I Can Reincarnate Infinitely

As evening fell, He Gui wanted to discuss something with Chi Feng and sent someone to summon him.

The disciple soon returned to report, "Elder Chi is not here. I was told he went out this afternoon."

He Gui thought, ’This is bad!’ He immediately extended his Divine Sense, sweeping it over the entire Sect. As he’d feared, he found no trace of Elder Chi Feng.

He immediately sent a message to Qie Heng via his Divine Sense: "Junior Chi must have gone to kill that little thief. I have a bad feeling about this; that thief might pull some tricks. You stay and guard the Sect. I’ll go provide support and check on the situation."

Qie Heng had initially thought that with Chi Feng on the move, capturing the little thief would be no problem. There was no need for He Gui to make the trip as well.

But as the words reached his lips, he mulled it over and a sense of unease crept in. "Be careful, Senior Brother. If anything unexpected happens, please retreat first. We can discuss our next move then."

"Mm," He Gui grunted in acknowledgment, saying nothing more.

He didn’t truly believe a Golden Core Late Stage Cultivator could pose a threat to him.

He could kill a Golden Core Late Stage Cultivator with a single, casual blow.

But the combat prowess this particular Golden Core Late Stage Cultivator had displayed was simply unnatural. He could contend with a Nascent Soul Early Stage Cultivator, so he had to be taken seriously.

Geniuses capable of fighting above their Realm were rare, but they did appear from time to time.

Outsiders wouldn’t think the genius was simply too strong; they would only think the Binyin Sect had grown weak.

If he were to be careless and suffer an unexpected defeat, it would be far worse than just becoming a laughingstock.

The Binyin Sect’s ten-thousand-year Inheritance would be at stake.

He Gui boarded his personal Tier Four Treasure Level Flying Boat, taking only a single Foundation Establishment Disciple to pilot it, and flew toward Four Directions Town.

Along the way, He Gui tried several times to close his eyes and regulate his breathing, but he felt a persistent unease.

"My mental state Cultivation still has its flaws!" He Gui sighed.

By the time he was a few dozen miles from Four Directions Town, it was late at night.

One sweep of his Divine Sense and his heart sank.

If Chi Feng were still alive, the aura of a Nascent Soul Cultivator would be like a candle in the darkness—impossible to miss.

Of course, it was also possible that Chi Feng and the little thief had fought their way out of Four Directions Town.

The Flying Boat continued speeding toward Four Directions Town as He Gui began a more detailed Divine Sense scan of the surrounding area.

Despite days of fighting, Four Directions Town wasn’t heavily damaged; only the tavern had collapsed.

This confirmed the words of the three disciples who had escaped: the fighting was brutal, but not protracted.

There were no back-and-forth exchanges, no battles lasting hundreds of rounds.

A single assault would claim a life, with no time to cause any damage to the surroundings.

Then, suddenly, He Gui froze.

His Divine Sense swept over Chi Feng’s lifeless body, lying in an open space not far from the tavern.

’How could this be?’

The shock was so immense that for a moment, He Gui nearly stumbled.

A junior brother he had known for centuries... a dragon among men, a Nascent Soul Master, had fallen just like that?

’What about Junior Chi’s Nascent Soul? Did even his Nascent Soul fail to escape?’

’A battle that resulted in the death of a Nascent Soul Master didn’t even level the surroundings?’

Other than the tavern, hardly any buildings in Four Directions Town were damaged.

’Is... is this an illusion?’

’I must be caught in an illusion!’

’How could a Nascent Soul Master possibly die so quietly!’

"Stop!" He Gui barked.

A chill suddenly ran down his spine.

Chi Feng’s strength was, of course, far inferior to his own.

But even he couldn’t have killed Chi Feng so silently. It would have taken dozens of rounds of fierce fighting, at the very least.

To defeat Chi Feng, he estimated he would have had to use his Heaven and Earth Divine Abilities, which would have utterly devastated the surroundings.

It was absolutely impossible for the town to remain almost perfectly intact like this.

’What in the world happened?’

Staring at the pitch-black, silent Four Directions Town in the dead of night, He Gui felt as if some terrifying Demon Fiend was lying in wait, its gaping maw ready to devour him. The thought made him shudder.

"Grandmaster?" the disciple piloting the boat asked in confusion.

This Foundation Establishment Realm disciple had no idea that one of the three great pillars of their Sect had just fallen without a sound.

He Gui said nothing.

He was thinking, over and over.

’Should I advance or not?’

’If I go forward, there might be an ambush waiting. And with Chi Feng having fallen there, rushing in recklessly might lead to my own humiliating defeat.’

’If I retreat, I’ll be safe for now, but I’ll lose all face.’

