Chapter 586: Trust

When Jiang Lianyi said, "Who are you?", Lu Yang's heart clenched. It seemed the mastermind had directly erased the Immortal Fairy's existence, not just by replacing a book's name, but by altering memories and deleting all traces of her from everyone's minds. Even someone as powerful as Jiang Lianyi wasn't spared. Jiang Lianyi was a peerless half-immortal qualified to contend for an immortal position; if even she couldn't escape this, one could imagine what happened to other cultivators and mortals. No wonder no one recited her name to revive her after her death.

"Immortal Fairy Huang Doudou?" Jiang Lianyi stopped her tears. The name felt utterly foreign, leaving no impression whatsoever, and her eyes were filled with confusion.

The Immortal Fairy's smile gradually faded. Though she had prepared herself mentally, learning that Jiang Lianyi had forgotten her still brought a sense of loss and sadness.

"Yes, I am Immortal Fairy Huang Doudou, known as one of the Five Ancient Immortals alongside Qilin Immortal, Jiuchong Immortal, Yingtian Immortal, and Suiyue Immortal. I was the last of the five to achieve immortality!"

"The last to achieve immortality was my husband, the fourth to do so. There were only four ancient immortals; where does a fifth come from?"

"What about your and Xiao Ling's cooking skills? I taught both of you." Xiao Ling is Ao Ling, the ancient ancestor of the Dragon race.

"Both of us are self-taught and had no master."

"And the feigning death technique! The one you just used, I taught it to you and Xiao Ling."

"The feigning death technique was something Xiao Ling and I acquired while exploring a secret realm. It was an ancient ruin, too old to verify. After we left, the secret realm collapsed into ruins."

"When you two married Qilin Immortal, I even gave you an immortal fruit with 'To the most beautiful demon race' written on it!"

"I don't recall this happening when I married my husband. When we married, Jiuchong, Yingtian, and Suiyue Immortals came to congratulate us and gave us immortal fruits, but none of them had 'To the most beautiful demon race' written on them."

"We often ate together, and I even visited your immortal abode and your bedroom!"

The Immortal Fairy listed incident after incident, describing them vividly, but was met only with Jiang Lianyi's silence. Jiang Lianyi remained silent for a long time.

"I'm sorry, I have no memory of anything you're saying."

Jiang Lianyi was no longer in a daze from waking up; she had quickly sorted through all her memories, even clearly recalling events before she fell into slumber. At the time, her husband's actions were strange; he stubbornly insisted she use the feigning death technique to enter a death-like state without explaining why. Trusting him, she performed the technique and woke up to find an unfamiliar woman and a Golden Core cultivator. She was certain her memories were clear and complete, without any gaps, and logically coherent from start to finish, with no mention of the Immortal Fairy whatsoever.

The Immortal Fairy's eyes shimmered, tears welling up and swirling, stubbornly refusing to fall. When Jiang Lianyi saw her like this, she felt an intense pang of inexplicable sadness.

"Immortal Fairy..." Lu Yang tried to comfort her, but when he attempted to pat her shoulder, his hand passed right through. The Immortal Fairy was in a soul state.

Just as Jiang Lianyi was about to offer some words of comfort, she felt something on her chest. She instinctively touched it and pulled out a stone.

"A Record Stone?" Jiang Lianyi grew even more puzzled. She remembered not having this stone before she fell asleep. Did her husband put it there? She infused spiritual energy into the Record Stone, and intricate, beautiful patterns appeared on its surface. A phantom image of a man with coral antlers on his head appeared. He was elegant and dressed in a black robe adorned with patterns of myriad beasts.

"Qilin Immortal?"

"Husband?"

This phantom man was indeed the Qilin Immortal. Lu Yang also recognized the Qilin Immortal. This was his second encounter with him, one being a historical reflection and the other a phantom image.

"Lianyi, you probably have many questions. You will meet someone; please don't panic. This person is trustworthy, even more trustworthy than me or Yingtian!"

"You might find this person very unfamiliar, completely unable to recall her origins. Please consider: if this person had no connection to you whatsoever, how did she manage to undo your feigning death technique?"

Jiang Lianyi was startled. Indeed, the ancient ruin had vanished, and only she and Xiao Ling knew the feigning death technique. Her husband, Yingtian, Jiuchong, and Suiyue hadn't learned it, nor did they need to. How could this woman, who claimed to be the Immortal Fairy, know the feigning death technique?

"Someone altered your memories. I don't know who this person is for now. You don't need to know the details of this matter or get involved. This is a battle on the immortal level. The only thing you need to know is that the person who woke you is trustworthy!"

Then, the Qilin Immortal's phantom image turned to the Immortal Fairy, smiled, and clapped in congratulation: "Immortal, you've finally revived! I just wonder how far your era is from mine."

"I'm sorry we never managed to revive you. The enemy's methods exceeded our expectations; not just half-immortals, but even we were affected. We could only remember you as 'Immortal,' but your true name remained unspeakable."

"We tried to call out your name in sequence, but each time we said a name, we'd forget the previous one, falling into a vicious cycle."

"Our slight comfort is that, according to conversations through the time channel, it was confirmed you would revive in the future."

"Lianyi's feelings for you run deeper than for me. I didn't want her to be limited by her lifespan and die without ever seeing you again, which is why I arranged for her to meet you."

"Even if she has forgotten you, I'm sure she'll still be very happy to see you revived."

"To help you find Lianyi, I created this secret realm and hid Lianyi on the fourth level."

"To later generations of cultivators, this secret realm should be an ancient secret realm, or perhaps simply an 'ancient realm.' It doesn't matter. In any case, this secret realm is highly valuable and famous to future cultivators. You're someone who loves to join in the excitement, so you're sure to come here."

"I just happened to set up this secret realm and, by the way, give some opportunities to our demon race."

"Through conversations via the time channel, we learned you are in a soul state and that you are constantly in the spiritual space of a Golden Core cultivator by your side."

"This secret realm can attract both you and him."

"The first level is a basic combat trial. With you there, the Golden Core cultivator will have no trouble passing."

"The second level is more complex. Your intuition is very accurate, enabling you to make the correct choices, so this level won't be difficult for you either."

"The third level is where you'll be distinguished from the young demon geniuses. Only you can answer the questions on this level."

"Oh, and by the way, I'm currently fighting the person who killed you using various means. I'm not sure where I'll be when you revive, so I won't tell you my location to avoid wasted effort. If you do revive, the world is only so big; we'll meet eventually."

"So, farewell."