Spiritual Space, also known as the expansion of a cultivator’s divine sense, is where a cultivator’s primordial spirit is usually housed.
If you liken a cultivator to a machine, then the Spiritual Space is that cultivator’s memory— the higher the cultivation, the larger the Spiritual Space, and the more memory that can be stored.
Ever since Lin Shu began cultivating, his Spiritual Space had been almost completely occupied by something called the “System,” leaving barely any room for himself each time he entered.
The last time he entered his own Spiritual Space was… well, last time, but he never expected that someone else would be squeezed in with him this time.
And the other party was an immortal!
Yet Lin Shu didn’t panic, because after the immortaless entered, he quietly asked the System how confident it was in handling the situation.
The System didn’t answer, but instead popped up a note: [Wait a moment! She’s tough! Let me beat her up a little more!]
Lin Shu instantly breathed a sigh of relief.
It’s fine! The System can win!
Immediately, all his tension faded away. Lin Shu checked on Lu Zhiyun and Tong Yao, made sure they were unharmed, and, feeling bored, found a broken log to sit on, swinging his legs idly.
A moment later, a flash of light shone from his dantian, and the immortaless who had just entered his Spiritual Space was thrown out, rolling several times on the ground in a sorry state.
Yet not a speck of dust stained her clothes; she clearly cared greatly about her image—though half her face was swollen and her eye was black and blue, making her look quite pitiful.
“Wrong, wrong! Please, stop hitting me! I was just joking with the junior!” the immortaless muttered, covering her face and begging for mercy.
How ruthless! A dignified immortal beaten into this state!
Throughout Lin Shu’s cultivation journey, he’d encountered countless demon cultivators who tried to possess him, but without exception, the System beat them half to death.
Last time, it was a mighty cultivator at the Fusion stage who attempted possession—Lin Shu thought that was his personal record, but this time, the immortaless had set a new high score.
Now, the situation was rather awkward. Sure, Lin Shu couldn’t be possessed, but that didn’t mean he was strong enough to fight; at least, not at the level of an immortal. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so pressured by her presence.
To be precise, if she had simply chosen not to enter his Spiritual Space and tried to kill him with a slap instead, Lin Shu would have been utterly defenseless.
If she realized she could subdue him without entering his Spiritual Space, Lin Shu would be in real danger!
At times like this, it all came down to acting skills.
If he treated the System like a powerful backer behind him and acted intimidating, maybe he could convince her to yield.
Lin Shu’s eyes shifted as he sat atop the broken log, crossing one leg over the other in a roguish, care-free immortal’s posture, asking with a hint of disdain:
“Why did you attempt to possess him?”
At this moment, Lin Shu pretended to be “possessed by the System,” beginning his award-worthy performance.
“I-I-I… It was just a joke! Really! I swear!”
The immortaless knelt on the ground, raising her right hand and blinking her apricot eyes innocently.
“Besides, I’m a female immortal! There’s no way I’d ever want to possess a man’s body, right?”
Lin Shu thought about it. It did make some sense, so he continued, “What’s your name?”
At the question, the immortaless looked embarrassed.
“Uh… Can I not say?”
“No!” Lin Shu barked.
“If I can’t, then I can’t! Why so bossy!” The immortaless pouted, but dared not lose her temper—after all, a dignified immortal battered like this had no right to act haughty.
“I… My surname is Money, given name… Money Money…”
Money Money?
Why does that sound like the name of a pet dog?
Lin Shu nearly burst out laughing, but remembering he was supposed to be “possessed by a deity,” he forced himself to hold it in.
“Don’t deceive me! Speak the truth!”
“It really is my name! That’s what people called me in my era! Back then, everyone was uneducated! Mine was already considered a nice name!” The immortaless named “Money Money” looked on the verge of tears.
“There was even a Fusion stage cultivator in a neighboring Tribe named Li Goudan! Compared to that, isn’t my name much better?”
Not really! Did we really need that comparison?
But Lin Shu noticed something: Money Money had just mentioned “Tribe”…
“You’re an immortal from before the Great Summer?”
As Lin Shu understood it, in the early Great Summer period, the human race hadn’t been unified yet—hence the term “Tribe.” Once the first Summer Emperor mastered cultivation laws, he began waging “Tribal Wars,” gradually reclaiming all regions and finally unifying the land into an empire.
So, by that logic, Money Money was from nearly three hundred thousand years ago…
Wait! Three hundred thousand years?
