I Shall Be Everlasting In the World of Immortals

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Above the Nine Fiery Heavens, Lan Chang'an's spiritual sense, at the peak of the Nascent Soul early stage, scanned his surroundings. Within the range of his perception, no third party was detected.

This location was at least several hundred li away from the deep mountain valley where the previous battle had taken place.

For reasons unknown, the two subordinates of True Monarch Shazhai did not pursue him together.

Squeak!

The Earth Burrowing Rat scurried about the battlefield, collecting spoils of war. It carried True Monarch Shazhai's storage bracelet in its mouth.

In the cultivation world, most cultivators’ storage bags were not true spatial artifacts. Instead, they were crafted using low-grade pseudo-spatial materials and refined with special restrictions.

The principle was akin to compressing the volume of several water vats or even an entire house into a small cloth bag.@@novelbin@@

At the same time, weight-reducing restrictions had to be added. Otherwise, walking on the ground would leave massive footprints with every step.

When Lan Chang'an probed the storage bracelet, he discovered that its outer shell was made of durable material and protected by a powerful defensive restriction.

However, after the recent battle, the restriction on the storage bracelet’s surface was significantly weakened. With the help of his quasi-fourth-rank puppet, Lan Chang'an managed to break it with relative ease.

"An Nascent Soul cultivator from the Tinghai Pavilion... so poor?"

Lan Chang'an swept his spiritual sense through the bracelet and found that the highest-grade magical treasure within was only a superior-grade magic treasure.

The stored spirit stones amounted to only tens of thousands, while the other materials and pills were too numerous to inspect at the moment.

The wealth of True Monarch Shazhai was even less than that of Master Lihuo.

This was clearly inconsistent with the status of a Nascent Soul True Monarch from the Great Yuan.

Lan Chang'an was surprised, though he would later learn the reason for this.

There were still loose ends to handle in this area, so Lan Chang'an did not have the time to carefully examine his gains, including the specific changes to the fifth life of the Nine Seal Stele.

He put away his puppet and pet, concealed his magical aura, and descended from the Nine Fiery Heavens back to the ground of the Black Fog Mountain Range. Ȑâ₦ÔβЁš

…

Flying several hundred li.

Lan Chang'an stealthily approached the deep mountain valley where True Monarch Shazhai had previously been.

At the entrance of a cave in the valley, a woman in a feathered dress and a dark-skinned middle-aged man, both at the mid-Core Formation Stage, sat cross-legged, healing their injuries.

Not long ago, the two had finished cleaning up the battlefield, confirming that the five Core Formation assassins from the Unseen Gate were all dead, including the Ash Hall Chief of Unseen Gate.

As for the seriously injured Shadow Hall Chief who had fled, they had been unable to capture him and dared not give chase.

One of them also had to stay behind to guard Xing Peng.

Without the direct orders of True Monarch, neither dared to act recklessly and remained in place, awaiting instructions.

"Once the Grand Elder returns, that severely injured late Core Formation assassin won’t escape our grasp."

"Hmm? True Monarch has already finished the fight? That was fast."

At that moment, the two raised their heads and looked toward the Nine Fiery Heavens several hundred li away. The faint aura of a Nascent Soul-level battle that had been emanating from there had already disappeared.

The two relaxed their expressions, confident in True Monarch Shazhai's ability.

Back in the Great Yuan’s central region, the Grand Elder had once been hunted by a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator and still managed to escape.

Although his cultivation had later fallen to the Core Formation Stage, this conveniently allowed him to traverse the spatial nodes within the central region’s forbidden zone, enabling him to reach the Great Qing.

Just then.

A surge of Nascent Soul-level pressure approached.

The blue-robed, large-eared youth who had left earlier returned to the valley.

"Grand Elder!"

"Congratulations to True Monarch for your swift victory!"

The woman in the feathered dress and the dark-skinned middle-aged man respectfully greeted him.

"Hmm, is Xing Peng still here?"

The blue-robed, large-eared youth looked down at the two from above.

"Rest assured, True Monarch. That brat's cultivation has been crippled, and with such injuries, there's no way he could escape," the dark-skinned middle-aged man reported with a sycophantic smile.

Suddenly, the "True Monarch Shazhai" before them narrowed his gaze, leaving behind only a blurred afterimage in his place.

