Chapter 139
Chapter 139
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 139
Chapter Title: Awakening (2)
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Lady Deng was a cultivator born in the Celestial Realm.
She had steadily climbed the steps of transcendence, finally reaching the Quasi-Immortal Realm.
One more step from there, and she could have become a true immortal.
But her memories ended there.
When she opened her eyes again, Lady Deng found herself inexplicably trapped inside a cylindrical ancient relic.
Her body on the verge of ascension and her boundless spiritual power were gone, leaving only her primordial spirit behind.
Lady Deng felt an indescribable bewilderment.
It was clear she had been sealed away.
But beyond that, everything was a mystery.
Even her memories were incomplete.
Lady Deng could recall nothing about herself.
Not her name, her blood relations, her sect of origin, or even the hometown where she was born and raised.
All she remembered was her surname, the title of Jinguan, and knowledge related to immortality.
Lady Deng racked her brains desperately.
‘The preparations for my ascension ceremony are clear in my mind. Does that mean the ceremony failed? No, that doesn’t feel right. What does failing to reach True Immortal Realm have to do with being sealed? If anything, reincarnation after death would make more sense.’
It seemed more plausible that she had been defeated by someone, lost her body and power, and been sealed.
Lady Deng gradually became convinced of her enemy’s existence.
It must have been that foe who had erased her memories with some technique.
A measure to prevent any possibility of revenge.
Even the mild-tempered Lady Deng grew furious.
She didn’t know the cause of the fight, but it didn’t seem like she had been the one at fault.
Lady Deng vowed bloody vengeance.
It didn’t matter that she didn’t even know who the target was.
The Celestial Realm was vast, but there weren’t many who could seal a Quasi-Immortal Realm cultivator.
Time was plentiful, in any case.
Lady Deng drew in the ambient soul transformation energy.
It was something that should have been impossible.
The fallen Lady Deng had no golden core, not even a physical body.
But a transcendent being who had stood on the brink of ascension performed a miracle through sheer will.
The attractive force she exerted even overwhelmed the ancient relic’s sealing power.
The true cause of the anomalous phenomena that swept the Southern Continent was not the relic, but Lady Deng herself.
Little by little, Lady Deng regained her strength.
Then one day, the seal suddenly broke.
Lady Deng, who had been sharpening her blade of revenge, burst out immediately.
She had been imprisoned for far too long.
She wanted to vent her aimless rage on any random targets.
Amid the weaklings collapsing like reeds, Lady Deng spotted two girls channeling their spiritual power.
One was a primordial spirit cultivator with quadruple spirit roots, and the other a dragon who had completed her dragon pearl.
For lower realm cultivators, they seemed decent enough.
Until they beat her to a pulp.
*****
Seo-ran and Dam-cheong easily defeated Lady Deng with the power of friendship.
In hindsight, they didn’t even need to team up.
Even in a fair one-on-one fight, Lady Deng wouldn’t have stood a chance.
The battered Lady Deng muttered.
“The lower realm isn’t to be taken lightly these days...”
Dam-cheong snapped angrily.
“Who the hell are you to cause such havoc!”
Lady Deng stammered in reply.
“Me? I’m called Deng Jinguan...”
“Jinguan? Is that your name?”
“No, Jinguan is a kind of honorific. You know, for... exalting immortals...”
Seo-ran, having neatly lined up the unconscious archaeologists and returned, asked.
“Does that mean you’re an immortal?”
“Not a true immortal, but close enough.”
“Ah, so you’re in the Quasi-Immortal Realm?”
Lady Deng’s primordial spirit bobbed its head vigorously.
“Yes, exactly. Once you reach the Quasi-Immortal Realm, your lifespan becomes limitless. So in the Celestial Realm, they just treat you like an immortal. Those who pass the ascension ceremony are called True Immortals separately.”
“Then, after completing the ceremony and reaching True Immortal Realm, you gain authority over space and time?”
“Oh, you already knew that.”
Dam-cheong, who had been quietly observing their exchange, spoke up.
“You’re being awfully cooperative.”
“If I resist, I’ll either die or get resealed, so of course.”
“Hmm...”
Seo-ran and Dam-cheong fired off various questions.
Q. What is your full name?
A. I can’t remember anything beyond my surname.
Q. Where are you from?
A. Born in the Celestial Realm. My hometown? No memory.
Q. How did a Celestial Realm native end up in the lower realm?
A. No idea. I came to inside that ancient relic, sealed away. I didn’t even know this was the lower realm until recently.
