Cultivating To Immortality

Dozens of miles outside Da Ming Gate.

Cliff.

Song Yan stood on the cliff, looking towards the distant Da Ming Gate.

"..."

Looking at the howling Astral Wind in the distance, the countless tiny tornadoes between the thunderclouds.

The deep rumble of thunder within the clouds.

He frowned deeply, muttering to himself.

Such a gate, and they sent six Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivators to capture it?

Not to mention how to enter Within the Pass, even if they did get in, if Yan State sent even a few reinforcements on top of their existing three Foundation Establishment Realm generals, it would be difficult to take it down in a short time.

The six people behind him also looked at the great gate, feeling uncertain.

Wu Caidie was the first to speak: "Daoist Song."

"This Wind and Thunder Formation is truly terrifying. Is the ten-breath time Deputy General Luo mentioned enough?"

The fierce Astral Wind was already bone-shattering and soul-destroying. With their strength as Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivators, if they were to touch the Heavenly Thunder arc, they would likely not escape death and the dissipation of their Dao.

In fact, facing such a dangerous mission, everyone had considered another path.

That was to find a place to hide for three to five days, and then report back to the army that the assault on the gate had failed.

However, doing so carried immense risk. If Luo Zheng were to discover it, he could easily kill all of them on the grounds of passive combat or avoiding battle.

After much deliberation, they still decided to follow Song Yan here.

Song Yan glanced at her, thinking that this woman was speaking complete nonsense, so he didn’t bother with politeness.

"Enough or not, are we not going to enter the gate?"

"Speak more politely to my elder sister!"

Wu Yun was a little annoyed and was about to step forward, but Wu Caidie held him back.

Song Yan ignored him, merely pondering to himself.

If Da Ming Gate was truly so important, Yan State would certainly send reinforcements.

Sui Country might also join the contention.

A direct assault on the gate was truly very difficult. It wasn’t about a disparity in combat power, but rather too many factors to consider.

If they truly had to launch a direct assault... it seemed only the southeastern corner, where the terrain was slightly gentler and the wind and thunder circulated with some gaps, was a weak point of the Formation and somewhat suitable.

Suddenly, Song Yan’s expression froze, and he immediately looked in another direction.

"Hmm?"

The other five also turned their heads, their expressions wary.

Almost simultaneously, on the opposite cliff, several figures appeared.

Four men and two women, six figures, not wearing armor, all in Daoist robes and plain clothes.

"Cultivators?"

Both sides were startled to see the appearance of the other.

Having been in this ruin for half a year, this was the first time they had seen outside Cultivators other than their own group.

However, the only outside Cultivators in the army were themselves, and they had never seen these few people before now.

Thus, the identity of the other party was obvious.

Song Yan looked at Sheng Nian among the group on the opposite cliff, and his heart stirred.

So Gou Sheng was assigned to the Sui Army... He and Sheng Nian pondered, while the other Cultivators were wary of each other.

The current situation was actually quite complex.

Under normal circumstances, these people were just Cultivators who didn’t know each other, jointly exploring an ancient battlefield ruin.

But with the changes in this ruin, they had all become outsiders.

By chance, they had become part of opposing military camps and now met here on a narrow path.

What to do?

Actually, the best way was for both parties to temporarily set aside their positions and discuss together how to leave this ruin.

After all, this was the most important matter.

Among the six people from the Sui Army, a red-robed Cultivator slowly stepped forward a few paces: "Fellow Daoists..."

He was about to speak, wanting to talk.

But then he heard, from the corner of his eye, a burst of Saber Qi erupting with a roar.

"Kill!"

A low shout cut through the frozen air.

Sheng Nian moved without warning, his saber light rising and falling, pointing directly at Song Yan!

The saber light surged and swelled, overwhelming, sweeping towards Song Yan.

"You—!"

The red-robed Cultivator was furious and shocked, completely not expecting Sheng Nian to launch an attack first in such a dangerous place.

Song Yan’s expression remained unchanged. He summoned his Lifebound Flying Sword, Sword Qi gathered in his mansion, and with a single sword, Severing Tide, he nullified Sheng Nian’s saber light.

Li Yan was both surprised and angry, roaring: "Kill them!"

The other Cultivators from both sides, seeing this, although they didn’t know why these two were fighting to the death upon meeting, had no other choice. They immediately summoned their Spiritual Artifacts and activated their Spiritual Qi.

They engaged in a chaotic battle.

Sheng Nian’s sudden, unprovoked action instantly broke the stalemate, dragging everyone into the fray.

For a time, ice cones, fireballs, earth spikes, golden lights—countless Spells and Magical Artifacts—whizzed, collided, and fiercely attacked.

"Attack!" the red-robed Cultivator roared.

He cursed Sheng Nian as an idiot in his heart, completely unable to understand what was in that person’s head, but at a life-or-death moment, he couldn’t afford to think too much and could only brace himself and charge forward.