"Crack!"

The dark-skinned middle-aged man's neck twisted as a massive hand gripped his skull.

"Grand Elder, what are you…"

The feathered dress woman beside him turned pale, her legs trembling.

Could it be that after completing his task, True Monarch Shazhai intended to silence them and eliminate witnesses?

“Pfft!”

A claw-like beam of energy swept past, and the feathered dress woman’s body froze.

A yellowish-brown glow appeared as a rat demon materialized on the ground, its claw piercing through the feathered dress woman’s abdomen, cutting through her delicate and slender figure.

"True Monarch Shazhai... killing his own… you're so ruthless..."

The feathered dress woman reached out with her blood-stained hand, her face pale as she collapsed to the ground.

In an instant, the two mid-Core Formation cultivators of Tinghai Pavilion lost their lives.

Neither had anticipated that the "True Monarch Shazhai" before them was not the real one. With a late third-rank body cultivator and a demon beast attacking them at close range, they stood no chance to fight back.

Moments later, Lan Chang'an withdrew his palm from the skull of the dark-skinned middle-aged man, a contemplative expression on his face.

Through a soul search, Lan Chang'an learned the identities and backgrounds of True Monarch Shazhai and his subordinates, as well as the reasons behind their journey from the Great Yuan to the Great Qing.

As Lan Chang'an had speculated earlier, the Tinghai Pavilion had long since fallen into decline. They could no longer survive in the Great Yuan, constantly hunted and suppressed.

Forced into a corner, True Monarch Shazhai and his group used a spatial node left behind by their ancestor to flee to the Great Qing.

True Monarch Shazhai was the current successor of Tinghai Pavilion.

Among the “remnants” of Tinghai Pavilion, he was the only one in the past few thousand years to advance to the Nascent Soul stage and achieve the attainment of a fourth-rank formation master.

To repair the formation pathway at the spatial node and gather materials, True Monarch Shazhai had sold off nearly all his possessions, leaving him destitute.

Even so, the spatial node leading to the Great Qing was still incomplete and unstable, capable of only accommodating cultivators below the Nascent Soul Stage.

This was why the True Monarch Shazhai Lan Chang'an encountered was not in his complete Nascent Soul form. His spiritual power was less than seventy percent of his peak state.

"A near-ancient sect that once gave birth to a Deity Transformation Heavenly Lord… reduced to such a miserable state…"

Lan Chang'an sighed inwardly, a sense of vigilance rising in his heart.

The fall of Tinghai Pavilion was clearly connected to the “Xuanmu Vine Gourd.”

Of course, its demise didn’t occur during its peak, when the Deity Transformation Heavenly Lord still presided over it, but in a later era.

Even during its decline, Tinghai Pavilion had Nascent Soul cultivators holding the fort. However, they failed to protect the Xuanmu Vine Gourd, eventually choosing to flee. Establishing a refuge in the Great Qing was just one of their escape measures.

Tinghai Pavilion’s original mountain gate, located along the coastal region of Yuan Province’s mainland, had been a dominant force in the nearby seas.

After its downfall, the Nascent Soul-affiliated sects in the coastal region divided up the legacy and territory left behind by Tinghai Pavilion, forming what is now known as the “Sixteen Sects of the Sea,” also called the “Sixteen Sea-Suppressing Sects.”

As the name suggests, these sects exerted dominance over the coastal regions, deterring foreign powers across the sea.

The strength of the “Sixteen Sea-Suppressing Sects” was even greater than that of the Great Qing’s Six Demonic Sects and Ten Xuan Sects combined.

This alliance’s might deterred coastal threats and allowed it to thrive on abundant resources. With late Nascent Soul cultivators at its helm, it ranked among the three major forces of the Great Yuan.

Its renown extended beyond the Great Yuan, reaching other regions of the Heaven Honoured Continent.

…

Lan Chang'an instructed the Earth Burrowing Rat to clean up the battlefield and keep watch around the valley.

Restoring his original appearance, he entered the valley’s cave alone.

"Thank you for saving me, my lord. I have no regrets even if I die now..."

Xing Peng lay inside a cage, his body covered in wounds, his limbs twisted unnaturally. His voice was faint, like a dying whisper, he was clearly subjected to inhuman torture.

