Cultivating To Immortality

"..."

He was silent for a moment, then nodded and turned to Zhou Mengdie: "It’s safe outside now; you can wake up."

"Oh... oh."

Zhou Mengdie nodded blankly.

After Song Yan finished speaking, he tried to restrain his Sword Intent.

As expected, his figure slowly disappeared from the spot.

The two in the dream looked at each other.

"Grandpa, didn’t you say no one could come in?"

Zhou Mengdie’s expression was a little suspicious, making Zhou Zixiu somewhat awkward.

"Cough, cough, this is the lesson I want to teach you."

He said, "The Cultivation World is full of wonders. There’s nothing absolute, so don’t underestimate others."

"Oh..."

Zhou Mengdie nodded.

"Do you know the background of your Senior Brother Song?" Zhou Zixiu suddenly asked.

The girl scratched her head: "Senior Brother Song Yan? I’m not very familiar with him... I think Ling’er mentioned him."

Zhou Zixiu pondered for a moment, then sighed.

This child didn’t understand anything, only knew how to sleep all day. It was only today that he discovered there was someone like Song Yan by her side.

But now that he thought about it, he was partly responsible for this.

Subconsciously, he also vaguely believed that there was nothing worth caring about in this remote corner of the world.

So he hadn’t made any demands of her.

"Song Yan..."

He murmured the name, and the figure of a person appeared before his eyes.

"Grandpa, what’s wrong with Senior Brother Song Yan?"

"Nothing." Zhou Zixiu shook his head: "I just feel that he might be the inheritor of an old friend."

"Ah?" Zhou Mengdie’s face showed some surprise: "Didn’t you say you’ve lived for tens of thousands of years?"

"How can there be such a coincidence in this world?"

Zhou Zixiu sighed softly: "Who can clearly explain matters of fate?"

"In the future, you should pay more attention to this person."

Zhou Mengdie pointed to herself with her small hand: "Me? I’m just a Qi Refining Cultivator, and you want me to pay attention to a Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator?"

"Grandpa, you think too highly of me."

"That’s why." Zhou Zixiu glanced at her: "You should also hurry up and Cultivate."

"Oh."

...Song Yan emerged from the dream, confirmed that Zhou Mengdie was unharmed, then left the place and returned to his Immortal Cave.

He put Xiao He to sleep on the bed and walked alone into the quiet room.

He took out two Storage Bags.

These two Storage Bags were spoils of war from the two Demonic Cultivators in the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment he had killed. He immediately used his Sword Qi to erase their original spiritual power imprints, then probed them with his Divine Sense to inspect their contents.

The Demonic Cultivator who wielded the blood-colored saber light had a Storage Bag mostly filled with bottles and jars of Medicinal Pills.

Many had already been consumed, and the pill bottles were empty.

There weren’t many Spirit Stones, only five or six hundred.

Including the blood saber, there were a few scattered Spiritual Artifacts that Song Yan couldn’t use at all; he would have to sell them for Spirit Stones later.

From the state of this Storage Bag, this Mo Xu Cultivator seemed to have just spent a lot of effort to Breakthrough to the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment.

Unfortunately, not long after, he went to the battlefield and has now perished.

However, Song Yan was not in the mood to mourn his opponent. He casually tidied up and then took out the second Storage Bag.

It belonged to the old man in yellow robes.

Compared to the previous one, the old man in yellow robes’ Storage Bag was much richer. Song Yan sorted through it one by one.

There were over 1,300 Spirit Stones.

One must know that on this battlefield between the Righteous Path and Demonic Path, no one knows if they will survive.

Therefore, most people would, like the previous one, spend many resources to desperately improve their strength.

This old man in yellow robes probably also made such moves; his original accumulation should have been more than this.

However, for Song Yan’s current assets, this was already a considerable supplement of spiritual resources.

The small ghost-head banner he had previously wielded was destroyed by the killing move of the Star Shifting Sword Array and was no longer usable.

Song Yan did find a small emerald green sword in his collection, and its quality was quite good.

He picked and chose, quickly keeping the useful items and putting all the worthless sundries and things he couldn’t use directly into the first Storage Bag.

Finally, two items remained, suspended before Song Yan.

One of them was an ancient Jade Talisman.

This ancient talisman was red and purple, with mysterious symbols and patterns etched upon it, looking extremely familiar.

"Such a coincidence?"

He took out another ancient talisman from his own Storage Bag and placed the two Jade Talismans close together.

By comparison, they seemed to be identical.

This ancient talisman was given to him by Sheng Nian earlier, and it was the key to the Immortal Dynasty ancient battlefield, which was not yet known when it would appear.

He hadn’t expected this old man in yellow robes to also possess one.

Now, he had two ancient talismans in his hand.

Song Yan couldn’t help but begin to ponder.

Normally, this ancient talisman should be given to someone he trusted, to enter the ancient battlefield with him and seek Opportunity.

For example, Qin Xijun, Li Yi, Li Qingfeng, or even Lin Qing, etc... But this time, he was going with Gou Sheng.

