Chapter 356: 355
Clang, Clang, Clang——
The bell rings resonate through Penglai Fairy Island, as if reminding people that a certain time has arrived.
Jiang Li notices that many female cultivators have bright eyes and seem eager to try something.
“What’s going to happen?” Jiang Li asks, surprised, turning to Yu Yin for an answer.
Yu Yin doesn’t respond directly. She glances at Jiang Li, finding the upcoming event interesting.
“You’ll see in a moment.”
Jiang Li rarely sees this expression on Yu Yin— a mischievous grin. Every time he and Bai Hongtu secretly plan something and are discovered by the elderly emperor, Yu Yin always wears this expression.
This implies that he and Bai Hongtu will be punished by the emperor.
Yu Yin hooks up a faint smile at the corner of her mouth: “Princess Pure Heart, it’s fortunate that you came to the River Festival; otherwise, you would miss this event.”
Pure Heart is confused by Yu Yin’s words.
“I also want to participate.” Red Dust Fairy’s curiosity is piqued by Yu Yin’s mysterious demeanor.
Jiang Li reluctantly replies, “Fairy, do you remember what I told you before leaving? Be low-key, low-key.”
“Oh.” Recognizing that Jiang Li doesn’t support her, Red Dust Fairy feels a little disappointed.
Under Yu Yin’s guidance, the three arrive at the event venue, and Jiang Li finally meets Island Lord Mo Ruoyu.
When Mo Ruoyu first found Jiang Li in the sea, she was already a cultivator at the Body Integration Realm. Five hundred years have passed, and Mo Ruoyu looks the same as Jiang Li remembers, unchanged.
A cultivator’s state of mind reflects their appearance. Five hundred years without change illustrates the strength of Mo Ruoyu’s psychology.
Jiang Li notices that Mo Ruoyu has Mount Heshan with her and curiously asks Yu Yin, “Why didn’t I see her bring the Ruyi Gourd?”
Yu Yin thinks for a moment, and says: “The Ruyi Gourd has a… strange nature. I find its desires to be unusual, like it enjoys me stepping on it and such. This time it even wanted to participate in the River Festival and seemed overly excited. I always think it’s up to something so, for security’s sake, I didn’t bring it.”
Jiang Li can relate; he too often struggles to understand the thoughts of the Ruyi Gourd.
“On another note, it has been a long time since I visited the Sky Desolate Halberd. I need to set a day aside to do that. It’s been left alone as the fulcrum of the array, it must be very lonely,” Jiang Li feels guilty. He had promised to visit the Sky Desolate Halberd but keeps forgetting.
“….” Yu Yin is debating whether to tell Jiang Li about how the Sky Desolate Halberd has been having a great time with its group of friends.
“Welcome everyone to Penglai Fairy Island for the decennial River Festival,” Island Lord Mo is full of energy and lively as always.
“Despite the interdependence of yin and yang, that both men and women can cultivate, due to factors such as lesser numbers, unsuitable techniques, and the domineering nature of male cultivators, we female cultivators often find ourselves in a weak position. Organizing the River Festival is also a hope that everyone can take this opportunity to network and be able to help each other when returning home.”
The audience applauds non-stop, agreeing with the Island Lord’s words.
Mo Ruoyu, possessing the aggressive Mount Heshan, ranks second only to Yu Yin in terms of combat power among the female cultivators of Jiuzhou. Her words carry a great deal of credibility.
“I believe everyone has been looking forward to this event. Let me now introduce the theme of this event— Getting to Know the Unknown Jiang Emperor!”
Jiang Li: “???”
The audience erupts in applause once again, even louder than before.
Among the applause, many are cheering phrases such as “Only marrying the Jiang Emperor”, “I adore Jiang Li”, “I want to be the Empress”, and so on.
Clearly, the name Jiang Emperor has stirred the emotions of the female cultivators.
Even though they had probed for information about the event’s content through their channels, being present when the event theme is unveiled leaves them with a whole new thrill.
Pure Heart feels as if the whole world is against her.
As expected, this so-called River Festival is essentially a gathering of love rivals.