In an instant, Spells collided, Spiritual Light overflowed, and the small mountain area instantly turned into a chaotic battlefield.

However, Song Yan and Sheng Nian, the two who had initiated the fight, seemed to have "truly gotten into it."

One’s sword light was like a Dragon, Spiritual Qi swirling around it; the other’s Saber Qi was fierce, cutting through clouds and breaking edges.

It was just that Sheng Nian’s Qi seemed unstable, and he quickly shifted to defense, even showing a tendency to flee into the distance.

However, Song Yan pressed on relentlessly, and their battlefield moved rapidly.

In just a few breaths, their figures disappeared from this place.

Amidst the chaotic battle, only Wu Caidie thoughtfully looked in the direction where the two had disappeared.

She always felt something was not quite right.

If she remembered correctly, these two had arrived together at Yinxian Waterside Pavilion.

Did they have some personal grudge, wanting to use this opportunity to eliminate each other?

Or... "Sheng Nian!"

On the Sui Army side, a female Cultivator using a Flying Sword noticed that Sheng Nian seemed to be "forced" to leave the main battlefield, attempting to flee, and she roared even louder.

"Mind your own business!" A thick earth wall timely blocked her path.

The roaring sound of surging Spiritual Power immediately drowned out her words.

In the chaotic and intense battle, Cultivators from both sides were entangled, and no one could easily disengage to deal with the two who were "fighting in the distance."

At this moment, Song Yan and Sheng Nian had completely left the sight of the others, delving into the shadows of the dense forest.

At a certain instant, the two who had just been fighting earth-shatteringly, simultaneously and almost at the same time, stopped.

Song Yan put Unmoored Boat into his endless treasury and casually asked: "Where’s A Yuan?"

Sheng Nian gave him a strange look, seemingly surprised that after half a year, the first question was about A Yuan.

Rustle, rustle.

The tall figure of the Corpse Puppet A Yuan slowly emerged from the shadows of the dense forest.

On his stiff face, he forced out a smile, and respectfully bowed to Young Master Song.

"Thank you for your concern, Young Master Song, A Yuan is fine."

Sheng Nian sat down by a large tree and said: "A Yuan seems to be different from us. After entering this place, he wasn’t with any army."

"He came to find me."

Song Yan looked the Corpse Puppet up and down, then nodded.

Then he finally asked: "What exactly happened here? How did it become like this?"

Sheng Nian pretended to stroke his chin and slowly said: "Actually, I don’t know either. But I do have some guesses, I don’t know if they’re right."

"If you have something to say, just say it. Don’t be so dramatic."

"Tsk."

Sheng Nian expressed dissatisfaction with Song Yan’s rudeness, but still honestly stated his conjecture.

"Based on what I previously understood about this place, plus the information I’ve gathered these past few days, this place was originally one of the battlegrounds between the Qin and Yan Immortal Dynasties."

"At that time, the great war between Qin and Yan was immense, and this place was just a corner of the battlefield."

"Sui Country should have joined later."

Song Yan listened quietly, but many doubts arose in his heart.

"But the Immortal Dynasty war didn’t continue to the point where one side was completely annihilated; it stopped before that."

"The battle on this particular battlefield had only just begun for a short while when the emperors of Qin, Yan, and Sui, for reasons unknown, actually negotiated peace."

"Negotiated peace?"

Song Yan raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, and later, the three countries even joined forces to Seal the entire battlefield, along with some of the participating armies and great generals, here."

"To put it bluntly, all the soldiers and horses on this battlefield, including the great generals of the three countries, were pawns of the Immortal Dynasties."

Song Yan found it truly difficult to understand, his brows deeply furrowed: "Since they already negotiated peace, they could have just sounded the retreat, and each side ceased fighting."

"Why go to such great lengths to sink the entire battlefield here?"

He paused, recalling the soldiers in the army: "Not to mention those martial generals in the Core Formation Realm, these great generals commanding armies were probably equivalent to Nascent Soul Realm Cultivators in terms of combat power."

"To discard such a force, to Seal it forever, wouldn’t that be weakening their own national strength?"

This was Song Yan’s biggest confusion.

Ultimately, the struggle for hegemony between Immortal Dynasties was about resources, Luck, or rather, the right to speak.

Elite armies and great generals were precisely the foundation of all this.

For each side to Seal such a combat force of their own, from any perspective, seemed like cutting off one’s own arm, utterly foolish.

"Old Song, if you ask me, our horizons are still too narrow..."

Sheng Nian patted Song Yan’s shoulder, with a hint of deeper meaning.

"The three great generals buried here along with these soldiers, I’m afraid they weren’t just as simple as the Nascent Soul Realm, you know..."

Song Yan was startled: "Soul Transformation Realm?"

The Soul Transformation Realm was already the highest Realm he knew of on the path of Cultivation.

He couldn’t even name the Realms above that.

Sheng Nian slowly nodded.

"Immortal Dynasties have their advantages, and they also have their disadvantages."