Due to the existence of the Gu God Seal, the Tinghai Pavilion cultivators couldn’t directly use soul-searching techniques on him, but that didn’t stop them from using physical torture.

Lan Chang'an’s spiritual sense swept over Xing Peng and found that most of his cultivation had been crippled. Only fragments of his core energy remained in his body. Even if he managed to survive for now, he wouldn’t live for more than a few years.

A trace of pity flashed in Lan Chang'an’s eyes. He lifted the Gu God Seal from Xing Peng and performed a soul search to retrieve his recent memories.

Under severe torture, Xing Peng had been unable to keep silent and had revealed some information about Lan Chang'an.

Xing Peng, however, believed he had kept the most critical secrets safe, such as details about the Azure Dragon Society, Lan Chang'an’s true strength and methods, and his hidden network of relationships.

Even the connection with his cousin, the Shadow Hall Chief, had been left out, as Xing Peng hoped to preserve a sliver of hope for himself.

However, one piece of information had slipped—Lan Chang'an’s assistance in helping Xing Peng reform his Core. This was the only mistake that came close to touching upon Lan Chang'an’s secrets.

Fortunately, when Lan Chang'an had assisted him in core reformation, it had been through indirect means involving a “spiritual pill.” The true secrets of his Evergreen Immortal Constitution had not been exposed.

"Do you have any last wishes?"

Lan Chang'an’s expression was calm. He didn’t blame Xing Peng for the slip-up.

Not every cultivator had an unyielding will.

Under severe torture, very few could truly endure.

Strictly speaking, both Xing Peng and Zhou Qingxuan had been implicated because of Lan Chang'an.

Back when he had covertly investigated the Zhou Family, Lan Chang'an’s powerful spiritual sense had naturally probed the area in advance.

However, the Tinghai Pavilion’s secret techniques had proven superior, catching him off guard.

To protect the Zhou Family, Lan Chang'an had coldly rejected Zhou Qingxuan’s pleas and refused to appear openly.

Fortunately, he hadn’t sent a puppet clone at that time; otherwise, more secrets—such as the Azure Dragon Society—might have been exposed.

"Immortal Lan, since I’ve become a cripple, there’s no meaning left in life. I only hope you can save my cousin, Jue Ying, and ensure that today’s events won’t implicate him."

Xing Peng’s voice was hoarse and weak as he pleaded.

Lan Chang'an was surprised. He hadn’t expected Xing Peng to show a shred of conscience before his end.

His cousin, the Shadow Hall Chief, had nearly sacrificed his life to save him.

Lan Chang'an performed a quick calculation and confirmed that the Shadow Hall Chief, who had fled in desperation, hadn’t witnessed his battle with True Monarch Shazhai.

A Core Formation cultivator’s spiritual sense didn’t have that kind of range.

"I will grant your request," Lan Chang'an replied, nodding slightly. It was his way of making amends for implicating Xing Peng.

This man had spent over a century providing intelligence and handling unsavory tasks for him, working diligently and achieving much.

"Thank you, Immortal Lan."

Xing Peng showed a gratified smile, knelt on the ground, and gave a deep bow.

Then, he raised his palm and struck his own forehead. With a resounding “bang,” he ended his life on the spot.

Lan Chang'an didn’t stop him. For a cultivator whose cultivation had been crippled, living was more painful than dying.

Rather than struggling to survive, only to be hunted down by Unseen Gate’s higher-ups and potentially dragging Lan Chang'an into trouble, Xing Peng had chosen to take his own life to preserve the last of his secrets.

It was a wise choice.

In this way, he traded his life for a promise from Lan Chang'an.

Lan Chang'an meticulously cleaned up the scene, even removing the lingering soul aura from Xing Peng’s corpse to prevent any backtracking techniques.

Meanwhile, the Earth Burrowing Rat returned with the spoils of war from the valley and had already destroyed anything suspicious.

Lan Chang'an gave the items a cursory glance. The two Core Formation cultivators from Tinghai Pavilion were impoverished, possessing only basic magical treasures. Their pills and spirit stones were similarly meager.

After all, they were destitute cultivators on the run, still needing to “fund” True Monarch Shazhai’s repairs to the spatial node passage.