Jiang Li is also surprised. Even if it’s the three hundredth anniversary commemorative ceremony of his ascension to the throne, he hasn’t seen such an enthusiastic group of cultivators. He fears that if he appears now, he might lose his clothes.
“See? I told you this event suits you.” Yu Yin whispers into Princess Pure Heart’s ear.
“For the sake of fairness, this event also invites the friend of the Unknown Jiang Emperor, the Empress Yu Yin, as the judge!” Island Lord Mo on the high platform looks towards Yu Yin.
Yu Yin’s prestige among female cultivators is extremely high, and the entire focus of the venue instantly shifts to her.
Female cultivators hope to become like Pure Heart, but they have never thought about becoming like Yu Yin.
Female cultivators’ attitudes towards Yu Yin are admiration, respect, and awe.
“I didn’t expect Princess Pure Heart to be here. It’s a delightful surprise.” Island Lord Mo flies down from the high platform. She didn’t expect Pure Heart to participate in the River Festival this time.
“Princess, do you want to be a judge or participate in the event?”
Princess Pure Heart hesitates a bit: “Is there no cultivation limit for the event? I’m only at the Body Integration Realm…”
She recalls that many events have strict cultivation level restrictions. For example, the previous Spiritual Treasure competition in Zhou restricted the cultivation level to below the Nascent Soul Stage.
Despite the mix of cultivators at the Transcendence Tribulation Stage among the Nascent Soul Stage cultivators.
“Princess, you don’t have to worry about that. This event does not examine cultivation levels. Many cultivators at the Body Integration Realm have registered. For example, White Snow Spirit, Joyous Bodhisattva, Dream Yu Yu.”
Jiang Li raises his eyebrows when he hears these names, wondering when they became playmates without him knowing?
“Alright, I’ll participate.” Upon hearing familiar names, Princess Pure Heart is filled with fighting spirit.
She wants to show the world who truly understands Jiang Li best.
“And this young lady is…?” Island Lord Mo notices Red Dust Fairy.
“She’s a senior member of the Pure Land of Red Dust who came with Pure Heart to participate in the River Festival. She will sit next to me.” The place next to Yu Yin is reserved for the judge. By rights, there shouldn’t be anyone else there, but if Yu Yin insists on letting Red Dust Fairy sit next to her, no one else has the right to object.
Jiang Li sneaks in behind Red Dust Fairy and finds a seat in the viewing platform.
He sees White Snow Spirit, who is preparing for the event below. It’s the Golden-Eye White Snow Spirit.
It appears that for a long time, it’s been the Golden-Eye White Snow Spirit out and about, living freely.
Jiang Li wonders why the two of them think alike, feel the same way, and insist on shirking responsibility from each other.
Perhaps they enjoy the process.
“The reward for this event is a book written by an anonymous author titled ‘The Unknown Jiang Emperor’. The book provides a detailed account of the various behaviors of Jiang Emperor in life. The writing is vivid, and it’s a real page-turner.”
“In addition, at the end of the book, there is also the author’s six thousand years of cultivation experience.”
The announcement of the prize incites exclamations from the female cultivators. The book in front is a collection item, while the cultivation experience at the back is a grand opportunity.
Jiang Li feels that he’s been sold out by someone he knows.
“I heard that it’s a book written by your Human Emperor’s Palace’s Leader Liu,” Yu Yin says.
Jiang Li grits his teeth, besides Leader Liu, who else could live for six thousand years?
“Was he free or what?”
“Island Lord Mo said she could help Leader Liu enter the Pure Land of Red Dust. In exchange, Leader Liu provided the prize for this event.” Yu Yin doesn’t know why Leader Liu wants to enter the Pure Land of Red Dust.
She hasn’t heard anything about him liking someone from the Pure Land of Red Dust either.
“Now let’s start the Q&A session. Correct answers earn one point, while incorrect ones do not lose points. The first question: In the book ‘The Arrogant Mahayana Fell in Love with Me’, how many times did Jiang Li and the female lead spend the night together?”
Jiang Li finds the first question to be beyond his knowledge.
Yu Yin is confident, she’s the author of this book.