Junior sister, I really need to control you

Jingxuan immediately came to her senses and smiled gratefully at Li Yinsheng: "It was you who saved me, right? Don't worry, with your help, my injuries have stabilized a lot."

As she spoke, she seemed to drift off into a daze.

Although the person before him, being a man, could not possibly be the reincarnation of the Holy Venerable, he could freely wield the Holy Venerable's divine powers, and his appearance surpassed even the Holy Venerable's jade statue; perhaps he was even comparable to the Holy Venerable...

Could it be that he really has some connection with the Holy Venerable?

And for some reason, she now feels a deep sense of closeness to Li Yinsheng.

This closeness was separate from gratitude towards her savior; in her own perception, it felt more like an instinct.

……

After a while.

“So it’s Fellow Daoist Li,” Jingxuan said, sitting on the bed and bowing to Li Yinsheng. “Thank you for saving my life, Fellow Daoist Li.”

"No need to be polite. The reason I saved you was mainly for the Luo Tian San Shou... Of course, you already gave it to me before."

Li Yinsheng released her hand and said seriously, "However, why did you call me the reincarnation of the Holy Venerable back then? Was it simply because I could freely use the Luo Tian San Shou without depleting my vital energy and the Qi of the Three Origins?"

"But?" Jingxuan was taken aback, then smiled wryly, "Fellow Daoist's words are truly... enough to make one envious without knowing what to say."

"The Holy Venerable left behind only three inheritances in the Holy Origin Palace, one of which is this Luo Tian San Shou (Luo Tian Scattered Hand)."

“Each of these inheritances possesses immense power that surpasses that of cultivators of the same level, and can even rival a Heavenly Origin True Person at the Earth Origin Realm.” Jingxuan’s gaze was complex.

"And each time it is used, a huge price must be paid."

She stared at Li Yinsheng: "Fellow Daoist, your use of the Luo Tian San Shou is no less than mine, yet it comes at no cost. Such a unique skill is something I have never heard of except for the reincarnation of a Saint Venerable."

"Three inheritances?" Li Yinsheng was taken aback and guessed, "Could it be one each from the Water Element, Earth Element, and Heaven Element Saintess?"

“Fellow Daoist is absolutely right,” Jingxuan nodded. “As the Holy Maiden of the Earth Origin, I received the Luo Tian San Shou as my inheritance.”

Li Yinsheng pondered, "However, according to what Fellow Daoist Jingxuan said before, the Holy Yuan Palace is also extremely skilled in sacrificial arts. That sacrificial art..."

"The art of sacrifice should also have originated from the Holy Venerable, but it is not one of the Holy Maiden's three great inheritances, but rather belongs exclusively to that old immortal, the Heavenly Maiden."

Li Yinsheng was taken aback, somewhat confused: "Celestial Maiden... does she mean the Holy Maiden of Heavenly Origin?"

“Yes and no,” Jingxuan said with a wry smile. “No one in Shengyuan City knows about this, and it’s a taboo secret even in Shengyuan Palace.”

"About six or seven thousand years ago, the Heavenly Origin Saintess was the Heavenly Origin Saintess. Each time a Saintess was selected, one was chosen. When the previous Heavenly Origin Saintess was nearing the end of her life, the next selection would begin, and so on."

Jingxuan frowned and said, "But from six or seven thousand years ago until now, all the Heavenly Origin Saintesses have been the same person, the current Heavenly Maiden, the master of the Holy Origin Palace."

"They're all the same person?" Li Yinsheng frowned as well.

Since Jingxuan had said so, he naturally didn't think that the Heavenly Origin Saintess had lived so long through her own cultivation level or normal methods.

"Could it be that the recent generations of Heavenly Origin Saintesses have all been possessed by this Heavenly Origin Saintesse?" he asked.

“It wasn’t possession; I was directly devoured by her and turned into her nourishment,” Jingxuan said solemnly.

"I actually know very little about the origins of that celestial maiden."

All we know is that she has been prolonging her lifespan by devouring the Heavenly Origin Saintess of each generation.

“Devour…” Li Yinsheng’s eyes flickered slightly.

If we're talking about devouring, could it be related to the Three Elements True Technique?