As for the Core Formation assassins from Unseen Gate, since they were on a mission, they naturally hadn’t brought all their possessions.

Even so, the sheer number of them meant the accumulated spoils were considerable.

The magical treasures alone were worth a fortune.

As a skilled artifact refiner, Lan Chang'an could recycle these into high-quality materials for crafting puppets and refining other magical treasures.

…

Half an hour later.

Lan Chang'an tracked the trail of the Shadow Hall Chief to the outskirts of the Black Fog Mountain Range.

Inside a dry sand cave, a man in a black cloak and mask lay buried. The mask blurred his facial features, concealing his identity.

Lan Chang'an’s spiritual sense swept over the area and found that the Shadow Hall Chief was gravely injured and unconscious.

A few second-rank demonic beasts prowled around, seemingly wary of his aura, inching closer cautiously.

Suddenly, a gust of wind swept through.

A traveling Daoist wearing a bamboo hat appeared beside the Shadow Hall Chief.

“Awooo!”

The nearby demonic beasts, startled, fled in terror. However, after running only a few li, their souls collapsed, and they died on the spot.

“Severely injured, suffering backlash from some secret technique. If untreated, this will harm his foundation permanently.”

Lan Chang'an took a superior-grade third-rank healing elixir from True Monarch Shazhai’s spoils and gave it to the Shadow Hall Chief.

During this process, Lan Chang'an observed the man closely.

“Huh, this one seems to have some measure of fortune on his side.”

Curious, Lan Chang'an used his divination techniques to probe further. He discovered that the Shadow Hall Chief was no ordinary individual—his destiny was remarkable. He was already a key Nascent Soul seed under Unseen Gate’s top leadership.

Saving this person could create a future threat to the Righteous Dao Alliance.

For a fleeting moment, Lan Chang'an considered eliminating this rising star of the demonic path, sparing the future of the cultivation world from a peerless fiend.

However, individuals blessed by fate would rarely die so easily.

Lan Chang'an further calculated the consequences of the Shadow Hall Chief’s death and saw that it would immediately attract the intense attention and investigation of Unseen Gate’s top brass.

It could even alarm the mysterious and unfathomable Unseen Gate Master himself.

Such a scenario would bring unnecessary risks and troubles to Lan Chang'an, with no benefits to speak of.

Moreover, killing this man would break the promise he had made to Xing Peng before his death.

“Forget it. In the world of cultivation, there’s no such thing as eternal alliances or enmities.”

Lan Chang'an sighed inwardly. With a single thought, he chose to spare the Shadow Hall Chief.

Before the man regained consciousness, Lan Chang'an attempted to use a soul-searching technique. However, he found that the Shadow Hall Chief’s core memories were locked by restrictions.

Only his recent memories were accessible, and they revealed nothing incriminating.

Just as Lan Chang'an finished his soul-searching.

The Shadow Hall Chief slowly opened his eyes with difficulty, revealing pupils as dark as night.

In his vision, he saw a traveling Daoist carrying a box on his back, his figure weathered and mysterious.

The Daoist exuded a profound and unfathomable aura, making it impossible to discern his cultivation level.

“My deepest gratitude for saving my life, senior… I, Jue Ying, will never forget this debt…”

The Shadow Hall Chief sensed the healing elixir dissolving inside him, rapidly mending his injuries.

“It wasn’t this poor Daoist who saved you…”

The traveling Daoist paused mid-sentence, then hoisted his box onto his back, leaving behind a mysterious silhouette as he walked into the distance.

“Senior, may I have your name?”

“This poor Daoist is known as Daoist Tianji. We shall meet again, if fate allows.”

The elderly voice echoed faintly as the Daoist’s figure disappeared into the light mist of the Black Fog Mountain Range.

“Daoist Tianji…”

The Shadow Hall Chief stood solemnly, deeply respectful. The name alone was enough to let him know it was an unparalleled expert.

Years later, even after rising to prominence as a great leader of the demonic sect, the Shadow Hall Chief would remember that enigmatic Daoist. Without his intervention, he would have perished in the Black Fog Mountain Range that day.

…

Lan Chang'an didn’t linger and swiftly departed from the Black Fog Mountain Range.

