Cultivating To Immortality

Among the newcomers, the leader, a middle-aged man, wore the Cave Abyss Sect Daoist robe without concealment, exuding the aura of the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

To his left and right were a man and a woman, both Cultivators in the Qi Refinement Late Stage.

Song Yan glanced over.

The person leading was none other than Yang Wenxuan, and the two people to his left and right were also familiar faces.

Qin Zhan and Zhou Mengdie.

Speaking of Xiao Zhou, she was truly unlucky; originally, she only needed to stay in Red Maple Plains and do some safe small tasks, or even clerical work, to accumulate enough merits and leave the front lines.

Unexpectedly, Yang Wenxuan was selfish and unwilling to share the benefits of exploring treasures with others.

So, alone, he not only called Qin Zhan over to "train" him.

He also brought Zhou Mengdie, the treasure-offering child, along.

Qin Zhan was naturally overjoyed; he wore a brand new Daoist robe, looking like a graceful Young Master from an aristocratic family, with a gentle, jade-like smile on his face.

These days, the Qin Family could be said to be in its prime, shining with boundless glory.

As the Young Lord of the clan, he was naturally also in high spirits.

Xiao Zhou’s face, however, was filled with a look of utter despair.

The three sat down, Qin Zhan subtly turned his body, thoughtfully shielding Zhou Mengdie in a slightly more inward position, isolating her from the crowd’s jostling.

His voice was gentle: "Junior Sister Mengdie, you must be tired from the journey, right?"

"This Yinxian Waterside Pavilion looks quite grand, there must be excellent Spiritual Tea; how about Senior Brother orders a pot for you to refresh yourself?"

Zhou Mengdie struggled to keep her eyelids from drooping, her small head nodding, just wanting to find a place to lie down and sleep.

She only felt the gentle voice in her ears buzzing like mosquitoes, and hearing it, she just mumbled a confused "Mm," showing little reaction.

Seeing her lack of enthusiasm, Qin Zhan’s warm smile remained unchanged; he had intended to say a few more words, but Yang Wenxuan had also closed his eyes to rest, so he fell silent.

Zhou Mengdie placed her hands on the table, her head slumped, and she fell asleep.

Song Yan withdrew his gaze.

But Sheng Nian suddenly looked at Zhou Mengdie, with a hint of doubt in his expression.

"Who were you just talking about? That girl?"

The voice of the ancient demon rose faintly from his heart: "That’s right, it’s her. If you get the chance, kill her."

Sheng Nian pondered for a moment, then replied in his mind: "Okay. But you have to tell me why."

"She carries the aura of an old friend of mine."

Old Xie said, mentioning the words "old friend" with a hint of gnashing teeth.

"Eighteen thousand years ago, it was that person who caused my Physical Body to perish and my Infant Spirit to suffer severe damage... His name was Zhou Zixiu."

Sheng Nian was stunned: "Was it him who perished with you?"

"Perished together? Haha, is he worthy!?"

Old Xie’s tone was somewhat disdainful: "In that death battle, I at least retained a wisp of Divine Soul; he truly experienced Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering... "

"This person is probably his Legacy."

"Hmph, it’s a pity he can’t see it, otherwise I would make him witness the severance of his own Legacy with his own eyes."

Sheng Nian mused, glancing at Song Yan from the corner of his eye.

He replied in his mind: "Understood."

Aside from them, many Cultivators on the first floor formed their own factions, secretly observing each other and watching with cold eyes.

Especially when facing those Cultivators with strange attire, the atmosphere was even more tense.

One young man coldly surveyed his surroundings, and suddenly hearing a few Cultivators commenting on them, his blood rushed, and he was about to get up and act.

"A Yun."

The woman, wearing a veil, held the young man back and shook her head.

"Don’t forget what we are here for. This is a barbarian land on the frontier, let them bark like dogs."

The tall and slender male Cultivator beside them also nodded upon hearing this: "A Yun, your sister is right, calm down."

Wu Yun frowned, coldly looking at Wei Zhi: "Do you need to lecture me?"

With that, he turned his head away and closed his eyes to rest.

Wei Zhi’s expression was a bit awkward.

Wu Caidie looked at Wei Zhi with a hint of apology: "Brother Wei, A Yun is young and ignorant, please don’t take him seriously."

"It’s fine, we have traveled thousands of miles from Zhao Country; A Yun must be tired too."

As the several people were talking, they suddenly noticed a rustling sound around them, and the movements and voices of the Cultivators grew louder.

Song Yan opened his eyes, and Sheng Nian picked up the communication talisman in his hand and waved it.

"Time to go."

At the same time, the Cultivators in the building also stirred.

They all left their seats, walked out of the pavilion, transformed into streaks of light, and flew towards the vicinity of that cliff.

Song Yan and Sheng Nian, however, were not in a hurry, being almost the last Cultivators to leave the Yinxian Waterside Pavilion.

They leisurely walked through the waterside pavilion, as if strolling after a meal, completely ignoring the unusual commotion rising from the direction of the cliff.

