Fang Chen had never really been able to grasp Little Immortal Honglian's true attitude. What could be stated with certainty was that she was of the demon race and that she was of noble birth, coming from the Abyss of Demons. Yet strangely, she had always been resistant to the idea of him awakening the memories of his past life, just like this time.

Back when they were still in the Enlightenment God Palace, Little Immortal Honglian had tried to stop him from going to the Lesser Immortal Realm. After arriving at the Ji Family, she had repeatedly tried to steer him away from danger. Earlier, when she went to see Ji Tianjun, it looked on the surface like anger, but her true purpose had been to probe him. Ji Tianjun had indeed fallen for it. In a fit of extreme rage, he had let something slip.

Fang Chen smiled and said, "Daoist Hong, with Third Senior Sister along on this trip, there's no need to worry about our safety. If you want to stroll around the Lesser Immortal Realm, once we return from the Greater Immortal Realm, I'll accompany you for a walk."

Little Immortal Honglian secretly sighed. However, outwardly she squeezed a smile and nodded. "That works."

She paused for a moment, then added, "About that book Ji Tianjun gave you, don't read it for now. I've seen similar records in some ancient texts. If you're not on the History Immortal Path, reading it carries danger. Ji Tianjun must never have read its contents himself, yet he still passed the book on to you. His intentions are reprehensible. Daoist Fang, be extra vigilant in your daily dealings."

Fang Chen was startled. "Ji Tianjun? Why would he scheme against me?"

"I don't know. Maybe you offended him inadvertently while in the Enlightenment God Palace. In any case, be more cautious in your day-to-day affairs. Be careful, or you may end up being plotted against without even realizing it."

With that, Little Immortal Honglian took her leave.

Fang Chen closed the door behind her and fell into deep thought.

Is she like Old Wang as well, someone who's been reincarnated countless times here... whose memories of the Nine Mortal Realms have already overridden her demon race memories?

If this inference was correct, then perhaps Little Immortal Honglian was currently caught in an inner struggle. Her human memories held a slight advantage, leaving her wavering, unsure whether to stand with humanity or the demons.

***

Several days later, after everyone had finished resting and preparing, they boarded Chen Enxue's Black Dragon Boat and sped toward the barrier between realms.

Seeing Chen Enxue fiddling with a map, Fang Chen stepped forward and asked casually, "Third Senior Sister, I saw a kind of spiritual material in the Ji Family's library called the Eye of an Era. Have you heard of it?"

"Eye of an Era? That's formed from the pupil left behind after an eighth-transformation Grand World Immortal dies. Why are you asking about it? It's not an immortal herb," explained Chen Enxue. "In the Nine Mortal Realms of today, and probably even in the Lesser Immortal Realm, you won't find such a thing. Back then, the number of Grand World Immortals was already small, and eighth transformation ones were rarer still. I suspect there weren't even six of them in total. But if you want to find something like that, there might still be a chance in the Greater Immortal Realm." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

The Greater Immortal Realm? Fang Chen pondered silently.

"Third Senior Sister, there's an Immortal boat from Rulai Monastery ahead," said Nanming Ruyue suddenly, walking over with a grave expression.

Chen Enxue sneered as the Black Dragon boat gradually slowed down. She said, "I noticed it earlier. Besides Rulai Monastery, I also smell the aura of Corpse Transcending Immortals. It smells rancid."

The core disciples present began moving toward the area.

"Third Senior Sister, what special abilities do Corpse Transcending Immortals have?" Fang Chen asked curiously.

With Rulai Monastery appearing here, it was very likely not a coincidence. So this time, when they lured everyone to the Lesser Immortal Realm, were the main actors Rulai Monastery and one of the Four Great Immortal Clans, the Corpse Transcending Immortal Clan?

"The Corpse Transcending Immortal Clan is quite troublesome. From the very first turn, these fellows abandon their physical bodies, hiding them away in some location to refine them day and night," Chen Enxue explained. "The Corpse Transcending Immortal you usually see looks no different from living people, but in reality, they are wandering souls walking the Mortal Realm, just not the same as the souls of the Underworld.