Initially, he had planned to use the alias “Daoist Tianshu” to confuse others.

However, recalling that the real Daoist Tianshu was skilled in divination and might sense this deception, he decided to change his name to “Daoist Tianji” instead.

Leaving behind an alias had its advantages.

Should Lan Chang'an require the help of a powerful demonic cultivator in the future, this act of goodwill could prove useful.

After all, in a hundred years, it wasn’t entirely impossible for the Righteous Dao Alliance to be overrun by the demonic path.

This decision left Lan Chang'an a potential retreat for the future.

…

Two days later.

Lan Chang'an silently returned to Jin Yun Valley. The disciples guarding the mountain gate had no idea that he had been away.

Within his cave abode on the Great Sun Peak, Lan Chang'an sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, focusing on the Nine Seal Stele within his consciousness.

In the fifth frame of the stele, the top tenth of the area glowed with a crystalline white light.

Unlike the previous time when he devoured the Nascent Soul of Master Lihuo, the fifth frame did not manifest the shadow of True Monarch Shazhai’s figure.

Lan Chang'an's expression shifted as he thought to himself, "Could it be because it didn't light the full fifth life?"

The fourth life of the Nine Seal Stele had been fully lit after devouring a single Nascent Soul.

Once fully lit, it could autonomously activate three reincarnation modes.

However, to convert the devoured individual’s experiences into a reincarnation life required fulfilling one of the deceased’s significant wishes during their lifetime.

For the fifth life, the requirements were much higher: it would take either the devouring of a Deity Transformation expert or ten Nascent Souls to fully illuminate.

Only when fully lit could the new reincarnation be initiated.

With lingering doubts, Lan Chang'an reached out with his consciousness to probe the Nine Seal Stele in search of answers.

The stele trembled faintly, transmitting abstract and fragmented concepts into his mind.

After analyzing these impressions, Lan Chang'an reached a conclusion:

"So that’s it. Only by devouring a complete soul essence capable of fully illuminating a particular life can a reincarnation imprint be carved into the frame."

"A single Nascent Soul spirit, in the context of the fifth life, is insufficient to light up an entire life. It’s merely a fragment, incomplete."

"These ‘Nascent Soul fragments,’ if gathered to fully illuminate the fifth life, would allow access to the other two reincarnation modes."

Lan Chang'an felt a twinge of disappointment. The reincarnation method he had previously experienced would be difficult to replicate.

Unless—

He had to devour the soul essence of a Deity Transformation Heavenly Lord as a complete whole to fully illuminate the fifth life. Only then could he initiate the previous reincarnation method.

The other two reincarnation modes were as follows:

1. Custom Reincarnation Life: Essentially a reset, allowing one to choose their location, talents, origins, fortune, and other factors.

2. Dreamlike Reincarnation Life: This mode involved living the life of another self in an alternate realm of cultivation, turning the experiences from the dream into a complete reincarnation life.

"The appetite of the Nine Seal Stele is getting bigger and bigger. If the fifth life requires a Deity Transformation expert, does that mean the sixth life would require a Void Refinement Venerable? And the seventh life an Integration Realm Dao Lord? At that point, even the entire human realm wouldn’t be enough to satisfy it."

Lan Chang'an shook his head, withdrawing his thoughts.

He then directed his consciousness toward the illuminated one-tenth portion of the fifth life.

Fortunately, it contained the vast and chaotic ocean of memories of True Monarch Shazhai.

Although it couldn’t be transformed into a reincarnation life, it didn’t stop Lan Chang'an from extracting useful knowledge from it.

With his now enhanced Nascent Soul-level divine soul, his ability to organize memory fragments was exponentially faster than before.

In just a month, he had obtained plenty of valuable information.

"A fourth-rank formation master… a pity! I can’t transform this into a reincarnation life."

All Lan Chang'an could do was access and read the memories, gaining knowledge and insights from them.

It was like being granted access to an open library—he could browse the knowledge and experiences within but would need significant time and effort to master and internalize them.

Even with these memories as a guide to avoid unnecessary detours, truly mastering any spell or technique at the Nascent Soul level or higher would take decades, even centuries.

Lan Chang'an already practiced numerous techniques. He lacked the energy to start learning more from scratch, even if the memories provided shortcuts and insights.