All the cultivators in the entire mansion are practicing the Three Elements True Technique, and the selection of the Holy Maiden also takes the Three Elements True Technique as the most important criterion.

The Three Primal Qi in this ruins was formed from the essence, energy, and spirit of that Earth Immortal during his lifetime. It was deliberately left behind after his death. He wouldn't be surprised at all if there were any way to assimilate, absorb, or retrieve it.

However, he couldn't be sure whether that celestial maiden, or the Heavenly Origin True Man in this Earthly Immortal's Mansion, were the legendary human immortals or ghost immortals.

Now it seems that this matter is full of strangeness, and the so-called Tianyuan Zhenren does not seem to have advanced through normal cultivation.

"Speaking of which, if that celestial maiden has been devouring the Heavenly Origin Saintesses of past generations, then why did Fellow Daoist Jingxuan flee the Holy Origin Palace?" Li Yinsheng asked. "Could it be that she also has designs on you, the Earthly Origin Saintesse?"

"That's for sure. An old hag who prolongs her life by devouring the Heavenly Origin Saintess would naturally not let go of anything of value."

Jingxuan sneered, "I only recently learned that she actually intends to feed me to the Holy Venerable's primordial embryo."

"The Primordial Embryo of a Saint?" Li Yinsheng nodded slightly. "When you mentioned that I am the reincarnation of a Saint, you also mentioned the Primordial Embryo. Could this be it?"

Jingxuan nodded: "The Holy Venerable's Primordial Embryo has existed for countless years. Legend has it that it was born after the Holy Venerable's death."

"Legend has it that once the sacred fetus is fully formed, the Holy Venerable will awaken within it and be reincarnated."

"The greatest mission of the Holy Maidens throughout history is not to preside over the affairs of the Holy Origin Palace, but to supply the Origin Embryo with the Qi of the Three Origins and maintain its condensation."

"That is why the Three Elements True Technique is the most important criterion when selecting a Holy Maiden."

Li Yinsheng was somewhat puzzled: "Isn't the world filled with the Qi of the Three Elements? Why do the Holy Maidens have to personally deliver it? Could it be that the Holy Embryo doesn't even have the ability to absorb the Qi of the Three Elements on its own?"

Moreover, if that sacred embryo is truly a backup plan for that earth immortal's resurrection or possession, then it should be even more closely related to the Three Primal Qi.

"I don't know about that. To be honest, I have never actually seen the Holy Embryo with my own eyes," Jingxuan said.

"Never seen it with my own eyes?" Li Yinsheng was taken aback. "Isn't it said that the greatest mission of the Holy Maidens is to maintain the Holy Embryo?"

“That’s true, but that was before the Heavenly Maiden appeared.” Jingxuan shook her head. “Ever since the Heavenly Maiden took control of the Holy Origin Palace, the Holy Maidens have never seen the Holy Embryo again.”

"The reason I know these things is because the previous Earthly Saintess, who is also my master, personally told me."

A hint of sadness flashed in her eyes: "Actually, although I am the current Holy Maiden of the Earthly Realm, I was not selected during the last selection."

"Although the Earthly Saintess has a much longer lifespan, it is usually not enough to last until the next selection, and she will die before the next selection."

“My master was the Earthly Saintess selected in the previous generation, but about three hundred years ago, she passed on the Earthly Saintess’s legacy to me.”

Li Yinsheng asked, "Is it so easy to change the Holy Maiden's successor?"

"Of course it's not easy, otherwise the selection of the Holy Maiden wouldn't only be held once every thousand years. The reason I was able to receive the inheritance is because my master borrowed a treasure left behind by the Holy Venerable from the Heavenly Maiden."

"With that treasure, I was able to inherit my master's Earthly Sacred Seal without the selection of a Holy Maiden, which is what you see here, fellow Daoist."

Jingxuan lightly touched her brow, and the light imprint appeared and disappeared.

"You are a Holy Maiden of the Earthly Origin who took over halfway through your life. You have never seen the Holy Embryo, yet the Heavenly Maiden wants to feed you to the Holy Embryo. How did you find out?" Li Yinsheng asked.

A hint of hesitation appeared on Jingxuan's face. After thinking for a moment, she spoke seriously: "Fellow Daoist may not believe it, but it was actually the Holy Venerable who gave me this revelation in a dream."

