Chapter 444 – Immortals Aren't Real—Just Puppets of the Lower Realm

“So you are the Azure Cloud Sect Leader of this Lower Realm?”

“Merely at the Nascent Soul Stage, no wonder you couldn’t even stop a few insignificant Sky Demons.”

The descended Immortal Liu Feng looked down at Gu Liqing below, not concealing his disdain in the slightest.

It was as if he weren’t gazing at a sect leader at all, but rather a tiny, insignificant ant.

This arrogant demeanor greatly displeased the other kneeling Peak Lords of the Azure Cloud Sect below.

Although they had anticipated that the descended Immortals might not be particularly courteous, they never expected this one to be so utterly disagreeable.

Before Liu Feng descended, the Azure Cloud World’s perception of Immortals had always been rooted in legends—untouched by the Mortal World, transcendent and refined.

After all, in the past millennium, no true Immortal had descended to the Azure Cloud World, nor had anyone Ascended to the Upper Realm.

Naturally, this left everyone without a clear understanding of what Immortals were truly like.

Thus, their impressions of the celestial Immortals were largely shaped by their own imaginations.

Their inner reverence for Immortals, combined with descriptions from ancient texts, naturally led them to project many idealized qualities onto these beings.

They believed that those who became Immortals were inherently extraordinary, with outstanding grace and presence.

But when they laid eyes on Liu Feng, the descended Immortal, their inexplicable reverence began to crumble.

There was no other reason—it was simply that Liu Feng’s current demeanor was far too inappropriate.

Seated boldly in what was originally Gu Liqing’s chair, Liu Feng let his gaze linger unabashedly on Du Youlan, the Peak Lord of Danyang Peak.

The predatory intent in his eyes was unmistakable, not only to Du Youlan herself but even to Gu Liqing and the others nearby.

Whether out of concern for maintaining his Immortal dignity or for some other unknown reason, Liu Feng restrained himself from voicing his thoughts directly.

Instead, he began to criticize Gu Liqing.

“Speak. Where are these Sky Demons that you find so troublesome?”

“Before I descended, I heard from colleagues in the Celestial Palace that the situation in the Azure Cloud World has deteriorated to the point where Immortal intervention is necessary.”

“Otherwise, this realm risks falling into the hands of those Sky Demons.”

“Tell me, what abilities do these Sky Demons possess, and what are their distinguishing traits?”

Although Liu Feng’s demeanor starkly contrasted with the transcendent Immortals of legend, Gu Liqing suppressed his discontent and respectfully began explaining the situation regarding the Nine Realms.

However, when Gu Liqing selectively omitted certain details about the Nine Realms Ancient Immortals, the astute Peak Lords of the Azure Cloud Sect seemed to grasp his intent and chose to remain silent.

Believing he had grasped the full picture, Liu Feng’s gaze toward Gu Liqing grew even more contemptuous.

“So, just a few Sky Demons, comparable to Mortal Realm Immortals, have rendered this vast Azure Cloud World utterly helpless?”

“Mortals will always be mortals—utterly useless.”

“Very well. They are nothing more than Sky Demons with a bit of cultivation. This lord will deal with them swiftly.”

“Before that, I shall take some time to tour this realm.”With that, Liu Feng didn’t give the others a chance to respond, transforming into a wisp of smoke and vanishing from the Great Hall, his whereabouts unknown.

Shortly after the Immortal departed, Gu Liqing exchanged glances with the other Peak Lords, and they tacitly left the Azure Cloud Sect Main Peak together.

Before long, the Peak Lords gathered at Ten Thousand Talisman Peak.

Lu Chen had been waiting there for them for quite some time.

As soon as they entered the main hall of Ten Thousand Talisman Peak, Du Youlan, who had been holding back her words, immediately cursed: “An Immortal? Pah! He seems nothing more than a useless glutton with mere cultivation.”

“If all the beings in the Thirty-Three Heavens are like this, then I see no point in aspiring to reach them.”

In response to Du Youlan’s words, the usually taciturn Kangding Peak Lord, Niu Rengui, added solemnly: “Emotions worn on his sleeve, desires running rampant—this Immortal is indeed completely different from what we imagined.”

Beside him, Hidden Sword Peak Lord Leng Yingfeng frowned and said: “Cultivation level alone cannot represent one’s Heart-Nature, let alone the matter of Ascension, which has always been subject to various interpretations.”

“History is not without those of ordinary Heart-Nature who, relying on great Luck and Opportunity, managed to ascend by chance. That Immortal Liu might be one of those fortunate individuals.”

As the three of them exchanged remarks, Gu Liqing showed no intention of stopping them, revealing his own inner thoughts.