Ultimately, these weren’t his own experiences, and they couldn’t be directly transformed into instinctive skills.

True Monarch Shazhai had taken a specialized path, dedicating himself to the study of formations, achieving the fourth rank. His skills in other cultivation arts were far inferior to those of Master Lihuo.

This wasn’t because Master Lihuo hadn’t wanted to specialize—cultivation arts also depended on innate talent, and Master Lihuo lacked top-tier talent in any single discipline.

"Water Escape Technique, Undying Water God, Devouring Tsunami…"

True Monarch Shazhai was proficient in numerous divine abilities and secret techniques.

However, most of them were built upon the water-element foundation of the Tinghai Pavilion’s cultivation methods.

Lan Chang'an, who cultivated wood-element techniques, couldn’t practice water-element divine abilities—even if he transformed Shazhai into a reincarnation life, this limitation would still apply.

"‘Listening Sea Divine Ear… This divine ability doesn’t impose strict requirements on cultivation attributes. Even non-Tinghai Pavilion cultivators can practice it and still achieve a significant portion of its effects. However, this technique requires rare parts from legendary sea beasts or sea monsters, combined with secret alchemical recipes and long periods of refinement."

Finally, Lan Chang'an found a useful divine ability with the potential for cultivation.

…

Two years later.

Lan Chang'an’s age had reached 315 years.

For certain reasons, he postponed his planned trip to the Proud Moon Palace of Feng Kingdom.

The main reason was that, in his battle against True Monarch Shazhai, he had expended his strongest trump card which was the fourth life descent.

At the time, although there was still some divine soul power left from the fourth life’s possession, he had further depleted it while organizing True Monarch Shazhai’s memories.

Without his full trump card at peak condition, the journey to Feng Kingdom to obtain the Taiyin Jade Essence would be far riskier. The elixir was highly coveted, and if a Nascent Soul True Monarch targeted him, Lan Chang'an wouldn’t be confident in his ability to prevail.

Previously, it had taken all his effort to defeat an incomplete Nascent Soul True Monarch.

Without the Nine Seal Stele, killing such an opponent would have been impossible.

Over these two years, the intelligence Lan Chang'an extracted from True Monarch Shazhai’s memories proved invaluable.

The first significant discovery was that True Monarch Shazhai, as the successor of Tinghai Pavilion, knew very little about the true situation of ancient ruins.

He wasn’t even aware of the existence of the Xuanmu Vine Gourd.

This revelation allowed Lan Chang'an to breathe a sigh of relief.

His return to the Righteous Dao Alliance had three objectives, and this one had been resolved.

The second revelation concerned the spatial node passage.

The central region of the Great Yuan had once been an ancient battlefield, filled with numerous forbidden zones and spatial rifts.

The ancestors of Tinghai Pavilion had discovered a hidden spatial node among them. By constructing a spatial formation, they connected this node to a corresponding spatial node in Great Qing.

Over time, the formation passage had fallen into disrepair.

True Monarch Shazhai, as a fourth-rank formation master, had poured all his resources into partially restoring it, allowing passage for cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage.

From True Monarch Shazhai’s memories, Lan Chang'an learned that apart from the three who had crossed over, no one else was aware of this spatial node.

The node in Great Qing wasn’t located within the Righteous Dao Alliance’s territory but in another hidden location in Great Qing’s eastern region.

Knowing the location of this spatial node gave Lan Chang'an an additional escape route.

If living in the Great Qing became impossible, he could retreat to the Great Yuan.

The cultivation civilization there was more advanced, and opportunities to form a Nascent Soul were relatively abundant.

The final piece of crucial intelligence concerned the second life’s Great Kun.

From True Monarch Shazhai’s memories, Lan Chang'an confirmed the existence of Great Kun and pinpointed its location.

The Great Kun was actually the cultivation realm surrounding the Great Yuan!

Although not directly adjacent, and not located along the coast, Great Kun’s position was now illuminated on the vast map of the Heaven Honoured Continent.

For Lan Chang'an, who had undergone three lifetimes of cultivation and reincarnation, this offered a brand-new breakthrough.

This life, he might finally have the chance to return to Great Kun, the land where his Core Formation family from his second life had once resided!