"A chaotic swarm, I wonder how many will actually be able to enter those ruins."

Sheng Nian chuckled.

On the river, the water was vast and misty, and the river wind blew, carrying moist air.

Song Yan pulled down his bamboo hat: "Without knowing the usual path, naturally they’ll crowd the single plank bridge."

As the two walked to the riverbank, the boatman sitting on the small boat stood up at the bow.

He was tall and robust, wearing a simple straw cape, holding a long pole in one hand, and with a few gentle pushes, he brought the boat closer to the shore.

When the boat arrived, the figure raised his head, revealing a resolute but stiff face.

His skin was pale, as if he hadn’t seen the sun for a long time, and his eyes were deep and hollow, gazing at the two on the shore.

It was indeed the Corpse Puppet A Yuan.

"Young Lord, Young Master Song." A Yuan’s voice had no intonation.

Sheng Nian took the first step, lightly leaping onto the small boat, and Song Yan followed closely.

The space on the small boat seemed compact for the three of them, yet it had a strange sense of stability.

"Let’s go, A Yuan."

Sheng Nian leaned back lazily against the side of the canopy, casually giving the order.

A Yuan nodded: "Yes. Young Lord, Young Master Song, please sit tight."

With a light tap of the long pole on the river stone.

The small boat shot into the open river like an arrow leaving the bow, its speed several times faster than ordinary boats.

The boat traveled eastward, but it deviated slightly from the direction of the cliff where the Five Elements Spiritual Qi was chaotic.

Sheng Nian had already discussed this path with Song Yan earlier.

The inverted Five Elements power beneath that cliff was the most intense and most likely to trigger the resonance of the ancient talisman, which was the common path understood by most Cultivators.

But the collapse of a Formation is holistic, just like an eggshell developing cracks; the cracks won’t only appear in one place.

In short, after years of repeated deduction, Sheng Nian discovered this waterway.

This Formation’s Foundation was deeply rooted in the earth’s pulse (pulse), with Yin and Yang flowing and water and fire complementing each other. While the surface Spiritual Qi was chaotic, the underground currents might, due to the clash of Yin and Yang, temporarily form a special passage.

The small boat entered a narrow and steep gorge on the river.

The towering rock walls on both sides blocked out the sky and sun, and the light suddenly dimmed, even the river wind became somewhat chilly.

A Yuan was indifferent to the drastic changes in the surrounding environment, only focusing intently on the turbulent water ahead.

Sheng Nian’s tone became a bit serious: "This is it."

The water ahead suddenly became violent, and a giant vortex several zhang in diameter appeared in the center of the river, pulling the small boat inwards.

Song Yan and Sheng Nian simultaneously unleashed a wisp of spiritual power, temporarily stabilizing the small boat.

A moment later, the water in the center of the vortex suddenly collapsed downwards, revealing a dark, bottomless cave entrance (cave entrance) only a zhang wide.

"Let’s go."

The red and purple ancient talismans in their hands simultaneously lit up with dazzling light, and a special spatial ripple spread out.

The figures of the three suddenly disappeared, and the small boat was also swept into the water by the vortex and vanished... Song Yan had experienced this kind of illusionary travel many, many times.

Perhaps it was due to his training in the Liangyi Realm and Nuo Realm, so he didn’t need too much time to adapt.

However, since the beginning, various chaotic sounds had been coming from his ears.

Horn blasts.

Footsteps.

And some noisy shouts.

The sounds in his ears became clearer.

Song Yan slowly opened his eyes; beneath his feet was dark red ground, covered with thick dust.

He looked around, but stood rooted to the spot, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Countless soldiers, dressed in various armors and wielding all sorts of weapons, hurried past.

Occasionally, a soldier would accidentally bump into him as they passed, but they would continue running in a shared direction without looking back.

What’s going on?

How could there be so many people?!

Isn’t this supposed to be the Immortal Dynasty’s ancient battlefield?

Song Yan extended his Divine Sense to its maximum, discovering that this seemed to be a drill ground.

A casual scan revealed hundreds or thousands of soldiers in armor.

Most were in the Qi Refinement Stage, and there were also some with Foundation Establishment Realm auras.

And these were just the soldiers near Song Yan; in the distance, from various directions, many more troops were rushing towards the same place.

Conservatively estimated, there were eight or nine thousand, perhaps even over ten thousand troops.

Song Yan frowned.

Both he and Sheng Nian had previously believed that upon entering this Immortal Dynasty ancient battlefield ruin, they only needed to guard against other Cultivators who entered.

Their mental energy and focus should be on seeking spiritual treasures.

The scene before him completely overturned Song Yan’s understanding.

Could these troops be Cultivators from the ancient Immortal Dynasty?

Why are they still alive... He glanced around, only to see over a dozen other people, just like himself, standing rooted to the spot, their faces full of disbelief.

These people were mostly dressed in Daoist robes or plain clothes, apparently also Cultivators who had come to explore the Secret Realm.

Neither Sheng Nian nor A Yuan were among them, nor were Yang Wenxuan and the others.

