I have Immortality In The Cultivation World

Chapter 616: Chapter 454: Calculating Against Each Other
 

In Xiao Xiang Pavilion, songs and dances flourished while the Imperial Palace of the Capital descended into chaos and disarray.

The commanding officer of the Town-Fu Division, a high-ranking official of the first grade at the Imperial Court, had actually been killed by a jianghu figure.

Since the superintendent of Eastern Depot had ridden into the jianghu, no such incident had occurred; it was an outright slap in the face. Emperor Taichang ordered the Town-Fu Division and the Imperial Household Division to search throughout the land.

Half a month passed without a trace of the Misty Wave Angler.

Perhaps the secret agents had noticed something, but no one was willing to risk their lives to avenge a dead man, let alone their own.

As the tale of the Angler spread across the jianghu, warriors of the Great Qing puffed out their chests, boasting and acclaiming him as the second-highest expert in the world, only to the superintendent of Eastern Depot.

Rumors persisted that Superintendent Zhou was still alive, the veracity unknown, yet no one dared to jest about the Nine Clans.

More horrifying news than this was unheard of!

At this time,

Superintendent Zhou, ranked number one in the world, was lying on a couch feigning sleep.

Behind embroidered curtains and canopies, in the flickering candlelight, the new Oiran, blushing, gently traced circles on Zhou Yi’s chest.

In just half a month, Zhou Yi became a distinguished guest at the Xiao Xiang Pavilion.

Not to mention his lavish spending, he even demonstrated his remarkable prowess in bed using the cultivation method of shaping True Qi.

Having seen enough eunuchs court palace ladies, even without the root of troubles, he could leave women bewildered and infatuated with his service.

With only a fraction of his skill, Zhou Yi made the girls crave for more, several even offering to redeem themselves and vie to become his concubines.

Suddenly,

a gust of cold wind blew through the window, extinguishing the red candles after a few flickers.

“Who’s there?”

Zhou Yi’s eyes snapped open, and he flicked his fingers toward the dark shadow outside the window, shooting out Sword Qi,

Swish!

A flash of blade light shined, colliding with the Sword Qi.

The person who brandished the blade exhibited such wondrous control of True Qi that the force applied was just enough to obliterate the Sword Qi simultaneously.

“This Body-Piercing Formless Sword Qi isn’t as formidable as the jianghu makes it out to be.”

The figure leaped in from the window, appearing to be a young man in his twenties, with sword-like brows and starry eyes, dressed in fluttering white garments, a long blade at his waist and a folding fan in hand that snapped open to reveal four seal characters written upon it.

The best in the world!

Zhou Yi said gravely, “My boy, you’re quite bold. Aren’t you afraid Superintendent Zhou will come knocking at your door?”

The confident young man responded, “An opportunity to cross swords with the Superintendent? I couldn’t ask for more!”

Zhou Yi chuckled and continued to ignore the youth, turning his head to the corner of the room, “The friend hiding over there, won’t you come out and meet me?”

A plume of smoke materialized, slowly forming into a semi-transparent human figure.

Arms and legs intact but indistinct, only the head was clear and resembled the face of Old Lu during his life.

Zhou Yi concealed the nostalgia and hatred in his heart, feigning shock as he said,

“A ghostly entity?”

“This old Lu is indeed a ghost,” he introduced himself before getting straight to the point. “Mr. Qi is over a hundred years old, and even if he luckily breaks through to Innate, there won’t be much life left in him.”

“I have a pathway here to the secret of Everlasting Immortality, Mr. Qi. Are you interested?”

Misty Wave Angler, whose surname is Qi, was once a private school teacher who later abandoned literature for martial arts and ventured into the jianghu, all thoroughly investigated by Old Lu.

Zhou Yi pondered for a moment and retorted, “Could the jianghu rumors be true?”

Sixteen years ago, when the nine Great Grandmasters attacked the superintendent of Eastern Depot and failed, rumors about Everlasting Immortality began to spread, but few truly believed them.

“True, every word of it,” Old Lu stated. “But going against the Superintendent alone is akin to seeking death. Mr. Qi, you might as well join forces first, and after succeeding, rely on your own abilities for what comes next.”

Zhou Yi doubted, “The Superintendent has been missing for years, how do we find him?”

“If he does not show up, all his enemies will be dead,” Lu explained. “I understand the Superintendent’s nature; he surely won’t be able to resist seeking revenge, so we just have to wait for him to walk into our trap!”

Zhou Yi inwardly cursed Old Lu for truly understanding him, probing further, “Have you laid traps around the Superintendent’s enemies then?”

“Such tactics are too rudimentary and unlikely to deceive the Superintendent,” Lu said. “I saved a clansman of the Superintendent; once he hears his family is still alive, he will inevitably sneak back to check…”

Zhou’s family isn’t all dead?