"Just like in the secular courts, imperial power struggles, and court disputes."

"What ordinary people see is soldiers and generals shedding blood on the battlefield, expanding territory, and protecting the Immortal Dynasty."

"In the eyes of some, however, it is too much prestige, a merit that overshadows the lord."

"Too much military power can rival royal power, even making the emperor feel uneasy with someone sleeping by his side."

Song Yan frowned slightly and sighed softly.

What a boring and uninteresting reason.

He had always disliked such power struggles and conspiracies, and now he detested them even more.

The intense conflicts within the Immortal Dynasties, with their immense losses, provided an excellent excuse for the three emperors.

With the emperor’s tacit approval, countless people could use the pretext of peace negotiations to jointly push for this unprecedented execution.

Sheng Nian added: "Among these three great generals, some were angered by the emperor due to slander from petty people and were directly granted death here."

"Others, due to the emperor’s suspicion, planned to defect to another country but were restrained here by the other two parties, ultimately perishing together."

"In short, they were all hidden dangers and tumors in the emperor’s heart, and being able to quietly eliminate them here together would also not lose the morale of the army."

"But... according to your statement, these three generals had the strength of the Soul Transformation Realm."

Song Yan asked: "Is it possible that even for a Soul Transformation True Monarch, if the Immortal Dynasty emperor wants him dead, he must die?"

For him, the purpose of Cultivation was freedom.

Situations like a monarch demanding a minister’s death, and the minister having no choice but to die, made him feel incredibly suffocated just hearing about them.

A majestic Soul Transformation combat power True Monarch, couldn’t he betray his country and escape this place?

Didn’t he just say that among these three generals, there were disloyal ones?

"This brings us to the unique nature of the True Martial lineage of the ancient Immortal Dynasty."

Sheng Nian said: "I wonder how much you know about this."

"Although all paths lead to the same destination, there are actually many ways to pursue the Great Dao of longevity in the Human Cultivation World."

"Aside from the Qi Refining lineage and the Buddhist Cultivator lineage, there are also, for example, the Gu Immortal lineage, the Ghost Witch lineage, and their respective Cultivation methods and Realm divisions differ greatly."

"And the True Martial Dao of the ancient Immortal Dynasty was one of them, once flourishing greatly."

"Within the True Martial lineage, there were also different methods for breaking through Realms, but the most common one was the Martial Immortal."

"The True Martial lineage Cultivates three Daos: True Essence, Battle Intent, and Power Of Will."

"Ordinary martial artists focus on the Cultivation of True Essence and Battle Intent, while Martial Immortals focus on the Power Of Will from incense offerings."

"The way to achieve Martial Immortal status was originally the path of mountain Spirit Monsters achieving Immortal Ascension and becoming gods, performing good deeds, accumulating virtue, receiving incense from the local populace, and accumulating Power Of Will."

"Later, this method was learned by the Immortal Dynasty. By receiving the incense and Power Of Will from the Immortal Dynasty’s populace, the conditions for the path of Cultivation were naturally exceptional, and the Cultivation speed of the Immortal Dynasty’s True Martial practitioners was also incredibly fast."

"But this path, while having advantages, naturally has disadvantages. To put it bluntly, you achieved your current status by receiving the incense of these Immortal Dynasty commoners, so if I, as the emperor, don’t want you to be a great general anymore, it’s very easy to replace you."

At this point, Song Yan suddenly understood.

"Just by arbitrarily assigning you a crime and proclaiming it to the world, the Power Of Will from incense on you will quickly become water without a source, or even collapse and dissipate."

"It’s just that doing so would be too much of a fuss, and it’s easy to cause panic and instability in the army’s morale, which in the eyes of the Immortal Dynasty emperor, isn’t worth it."

"That’s why there’s the saying of being granted death, I suppose."

"When the emperor strips away an official’s position, it is to strip away the Martial Immortal’s Power Of Will from incense, and the Primordial Spirit will perish."

"So even the situation on this battlefield here is already considered the ’Saints’ giving them a way out."

Song Yan exhaled deeply.

Is this an Immortal Dynasty...? Even for Nascent Soul and Soul Transformation True Monarchs, their lives are just a word from the emperor.

"Later, for unknown reasons, except for the Tang Empire in the Central Plains, the Immortal Dynasties one by one perished, and many Body Refining Cultivation Techniques and methods were lost."

"The path of the Martial Immortal became difficult to traverse, and many people with martial talent no longer considered the True Martial lineage. With a gap in generations, Body Cultivators also gradually began to decline."

"These are all concrete facts. What I’m about to say now is my speculation about this place."

Sheng Nian’s tone shifted.

"The changes in this battlefield ruin are probably due to the Seal Formation of the battlefield being on the verge of collapse, but the souls of the three great generals still have regrets, so they used their Martial Immortal bodies to awaken the soldiers buried here."

"They want to decide a victor before their consciousness truly dissipates."