Lin Shu was starting to develop a phobia of that number—it sounded too familiar.
“Great Summer? I think there was such a time. When I achieved immortality, I once went drinking at a Tribe and heard a young guy say he was going to establish a dynasty called ‘Great Summer’.” At this, Money Money sneered, “So tacky! Who would name it that?”
“Uh, the ‘Great Summer’ means ‘magnificent nation,’ and also carries the meaning of vast territory.” Lin Shu couldn’t help but explain, something he’d learned from history books.
“Is that so? But that brat said his surname was ‘Xia’ (Summer), so he named it ‘Great Summer’!” Money Money thought hard, then nodded affirmatively.
“Huh? So that’s how it was?” Lin Shu was a little shocked. “Good thing his surname wasn’t ‘Niu’ (Oxen)…”
“Right?” Money Money raised her eyebrows.
“Ahem! Back to the topic!” Lin Shu almost forgot he was supposed to be interrogating her.
“So, you’re an immortal from the Primordial era?” Lin Shu asked.
“Hmm—using your terminology, yes!” Money Money pondered.
“In that case, as a fellow immortal, do you know of the ancient Three Immortals?”
The ancient Three Immortals referred to cultivators who became immortal before the Primordial era—if Money Money was from that period, she should at least have heard of them.
“I don’t really remember! No impression! There were tons of immortals in our time!” Money Money waved her hand, quite proud.
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
In the history of cultivation, Lin Shu was certain the total number of immortals couldn’t exceed ten. Had the official records gotten it wrong?
“How many immortals were there, roughly?” Lin Shu asked.
Money Money grinned, pointed to the sky, and laughed, “As many as the stars above!”
Lin Shu was shocked, and looked up—just then, the dark clouds had scattered, leaving only a bright full moon, and… another bright full moon.
Where are the stars!
“Ahahaha, well… something happened back then, and almost all the immortals died!” Money Money said awkwardly. “But I’m not lying! It’s just the secret realm creator wasn’t skilled enough!”
“Weren’t you the one who created this secret realm?” Lin Shu asked, curious.
No way she’d insult herself just to win him over, right?
“Of course not!” Money Money said indignantly. “How could my handiwork be this lousy? I’m a dignified Three Pure Immortaless! Not only strong, but also a master of every cultivation art!”
“Wait, wait a second!” Lin Shu’s composure broke.
“Three Pure Immortaless? That’s your Dao title?”
Three Purities… Could this be related to the Three Purities Daoists of Tianque Sect?
“Yes! Isn’t it elegant? Cultured? Impressive?” Money Money grinned, revealing neat white teeth, looking every bit the innocent, lively girl.
“Shouldn’t you be called the One Qi Immortal?”
The One Qi Sect had been scheming to revive someone called the “One Qi Immortal,” so how had that become the “Three Pure Immortaless”?
Was this the result of his changes to the ritual text?
“One Qi Immortal? That rings a bell!”
“Think harder!” Lin Shu pressed.
Money Money fell silent in deep thought for a while, then spoke solemnly, “I forgot!”
Lin Shu made as if to raise his hand, and Money Money hurriedly covered her face. “I forgot, I really did! Let me explain! Don’t hit me!”
“It probably has to do with the cultivation art I practiced. Maybe they’re my clones, and all my clones are independent. I don’t know what they did. If they offended you, I apologize!”
“Ahem! Do you know the One Qi Sect?” Lin Shu asked.
“Nope! I’ve never founded any One Qi Sect!” Money Money said, annoyed.
Lin Shu sighed, explaining, “It’s a demonic sect—one of the Three Major Demonic Sects. They usually perform live sacrifices of cultivators to increase their power, and it seems they’re planning to revive you!”
At this, Money Money pointed to herself, “Huh? Am I dead? How did I die?”
“How should I know?” Lin Shu replied, exasperated.
He was starting to think this immortaless wasn’t the brightest… How had she even become immortal?
“In any case, this One Qi Sect has caused all sorts of trouble! Specifically, they—”
Just as Lin Shu was about to explain more about the One Qi Sect, two figures appeared before them.
The first was a middle-aged man in a black cloak, his beard white but his strength obvious—weakling; the other was a young man, but his body looked hollow, his spiritual energy unstable—also a nobody.
But appearing so abruptly, Lin Shu immediately understood their identities.
“Heh! So you’ve come! She’s the one you summoned, isn’t she?”