Seeing the true body stubbornly persist, Qu Luming gave Jiang Yuan a meaningful look, clearly indicating—I told you so! He just believes the power of the Heavenly Dao belongs to the Demon Realm Alliance!

"Is it yours? Did it speak and admit it belongs to the Demon Realm Alliance?"

"What nonsense, the power of the Heavenly Dao’s remnant has no intelligence, how could it speak? It’s been the rule since ancient times that whoever finds it owns it!

Moreover, the Demon Realm Alliance has painstakingly protected it for so many years and explored it for so many years, apart from the Alliance, who else dares claim to know the power of the Heavenly Dao’s remnant better?"

Du Li now has a lot on his mind and is distressed, and his avatar not only didn’t help but was sarcastic and mocking, instantly fueling his anger, he simply ignored him with a flick of his sleeve.

Qu Luming, however, persisted, "Indeed, treasures bestowed by heaven and nurtured by earth are ownerless, so it’s reasonable for whoever finds them to claim them.

The issue is, can you control it? To this day, there hasn’t been a successful precedent, where did you get such confidence that you can definitely succeed? If even a slight mishap occurs at any point, tens of thousands of cultivators will be instantly devoured; can you bear that responsibility?"

He sighed and continued to persuade, "Simply withdraw the outer soldiers. As the Vice Alliance Leader of the Demon Realm Alliance, it is also your responsibility to protect the soldiers within the Alliance from undue disaster." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Withdraw?" Du Li sneered, "That Ye Fan has been hiding his ulterior motives for so long, and now suddenly launches an attack, which likely means he has acquired a divine artifact capable of claiming it! After so many years of steadfast guarding, if it gets lost on my watch, not even a thousand deaths could atone for that sin. As for those soldiers, if they truly die because of this, it could only be said that their fate was destined to encounter such a calamity."

He stepped forward, cupped his hands in salute, and said, "I must ask for your help, sir, I need to hastily return to guard Wanmang Mountain, I don’t have much time to stay."

"Go then, go then, stubborn as a wild donkey who’s become a spirit!" Qu Luming huffed angrily, "Did you see that Immortal Ship over there? The leaders and elders of the Ancient Ten Great Sects are all on it. If you don’t leave quickly and they find you, you’ll get a good beating."

Jiang Yuan listened to their bickering but said nothing, took out the Demon-Subduing Pestle, banged it on the ground with a "Duang," then waved his hand to indicate it was time to leave.

Du Li winced in pain, inwardly inhaling sharply, he simply couldn’t bear to watch his avatar any longer, rolled his eyes and teleported away.

In the moment before his figure teleported away, Qu Luming jumped up and shouted, "Hey! That’s enough, don’t go joining a battle! You better not die!"

The opponent had already disappeared, and he breathed out with concern, what if the true body pushes too hard? If something happens to Du Li, I’ll have to accompany him in death too!

[Side Mission: Avatar]

[Mission 5: Truthfully inform Qu Luming of the origins of granting Bai Yunqi the Life Origin. Reward: Life Origin +5]

Jiang Yuan: ???

The side mission suddenly triggered... huh? No, not suddenly.

A flash of insight hit him, he realized how the side mission was triggered—when the urgency of the parties involved reaches a certain level, the system assigns tasks.

It seems this system is quite human-oriented, wanting to manage everything that comes its way.

Just now, in his urgent shout for Du Li not to die, Qu Luming was probably worried that if the true body died, he, as the avatar, would be instantly implicated and disappear from existence too, which truly panicked him.

That’s why the system dispatched the subsequent mission.

He strategically sipped his tea, waiting a good while, but Qu Luming didn’t come up to inquire. How could I push for the mission? Should I proactively approach him to inform him of the details? That would be too abrupt and embarrassing.

Anyway, the new mission doesn’t have a time limit, so I’ll just wait for now.

He took out medicinal powder from his storage bag and began incense making according to the ratio, while the incense mud fermented, he could still keep busy making paper people and horses.

Meanwhile, Qu Luming was internally conflicted and struggling—he was really afraid Du Li might end up dead! Yet that guy wouldn’t heed advice and insisted on courting death!