"You can think of them as akin to the Ghost Immortal Path. But they're far more troublesome than Ghost Immortals. Even if they die, they can recondense a soul from their physical shell. The first transformation means one recondensation, the second means two times, the third means three times, and so on. A ninth-transformation Corpse Transcending Immortal has recondesed their soul nine times, which is equivalent to having nine lives. To permanently eliminate them, you must directly destroy their physical body."

At this point, Chen Enxue smiled. "There's also an immortal art in the world that hard-counters Corpse Transcending Immortal. You should know of the Heavenly Sniping Art, right? This technique can automatically track down the physical body they've hidden, but it has a distance limit. If they're too far away, it's useless. And before the Heavenly Sniping Art finds their physical body, you still have to deal with the Corpse Transcending Immortal in front of you."

This surprised Fang Chen. "The Heavenly Sniping Art counters Corpse Transcending Immortals?"

But thinking about how the technique used karma as its trigger, it made sense.

What he hadn't expected was that a Corpse Transcending Immortal could revive after death.

"Wasn't that Division Master Duan beside Daoist Qingque a Corpse Transcending Immortal? If that's the case, he might not actually be dead..."

As Fang Chen's thoughts churned, something suddenly clicked in his mind.

He suddenly looked up. Dying and reviving... re-condensing from the physical shell...

The demon race needed to sacrifice their own lives to cast the demonic calamity. But what if they walked the Corpse Transcending Immortal Path? If they walked the Corpse Transcending Immortal Path, wouldn't they be able to cast the demonic calamity without truly sacrificing their own lives?

"A second-transformation Corpse Transcending Immortal could cast the Demonic Calamity once. After advancing to the third transformation, they could cast it again..."

Fang Chen finally understood. This time, the demon race's scheme against them wasn't about developing some new awakening method at all. They were planning to have Corpse Transcending Immortal take action!

Among the Four Great Immortal Clans of the Lesser Immortal Realm, the Corpse Transcending Immortal Clan was one of them, and they even had-ninth transformation Immortals overseeing it! If they dispatched even a single eighth-transformation Corpse Transcending Immortal, it would be enough to plunge this group of core disciples into a demonic calamity on a small scale.

Fang Chen's expression turned grave. He sent a voice transmission. "Third Senior Sister, where's Senior Sister? Is she here?"

A faint smile appeared on Chen Enxue's face. "You think... those people in the distance are here for us?"

"Very likely. Rulai Monastery has always been targeting us."

"Then let's see who they've sent this time. If they want to deal with me, at the very least they should send a seventh-transformation Ancient Immortal, shouldn't they?"

Chen Enxue chuckled. The Black Dragon Boat beneath her feet suddenly accelerated, arriving in front of Rulai Monastery's immortal boat in an instant.

"Shao Guangyin!?" exclaimed both Nanming Ruyue and Li Shanzi suddenly, looking shocked.

They had an ominous feeling that this was no coincidence. In a vast Lesser Immortal Realm, how could one casually run into Rulai Monastery's Honored One just by heading out?

"Shao Guangyin... could it be that he walks the Corpse Transcending Immortal Path?"

Fang Chen's expression was solemn. Back at the Great Thunder Sound, the scene of Shao Guangyin clashing with Xie Aman was still vivid in his mind. Even someone as powerful as Xie Aman had only managed to fight him to a draw after Shao Guangyin entered a demonic state.

"Buddhist Prodigy of Rulai Monastery, blocking this road, surely you're not just here to say hello, are you?" Chen Enxue said with a smile.

More than ten figures stood on the Immortal Boat. Aside from Shao Guangyin, who was a disciple of Rulai Monastery, the others all emitted similar auras. They were all from the Corpse Transcending Immortal Clan.

Shao Guangyin smiled faintly, his gaze sweeping lightly across the group. "Amitabha."

When he saw that Fang Chen was present as well, the smile in his eyes seemed to deepen just a little.