Ji Xiang did not mince words, and Donghua Fairy was also taken aback, then chuckled, "You want me to live and die with the current dynasty? I recall you saying that the world is no longer the Han Dynasty, right?"
Becoming a National Immortal, an immortal lord worshipped by a great nation, the boost in power was indeed immense and would greatly aid her recovery after leaving. However, it was not without its price. As the word "national" implied, becoming a National Immortal meant sharing the nation's destiny and bearing corresponding responsibilities. Once the nation collapsed, the National Immortal's strength would plummet, and a large portion of their fortune would be lost.
It could be said that risks and benefits coexisted. If it were during the dynasty's peak, it would be normal for hundreds of National Immortals to appear. But in the twilight of a nation on the brink of collapse, for National Immortals to still exist, it would signify a profound love for that dynasty.
Adding splendor to an already adorned object was always easier than offering charcoal in the snow.
"I have no knowledge of the new dynasty. Although you have shown me great kindness, binding my new life to this unknown dynasty is still too dangerous."
"However, it's not impossible for me to help. I do have one condition."
Although Donghua Fairy initially refused, her eyes quickly regained their brilliance, and her tone shifted as she began to bargain with Ji Xiang.
"You also know that helping a dynasty on the verge of collapse carries significant risks..."
Ji Xiang glanced around. The clouds were dense, and there was no sound of scripture recitation. He spoke as if casually,
"Donghua Immortal Scripture?"
"Ah, precisely!"
Donghua Fairy's beautiful face lit up, her eyebrows rising, and a divine light emanating from her eyes. She began to smile joyfully.
"I am competing with Lingbao Tianzun for the Donghua Immortal Scripture here. If you help me obtain a page of golden scripture from my master, let alone become a National Immortal, I will even transfer the control of the True Spirit Rank Chart to you entirely."
"The prerequisite, however, is to contend with Lingbao Tianzun."
Ji Xiang also chuckled, "After all, Lingbao Tianzun did help me deduce the scriptures and even pointed out the whereabouts of the Jade God Pan. Saying this puts me in a difficult position."
"Why don't you both accompany me? Why the need to fight? While Immortal Scriptures are powerful, as long as their scriptures can be copied, there's no need to fight."
Donghua Fairy was greatly astonished, "Copy? How is that possible! Immortal Scriptures are precisely because they cannot be copied by any means!"
"Oh? Is there such a setting? But I recently created an Immortal Scripture that mortals can also view and transcribe."
Ji Xiang was also surprised. Was there such a setting?
"What did you say?" Donghua Fairy was greatly alarmed. But soon, she regained her composure, circling Ji Xiang and shaking her head repeatedly, "Only at the Half-Step Ascension stage, and you can compile Immortal Scriptures, let alone allow mortals to transcribe them? Such a thing has never been heard of since ancient times!"
Ji Xiang laughed heartily, "That's why the ancients are not as good as the moderns!"
Donghua Fairy was momentarily choked by this statement, falling into speechless silence, her mind reeling. She took a few steps back, her hands behind her back, acting maturely. Tilting her head and frowning, she stared at Ji Xiang for a long time. Finding that Ji Xiang did not seem to be lying, she found it difficult to suppress her curiosity:
"Is it true? What grade of Immortal Scripture is it, and what is its name?"
"Ah, it's not a fixed one. There's the Great Spiritual Consciousness Scripture, the Fifteen Volumes of Urgent Rescue Formulas for the World, the True Non-Two Supreme Book... well, these are just parts of it. As for the grades, there are the seventh, sixth, and fifth tiers."
Donghua Fairy stood frozen, her mind a blank.
She did not believe that after so many years of struggle, Ji Xiang could resolve it with a simple copy.
Mortals being able to transcribe Immortal Scripture texts? What a joke, how could such a thing happen?
As if wanting to salvage some of the Immortal Scripture's prestige, Donghua Fairy, after regaining her senses, immediately began pointing her fingers at Ji Xiang, her tone intensifying for emphasis:
"Alright! Regardless of whether what you say is true or false, I have never heard of these scriptures. But even if what you say is miraculous, what you want to copy now is a page of golden scripture, a page from the Donghua Jade Scripture!"
"The Donghua Jade Scripture is not something that can be easily copied. Moreover, as you know, the content of this scripture only appears once or twice when Yuan Shi Tianzun lectures! Things without form, with their characters inscribed in the void, like wishes or dreams, how do you plan to copy them?"
Ji Xiang rubbed his chin, his gaze drifting towards the high clouds in the distance, the former site of Yuan Shi Tianzun's lectures.
"I have a guess. Perhaps the Immortal Scriptures that this Yuan Shi Tianzun lectured on are copied things?"
"Ah?" Donghua Fairy was stunned again.
But soon, she seemed to realize something, touching her forehead and looking towards the high clouds in the distance.
Within the True Spirit Rank Chart, time lost its meaning. After an unknown duration, colorful rainbow light appeared in the sky, signifying that Yuan Shi Tianzun was about to begin his lecture, and phantom images of heavenly deities and immortals flocked towards it.
At that familiar grand assembly of immortals, Ji Xiang saw the vacant second seat, which was so familiar.
"They're here."
Ji Xiang looked at the second seat and said to Donghua Fairy, "Whether it's you or Lingbao Tianzun, you are both plundering scriptures from the Rank Chart. The originals of these scriptures cannot be here. So, as you said, if Immortal Scriptures cannot be copied, do you truly believe these classics were excerpted or even stripped from the original scriptures?"
Donghua Fairy was also unsettled. She looked at Ji Xiang beside her and said uncertainly, "You're saying that the characteristics of the Great Dao mastered by the Nine Patriarchs of Shangqing are on you. In other words, were these Immortal Scriptures truly copied by him and then stored here?"
"This is astonishing. What you obtained from here, the Jade Purity Hidden Book, was not the most important. When you suddenly disappeared, I suspected it was related to the Nine Patriarchs of Shangqing. I never imagined..."
As they spoke, the clouds churned, and the image of Lingbao Tianzun ascended from the second heaven to the first. Ji Xiang looked forward, and Lingbao Tianzun also turned his head immediately. His hollow eyes met Ji Xiang's.
After a long moment, he shook his head and extended his hand, conjuring a sword shape.
Ji Xiang bowed, "The Qingping Sword has not yet been retrieved. However, this time I have returned to the Rank Chart to resolve some matters. Next, I will go to retrieve the Qingping Sword."
"This journey is perilous. I wonder if Tianzun can assist me from outside the diagram?"
Ji Xiang asked directly. Lingbao Tianzun stared at Ji Xiang for a while but made no move, turning and sitting down.
The lecture began.
Colorful clouds appeared in the sky, lotuses bloomed on the ground, and the transmitted scriptures resounded through this world once more. That familiar sense surged into his heart, and Lingbao Tianzun, as always, casually plundered the insights of others to enrich his own image.
Meanwhile, Ji Xiang began to circulate the True Meaning of the Three Teachings.
Those insights transformed into illusory scriptures, which Ji Xiang then offered as sacrifices to the True Meaning of the Three Teachings, burning them to ashes!
The content of the sacrifice was very direct: a wish to copy another page of golden scripture!