Moreover, the fact that they were discussing an Immortal from the Thirty-Three Heavens without any concern of being overheard indicated one of two things: either they had reached a point of desperation, casting all caution aside, or they were absolutely certain their conversation would not be detected by that Immortal.

If only one or two Peak Lords had spoken this way, it might be explained by the former. But with three Peak Lords doing so, it could only mean that Ten Thousand Talisman Peak contained hidden depths, capable of shielding them even from Celestial perception.

While the Peak Lords were still discussing Immortal Liu, Gu Liqing turned to Lu Chen, who was meditating in the hall, and asked: “Well, Little Lu, how does that Immortal compare to what you imagined?”

At Gu Liqing’s words, the Peak Lords fell silent.

Lu Chen slowly opened his eyes, which had somehow taken on a lotus-like form, radiating a mysterious and profound light.

It seemed as if through those eyes, one could perceive things beyond ordinary sight.

After a moment, Lu Chen finally spoke.

“Exactly as I thought—he is nothing but a pawn with the body of an Immortal but lacking the soul of one.”

Upon hearing this, the atmosphere in the hall grew deathly quiet.

Everyone watched Lu Chen intently, awaiting his explanation.

Lu Chen stood up and approached the group.

“Sect Leader, esteemed Peak Lords, that Immortal is an Immortal, yet not entirely one.”

“For I did not sense the innate, seamless essence of the Dao within him.”

“Though I have not reached the realm of an Immortal, I have witnessed what a true Immortal is like.”

“The Dao within that Immortal Liu… is flawed.”

Had these words come from anyone else, they would have lacked credibility.

After all, Lu Chen was only at the Transformation Soul Stage.

For a Cultivator at the Transformation Soul Stage to critique an Immortal would be an act of insubordination, defying the natural order.

But when these words came from Lu Chen, it was an entirely different matter.Because whether it was Gu Liqing or the other Peak Lords, they had all tacitly accepted that Lu Chen was the reincarnated Immortal.

If he said Liu Feng wasn’t a true Immortal, then Liu Feng definitely wasn’t a true Immortal.

Even though they fundamentally didn’t understand what kind of existence the ‘Dao’ of Immortals that Lu Chen spoke of actually was, and had no way to verify it.

However, due to their absolute trust in Lu Chen, no one questioned this in the slightest.

Instead, they asked: “Since he’s a false Immortal, doesn’t that mean this world has been abandoned by the Immortals?”

The honest Kangding Peak Lord, Niu Rengui, voiced his judgment.

To this, Lu Chen shook his head.

“On the contrary, precisely because this Immortal is false, I can determine that there must be at least one True Immortal paying attention to the changes in this world.”

“Why?”

Niu Rengui furrowed his brows and couldn’t help but rub his big bald head.

What did it mean that because the Immortal was false, there must be a True Immortal watching this world?

What necessary connection was there between these two things?

If there really was a True Immortal watching the Azure Cloud World, shouldn’t they have sent a True Immortal down instead?

No good, his head was itching – felt like he was growing a brain.

As Niu Rengui pondered this, he noticed from the corner of his eye Danyang Peak Lord Du Youlan, who appeared ‘profound and unfathomable’ with her arms crossed over her chest.

Seeing Senior Sister Du like this, Niu Rengui immediately thought she must have understood Lu Chen’s words.

So he humbly asked: “Senior Sister, did you understand?”

Niu Rengui had expected Du Youlan to immediately explain the profound meaning to him.

Instead, Du Youlan countered: “Little Niu, you didn’t understand?”

Niu Rengui nodded honestly and said: “Yes, this Junior Brother is rather dull and can’t grasp the deeper meaning. Please enlighten me, Senior Sister.”

To this, Du Youlan raised her noble chin and said confidently: “What a coincidence, I didn’t understand either.”

Lu Chen: “…”

Gu Liqing: “…”

Leng Yingfeng: “…”

Niu Rengui: “???”

Seeing everyone’s strange looks, Du Youlan said discontentedly: “What? What’s with your expressions?”

Nothing, it’s just that your profoundly mysterious appearance earlier didn’t look like someone who didn’t understand…

Du Youlan certainly knew what everyone was thinking.

But she didn’t care at all.

After all, her past experiences had taught her that the less you understand, the more you should pretend to understand.

Because only in this way could she maintain her identity as ‘Senior Sister’.

Back in the day, she had relied on this ability of ‘pretending to understand what she didn’t’ to firmly suppress Niu Rengui and the other Azure Cloud Sect disciples of their generation.

As the saying goes, when the sky falls, the tall will hold it up.

