The Revenge of the Reborn Supreme Sovereign

At the end of the Imperial Kitchen, in a space not open to the public, a stone wall one meter wide and three meters long rose from the ground. Through the opening, it was clear that within lay another sacred grove, a veritable Taoyuan. The melodious chirps of birds wove together rhythmically as waves of floral fragrance wafted out from the entryway.

An elderly man with white hair was guarding the entrance.

The moment he saw Qin Fan approaching, his breathing hitched, his face twisting into a mask of utter disbelief and shock. From Qin Fan, he sensed an aura akin to that of the Master. To call it an aura was an understatement; it was pressure. A majestic pressure so powerful it made him tremble! Originally, he had wanted to probe Qin Fan’s depths to see what abilities this young man possessed to make the Master himself cook for him. But in that instant, the thought vanished like smoke.

"Mr. Qin, please," the old man said, bowing slightly out of courtesy.

The Master had said that Qin Fan would surely find his way here, so his arrival was no surprise.

Expressionless and silent, Qin Fan gave a stern nod before brushing past the old man and stepping through the entrance.

WHOOSH!

As soon as he entered, the stone wall crashed down behind him. The Imperial Kitchen and the garden were once again separated into two different worlds.

Qin Fan showed no change in expression at the wall’s descent. Following the pull of his Divine Sense, he walked straight through the fragrant, birdsong-filled garden toward its far end.

When a pavilion, untouched by the decay of years of wind and rain, came into view, Qin Fan also noticed a middle-aged man standing motionless beside it, his hands clasped behind his back. He seemed to be contemplating life, apparently unaware of Qin Fan’s arrival.

"You’ve come," the middle-aged man spoke when Qin Fan was still two meters away. His voice, however, trembled slightly. Despite his best efforts to control it, he couldn’t suppress the tremor.

But that was understandable. He had endured centuries of loneliness, an immortal without peers. For one of his kind to suddenly appear, to expect him to remain unperturbed would be absurd.

"I have come," Qin Fan’s reply was brief, but his voice trembled as well.

In that moment, it was as if their very souls were in sync.

"How was the ’Kindred Encounter’?" the middle-aged man asked.

"My mind is in turmoil. I couldn’t taste it," Qin Fan replied.

"Shall I make you another?"

"With a restless heart, it would be like a cow chewing on a peony—a complete waste."

"True enough," the middle-aged man nodded faintly.

In the next moment, however, their voices trembled as they spoke in unison.

"Are you *from* that place?"

"Did you *return from* that place?"

One was about coming, the other about returning—two vastly different meanings.

After asking, both men froze. This result... seemed rather unexpected.

Silence spread between them. Ten seconds passed, then a minute, then three, then five, all in utter silence.

It wasn’t until ten minutes had passed that the middle-aged man shook his head with a self-deprecating laugh. "After five hundred years in this world, my mental fortitude has grown weak... Hah, haha..."

Without waiting for a response, he turned around, his gaze locking onto Qin Fan’s handsome, somewhat youthful face.

"Why did you seek me out?"

Qin Fan met his gaze without flinching. As they stared at each other, his expression grew solemn, his eyebrows knitting together tightly. The Golden Core True Qi within him began to stir, ready to be unleashed at a moment’s notice. It seemed that if the middle-aged man’s answer crossed his line, he would erupt and make this place the battlefield for two Cultivators, even though he couldn’t sense his opponent’s Realm at all.

Cultivation is the cultivation of the heart—an unyielding Dao Heart that never retreats. His master once said that one could feel fear and apprehension, but one must never retreat. In the long river of Cultivation’s history, no coward has ever been granted the opportunity for Ascension.

"Relax," the middle-aged man said, his initial tension gone, replaced by a placid calm. "If I wanted to kill you, I could crush you with a thought. In all these centuries, I have never truly acted, because no one has been worthy of it. That includes you."

A crazed light flashed in Qin Fan’s eyes as he gritted his teeth and let out a sneering laugh.

"Are you sure you want to try?" the middle-aged man countered with a faint, noncommittal smile.

As he finished speaking, his presence exploded outward without reservation.

The next moment, the birdsong in the garden ceased. Not only the singing, but the birds themselves froze on their branches as if they were statues. The gentle breeze of a moment ago vanished. The vibrant flowers and grasses stood perfectly still, without the slightest sway.

The entire world seemed to have frozen in that instant.

A vast, suffocating pressure descended upon Qin Fan, closing in from the seemingly frozen space around him. Instinctively, he wanted to retreat, to evade. But he clenched his jaw, refusing to move an inch as the suffocating sensation washed over him. He stood his ground until it completely enveloped him, his face turning deathly pale, drained of all color.

The middle-aged man had said he could kill him with a thought. Before, Qin Fan might have dismissed it. Now, he was utterly convinced. This man could kill him, and it would take no more than an instant. Not just the man he was now, but even his former self on the Cangqiong Continent wouldn’t have lasted more than a few exchanges.

Because this... this was the aura of an immortal. The aura of an Independent Immortal! He was an Independent Immortal—a lucky survivor of a failed Crossing Tribulation.

Feeling the immense immortal might continue to build, crushing him, Qin Fan gritted his teeth in agony, resolutely refusing to retreat even half a step. At the same time, his Prison Suppressing Body erupted forth!

SWOOSH!

A Green Light burst out, enveloping his entire body. The next second, the suffocating presence unleashed by the middle-aged man dissolved into nothingness within the Green Light.

When the middle-aged man saw the Green Light on Qin Fan, however, his eyes flew wide open. A look of pure disbelief contorted his features. He gulped audibly, his face growing pale with horror. Swallowing hard, he cried out in a voice laced with disbelief, "Prison Suppressing Body! You’ve cultivated the Prison Suppressing Body! You actually cultivated the Prison Suppressing Body! You... you... you...! No, no, how is that possible?! How could it be?! You aren’t entirely from that world, so how could you possibly cultivate the Prison Suppressing Body?!"

At the man’s reaction, Qin Fan’s knitted brows drew even tighter.

What did he mean? At that moment, Qin Fan was genuinely confused. He couldn’t understand the man’s words, much less why he would have such an extreme reaction to his Prison Suppressing Body. This was an Independent Immortal! Even if the gates to Ascension had left them with only the slimmest of chances, on the Cangqiong Continent, they were still beings who looked down upon all creation! So why was he in such a frenzy over my Prison Suppressing Body? What in the world was going on?