The End of the Immortal Path

At these words, Jiang Man looked toward the statue.

The Ling Hua Immortal Spirit said, "I can do it."

"Alright, then." Jiang Man nodded.

In the end, Chen Shi left with a measure of Immortal Spirit Power.

Jiang Man sighed wistfully.

Now, he just had to let the other party figure out how to gather all that Spiritual Source and direct it to the sesame pancake shop.

He had no idea how long it would take.

A million. That was a number Jiang Man didn’t even dare to imagine.

But since he couldn’t get his hands on it directly, the number didn’t feel particularly real to him.

All he could do was wait patiently.

After Chen Shi left, the Ling Hua Immortal Spirit said to Jiang Man, "The item isn’t in that person’s possession. Even if you lure them away now, it will be useless. The truth will be discovered soon, and if their Evil God attacks, we’re finished."

In response, Jiang Man just gave a mysterious smile. "Your Excellency, you should just focus on suppressing the Immortal Dao Coordinate. Times have changed."

With that, Jiang Man vanished from the spot.

The Ling Hua Immortal Spirit was baffled. ’No matter how much times change, the strong will always suppress the weak.’

’Once the enemy discovers the truth, we, the weaker party, will not meet a good end.’

’That is an immutable law, true in any era.’

After leaving, Jiang Man first went to Ji Meng to purchase a Void-Invoking Spring Yuan Pill, then found Ji Hao to collect six thousand Spiritual Source, and finally, he began his Cultivation.

During this time, the Spiritual Source from the Zhenyue Bureau arrived—a total of 120,000.

It was a timely blessing.

Jiang Man once again purchased a Void-Invoking Spring Yuan Pill.

With this, the first Gourd of his Cultivation could be filled to about eighty percent.

「August 1st.」

Jiang Man had absorbed most of the Elixirs, and the Gourd was now seventy percent full.

Time was running short, and with the lack of Spiritual Source, it was clear his Cultivation wouldn’t advance to the Middle Stage of Primordial Spirit before September.

There was another matter on Jiang Man’s mind: it was already August, so why hadn’t Ting Fengyin arrived?

’Is the Magpie Bridge opening so late this time?’

Jiang Man asked the Old Yellow Ox.

However, the Old Yellow Ox refused to speak, merely lowering its head to graze as if cut off from the rest of the world.

Seeing this, Jiang Man knew Ting Fengyin would be arriving soon.

「Three days later.」

While Jiang Man was in the middle of his Cultivation, he suddenly heard the sound of a flowing river.

The ground was then covered in grass and trees.

A path appeared before his eyes, completely covering his prison cell.

The Magpie Bridge had opened.

Jiang Man let out a breath.

He started down the path.

He didn’t have any particular business with Ting Fengyin this time; rather, he was worried about whether the man had heard the rumors.

The rumor that he was Meng Qiewei’s Daoist partner, for instance.

He wondered how Ting Fengyin would react if he knew.

But the man was extremely busy; it was possible he paid no mind to worldly affairs.

Soon, Jiang Man spotted Ting Fengyin fishing by the riverbank.

There was a basket next to him. As Jiang Man drew closer, he was surprised to see two fish inside it.

They were two rather extraordinary-looking carp.

"Senior, where did these fish come from?" Jiang Man asked curiously.

"I caught them," Ting Fengyin replied.

"Aren’t you going to roast them?" Jiang Man asked.

At his words, the two fish began to tremble in fear.

Ting Fengyin turned to Jiang Man and remarked with a sigh, "You’re quite cruel. Didn’t you see their human-like eyes? How could you possibly eat them?"

"Then what did you catch them for, Senior?" Jiang Man asked, sitting down beside him.

"For making wishes," Ting Fengyin said casually. "These are two Wishing Fish, but they have to grant the wish willingly."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Man clasped his hands together. "Make me an Unparalleled Celestial Pride with the Great Success Body of Heaven and Earth."

The two fish remained silent.

Jiang Man wished again, "Make me the person with the most Spiritual Source in the world."

Once again, the two fish remained silent.

"They’re not working," Jiang Man said.

Ting Fengyin looked at the two fish. "I need a tree bearing fruit I’ve never eaten before."

At his words, the two fish began to spin, and a fruit tree, laden with fruit, materialized out of thin air on the riverbank.

Seeing this, Ting Fengyin plucked a fruit and, while eating it, looked at Jiang Man. "See? They work."

Jiang Man was silent for a moment. "I need 100,000 Spiritual Source."

The two fish remained silent.

Jiang Man had an epiphany. He first had to become an Unparalleled Celestial Pride with the Great Success Body of Heaven and Earth.

Otherwise, the wishes wouldn’t be granted.

