Central Continent, the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land.
Fairy Zi Wei slowly opened her eyes.
She wore an ornate purple robe that couldn't conceal her slender figure. Her eyes were like deep pools, her brow shrouded in a veil of melancholy. Her skin was fair as fresh snow, dark hair cascading to her waist, her entire being suffused with the aura of the Eighth Transformation.
She exhaled a breath of turbid air, withdrew her Wisdom Path killing move, and descended from midair.
"Little Huang greets Ancestor Zi Wei." On the ground below, Feng Jinhuang had already been waiting for quite some time. Upon seeing Fairy Zi Wei, she hurriedly dropped to her knees in respectful obeisance.
Fairy Zi Wei's lips curved into a faint smile—a rare sight. The melancholy between her brows dissolved, and her whole being seemed to bloom with radiance. Her beautiful face and immortal bearing were enough to seize one's heart.
She spoke: "Huang'er, rise. No need for such formalities. Come to think of it, your mother shares a trace of blood kinship with me."
It was clear she was quite pleased with this junior, Feng Jinhuang.
Feng Jinhuang rose to her feet, her expression respectful yet touched with admiration.
Before her stood an Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal!
In Feng Jinhuang's heart, the Ninth Transformation was a realm she dared not aspire to, but the Eighth was her life's ambition. This Fairy Zi Wei before her hailed from Lingyuan Studio and held an extraordinarily senior position within the sect. She had lived at least sixteen hundred years, cultivating the Wisdom Path, and had joined Heavenly Court. Dignified and beautiful to boot—one could say she possessed every quality Feng Jinhuang admired, practically a living embodiment of her ideal.
"Ancestor Zi Wei, you've been deducing within the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land for three months now. Have you found anything?" Feng Jinhuang asked with curiosity.
Fairy Zi Wei gave a slight nod.
By now she had descended to stand before Feng Jinhuang—though her feet never touched the ground, hovering serenely a short distance above it.
Such was her nature; she had something of a cleanliness obsession.
Normally there would be no need to explain these matters to Feng Jinhuang, but Fairy Zi Wei spoke nonetheless: "After these days of deduction, I can confirm that the original owner of this Fox Immortal's Blessed Land—the Fox Immortal herself—was a member of the Opposition."
"The Opposition?!" Feng Jinhuang's pupils contracted, her expression startled.
Though she was still an ordinary mortal, both her parents were renowned Gu Immortals, and she was privy to many of the world's hidden truths.
She had heard of the Opposition before—a secret alliance of Gu Immortals from Central Continent, banding together in the shadows as a formidable hidden power.
The Ten Great Ancient Sects of Central Continent controlled the vast majority of resources, monopolized authority, and suppressed or dominated the remaining factions and rogue cultivators alike.
Where there is oppression, there is resistance.
Organizations that united to oppose the Ten Great Sects were hardly rare.
But these groups rarely survived for long before being dismantled by the Ancient Sects—crushed by force or torn apart by internal discord, one way or another.
Yet the Opposition was the most deeply concealed and longest-enduring of all such alliances.
The Ten Great Sects had certainly targeted it before, but to little effect. The crux of the matter was that this organization was simply hidden too well.
Even among its own members, each remained ignorant of the others' true identities. They were known only by numerical codes.
Now Feng Jinhuang had just learned, quite out of the blue, that the Fox Immortal had been a member of the Opposition—and that was genuinely unexpected.
"The Fox Immortal was outwardly a Loose Immortal. But years ago, through some fortuity, she managed to obtain Dang Hun Mountain. In light of this, it seems the Opposition was backing her all along," Fairy Zi Wei continued.
Feng Jinhuang's gaze flickered as she recalled the scene of her crushing defeat at Fang Yuan's feet. She ventured: "Then could it be that Fang Yuan is also a member of the Opposition? No wonder he appeared so suddenly back then—and everything fell into place so coincidentally!"
This time, however, Fairy Zi Wei's brow furrowed slightly. "The results of my deduction are... inconclusive. He may or may not be. But regardless, Fang Yuan must have deep ties to the Opposition. Little Huang, you've kept the Fox Immortal's land spirit all this time without becoming the true master of this Blessed Land—were you planning to return it to Fang Yuan someday?"
"Ancestor Zi Wei..." Cold sweat instantly broke out on Feng Jinhuang's forehead.
Fairy Zi Wei let out a soft laugh and reassured her: "We're all on the same side. There's no need to worry. I know that Fang Yuan inadvertently saved Feng Jiuge. Your father—now there's a man of extraordinary talent and startling natural gifts, one of the finest figures in all of history. What's more, he's clear about debts of gratitude and grudges, a man of genuine feeling and loyalty. That he asked you to do this—I understand completely."
Feng Jinhuang hurriedly said: "Ancestor Zi Wei is most magnanimous..."
Fairy Zi Wei raised a hand, cutting her off. Her tone grew slightly heavier as she continued: "But you must remember—Fang Yuan is a wanted criminal of our Heavenly Court, listed on the Demon Slaughter List! If you wish to repay his life-saving grace, you must know where to draw the line. In the future, should you truly return the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land to him, I will not stop you. I may even shield you for it. But that is the absolute limit—the bottom line. I hope you and your father will not be so stubborn as to commit a grave error."
Feng Jinhuang lowered her head: "I will engrave Ancestor's words upon my heart."
Fairy Zi Wei nodded gently. Then her figure drifted upward, ascending gracefully into the sky.
She waved her hand in a sweeping gesture, and a rift opened within the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land, connecting directly to the outside world.
Then she transformed into a streak of flowing purple light, shooting out like a meteor, and vanished from Feng Jinhuang's sight in the blink of an eye.
Fairy Zi Wei flew at tremendous speed, all the way to Heavenly Court.
Within Heavenly Court, palace upon palace rose in orderly grandeur—bright and magnificent.
The meteor that was Fairy Zi Wei's incarnation cleaved through the sky and plunged into a great hall.
Inside the hall, Fairy Zi Wei's true body sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, conferring with two other Gu Immortals of Heavenly Court.
The purple radiance blazed bright, then sank into her hand.
It became a stream of consciousness, along with several Immortal Gu and a few Immortal Essence Stones.