Regardless of whether she as Senior Sister was ‘tall’ or not, Du Youlan felt that even if the sky really fell one day, she must ‘pretend to be tall’ and hold it up.

This was her identity as Senior Sister.

Therefore, she would absolutely never do anything that might damage her ‘tall’ identity.

Although everyone didn’t understand why Du Youlan was so ‘desperate to save face,’ they all tacitly avoided mentioning it.

Instead, they looked at Lu Chen.

Seeing this, Lu Chen also suppressed the corners of his mouth that were about to curl up, trying hard to speak in a normal tone: “It’s quite normal that the Peak Lords don’t understand this profound meaning. After all, if I hadn’t seen an Immortal with my own eyes, I wouldn’t be able to distinguish the truth about this Immortal Liu either.”

As he spoke, Lu Chen raised his hand.

Resting in his palm was clearly a paper figurine.No one knew what Lu Chen had done, but the paper figure that had been lying quietly slowly stood up, then began to perform sword dances on Lu Chen’s palm as if it were a real person.

The sharpness of its sword techniques was dazzling to behold.

More crucially, the paper figure’s swordplay contained genuine Sword Intent.

This Sword Intent was none other than Lu Chen’s Fiend-Slaying Sword Intent.

After dancing for a moment, the paper figure suddenly split into several Clones.

Each paper figure, identical to the last, began dancing along with Lu Chen.

Every one was so lifelike, every one so vivid.

Witnessing this scene, only Gu Liqing, the Great Divine Power practitioner among the crowd, showed a look of sudden understanding.

The others still wore expressions of confusion.

And Gu Liqing was not one to keep others in suspense.

He immediately explained to his Junior Brothers and Sisters: “The reason Little Lu said that Immortal isn’t genuine is because the Great Dao that Immortal has mastered wasn’t comprehended by himself, but was imposed upon him by others, or forcibly given to him.”

“Dao Intent obtained in this manner only understands the ‘what’ but not the ‘why’, allowing only rigid, step-by-step execution.”

“Unlike true Immortals who have genuinely mastered Dao Intent and can command it as easily as moving their own arms, with techniques following their thoughts.”

“If I’m not mistaken, Little Lu’s paper figure simultaneously contains traces of two Great Daos.”

“And this method doesn’t require deliberate execution – just having the thought is enough to naturally manifest these two Dao Intents into whatever magical techniques and Divine Abilities he desires. ‘Dao Follows Nature’… is precisely this.”

“In contrast, that Immortal Liu is different.”

“The Dao Intent that Immortal Liu can execute is fixed and unchangeable.”

“Thus, although he possesses Immortal cultivation, he lacks an Immortal’s soul, so in a sense, he truly is just someone else’s Puppet.”

By this point, if anyone still didn’t understand, that would be underestimating these Peak Lords of the Azure Cloud Sect.

In summary, the biggest difference between Immortal Liu and other Immortals…

Is that Immortal Liu can only rigidly execute the immortal techniques passed down to him like a marionette on strings.

While true Immortals can constantly adjust the immortal techniques they employ according to different environments and different enemies.

Lu Chen nodded at Gu Liqing’s explanation, then dispersed the paper figures he had used for demonstration.

“The Sect Leader is correct. The root of why I said Immortal Liu isn’t genuine lies precisely here.”

“However, regardless, this Immortal Liu still possesses capabilities beyond that of a Mortal Realm Immortal, with considerable strength.”

“Though if someone schemes carefully, even an ordinary Mortal Realm Immortal would have the ability to slay him.”

“I suspect the Upper Realm arranged for this person to descend for two reasons: first, to create the illusion for other Immortals that they can control the Azure Cloud World, and second… to prevent other Immortals from descending to the Mortal World.”

As he spoke, Lu Chen’s eyes gradually grew profound.

“The situation in Central Province should experience miraculously rapid improvement during the hundred years of Immortal Liu’s descent.”

“The Nine Realms Devils should also largely retreat during this time, creating the appearance of defeat.”

“Yet behind all this lies preparation for an even greater calamity.”

“Because while this Immortal Liu appears to be buying time for the Azure Cloud World, in reality, he’s buying time for the Nine Realms.””Or perhaps there are deeper implications hidden within that I have yet to comprehend.”

“Yet regardless of the truth, the future circumstances between our Sect and the Azure Cloud World will remain unchanged.”

“However, the emergence of this Immortal Liu is actually favorable news for us.”

“After all, a false immortal is still an immortal, and the appearance of an immortal signifies that this chess game… is about to witness a true confrontation.”

“And by this point, the Azure Cloud Sect—a mere Mortal Realm Sect—will naturally no longer catch the eye of immortals.”

(End of Chapter)