The spiritual energy was restored, and he became a mortal immortal in two days.

Southern Xinjiang, on the edge of the Ten Thousand Poison Swamp.

"Zhennanguan" Temporary Command Post.

It was dusk, and the air in southern Xinjiang was damp and stuffy, a mixture of decaying vegetation and faint miasma.

It permeates the temporary fortress constructed from a mixture of high-strength alloys and runes.

In the distance, the swamp of ten thousand poisons is shrouded in a thick poisonous fog.

In the afterglow of the setting sun, it takes on an eerie dark purple hue, occasionally punctuated by the hissing of unknown poisonous insects or the deep, muffled roars of giant creatures, sending chills down one's spine.

Inside the brightly lit central hall of the command post, monitoring equipment combining modern technology and ancient runes emitted a low hum, and a holographic projection map displayed real-time energy fluctuations around the swamp.

In the rest area on one side of the hall, Wu Minghuang, dressed in a black combat uniform that allowed for easy movement but still exuded an air of elegance and sharpness, had just finished a long-distance communication.

On the personal terminal screen in front of her, a confirmation message appeared that the latest chapter of "The Autobiography of Empress Wu Minghuang" had been successfully published.

She rubbed her temples, recalling the continuous high-intensity combat deployments and personally writing and publishing her autobiography (which required mental and spiritual energy).

Even with her current cultivation level of half-step Nascent Soul, she felt a bit tired.

But more than anything, it was an almost instinctive longing for that figure far away in Qingcheng Mountain, and a hint of barely perceptible unease.

In her autobiography, she wrote the part about "Holy Teacher" Chen Xiang with exceptional care, pouring almost all the awe, gratitude, and complex emotions that had been hidden deep in her heart for thousands of years into the lines.

I wonder... what he would think if he saw this?

"Your Majesty, I have finished reading your latest autobiography."

A clear, melodious sound, like jade striking jade, rang out.

Wearing a moon-white Lingxiao-style robe, with an aloof and elegant demeanor like a fairy from the moon palace, Shangguan Wan'er walked over.

Holding a portable e-reader in my hands, the screen displays an illustration from my autobiography of Chen Xiang drawing a gold line and guarding the nation's gate.

Her gaze fell on the figure in the blue robe in the painting, and her usually cool eyes revealed an undisguised appreciation and a hint of infatuation.

"The Holy Master's demeanor and charisma back then..."

Shangguan Wan'er sighed softly, her tone filled with sincere admiration, "Truly unparalleled throughout history, captivating all who hear it."

"To cover up the sky with one hand is already astonishing, but to 'guard the country's gate alone' is to take the concept of protection and responsibility to the extreme."

"No wonder Your Majesty has remembered such a person for thousands of years."

Wu Minghuang picked up the spiritual tea beside her, took a sip, and a subtle, enigmatic smile curved her lips: "Oh? Wan'er also thinks the Holy Master is exceptionally handsome?"

"nature."

Shangguan Wan'er nodded, and subconsciously added, "The demeanor of the Holy Teacher is no less than that of my teacher."

The "Master" she referred to was naturally Chen Xuan, the mysterious and unpredictable man from Xianyun Temple on Mount Qingcheng, whom she respectfully addressed as "Master".

In her heart, Mr. Chen Xuan was equally unfathomable.

Her casual guidance benefited her greatly, and her detached yet profoundly wise temperament bore a striking resemblance to the revered teacher Chen Xiang in his autobiography.

Upon hearing this, Wu Minghuang put down her teacup, turned to look at Shangguan Wan'er, and a mischievous glint flashed in her phoenix eyes, followed by a deeper smile: "Wan'er, have you ever considered one possibility...?"

She paused, looking at Shangguan Wan'er's cool and focused profile, and said slowly:

"Is your 'gentleman' my 'sacred teacher'?"

"puff!"

Shangguan Wan'er, who was about to drink her tea, suddenly stopped and almost lost her composure.

She raised her head, her usually cool face filled with astonishment and disbelief, looking at Wu Minghuang: "Your Majesty... what... what did you say? How is this possible?!"

She quickly put down her teacup and said urgently, "Your Majesty, didn't you verify it yourself?"

"You said that Mr. Chen Xuan's spiritual fluctuations, life force, and even causal relationships are completely different from the Saint Master Chen Xiang you remember!"

"You even used secret techniques to trace back and confirm that they are not the same person!"

"You told me all of this yourself!"

Shangguan Wan'er remembered very clearly that when the Empress realized that Chen Xuan might be related to the Holy Master, she personally used the authority and secret techniques of the reincarnated Empress to secretly investigate, and concluded that "they are not the same person".

It was based on this conclusion that Lingxiao and the Empress temporarily categorized Chen Xuan as "an unknown being suspected of having a connection with the Holy Master," rather than "the Holy Master himself."

Seeing Shangguan Wan'er's rare display of panic, Wu Minghuang's smile deepened, but her gaze drifted towards the vast twilight outside the command post window and the eerie swamp in the distance.

"Yes, the secret method verification shows that different causal lines result in vastly different fluctuations in the soul."

"All rational evidence tells me that he is not."

The Empress's voice was soft, almost ethereal, "But..."

She withdrew her gaze and looked back at Shangguan Wan'er, her phoenix eyes flashing with a certainty that transcended rational analysis and bordered on intuition:

"My 'feeling' tells me that it is him."

"Feel?"

Shangguan Wan'er was stunned. The Empress she knew was always decisive and ruthless, planning carefully before acting, and known for her rationality and iron fist.

The vague concept of "feeling" almost never appeared in the Empress's decision-making process.

"That's ridiculous, isn't it?"

Wu Minghuang chuckled self-deprecatingly, "I also find it absurd, but some things transcend magic, cause and effect, and even time and reincarnation."

She seemed lost in some kind of memory, her voice becoming softer: "It was a kind of throbbing and resonance that came from the deepest part of the soul."

"When I approached him, when I looked into his calm eyes, when I read the characters he casually scribbled down..."

"That feeling is exactly the same as the feeling I had three thousand years ago, under the peach tree, when I looked at the Holy Master."

"It has nothing to do with appearance, aura, or any external appearance."

"That is a kind of essential 'common origin'."

Shangguan Wan'er was completely stunned.

Looking at the Empress's eyes, which held a rare, almost girlish mix of bewilderment and determination, she was momentarily speechless.

Reason told her that the Empress's judgment might have been influenced by strong emotional biases.

But emotionally...

She recalled every moment she spent with Mr. Chen Xuan—his unfathomable depth, the vastness beneath his calm demeanor, and the profound wisdom contained in his casual remarks…

It seems that he truly shares some inexplicable spiritual affinity with the saintly teacher described in his autobiography?

Could it really be as Your Majesty says, that it is "essentially the same origin" that transcends conventional detection methods?

Like two fragments from the same piece of raw jade, even if they are polished into different shapes and stained with different dust.

But its core "jade quality" remains the same.

This thought made Shangguan Wan'er's heart beat faster for no apparent reason.