Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

At the Above Immortal Realm.

There was a majestic palace on top of the Immortal Mountain.

It seemed to be emitting golden light from within. It was magical.

There were clouds around the palace. Immortals flew by from time to time, riding on clouds. It looked like a painting of Heaven.

A middle-aged man in gold robes was sitting at the center of the palace.

He had deep and mysterious eyes. He looked mighty without even trying.

He said, “Recently, a lot of things have been happening in the Immortal Realm. Even the Above Immortal Realm has been affected. Have you figured out why?”

A woman in a palace dress stepped forward and said, “Lord Immortal, according to sources, the changes in the Immortal Realm happened about two months ago. At that time, an Immortal named Liu Kuang was mysteriously killed. His body fell to the Immortal Realm! Another Immortal tried to reclaim Liu Kuang's body but was stopped. He failed to take back the dead body!”

The middle-aged man was intrigued. “Oh? Really?! Is there an Immortal in the Immortal Realm?”

The woman nodded. “Indeed so, but we're unsure if the Immortal was born in the Immortal Realm or came from the Above Immortal Realm.”

“At that time the bridge between mortal and immortality wasn't connected. I couldn't go to the Immortal Realm, so it's impossible!” The middle-aged man shook his head and frowned. “As for being born in the Immortal Realm… It's also impossible! The only possibility is that they stayed in the Immortal Realm before the bridge was broken!”

“Smart, Lord Immortal. It's indeed possible.” The woman looked like she was enlightened. Then, she said, “It seems like the bridge to Immortality started to reconnect after this person appeared. Not long after, the Human Sovereign appeared and it completely reconnected!”

The middle-aged man took a deep breath. “Who would've thought that a Human Sovereign would be reborn after a hundred thousand years! Who's making moves in the Immortal Realm?”

The woman groaned for a moment and said, “Lord Immortal, there's something very important, too. The Phoenix from the Eastside Immortal Forest appears to be…in the Immortal Realm!”

The middle-aged man frowned. It was too unusual!

He looked at the woman. “You've neglected something. Didn't you realize? The bridge to immortality has been reconnected, but the Immortal Qi in the Above Immortal Realm hasn't decreased!”

Yikes!

The woman jumped. “How… How's this possible?”

“The Immortal Realm has gone through an enormous change! This is huge!”

The middle-aged man looked like he was thinking. “The Above Immortal Realm, the Immortal Realm, and the Demon Realm. Are the three main realms going to interact with each other? Is it the laws of nature or is someone changing the laws of nature? Interesting, truly interesting!”

“Lord Immortal, what should we do?”

“The Immortal Realm is too troubling. Let's not do anything reckless yet. Since we know the source of the changes, we should investigate that first! As for the death of Liu Kuang, find out what happened from his sect. Check in with his related sect in the Immortal Realm, too! And keep track of the Phoenix!”

The middle-aged man licked his lips and said, “The world is changing and Luck is all over the place. The benefits must be ours!”

At the four-part architecture.

Daji stood next to a chair with her arms crossed. Her hair was up in a bun and she was smiling.

The gentle breeze blew on her hair and her dress. Li Nianfan thought she would be gone with the wind.

Li Nianfan put his chisel aside and smiled. “It's done! Daji, come over here and look.”

Daji happily walked over.

She held the statue with joy in her eyes as she said, “You're so nice to me!”

“As long as you like it. It's only the two of us. Who should I be nice to if not you?” Li Nianfan smiled and asked, “Oh yeah, why did you have to choose this posture? There are more comfortable positions.”

Daji would be absolutely stunning if she posed like a s.e.xy model.

Daji said, “How about I make a statue for you, too? You should sit on the bench. Since I'm standing, we can put our statues together and it'll look like I'm serving you.”

“Daji, you…” Li Nianfan was suddenly touched by how sweet she was being. The pretty lady wanted to stay with him as his servant. Anyone would be touched.

How did that happen?

A lady like that would never exist in the past realm, not even in his dreams.

Li Nianfan took a deep breath and said, “I told you. We're equals. Stop trying to be my servant.”

The Fire Phoenix pouted by the side.

Truly a fox demon. Her methods of seducing a man were fascinating.

However, she was acting like an ordinary human, so the expert could not ride her. It was different for the Phoenix. Her usefulness would be greater to the expert. He would be more pleased with her.

Li Nianfan was in a good mood. He smiled and said, “Daji, let's go. Let me take you to the Fallen Town.”

“Yeah.” Daji nodded obediently and carefully put the statue aside.

The Fire Phoenix suddenly said, “A town? I want to check it out, too.”

Li Nianfan looked at the Fire Phoenix and awkwardly said, “Your appearance would cause trouble.”

The Fire Phoenix looked calm. Sparks went off and she suddenly transformed into a small red bird. She landed on his shoulders and said, “How about this?”