After all, Gou Sheng was a Demonic Cultivator, and Song Yan couldn’t be sure how these people would react if they knew, which might cause complications.

But keeping it in his own hands like this, would it be a bit wasteful?

After a moment of thought, Song Yan’s heart stirred, and he had a plan.

However, this matter still needed further consideration, so he temporarily put away the ancient talisman.

His gaze fell on the other item.

This was a Jade Slip. Song Yan had roughly scanned its contents earlier; it seemed to be some records passed down from the ancestors of the Cultivators of the old man in yellow robes’ lineage.

Originally, he wasn’t interested, but it actually mentioned a few words about Sword Cultivators.

He now carefully read the contents of this Jade Slip.

The forces within the Demon Ruins were vastly different from those in the Human Cultivation World.

Although there were also terms like aristocratic families and Sects, they usually referred to themselves as a certain Dao lineage when interacting with outsiders.

For example, this yellow-robed Cultivator came from a Ghost-Rahu land within the Demon Ruins, and his Dao lineage originated from the Yellow Springs Path.

Therefore, this invasion was at the summons of the Yellow Springs Path.

Among Mo Xu Cultivators, whether in self-introduction or addressing others, they would also report their Yellow Springs Path background.

There were roughly these few Demonic Ruins Dao lineages:

Asura Path, He Huan Path, Yellow Springs Path, Seed Demon Path.

However, according to the contents of this Jade Slip, several names were also mentioned that Song Yan was hearing for the first time.

These were the Heaven-Stealing Gate, the Heretical Sword Sect, and Shaomeng Mountain.

But according to the Jade Slip, the Dao lineage Foundations of the Heaven-Stealing Gate and Shaomeng Mountain had always been in the human world, not within the Demon Ruins.

And they had, since an unknown number of years ago, stopped having any close contact with Mo Xu Cultivators.

They were basically in a neutral state, rarely participating in the disputes between the Righteous Path and Demonic Path.

As for the Heretical Sword Sect, it was relatively mysterious, and the records on the Jade Slip were also quite sparse.

It was only known that this Dao lineage seemed to have always been in the human world.

In fact, if one traces the origin, the countless Sects in the human world, going back thousands or tens of thousands of years, all branched out from a few Dao lineages.

It’s just that in this aspect, the "system" of the Demon Ruins still retained an ancient style.

The Ghost-Rahu land where the yellow-robed Cultivator originated could also be considered a relatively long-standing lineage within the Yellow Springs Path Dao lineage.

A passage in this Jade Slip caught Song Yan’s attention.

The Ghost-Rahu land was established approximately six thousand years ago.

And about four thousand two or three hundred years ago, all Yellow Springs Path Demonic Cultivators above the Golden Core Realm suddenly received a summons from the Yellow Springs Sect, which was the orthodox Yellow Springs Path, requiring them to go to the human world.

The Demonic Cultivator who recorded the Jade Slip was not clear about what they were specifically going to do. According to a Golden Core Realm Demonic Cultivator who was about to participate at the time, it seemed to be related to Sword Cultivators.

In short, the Mo Xu Cultivators who participated at that time included those in the Golden Core Realm, Nascent Soul Realm, and even Soul Transformation Realm.

There were almost no survivors among the Golden Core Realm Cultivators.

The returning Nascent Soul and Soul Transformation Realm Cultivators also kept silent about it, and no news at all was leaked.

This matter occupied only a very small part of the entire Jade Slip’s content.

It could be said to have been mentioned in passing.

But after reading this part, Song Yan merely glanced at the subsequent content and didn’t read it in detail.

"Four thousand years ago... related to Sword Cultivators?"

Perhaps due to the very distant era, the descriptions of time in the Jade Slip were also relatively vague.

Between four thousand and five thousand years, that’s a difference of a thousand years... For those great Cultivators above Soul Transformation, who casually live for hundreds or thousands of years, they might not really care about this amount of time.

But one must know that Song Yan had only lived for twenty-four years in this lifetime.

"..."

Could it be that the disappearance of Sword Cultivators was due to the actions of Mo Xu Cultivators?

"And the ’very far place’ that Sword Cultivators said they were going to, refers to the Demon Ruins?"

"...That doesn’t seem right."

No matter how Song Yan thought about it, he felt his conjecture was a bit far-fetched.

Moreover, according to his current understanding of Sword Cultivators, the entire Sword Cultivator force in the human world back then was absolutely not to be underestimated.

To say that the Demon Ruins dispatched so many Cultivators and caused the Sword Cultivator Dao lineage to vanish from the human world, he would be the first not to believe it.

To say that those true Sword Cultivator powerhouses left the human world and went to a certain location.

And the Demon Ruins took advantage of the vacuum, and the Cultivators who remained here to inherit the Sword Cultivator Dao lineage were purged.

This explanation seems a bit more reasonable.

"..."

But why would Mo Xu Cultivators do that?

Song Yan was no longer a hothead; rarely would Cultivators engage in such a large-scale conflict without extremely severe blood feuds.