Zhou Yi’s eyes narrowed; he was fortunate to have set bait beforehand, bringing Old Lu into the scheme, otherwise there would be another fierce battle.

Thinking this, he half-heartedly expressed, “The Superintendent’s strength is unfathomable. An assault might not succeed, and could even result in severe injury or death. Instead of fighting for the elusive prospect of immortality, I’d rather enjoy my remaining years more!”

Old Lu scrutinized the Angler’s expression closely, the evasion not seeming feigned, and relaxed his guard slightly, pointing to himself, “What do you think of my ghostly form, Mr. Qi?”

Zhou Yi commented, “Quite mystifying.”

“I have lived beyond five hundred years!” Lu claimed. “If Mr. Qi is willing to join forces, regardless of success or failure, I will bestow upon him the Immortal’s Longevity Scripture.”

Zhou Yi feigned eagerness, “Truly, a lifespan of five hundred years?”

“Indeed!”

Old Lu, eager for someone to practice this technique, coaxed, “I’ll first teach you the first half of the script, Mr. Qi. You can study it on your own, and afterwards, I’ll give you the second half.”

Zhou Yi promptly agreed, “Slaying the Superintendent, ridding the jianghu of scourge, it’s our duty to exert our utmost strength.”

The youth on the side burst into laughter, disdainfully remarking, “Mr. Qi’s shamelessness rivals that of the so-called righteous sects.”

Zhou Yi gave him a glance and coldly inquired, “Who is this guy?”

“A disciple of Overlord Blade, the Blade Deity Luo Shuo,” Lu introduced. “The young Master Luo is an exceptional prodigy, born with the ability to sense the energy of Heaven and Earth, advancing rapidly in martial cultivation; he broke through to Innate at the age of twenty-three, proclaimed the future number one in the world.”

Zhou Yi raised his eyebrows, seemingly not facing an old monster skilled in the art of remaining youthful; he wondered aloud.

“Seeking immortality at such a young age?”

Martial Artists of the Innate realm could live over a hundred and fifty years if they didn’t die in combat. Luo Shuo still had more than a hundred years to dominate the martial world, it wasn’t worth taking the risk for the elusive Everlasting Immortality.

“My master died at the hands of the Supervisor, and as a disciple, it is only right to seek vengeance.”

Luo Shuo said lightly, fanning himself, “Besides, having crossed blades with the Supervisor before, it’s time to remove ‘future’ from our concerns.”

Zhou Yi examined Luo Shuo closely; he didn’t possess the ferocity typical of an Innate Grandmaster. On the contrary, he seemed like a greenhorn, freshly arrived in the martial world and evidently unexperienced in cunning schemes and deceit.

Upon reflection, it made sense. Since Luo Shuo emerged as a Grandmaster, who among the common martial folk would dare scheme against him? They all had to serve him with sincerity.

“When will you give me the Immortal’s Longevity Scripture?”

“Right now will do.”

The old deer drifted forward a few steps. Without turning his back on Luo Shuo, he reached for the brush on the table, dipped it in ink, and began to write the Immortal’s Longevity Scripture.

Luo Shuo glanced over the scripture’s outline, pondered for a moment, then shook his head slightly, disdain in his eyes.

The essence of the scripture lay in the Art of Ghost Refining, which involved using torture and secret techniques to inflict pain on the body, eliciting endless suffering and resentment. This was then coupled with an obsessive desire for longevity, eventually drawing in the yin energy of heaven and earth to infuse the spirit, turning a person into a ghostly entity.

Such crude and unsophisticated methods did not appeal to Luo Shuo.

He was confident that when his lifespan neared its end, he could unite the martial paths of the world and innovate to breakthrough beyond the Innate realm.

“Sublime, truly sublime…”

Zhou Yi stepped forward, feigning enthralment with the content of the scripture when in fact, he was only a couple of steps away from the old deer. The True Qi within his body went from stillness to surging torrents in an instant.

The Vajra Indestructibility Divine Skill shattered the room as his six-foot-tall Golden Body materialised.

The profound True Qi enveloped a radius of several tens of yards, blocking every possible escape route for the old deer, and descended like a torrential downpour.

“Little Yi!”

The old deer cried out in alarm, never expecting Zhou Yi to lay a trap in the Xiao Xiang Pavilion. As the Innate True Qi rushed towards him, he spat out five skulls the size of fists.

The skulls swelled against the wind, growing to the size of human heads, exhaling black smoke and emitting shrill, ear-piercing screeches.

Boom, boom, boom…

After five consecutive explosions, all skulls shattered and did not impede Zhou Yi’s overpowering True Qi.

