Are There Only Demonesses Left in the Cultivation Realm?

To seek the Heavenly Repair Pill, one had to come to the Glazed Dynasty.

The capital city of the Glazed Dynasty was called Upper Jade Capital.

The name was given by the founding Emperor, and no one knew its meaning. Perhaps he just came up with it on a whim while drinking with someone.

In this ancient dynasty, Immortals and mortals lived together. It had a history of over a thousand years, and despite its many ups and downs, it had always endured. This suggested there must be something extraordinary about it.

"Dismount, dismount! What’s your business in Upper Jade Capital?"

The guard’s shout pulled Lu Changyuan from his thoughts. It was his first time here in this life, so he didn’t know the city. But the Chang’an Daoist was familiar with it—or at least, he should have been familiar with the gate before him.

But the mottled city walls were vastly different from what he remembered, and the familiar trees outside the city were long gone.

The Upper Jade Capital before him felt entirely unfamiliar.

Nothing was as it once was.

As Lu Changyuan was dismounting, his body suddenly froze.

Ah.

’I remember now.’

The wall before him must have been rebuilt. The original one... he had shattered it with a single sword strike a thousand years ago during a fight.

’No wonder it doesn’t feel like the old days.’

Lu Changyuan smiled and shook his head, then took out a White Jade Token.

"So you’re an Immortal Master from Miao Yu Palace! Please, come right in!"

The guard’s expression changed instantly. He smiled and stepped aside.

Lu Changyuan said, "Seeing how casual you are, I take it many fellow Daoists have already entered the city."

"Yes, Immortal Master. A month ago, His Majesty decreed that the city gates should not bar any Immortals."

’Has this Emperor lost his mind?’

’He knows the news of the Heavenly Repair Pill has leaked, and all sorts of scoundrels and monsters are rushing here, yet he doesn’t post any guards?’

’After a month, Upper Jade Capital must be swarming with them.’

Seeing Lu Changyuan in thought, the guard gave a wry smile. "We tried stopping them before, but we couldn’t. So we just gave up and let everyone in."

’Just like a pretty widow who, unable to resist her pursuer, decides to just lie back and enjoy it.’

"These past few days, the city probably hasn’t been very peaceful, has it?"

He recalled the bloody words that had appeared in his vision two days ago.

The Heavenly Repair Pill would appear in another four or five days, which meant things were about to get messy.

The guard sighed. "You can say that again. We see Immortals engaging in Magical Combat every day. But they’ve shown some restraint and haven’t harmed us mortals. Maybe they’re afraid of the karmic debt from killing and being judged by the Immortals of the Daoist Sect."

Lu Changyuan ignored the guard’s rambling and led his horse into the city.

Xia Lianxue, dressed in blue robes and a white veil, sat silently atop her horse.

"What’s wrong? You look unhappy. This is the Royal City, you know. Outsiders usually have to kowtow at the gates just to get in."

Lu Changyuan told a joke.

Xia Lianxue didn’t laugh.

She hadn’t laughed for days.

"Don’t be so gloomy. So you lost all your Cultivation and got expelled from your Sect. It’s not the end of the world. It’s not like you’re dead."

Xia Lianxue had been thinking that death might have been preferable.

But when Lu Changyuan spoke those words, it was as if he had cast some kind of Demon Technique on her. She found herself thinking, ’He’s right. As long as I’m alive, there’s hope. And it’s not like I’m dead.’

So, the Fairy spoke softly, "The Compassionate Palace."

"Hmm?"

"The Third Princess of the Glazed Dynasty is a True Inheritor of the Compassionate Palace. Out of respect for her, people won’t go too far before the Pill appears."

The Compassionate Palace, one of the Nine Gates and Twelve Palaces.

This was another new Sect that Lu Changyuan had never heard of.

Lu Changyuan asked, "Is the Compassionate Palace very powerful?"

Xia Lianxue was silent for a moment before replying, "In the White Realm, the Daoist Sect. In the Black Realm, the Compassionate Palace."