"I can’t sit and wait for death! I’ve been too lax recently, inadvertently wasting so much time, I must quickly go and find the Judge!" As if urged by a talisman of death, he couldn’t sit still and hurriedly sought leave from Jiang Yuan, "Mr. Jiang, I have a matter of urgency that needs attending in Netherworld, and it won’t take too long, may I take my leave temporarily?"

Busy with handcrafting, Jiang Yuan smiled, "Of course, go quickly if you’re in a hurry. And everyone else, if you have matters to attend to, go handle them, no need to get stuck here."

Others expressed having no urgent matters to deal with, enjoying the food, drinks, and conversations with like-minded daoist friends on the Immortal Ship, occasionally admiring Daoist Bai’s heroic pose transforming into Flood Dragon. After all, except for Jiu Qing, nobody can offer assistance, just accompanying and witnessing miracles.

Qu Luming hastily bid farewell to everyone, then teleported to Fengdu.

The ever-whistling yin winds of Fengdu seemed never to change, its four buildings made of wood, copper, silver, and gold brightly lit yet exuding unease. He gritted his teeth and took out two sticks of rare Nine Heavens Profound Orchid Incense from the storage bag, thinking for a moment and gritting his teeth again, took out two more.

When he arrived before the Judge’s grand hall, Qu Luming thought for a moment and added two more sticks.

Feeling heartbroken, almost bleeding, he thought this time he really went all-in. If the Judge still deflects, he’s going to put him on the ground and beat him hard! And right in front of him, devour all six top-grade Nine Heavens Profound Orchid Incenses in one go without letting him taste a bit!

"Ahem!" Entering the grand hall, seeing the Judge burying himself in the Book of Life and Death, Qu Luming dryly coughed twice and laughed, "It’s been a few days, still busy, huh?"

The Judge’s gaze shifted from the Book of Life and Death, casually replied, "You could say that, still dealing with the same old issues, no leads. Nowadays, it truly gets harder year by year, you see Fengdu faced with several matters, not a single one can be resolved smoothly.

The fugitives from the Eighteen Layers of Hell are nowhere to be found; summoning so many loose cultivators, dying and injured, without obtaining a single clue, and turned the sealed land upside down!

The strangest matter, Yin Messengers attacked and lost their official hats, who on earth cares enough to attack Yin Messengers for their hats? That thing’s just a low-level magical artifact, what’s worth snatching? Yet even the Impermanence can’t figure it out, strange isn’t it?"

Qu Luming was in no mood to discuss these issues with him; the immediate priority was to clarify the matter of the Life Origin!

First, he needed to find a way to complete it and sever ties with the true body thoroughly, preventing any unknown calamity from implicating him. Secondly, Du Li needed to understand the details to fully restore what City Lord Yuan snatched.

"Certainly strange, but I’ve encountered something even stranger, interested to hear?" He awkwardly shifted the topic, taking out a stick of Nine Heavens Profound Orchid Incense, waved it in front of him, with a sly grin, "If I can get some information from you, how about this present?"

Seeing the incense, the Judge’s eyes lit up, reaching to take it but Qu Luming swiftly tucked it away, he helplessly asked, "What do you want to know? If it’s something I’m aware of, looking at this top-notch incense, I’ll definitely tell you."

Qu Luming gestured mysteriously, indicating to open the array to prevent other ghosts from overhearing.

Then, he lowered his voice and said, "The secret of the Life Origin..."

Upon hearing these four words, the Judge immediately adjusted his expression, closed the array with a wave, tidied his white robe, saying, "Retract what I said earlier, this matter must never be leaked in the slightest, or I might as well be finished as Judge."

"Oh come on!" Qu Luming wore an expression of disbelief, "You can fool others with those words, but trying to fool me? Who doesn’t know your importance to Fengdu? Fengdu City can do without anyone but you, the Judge. Even if you open a hole in the sky, those up there must pinch their noses to find ways to fix it!"

He softly pleaded, "I swear I’ll never leak it out, this concerns my life, you can’t just stand by and watch!"

With laughing eyes, the Judge looked at him, equally lowering his voice, "My dear brother, were it not for me covering for you, would your origins ever pass muster? I recognized at first glance you were Du Li’s avatar! But considering your past help, I’ve kept this secret for so many years without revealing it, been good enough to you, right? Doesn’t this deserve a few sticks of incense? You miser!"