"What do you have to share this time?" Ting Fengyin asked, picking a fruit for Jiang Man.

After a moment’s thought, Jiang Man replied, "I’ve recently made contact with True Master Tai Hua, but he hasn’t provided any information on the Bai Family Ancestor yet, so the mission is at a standstill."

"Don’t be hasty," Ting Fengyin said, shaking his head with a sigh. "You’re only in the Early Stage of Primordial Spirit. It would be useless even if you found him; you’re not his match. Although your Spirit is improving quickly, it’s still not fast enough overall. You need to figure out why."

"You should be faster."

Hearing this, Jiang Man felt the need to defend himself. "At the Immortal Sect’s Grand Competition, I saw many celestial prides and realized I’ve far surpassed all my peers. I was the only participant under the age of thirty."

Ting Fengyin looked at Jiang Man with a smile. "That reminds me of my own past. Back then, I also thought I was number one among my peers—and by a wide margin, at that.

"Then my master told me to go out and see the world.

"He told me that beyond every person, there is another, and beyond every heaven, a higher one.

"It wasn’t until I traveled the world that I discovered I was, in fact, wrong."

Hearing this, Jiang Man was surprised. "Senior, did you encounter a powerful foe?"

Ting Fengyin shook his head. "I traveled across mountains and rivers, met countless powerful experts, and finally realized... I wasn’t number one among my peers. I was number one in the world."

At that, Jiang Man fell silent and didn’t bring up the topic again.

Instead, he asked about the Evil God he had encountered in the dream mists.

"The ’Sun and Moon Shining Together’ is a single Evil God with two souls, known as the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit," Ting Fengyin explained with a smile. "They’re quite interesting. If only one of them dies, the deceased one can be resurrected within the other’s body. For example, when facing a powerful enemy, one of them will flee while the other stays behind to cover the retreat.

"Once the one covering the retreat is killed, the one who fled is safe, and the one who stayed behind can be brought back to life.

"Their ability to escape is strong, and their survivability is simply astounding.

"If it weren’t for the Immortal Dao Coordinate, it would be extremely difficult to find them."

"Are they very powerful?" Jiang Man asked.

Ting Fengyin thought for a moment. "They’re decent. But in terms of pure combat strength, they’re not on par with the others on the list. Everyone on that list has a few tricks up their sleeve.

"You’ll understand when you find them and try to kill them. It’s no easy task."

After a moment’s thought, Jiang Man asked, "Senior, who do you think is harder to kill, Meng Qiewei or the Bai Family Ancestor?"

"Neither is easy to kill," Ting Fengyin warned. "But you’d best kill them both around the same time. Otherwise, your motive will be discovered, and that would be extremely dangerous.

"Furthermore, if True Master Tai Hua provides you with accurate information and someone finds out, he’ll be in great danger as well.

"It would give them leverage over him.

"After all, they left through official channels. As someone in a high and powerful position, True Master Tai Hua absolutely cannot be involved.

"If his involvement is proven, Tai Hua won’t be able to withstand their fury.

"Even if the Immortal Sect manages to protect Tai Hua, things will get very ugly. They might even be forced to let the others go free.

"And that would be a disaster.

"So you must warn Tai Hua to get out of the way as soon as possible."

Only then did Jiang Man realize just how serious this matter was.

He then asked curiously, "Then what about you, Senior? Aren’t you afraid?"

"What do I have to fear?" Ting Fengyin said dismissively. "If I say it wasn’t me, do they dare to investigate?"

"And what if they do?" Jiang Man asked.

"If they find nothing, the matter ends there. If they do find something, I’ll just send them on their way to the afterlife. It’ll just make things a bit harder on the rest of you. There is that little side effect, I suppose," Ting Fengyin said nonchalantly.

Jiang Man fell silent.

’So if they found out, I’m one of the ones who’ll die,’ he thought.

This matter was far more dangerous than he had anticipated. He needed to be even more careful.

「Elsewhere.」

「Zhenyue Hall.」

As True Master Tai Hua continued his investigation into the Bai Family Ancestor, he grew increasingly uneasy.

He had a sense of impending doom.

It forced him to recall his agents for the time being.

’What in the world is going on?’

’Why would simply investigating this make me so uneasy?’

’Is it because the investigation is easily discovered? Or is it Zui Fusheng’s visit that will bring trouble?’

For a Cultivator of his level, such unease was never a mere illusion.

He felt he needed to be more careful.

As long as he was careful enough, he should be able to avoid the crisis.

No matter how unreasonable Zui Fusheng’s visit was, it surely wouldn’t bring death upon him.

A recommendation for a friend’s new book: "Extreme Dao: Practice the Fist a Hundred Times, Use Violence to Quash Violence."