The old deer’s visage twisted in ferocity. His skulls were connected to his mind; their shattering directly backfired on his ghostly form, making it difficult to keep his lower body materialized, which reverted back into a hazy mist.

At the same time.

Luo Shuo reacted swiftly, his form merging with his blade as he slashed towards Zhou Yi’s neck, his blade’s glow not inferior to that of Huo Cong of Overlord Blade.

Zhou Yi, protected by his Ninefold Protective True Gang, ignored Luo Shuo’s blade light, focusing all his attention on the old deer and seeing the ghostly form shattered into dozens of black smoke trails.

The mists scattered in all directions, some soaring to the sky, some burrowing into the ground, and among them, one was the old deer’s main soul.

“Die!”

Zhou Yi’s six-foot frame unleashed countless Sword Qi, striking all the black smoke.

The continuous blasts lasted for over a dozen breaths, and the entire Xiao Xiang Pavilion was reduced to ruins, as though it had faced a cannon bombardment. The mingled corpses of guests and courtesans with bricks and timber formed a ghastly mud of blood and soil, too horrific to behold.

“Is he dead?”

Zhou Yi stood among the rubble, looking around and sensing carefully. He didn’t detect the old deer’s remaining spirit, but he also couldn’t be sure that the opponent was completely killed.

After being sliced with a dozen consecutive strikes, he finally broke through the Protective True Gang, leaving behind a foot-long wound.

The pain brought Zhou Yi back to his senses—there was still one pest left to deal with. He swung out his hand, repelling the blade light with his Sword Qi, and brought his palms together, ready to crush Luo Shuo.

“The Supervisor’s might is awe-inspiring, until we meet again.”

The suave sound of Luo Shuo’s voice rang out, and the blade light condensed into a foot-long glow, reversed direction, and streaked towards the heavens like thunder.

This technique of merging man with blade surpassed even Huo Cong of Overlord Blade. Ordinary individuals using Qinggong are hindered by their physical form, no matter how fast they are, they cannot outpace becoming the blade light.

Furthermore, the size of the blade light could change at will, its transformations led by the mind, with the ability to fly or burrow, it was indeed a supreme method for preserving one’s life.

“Get back here!”

Zhou Yi roared furiously at Luo Shuo, his voice thunderous, carrying as far as ten miles. Terrifying True Qi erupted from his mouth, swelling rapidly to the thickness of a beam, skewering the sky and blasting the blade light to smithereens.

After suffering such a heavy blow, Luo Shuo could no longer maintain the unity with his blade, and like a kite with its string cut, he plummeted.

Zhou Yi dissipated the Vajra Indestructibility Divine Skill, returning to the size of a normal man, and grabbed Luo Shuo by the neck, hoisting him up as he said coldly, “Had I not been solely focused on the old deer, you wouldn’t have had the chance to strike a single blow!”

Luo Shuo, covered in blood and gravely wounded, still maintained a hint of pride.

“You eunuch, just give me ten more years…”

“I shall not!”

Zhou Yi decisively crushed Luo Shuo, his True Qi flowed through his meridians, pulverizing his internal organs, beyond the help of even a divine being.

Shaking Luo Shuo’s corpse, a few silver notes and a scroll of blade techniques fell to the ground.

“Truly a greenhorn just entering the martial world, or perhaps too overconfident, to carry such a secret manuscript with him,” Zhou Yi remarked as he picked up the blade scroll and disappeared with a few leaps.

Long after.

More than a dozen figures of varying appearances stood atop rooftops near the Xiao Xiang Pavilion, observing the scene.

There were monks and Taoists, soldiers, and scholars.

These individuals, mostly grey-haired and elder, had strong and refined auras. Any one of them was a renowned expert in the martial world.

“Amitabha!”

The yellow-robed old monk chanted solemnly, with fear and yet more greed flickering in his eyes, “The Supervisor is indeed a grand demon of this world. If he is not eradicated soon, there will be no peace.”

Previously, rumors of Everlasting Immortality were scarcely believed, seen mostly as a ploy to rally forces against the Supervisor.

Now that the Supervisor has reemerged, the rumors gained some credibility.

The purple-robed old Taoist scoffed, “Old baldy, with your frail body, the Supervisor could kill you with a flick of his finger. Yet you dare to covet his power?”

The old monk put his palms together, emanating a dignified and compassionate demeanor.

“The humble monk is indeed no match for the great demon. However, with millions of Buddhist followers swarming together, we can restore purity to this world.”

Realization dawned on the crowd. The Supervisor, no matter how powerful, was but a lone individual. Even with great True Qi or physical strength, there is a limit. With sheer numbers alone, one could be overwhelmed to death.

If attaining immortality were possible, even with a slim chance, no matter how many die, it would be worth it!