’Besides, I can’t just leave Junior Chi’s body there!’

~~~~~~

"He’s here."

Du Youqian and Ge Sheng spoke at almost the exact same time.

They were sitting by the ruins of the tavern on stone stools, a low table salvaged from the wreckage set before them. Though some of its lacquer was chipped, it was still usable.

After the tavern’s waiter and Shopkeeper had exhausted themselves cooking a few dishes, they were finally allowed to go back to sleep.

Du Youqian held Xiao Sha Jiang, stroking it gently. Ge Sheng’s expression was complex and hard to read. ’So you really do have a Nascent Soul Level Divine Sense.’

Du Youqian smiled faintly, neither confirming nor denying it.

Ge Sheng continued, "He came alone. As we agreed, if he had come with that Elder Qie Heng, I would have blocked one of them for you to prevent them from ganging up on you. But since he’s come by himself, I can’t intervene on your behalf."

Du Youqian said with a smile, "Don’t worry, I can handle him."

"Look at your injuries!" Ge Sheng said, agitated. "Just one Chi Feng was enough to injure you this severely, and He Gui is even stronger than Chi Feng. What makes you think you can handle him!"

Du Youqian’s appearance seemed perfectly normal at the moment.

But to a Cultivator of equal or greater strength, his true condition could not be hidden.

It wasn’t that his injuries were so severe he couldn’t move. Rather, for a Cultivator of his level, such wounds were incredibly difficult to heal. It would require not only a great deal of time but also restorative Tier Four Elixirs or Treasures of Heaven and Earth.

In truth, his injuries were far more severe than Cai Min’s, or even those of Fei Province and Lu Guiying.

Of course, Du Youqian wasn’t worried. He knew his own condition perfectly well. By spending a few decades of his lifespan, he could heal instantly.

The only reason he hadn’t healed himself yet was to set a trap and see if He Gui would fall for it.

In fact, when Chi Feng had come for him, Du Youqian had two options for dealing with him quickly. The first was to kill him in a short time by accepting severe injuries in the process.

The second was to use Burning Essence Blood again, sacrificing some of his lifespan to kill him.

Comparatively, the first option would also require sacrificing lifespan to heal afterward, and would likely cost him even more years.

As for the second option, Burning Essence Blood was ultimately detrimental to his future Cultivation.

Even with his "One Certificate Forever" ability, which meant he would face no bottlenecks when advancing to the Nascent Soul Realm and wouldn’t need a Nascent Soul Pill or anything of the sort—he could advance as easily as eating or drinking once he had accumulated enough power—the lost Essence Blood was not so easily replenished.

Not to mention, he might encounter trouble at the Nascent Soul Middle and Late Stage bottlenecks, and it could even have a negative impact on his future advancement to the Divinity Transformation Realm.

Therefore, after some consideration, Du Youqian chose the first option.

To be fair, Chi Feng was not weak.

As a Nascent Soul Middle Stage cultivator, his Magical Combat skills weren’t particularly outstanding, but they weren’t weak either.

However, he lacked a true understanding of Du Youqian’s Divine Abilities. Relying solely on the testimony of the few who had escaped, it was difficult to grasp their true nature.

Once Du Youqian used "Inch and Mile" to break through Chi Feng’s most powerful Divine Ability, then took a direct hit from Chi Feng with his "Copper Skin Iron Bones," the outcome was sealed.

In the end, after only a few exchanges, Du Youqian killed Chi Feng—a cultivator of a higher Realm—at the cost of sustaining severe injuries himself.

Chi Feng didn’t even have time to use a Nascent Soul Cultivator’s ultimate killing move, Heaven and Earth.

And when Chi Feng’s Nascent Soul shot out to escape, Du Youqian used an Array to trap it for a moment before sucking it into his Hundred Ghosts Banner.

To him, this all felt quite ordinary, just something he was expected to be able to do.

But to the onlooker, Ge Sheng, it was utterly astonishing.

Ge Sheng asked himself honestly: against Chi Feng, his own chances would be fifty-fifty at best.

Even if he were willing to suffer severe injuries, he might not have been able to take Chi Feng’s life.

’And to think I was worried about how to save Du Youqian’s life if he were defeated.’

’I never expected that Du Youqian was not only stronger than I’d imagined, but even stronger than me.’

’If something unexpected had happened, it’s hard to say who would have been saving whom.’

’How disheartening...’

Sensing He Gui’s Flying Boat hovering in the distance, neither advancing nor retreating, Du Youqian laughed. "Looks like this one’s scared out of his wits."

Ge Sheng grumbled to himself, ’If it were me, I’d be scared too.’

’A Nascent Soul Middle Stage cultivator with decent Magical Combat skills, gone just like that.’

’That’s terrifying, okay?!’

’Normally, when a Nascent Soul fights a Golden Core, they can kill them with a single casual blow.’

’If they were facing two Golden Cores teaming up, it might take three to five moves.’

’But you? A Golden Core fighting a Nascent Soul, and in three to five moves, *he’s* the one who’s gone.’

’Who wouldn’t be scared after seeing that?’

"Fellow Daoist Ge," Du Youqian said, "why don’t we make a wager? Let’s bet on whether this Fellow Daoist He Gui dares to enter Four Directions Town tonight under the cover of darkness."

Ge Sheng pondered for a moment, finding it genuinely difficult to decide.

He Gui was a Nascent Soul Middle Stage cultivator; he had to care about face. If word got out that he didn’t even dare to enter Four Directions Town, how could he show his face in the future?

’So he should come, right?’

’But then again, I’ve heard that He Gui is an extremely cautious and cunning man.’

’A Cultivator like that would never take even the slightest risk. It’s precisely because he never takes risks that he has lived so long and achieved his current Cultivation.’

’Considering it from that angle, He Gui probably won’t dare to enter Four Directions Town tonight.’

’Instead, he’ll return to the Binyin Sect and bring the other Nascent Soul Cultivator back with him.’

’It’s really hard to say!’

Ge Sheng hesitated for a long time before shaking his head. "I’m not betting."

Du Youqian chuckled. "You haven’t even heard the stakes."

"No matter what the stakes are, I’m not betting."

Du Youqian said, "If I lose, I’ll fight on your behalf once in the future, even in a situation of certain death. If you lose, you just have to promise me one thing."

"What is it?" Asking this question showed that Ge Sheng was already tempted.