“Okay.” Li Nianfan was slightly baffled. He envied her at the same time.

You could do anything with great powers. He was finally in the Immortal Realm but could only rely on others to live. What a failure.

The human-bird trio went down the mountain.

Soon, they arrived at the Fallen Town.

Li Nianfan was surprised. “So crowded.”

The Fallen Town was busier than ever. There were a lot of sellers and visitors. They all looked like they were used to traveling around.

There were a lot of new faces at the Fallen Town that day.

Did something happen?

The best way to find out was to visit the market. Li Nianfan was familiar with the place, and he quickly found the fishmonger at a corner.

However, he was not alone. There was a little girl next to him. It was Little Fish. She squatted and played with the fishes.

1

The fishmonger saw Li Nianfan and immediately smiled. “Mr. Li.”

Little Fish looked up and said in a sweet voice, “h.e.l.lo, brother.”

She noticed the little red bird on his shoulder. She looked curious.

Li Nianfan smiled and asked, “Fishmonger, how's business?”

The fishmonger looked happy. He said, “Thanks to you, Mr. Li, we've been earning quite a bit recently.”

“Oh? Congratulations then,” said Li Nianfan genuinely.

As expected, Li Nianfan did not need to ask anything. The fishmonger ran his mouth about all the events that had happened recently.

“Mr. Li, you don't know about this. Recently at the Clear Moon Lake, there have been big fishes everywhere. A lot of big carps! I got a lot of fish with my fishnet!”

The fishmonger was excited. Then, he mysteriously said, “A lot of people said that it was because of the Dragon King. Rituals to wors.h.i.+p the Dragon King were happening by the lakeside.”

Li Nianfan said in a weird tone, “Really?”

“I know, right? I was shocked as well. It almost felt like the fish were bad omens.” The fishmonger continued, “Mr. Li, you should try your luck at the Clear Moon Lake. For your fis.h.i.+ng skills, you'd gain a lot for sure!”

“Sure, the next time I'm free,” Li Nianfan said. He continued, “The Fallen Town seems to be getting a lot more visitors lately.”

The Fishmonger sighed. “It's chaos out there. Only a few places are safe. A lot of people come here for refuge.”

Li Nianfan slightly raised his eyebrows. “It's not a war, right?”

“It's definitely a war!” The fishmonger was slightly helpless. “I heard the war started from the Southern borders. Those Southern brutes wors.h.i.+p some kind of demonic cult and there's no reasoning with them. They're very violent.”

“Demonic religion?”

Li Nianfan was taken aback. Then, he remembered the demons he met at the Xia Kingdom. He looked like he realized something.

It seemed like Zhou Yunwu got busy.

“I heard that the Southern brutes made their way out of the South quickly. There were a lot of destroyed cities. I wonder if any cities remain.” The fishmonger looked worried.

Li Nianfan asked, “Fishmonger, isn't it a good thing for an ordinary human to rule the realm?”

“It's good, but not the Southern brutes!” The fishmonger said, “Those people are violent and they treat women like objects. I heard that they even traffic women. If they fought their way here, what then? What about Little Fish?

“I would have joined the army if it wasn't for my wife and my daughter.”

Li Nianfan nodded. His impression of the demon preachers was that they were something like a cult. it was not good at all.

He looked at the stall and said, “Fishmonger, your fishes are big. I'll take these two sea ba.s.ses.”

“Alright!”

The fishmonger efficiently packed the fish and gave it to Li Nianfan. He did not accept the silver.

He waved it away and said, “Mr. Li, you gave Little Fish a saddled b.i.+.c.hir last time. It'll be embarra.s.sing for me to accept payment, right?”

“Thanks a lot,” Li Nianfan smiled and said. “See you next time, Little Fish.”

“Goodbye, brother.”

They walked out of the market. Li Nianfan walked for a while and saw a stall in front of him. Armored soldiers were guarding it. Three soldiers sat at the stall. They were in charge of registration.

It was an army recruit stall.

Li Nianfan was familiar with the soldier in the middle. He was the bodyguard who stood behind Zhou Yunwu that day.

Hundreds of people were gathered behind him. They were all signing up for the army.

Maybe their loved ones were harmed, maybe they were forced to, or maybe they wanted to contribute. Whatever the reasons were, Li Nianfan respected them.

He would never dare to join the army. He would avoid it at all costs.

Li Nianfan groaned for a moment and walked over.

He looked at the benefits of joining the army. It was pretty good—a place to live, free food, and payment that was 1.5 times more than the wages of an average male. They even had insurance benefits if they died in battle. Only one requirement—a hard worker.

“Name, age, health conditions, previous occupations.”

The bodyguard felt somebody scoot over. He looked pleased and asked for the four basic information for the registration procedures.

He noticed that the person did not reply, so he looked up.

The bodyguard's eyes widened in shock. He frantically stood up and said respectfully, “Mr. Li, it's you!”