The Cultivation Realm was divided into the Black and White Realms. The Daoist Sect and the Compassionate Palace were the strongest Sects in their respective realms.

"How did a bunch of nuns manage to achieve the Dao?"

Xia Lianxue shook her head, her snow-white veil swaying gently. "The Compassionate Palace doesn’t worship the Buddha."

Lu Changyuan asked in confusion, "Then who do they worship?"

"The Compassionate Guanyin. They believe only in her and nothing else. They are different from other nunneries that worship the Buddha."

’What in the world has happened to the Cultivation Realm?’

’The Buddhist Sect doesn’t chant scriptures, and the nunneries only worship Guanyin.’

The world had changed so much in five hundred years that Lu Changyuan no longer recognized it.

Lu Changyuan waved his hand dismissively, not bothering to keep track of all these Palaces and Gates.

He only asked, "Are you hungry? I see a noodle shop over there. Let’s go get some noodles."

Xia Lianxue struggled to suppress her exasperation. She had been about to explain just who the Third Princess was.

But to her surprise, Lu Changyuan wasn’t listening at all.

Lu Changyuan added, "Your senior sister really loves to eat. When she was at my place, she finished all the noodles I cooked... and all the eggs, too."

’Senior Sister is a glutton?’

That was something Xia Lianxue had never expected.

"How can you have the strength for Cultivation if you don’t eat your fill? You’re even weaker than a mortal right now. This is precisely when you need to eat."

It would have been fine if he hadn’t mentioned it.

But now that he had, Xia Lianxue realized she truly was a little hungry.

The sensation of hunger, long absent, surged up the moment her sorrowful thoughts eased. A wave of dizziness washed over her, and she nearly fell from her horse.

Lu Changyuan caught her just in time. Then, without lingering on the soft smoothness of her form, he quickly let her go.

The scent of a man filled Xia Lianxue’s nostrils.

Her dizziness grew worse.

The noodle shop was right in front of them.

It was a truly old and tiny noodle stand, with no proper storefront—just a few tables and chairs placed on a street corner with a sign hanging beside them.

The words on the sign were difficult to read, and the wooden stools were all chipped.

And yet, this was the very noodle stand that was packed with customers, even this early in the morning.

Lu Changyuan walked up to the owner and asked, "Any seats left?"

The owner was an old woman with a deeply wrinkled face. Seeing Lu Changyuan approach, she struggled to open her eyes and then sized him up carefully.

"Is that young lady over there with you, sir?"

"Yes, two of us."

"There’s still room."

The old woman produced another table from somewhere, wiped the dust from its surface, and brought over two stools.

Then she asked, "What would you like to eat, sir?"

"Two bowls of plain noodles."

Lu Changyuan sat down at the table and looked at Xia Lianxue with a smile. Just as he expected, he heard her say, "This is what you’re getting me?"

’That’s more like it.’

"I’m just a poor Physician, I don’t have any money. Don’t you know? Even plain noodles are expensive in the Royal City. This isn’t the countryside."

Xia Lianxue bit her lip, her hand trembling as she pulled a small pouch from her robes. It was her personal savings, money she had earned from completing missions for the palace.

"You... go and..."

Before she could finish, the old woman returned, placing a dish of braised beef and another of braised peanuts on their table.

Lu Changyuan smiled, his eyes narrowing. "And what’s this for?"

"It’s for new customers. It’s on the house. Just be sure to come again. The noodles will be a little while."

After the old woman had returned to cooking the noodles, Xia Lianxue asked, "You knew this would happen?"

Lu Changyuan was already picking up a piece of beef. "It’s my first time eating here, too."

The Fairy copied him and picked up her chopsticks, but whispered, "I don’t believe you."

"It would be better for you if you learned to trust me."

Xia Lianxue felt a little annoyed, but only a little.

She knew how to be grateful. It was Lu Changyuan who had expelled the Demon from her; otherwise, she would be dead by now.

THUD!

A jar of clear wine was placed on the table.

Xia Lianxue turned to look at the old owner. "Is this another perk for new customers?"

The old woman paused for a moment, then said in her ancient voice, "Yes."