"Hand this jade slip to the family stationed here. This is the order of the Eastern Immortal King."
Jian Dan accepted the jade slip. After pausing for a breath, she respectfully asked, "Senior, could you tell me which immortal I should hand this to?"
"Yu Tao, Gongyu."
She froze for a moment. Jian Dan didn't know the person, but the surname was familiar. She replied again with respect, "It's not that I'm refusing, Senior. But ever since I entered this place, the news I've gathered says the Yu Tao Family's already been destroyed by another immortal clan. The immortal you mentioned might no longer be here."
The man clearly understood her tactful words. The Yu Tao Family had been wiped out.
"Do you know which family did it?"
"The Tan Song Family."
"They don't have that kind of ability." He obviously didn't believe her.
"The Tan Song Family joined forces with us lower-realm cultivators. They paid a huge price to crush the Yu Tao Family."
A long silence followed. Jian Dan kept her gaze on the corpse seated there. She felt he didn't have much time left.
Finally, he spoke again. "Since you're from the lower realm, what have you been doing here?"
The question was vague, but she still gave a rough explanation of their purpose.
"Other than collecting resources, you didn't receive any news from the stationed immortals here?"
"What kind of news would Senior expect us to get? My fellow disciples were captured by immortals who tried to brand them with clan marks, planning to use them as guards. We only managed to escape thanks to the chaos caused by the Blackwhip Electric Eels."
Her meaning was clear: those immortals never cared about them at all, so there was no chance of sharing any news.
"Senior, then who should I hand this jade slip to now?"
"Forget it. Give it to the Tan Song Family."
"Yes, I'll remember that. Do you have any other instructions?"
The immortal sitting in the pavilion turned back into bare bones, leaving no response.
Jian Dan stayed cautious, signaling the others to retreat. Everyone slowly backed away while she lingered behind. With a respectful bow, she said, "Senior, don't blame us. We disturbed your peace, but I'll see your order fulfilled."
Then she flashed out of the pavilion. Seeing her return safely, everyone finally breathed out in relief.
Inside the pavilion, the bones crumbled into ash, leaving only a faint sigh and a low murmur: "Such a pity. I was still a step too late."
As the remains scattered, the entire pavilion faded like a washed-out painting, dissolving back into bare stone.
Far away, inside the Eastern Immortal King's residence in the Immortal Realm, a soul lamp in the Hall of Soul Flames suddenly went out. The boy guarding it struck a black clock and hurried off to report.
None of this was known to the Heavenly Sword Sect cultivators retreating outside.
Only Xiao Yue wagged his tail, staring curiously at the jade slip in Jian Dan's hand, letting out a few barks.
She pressed a finger to her lips, motioning for silence. Then everyone regrouped at the stone bridge and returned to the octagonal pavilion.
Before anyone could ask, Jian Dan explained everything she had seen inside, including the immortal's words and final request.
"So do we need to go back?" Wu Siyuan rarely spoke, but everyone could hear the disapproval in his tone.
Having Jian Lu Zūnshàng return alone to the Tan Song Family, especially after they had stirred up chaos, would almost certainly mean death. Going together wasn't any better, they'd probably all be caught.
"No need. We'll head for the outer perimeter. The Tan Song Family will come searching sooner or later. With this jade slip in hand, we might even be able to bluff them for a while."
Jian Dan spoke bluntly. From what she knew of the Tan Song Family, they wouldn't let things go after suffering such a loss.
And their sudden appearance, along with the disappearance of other cultivators from Lingyun Continent, would definitely draw attention.
"They've probably already caught up to us. We should move quickly."
Jian Jun took the jade slip from Jian Dan, examined it, then passed it around for everyone to see. Once it made a full circle, it ended up back in Jian Dan's hands.
"Anyone discover anything?"
"The seal on it's an immortal's handiwork. We can't break it." Jian Chun answered bluntly.
Everyone shook their heads, the same frustration weighing on them all.
Jian Dan was burning with curiosity, but she also knew her divine sense wasn't strong enough. She could barely probe abandoned storage rings, let alone open a sealed jade slip from an immortal.
"Alright, we've rested long enough. Let's move out."
No one disagreed. They carefully withdrew from the area and advanced deeper into the middle region.
"Hou San, avoid the gorge with the demon mosquitoes and the meadow with the blue fireflies." Jian Dan reminded him again.
"Don't worry, Fairy Lu. We've already taken a different path. I'll keep it short and safe, no time wasted."
"Good."
The twenty-two cultivators advanced quickly and methodically, some covering tracks, some erasing scents. Their pace wasn't slow at all.
But Jian Jun grew more and more uneasy. She urged Hou San to move faster, yet the sky grew darker, threatening to lead them astray. The risk was too high, and Hou San finally stopped with a troubled face.
"Senior Sister , you think there's a problem?"
Jian Dan asked directly, noticing the anxiety written all over Jian Jun's face.
"I've got a bad feeling. Tan Songjia and the others are chasing us!"
===
The reason why I Use "Immortal King" Instead of "Xianwang" in here is to create a clear distinction between two related but separate concepts:
"Xianwang" is a Level of Power: This is the name of the cultivation stage. I preserve the original pinyin here to keep the authentic flavor of the xianxia genre.
"Immortal King" is a Title of Office. When a character who is a Xianwang also governs one of the domains of the Immortal Realm, they hold a political office. Using the English title "Immortal King" immediately signals to the reader that this is about governance, command, and political authority, not just personal cultivation strength.
This approach follows my principle in translation: preserve the original term for cultural or technical concepts (like Xianwang), but we translate formal titles (like Immortal King) to make their function instantly clear in English.
In essence, "Xianwang" is who they are in terms of power, while "Immortal King" is the job they do.