first, then engaged in conquest, becoming a famous minister of his generation. He laid a solid foundation for Dayun and also inherited He Cheng'an's plan, "breeding" Desire Children within the royal bloodline.

Three hundred years passed, Dayun's foundation was deep, the Desire Children were well-cultivated, it was time to find a more excellent puppet for the Suspended Tree.

Just now, that True Immortal said "the Desire Child is in trouble," and immediately disappeared, could it be...

Qu Duanyun drew in a sharp breath.

Seeing this, a faint smile appeared on Jiang Youyue's face: "It's exactly as you're thinking. Duanyun, do you have any more questions?"

"No more."

Qu Duanyun swallowed, saying with lingering fear.

No wonder his master didn't care about Shi Jingzhi's life or death, the destiny he once despised was even more terrifying than he had imagined.

At this moment, Shi Jingzhi was lying at the edge of the town.

There was no one around, and he was curled up in pain. His clothes were stained with blood in a mess, and there was a deep wound on his throat—

The Changle Sect had injured his throat first, and Su Si had slashed his throat later. Now this cut was right on the old wound, three wounds combined into one, making it appear deeper and longer.

Fresh blood spilled all over the ground, staining the tender grass and withered stems red. In the agony of near-death, Shi Jingzhi's fingertips dug into the soil, scratching and clawing tremblingly.

Unlike last time, Yin Ci didn't immediately appear to treat the wound. Around him, only the clear wind swirled, making an extremely low whistling sound.

Dozens of steps away, Yin Ci had completely concealed his presence, hiding among the trees. The scent of blood in the wind grew stronger and stronger, and he tightly clutched the disaster-blocking talisman, his gaze fixed unblinkingly on Shi Jingzhi. Without realizing it, his nails had pierced his palm, and blood had stained the safety sachet red.

Shi Jingzhi was dying, without a doubt.

Yin Ci had seen too many people perish, taking their last breath before death. He squeezed out the ruthlessness from his bones, barely resisting the urge to activate the disaster-blocking talisman.

Unfortunately, no matter how tragic the circumstances, no matter how much Yin Ci's heart ached, he couldn't look away for even a moment. At this moment, what he held in his hand was not a talisman, but the life of his beloved.

【Zizhu, when the time comes, you must hold back.】Shi Jingzhi had repeatedly instructed, 【The demon tree is also a worldly evil spirit, the True Immortal won't wait until I'm completely cold before coming. If it really can't be helped, you can activate the disaster-blocking talisman just as I'm about to breathe my last, it should still be in time.】

How precious life is to a desire child, Shi Jingzhi spoke in a steady tone, but his body was shaking like a sieve. Even so, he still insisted on continuing.

【I've given you my life, Grand General.】

Yin Ci had fought countless bloody battles on the battlefield and had walked the world for over a hundred years. Life, old age, sickness, and death were just like flowing water and falling leaves to him. However, at this moment, he felt as if he was seeing an injured person for the first time in his life, and the inner shirt on his back was soaked through with sweat.

In the distance, Shi Jingzhi convulsed twice, his chest almost stopped moving. Yin Ci gritted his teeth, about to open the mechanism on the disaster-blocking talisman—

Suddenly, the atmosphere around changed.

The heaven and earth seemed to come to an abrupt halt, clouds stopped moving, wind ceased, even the grass blades no longer trembled, exuding an absurd sense of solidification. The tranquility of the uninhabited area became the calm before the storm, and Yin Ci suddenly stopped his movement. He took out that jade eye, mercilessly gouged and inserted it, embedding it into his eye socket.

Connected to that underground demon tree, although he had no internal energy, he had inexhaustible true energy. Sure enough, that jade eye, saturated with true energy, took effect again. In Yin Ci's field of vision, the sky full of bare branches appeared again. The culprit disrupting the atmosphere also revealed its form—

A mass of flesh paste appeared out of thin air above Shi Jingzhi, suspended in mid-air, slightly wriggling, vaguely showing a human shape. Just as Yin Ci thought it was about to take form, that thing suddenly distorted again, transforming into two extremely emaciated giant hands.

Those giant hands moved their fingers, and emerald true energy condensed in one place, turning into clear threads of true energy. One of the giant hands pressed Shi Jingzhi firmly, while the other hand threaded the needle, actually stitching up the wound on Shi Jingzhi's neck. The skeletal fingers were like spider's long legs, skillfully sewing one stitch after another, with a hair-raising casualness.

As the true energy threads danced, the wound closed at an unnatural speed. The deep marks remained, but the gushing fresh blood stopped instantly. Without this jade eye, to others, this fatal wound would have mysteriously stopped bleeding.

Shi Jingzhi had long been in an unconscious state, now with a breath as thin as a thread, his life seeming to hang by a thread.

Those giant hands didn't stop, still meticulously sewing, like repairing an exquisite doll.

Yin Ci's stomach churned, and he pressed one hand against his mouth, almost letting out a gasp.

Their speculation was indeed correct.

Generation after generation of desire children either committed suicide or died in madness, all of them were unqualified inferior products. But Shi Jingzhi was mentally stable, even at the brink of death, he still wanted to survive... Such a "good product" naturally wouldn't be so easily damaged.

The National Teacher's lineage didn't care about Shi Jingzhi's safety, probably because they already knew about this—

Knew that Shi Jingzhi had the protection of an "immortal."

...Very well.

Yin Ci took a deep breath and instantly activated the disaster-blocking talisman.

Since you've come, don't think you can leave so easily.

Shi Jingzhi had already been treated by the "True Immortal", and the wound wasn't too deep. Once the disaster-blocking talisman took effect, the remaining pain disappeared instantly. He immediately came out of his unconscious state, and his eyes opened.

Without the jade eye in hand, he couldn't see those giant hands and threads. Fortunately, it happened so suddenly that the thing didn't conceal its aura.

Shi Jingzhi lay in a pool of blood, looking up at the clear sky, and smiled slightly.

"Pleased to meet you."

The next moment, the Hanging Shadow Sword appeared, and golden fire shot up to the sky.