Q. How did you realize this is the lower realm?
A. The moment the seal broke. It must be how a fish feels dragged out of water for the first time. With heaven-and-earth spiritual energy this thin, how do you even cultivate properly?
Q. We ask the questions. How did you end up sealed?
A. No memory. I was trapped for no reason. I honed my blade of revenge in an empty void where nothing existed. And finally, the seal released. The day I reclaim my original realm is not far off, heh heh.
Dam-cheong cut off Lady Deng mid-sentence.
“No chit-chat!”
“Ah, yes...”
“Anyway, Seo-ran. Where were we?”
Seo-ran continued the interrogation.
“Why did you suddenly go berserk?”
“I’d been trapped too long and couldn’t hold back my anger. I deeply regret it.”
“What’s your current realm?”
“Primordial Spirit Realm, still single spirit root.”
“What made you think you could take us on?”
“Even fallen, I was once Quasi-Immortal. I thought I could overcome that power gap easily. Miscalculation.”
“Are we on your revenge list now?”
“No. I harbor no grudge. I was in the wrong this time. Forgive me once, and I’ll repay you.”
“How exactly?”
“Information on the Celestial Realm? Cultivation knowledge? You’re on the cusp of Cloud-Mist Realm, so you might need new techniques...”
“What’s Cloud-Mist Realm? Next after Primordial Spirit is Incarnation Realm, right?”
“So they call it Incarnation Realm down here? In the Celestial Realm, the realm after Primordial Spirit is Cloud-Mist Realm.”
“Oh? How many stages after that?”
“After Cloud-Mist: Supreme Star, Radiant Rainbow, Silver Radiance, up to Quasi-Immortal—four stages. Some say Silver Radiance and Quasi-Immortal are the same, but four is the orthodox division.”
“Ooh, and above Quasi-Immortal?”
“True Immortal Realm? Some say two stages, some three. I don’t know much from there.”
Seo-ran warned Lady Deng not to move a muscle, then privately conferred with Dam-cheong.
Of course, she expanded her divine sense to prevent eavesdropping.
“Lady Dam-cheong, what do you think?”
“Of what?”
“Of what Deng Jinguan said. Lies? A three-year-old could make that up on the spot.”
Dam-cheong pondered.
A dragon’s eyes could discern truth from lies.
But strangely, it didn’t work on Lady Deng.
Maybe that Quasi-Immortal talk was true after all.
In the end, Dam-cheong couldn’t give a firm answer.
“Well, I’m not sure...”
After a moment of silence, Seo-ran pulled out her cell phone.
On second thought, there was no need to agonize.
There was an organization for handling matters like this.
A mechanical voice came from the receiver.
“Hello, this is the Black Bamboo Sect Gold Arm Faction joint leadership direct line. Please state your name and assigned ID number.”
“Name, Ryu Seo-ran. ID number, 000.”
“Confirmed, Investigator Ryu Seo-ran. Press the number for your inquiry: 0 for emergency support, 1 for information lookup, 2 for general complaints, 3 for agenda proposals, demon heart counseling...”
Seo-ran firmly pressed 3.
After a brief tone, the Chairman picked up.
“Investigator Ryu, what’s the matter?”
“Chairman, actually...”
Seo-ran explained everything about Lady Deng in detail.
The Chairman listened silently.
Then, he stated he would promptly convene a leadership meeting.
Once the call ended, Dam-cheong asked.
“How’d it go?”
“They’ll discuss her disposition in the leadership meeting and let us know. Until then, we just keep watch.”
“That’s no trouble.”
Seo-ran retracted her divine sense and addressed Lady Deng.
“Come with us for now. Your final disposition will be decided after further observation.”
“I won’t disappoint you.”
“Good attitude. I’ll make you a temporary puppet body. Existing as a primordial spirit alone must be inconvenient.”
Lady Deng couldn’t hide her joy.
“You’re a puppet master?”
“You bet—the best in the human realm, if I do say so.”
“Thank you for making my body! I’m truly grateful!”
Lady Deng’s primordial spirit beamed.
Seo-ran smiled back.
It wasn’t because she liked her.
The new puppet was both a surveillance tool and an elimination method.
Any suspicious move, and the thrusters would fire at max output.
Quasi-Immortal or not, she’d be ejected beyond the sky barrier in the blink of an eye.
Operation: “Fool’s Ascension to Immortality.”