This was evident from the heretical Cultivator’s notes Song Yan had obtained earlier.

Even a Golden Core Realm Senior Heretical Cultivator like him, when encountering Sword Cultivators, would try his best to avoid their sharpness.

In his words, it was all for profit, so why risk one’s life?

However, if the disappearance of Sword Cultivators was indeed related to Mo Xu Cultivators, and they indiscriminately slaughtered Sword Cultivators at all costs, what were they after?

Most Sword Cultivators were poor, lacking Spirit Stones, Medicinal Pills, or resources.

As for Lifebound Flying Swords, those things were born and died with Sword Cultivators; once the master perished, the Sword Intent and spiritual essence within would immediately dissipate.

At most, an ordinary sword body would remain, which had little value.

The Sword Cultivator Dao lineage?

Among the three branches of Sword Cultivators, two mainstream branches of Sword Cultivators required severing spirits and planting swords.

Any Cultivator with a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation would be unlikely to truly abandon their cultivation and re-Cultivate.

Even if they seized the so-called Sword Cultivator Dao lineage, the benefits to Mo Xu Cultivators would exist, but would be very limited.

"..."

Song Yan pondered deeply, seemingly vaguely glimpsing a bit of the truth.

But it was still hazy and he couldn’t grasp it.

However, at least now he knew that Mo Xu Cultivators, or at least Yellow Springs Path Demonic Cultivators, had some connection to the matter of Sword Cultivators.

It seemed he still needed to diligently search for the things left behind by the Sword Cultivator Seniors, and then, through the endless treasury, see for himself what happened.

After this line of thought, Song Yan cast aside his previously chaotic thoughts and re-entered a state of Cultivation.

As for the events happening at Tiansheng Pass, it was not for him to worry about.

As the nominal defenders, He Huan and Shi Ping would naturally report everything that happened here, in detail, to the Nine Pulses Elder Council.

He himself continued to delve into the Dao of Sword Arrays.

After some time, the deadline for Song Yan’s batch of reinforcing Cultivators was approaching.

In these few days, someone should come to deliver a message. Among them, some Cultivators would continue to stay here, while others would return to the Red Maple Plains.

The Cultivators originally stationed here might also undergo changes.

Whether to continue defending this place or return to the Red Maple Plains, everyone’s thoughts were different.

It was generally believed that since this place had just experienced a Demonic Cultivator raid, it should be safe for a short period.

Others believed that the Red Maple Plains gathered the core strength of the Righteous Path Cultivators of the Chu Kingdom, making it safer there instead.

So, these days, the Cultivators Within the Pass were also discussing this matter.

"Hey, Brother Feng, aren’t they leaving soon?"

"Ah... yes, I suppose."

There was an extremely simple small exchange area Within the Pass, far from the scale of a market, formed spontaneously by the Cultivators stationed there.

On the street, several Cultivators walked in and happened to see Zhou Mengdie leaving from there in the distance.

"I heard that little Zhou will be able to return to the Red Maple Plains with Senior Song this time."

"Good news, good news. I reckon that when the little girl goes back this time, she should be able to leave the front lines and return to her Sect."

The Cultivator called Brother Feng had a scraggly beard and looked somewhat haggard.

He spoke distractedly: "Accumulating enough battle merits and peacefully returning to the rear to Cultivate is better than fighting for your life here."

"By the way, if they’re leaving, isn’t Senior Sister Chen also..."

"..."

"Brother Feng, you really need to think carefully. Miss this chance, and it’s gone."

That person patted Brother Feng’s shoulder: "If you have anything to say, hurry up and tell Senior Sister Chen."

"..."

...Zhou Mengdie came out of the market and met a Senior Sister before she even returned to her residence.

"Mengdie?"

"Oh, Senior Sister Chen."

This Senior Sister Chen was also one of the Cultivators who came to support and defend with Senior Brother Song and the others, with a Late Stage Qi Refining cultivation.

Although they hadn’t known each other for long, she was very amiable and took good care of her.

Senior Sister Chen’s expression was a half-smile: "Senior Brother Song Yan sent a message, asking you to go to his Immortal Cave for a meeting after you return."

Eh?

Senior Brother Song?

Zhou Mengdie’s memories pieced together, forming Song Yan’s appearance.

Because she was always sleeping, she actually didn’t remember many people’s faces, besides Ling’er, it was this Senior Brother Song.

To her, Song Yan was the first person who could enter her dream, practically a synonym for magic.

Speaking of which, since Senior Brother can enter my dream, why doesn’t he just meet me in my dream while I’m sleeping?

This thought appeared and was immediately dismissed by herself.

Meeting in a dream, this, this, this... this would be a bit too ambiguous.

"Mengdie? Mengdie?"

Perhaps because she was distracted, or for some other reason, Zhou Mengdie’s small face flushed: "Oh, yes, yes."

"I’ll go now."

Watching little Zhou’s retreating figure, Senior Sister Chen sighed softly, a hint of envy in her eyes.

On such a perilous battlefield, having a powerful backer with profound cultivation was an incredibly fortunate thing.