Among them were three people Song Yan had noticed in the Yinxian Waterside Pavilion.

They were the three outsiders from Chu Region.

"What are you guys standing around for!"

Suddenly, a sharp reprimand came: "We’re going to the battlefield soon, Deputy General Luo is calling the roll, hurry up!"

Everyone turned to look; it was an old soldier, whose aura indicated a cultivation of roughly the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

"Confused! Undignified!"

Seeing that these few people remained unresponsive, he cursed a few times and then rushed off in that direction himself.

The dozen or so people who remained each had their own small groups, except for Song Yan.

At this moment, the three from Zhao Country were gathered together, discussing animatedly.

"Sister... this, what exactly is going on?"

Wu Yun asked, puzzled, and Wu Caidie was also somewhat confused.

She shook her head: "Sixty years ago, my uncle came to these ruins based on the contents of an ancestral Jade Slip."

"According to his records, this was just an ordinary Secret Realm, with no living people at all."

Evidently, Wu Caidie, who had originally been confident, was now a bit flustered.

As these few people were discussing, Song Yan had already followed the rushing troops in that direction.

Of course, he didn’t know what changes had occurred here, but just staying put and wandering around wasn’t a solution either.

He might as well follow along and see what was going on.

The other dozen or so people, seeing someone leave, discussed for a while and also decided to follow.

A few people had different opinions, planning to leave this place and explore for treasures normally.

But they thought that going to see wouldn’t take too long, so they would follow for now, and if they felt it was meaningless to stay, they would be ready to leave at any time.

Drill ground, martial arts stage.

A military general, clad in a large cloak and holding a helmet, slowly approached, his eyes sharp as he scanned the soldiers on the drill ground.

"Hmm..."

"...Hmm?"

When his gaze swept over a certain spot, his eyelid twitched, and his blood rushed.

He shoved the helmet he was holding into the hands of the adjutant beside him and hurried over, acting decisively.

"Damn it!"

"Which camp are you guys from?!"

The general was referring to Song Yan and the other foreign Cultivators.

Only three to five people were standing properly in the crowd like other soldiers; the rest seemed to be watching with a curious attitude.

This general, and many of the surrounding troops, seemed to have no Spiritual Qi Realm aura.

It was unclear why he was able to hold this general’s position.

"Reporting to Deputy General Luo, they... they are the reinforcements sent by the court today."

Beside him, the adjutant holding the helmet quickly spoke: "They just arrived."

"Reinforcements?"

The martial artist, referred to as Deputy General Luo, narrowed his eyes: "Heh heh, it seems that both the court officials and His Majesty trust General Bai very much."

"To send such useless people as reinforcements!"

He sneered.

"Forget it, you don’t need to go on campaign with me; just stay in the army and be pigs waiting to die!"

He waved his large hand and turned to leave.

These Cultivators, how could they ever have endured such disrespect?

Most of them were in the Foundation Establishment Realm, who had by chance obtained Jade Talismans and followed their guidance to explore this Secret Realm.

It was just that this place was strange, so they wouldn’t immediately clash with this person, especially since there were so many troops watching.

However, they immediately decided not to stay here for long.

"Forget it, Fellow Daoist Chen, I think staying here is just a waste of time."

One of the Cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Late Stage frowned; clearly, Deputy General Luo’s words had made him very unhappy.

"Let’s leave early; who knows, the other Fellow Daoists who were teleported here might already be searching for spiritual items."

"Alright."

Immediately, three people activated their spiritual power, intending to fly away.

They completely failed to notice the terrified expressions on the faces of the surrounding soldiers.

"Oh?"

Deputy General Luo suddenly turned his head, sneering.

"I made a decision for General Bai, to let you pigs stay here and wait to die, and when the time comes, send you back to court, which is already a favor."

"I didn’t expect you to be so ungrateful, to dare to leave the military camp without permission and be deserters?"

"Truly audacious!"

To the astonished gazes of Song Yan and the others, Deputy General Luo’s aura suddenly began to climb wildly.

Countless spiritual powers condensed in his hand, forming a long spear.

"Today, I was originally here to call the roll for General Bai on the drill ground."

"It seems I also have to... clean house for him!"

At this moment, Deputy General Luo’s aura had climbed to its peak.

The terrifying pressure completely suppressed the entire drill ground.

The aura of the Golden Core Realm!

The three people who were about to leave had faces full of disbelief, which was then replaced by endless panic.

"No, no..."

"Yanluo Spear Art!"

Without a word!

Deputy General Luo held the spear in one hand and merely thrust it out casually, and three fiery spear phantoms suddenly pierced into the air.

The three tried to escape, but found themselves completely unable to move, locked in place.

Puff.

Three shattering sounds rang out simultaneously, merging into one.

In the air, only three blood mists remained.

The entire drill ground instantly fell silent.

"In this army, if you disregard military discipline, this is the fate of those three."

Deputy General Luo looked at the remaining Song Yan and others, and slowly said.

"Do you all understand now?"