Li Yinsheng was full of questions.

Chapter 205 The Spirit of the Hibiscus Tree

In the house.

Faced with Li Yinsheng's puzzled expression, Jingxuan gave a wry smile.

"Fellow Daoist Li may not believe me, but this is indeed the case. Otherwise, I would not have been able to be on guard against that woman in advance and escape in time before she made her move."

Jingxuan's face was full of sincerity, without a trace of guilt or a hint of joking.

"It was under the guidance of the Holy Venerable that I stole the treasure left behind by the Holy Venerable and planned to escape from this small world created by the Holy Venerable."

Li Yinsheng wasn't particularly surprised that Jingxuan knew this place was a small world.

After all, according to her, the Earthly Saintess is already second only to the Celestial Maiden in this small world.

On the contrary, Jingxuan was somewhat surprised to see Li Yinsheng accept the "small world" so readily.

But she didn't dwell on it and continued, "I don't remember very clearly what the Holy Venerable looked like in my dream, or what he specifically said."

"Logically speaking, once we reach our level, we will no longer dream easily, and it is even more impossible for us to forget what we dream about."

“But since it was the Holy Venerable who entered my dream, I think the Holy Venerable may have had a deeper meaning,” Jingxuan said.

"What is the sacred treasure that Fellow Daoist Jingxuan mentioned? May I have the honor to see it?" Li Yinsheng asked.

Without much hesitation, Jingxuan formed several hand seals, opened her mouth slightly, and released a stream of light that landed in her palm.

Li Yinsheng was somewhat surprised.

What landed in her palm was a small seal.

Unlike the enormous jade seal that her junior sister had crafted before, the seal in Jingxuan's hand was only one inch square and two inches long.

But what truly surprised him was that the seal contained absolutely no aura; no matter how you looked at it, it was just an ordinary, mundane seal.

"I don't know the name of this treasure. My master borrowed it from the Heavenly Maiden so that I could become the Holy Maiden without the need for the Holy Maiden selection ceremony."

Jingxuan said, "And the Holy Venerable told me in my dream that only through this seal can one freely enter and exit this small world and see the Holy Embryo."

Hearing this, Li Yinsheng had some doubts. Could it be that the Holy Embryo was also in another space?

"However, as you can see, if the method is not followed, this treasure will not react at all. Otherwise, I would have already escaped from this world."

Jingxuan gently touched the seal with her fingertips, her movements careful, but they brought about no change whatsoever.

It was as if it were just an ordinary, mundane thing.

Li Yinsheng's heart stirred slightly, and he said, "Fellow Daoist Jingxuan, may I have the privilege of taking a look?"

After receiving the seal from Jingxuan, he activated the Three Elements True Technique, mobilizing a wisp of his own Three Elements Qi, intending to integrate it into the seal.

This time, the seal finally reacted, but instead of complying, it unleashed another burst of Three Primal Qi, violently repelling his wisp of Three Primal Qi.

Li Yinsheng raised an eyebrow slightly.

He was no stranger to this feeling of incompatibility—it was just like his own Three Primal Qi and the Three Primal Qi left behind by the Earth Immortals of this world.

The three primordial energies within the seal tightly seal it, which is why it appears no different from an ordinary object.

After Li Yinsheng used a wisp of his own Three Primal Qi to trigger it, the Three Primal Qi within the seal successfully countered, but this also created a barely perceptible gap.

However, what made him somewhat solemn was that the Three Primal Qi in this seal was not the same as the Three Primal Qi in this world.

In other words, besides him and that Earth Immortal, there is a third cultivator who practices the Three Elements True Technique in reverse.

The three primordial energies sealed within this seal were left behind by that cultivator.

……

After a long while, Li Yinsheng emerged from Jingxuan's house.

He held in his hand the precious seal left behind by the Holy Venerable, which had been stolen by True Person Jingxuan.

After some experimentation in the room, he discovered that the Qi of the Three Elements sealing the seal was extremely rich and solid.

Although one's own Three Primal Qi can indeed pry open the seal, it is not as easy as imagined. It will probably take time and effort, like water dripping on a stone, to gradually use one's own Three Primal Qi to counteract the seal.