Immortals and Mortals Forever Apart

Immortals and Mortals Forever Apart

High in the heavens, another strange phenomenon arose! A colossal sword, tempered through a thousand trials, had been left hidden away and neglected for a thousand years.

As time passed, its blade no longer gleamed, its edge was no longer sharp, and rust mottled its entire body! Yet suddenly, a tide of fury and unwillingness surged forth!

The rust corroded it ever more severely, yet the giant sword's divine mystery and majesty grew with each passing day! "Foundation Establishment Cultivator Dao Xuanzi cultivated for two hundred and one years, using the extraordinary Rusty Sword Dao Xuan to establish his Dao foundation. In the Immortal Forsaken Land, he fought others and ultimately died at the hands of Foundation Establishment Cultivator Kou Hong."

"Now that his body and Dao have perished, Return Dao to Heaven!"

The dazzling spectacle lit up the sky for thousands of miles like fireworks.

"Dao Xuanzi..." Kou Hong looked up at the magnificent sight, seeming completely stunned as he muttered to himself without cease.

All the soldiers present also raised their heads to stare blankly at the sky.

"This old man, Li Fan, greets Immortal Master."

At that moment, a white-haired old man leaned on a cane and trembled his way to Kou Hong's side.

Kou Hong ignored him. Li Fan was in no hurry either. As he stood waiting at the side, he signaled the soldiers to wait patiently as well.

After a long while, once the phenomenon in the sky had faded, Kou Hong finally looked at Li Fan.

"You're the leader of the mortals here?" Kou Hong's tone was stiff, and he clearly did not think highly of Li Fan. "The voices that sounded everywhere earlier were your doing, weren't they?"

"A trifling trick, unworthy of Immortal Master's notice." Li Fan cupped his hands. Avoiding the matter, he bowed deeply instead. "I beg Immortal Master to show mercy and save the lives of my thousand-plus clansmen."

"Mercy..." Kou Hong sneered. "Dao Xuanzi and I fought with our spells, each relying on our own abilities, with life and death left to fate. And yet you, a mere mortal, dared interfere in a battle between cultivators."

He looked at Li Fan, killing intent plain in his words. "Come to think of it, although Dao Xuanzi and I fought to the death over a Core Formation Skill, he was still my brother of more than a hundred years. Now that you plotted against him, shouldn't I kill you to avenge Dao Xuanzi?"

Unmoved by Kou Hong's aggressive pressure, Li Fan only gave a bitter smile. "I merely sought a sliver of survival! As this old man said before, if Immortal Master had been defeated, my clansmen would surely have been unable to escape death."

Kou Hong's expression softened somewhat. He sighed. "Seeking a sliver of survival. Well said. You're right—the world is hard. Who isn't struggling bitterly for that sliver of survival?"

Seeing Kou Hong's tone soften, Li Fan hurriedly pressed his advantage. "Earlier, Dao Xuanzi... Immortal Master once promised me that if..."

Before he could finish, Kou Hong interrupted with a frown. "If you mean that matter, I'm afraid I must disappoint you. Dao Xuanzi may never have intended to fulfill his promise in the first place."

Li Fan froze. "What does Immortal Master mean by that?"

Kou Hong said with a trace of mockery, "For the past hundred years, Dao Xuanzi always presented himself as solemn and trustworthy, a man whose word was law. Who would have imagined that he had no bottom line in his actions, even deceiving mortals?"

He paused, glanced at Li Fan's expression, then continued, "The Immortal Severing Grand Formation is perilous beyond measure. The two of us only managed to enter through a measure of luck. Even we would have to expend considerable effort to leave. How could we possibly bring mortals out with us?"

"What? Even you don't know how to leave this place?" Li Fan's mind shook violently, and his face turned ghastly. More than a century of hope had been denied outright by the cultivator before him, and Li Fan nearly broke down.

Fortunately, Li Fan had been tempered through several lifetimes, and his mind was resilient. He steadied himself and said to Kou Hong, "This is not a place to talk. Immortal Master, please come with me."

With that, he led Kou Hong through the ruins of Profound Capital City for a while before arriving at an underground shelter.

When Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi had been fighting earlier, the city's soldiers had hidden in these shelters. There were over a hundred shelters of all sizes throughout Profound Capital City.

Though the shelter was buried deep underground, it was brightly lit by electric lamps, as bright as day. Ventilation ducts connected it to the outside, so it did not feel stifling.

Kou Hong studied the lights on the ceiling with great interest and praised, "No wonder Dao Xuanzi sought cooperation with mortals like you. To be able to restrain and harness the power of lightning—over these thousands of years, you mortals of the Immortal Forsaken Land have truly developed quite well. And those concealed weapons from earlier were fairly powerful too."

Then he shook his head. "What a pity. Only in a place where the Great Dao is incomplete can these Magical Artifacts be of some use. Once you leave this place, under the suppression of the laws of the Great Dao, these things will have nowhere to show their worth."

"Speaking of which, when did Dao Xuanzi find you and tell you to ambush me here? The timing doesn't add up. Could it be that he secretly cultivated some avatar technique?" Kou Hong suddenly recalled something and asked.

Li Fan remained composed and was about to answer when Kou Hong abruptly lost interest and waved his hand. "Forget it. Why dwell on this? Once body and Dao perish, all things become empty." With that, he sat directly in a chair, looking rather dispirited. Dao Xuanzi's death had clearly dealt him quite a blow.

Better that he doesn't ask. The more I say, the more likely I am to reveal a flaw, Li Fan thought.

Then, with a nervous expression, he asked Kou Hong, "Was what Immortal Master said earlier true? You truly cannot bring mortals out of this Immortal Forsaken Land?"

Kou Hong scoffed. "You're merely a mortal. Why would I bother deceiving you? Perhaps Golden Core Stage cultivators could protect mortals while breaking through the Immortal Severing Grand Formation, but with only Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation, it is absolutely impossible!"

"Of course, if you don't mind being reduced to a few chunks after leaving, I'm willing to reluctantly give it a try."

Ignoring Kou Hong's not particularly amusing cold joke, Li Fan asked unwillingly, "Then is there truly no hope for us mortals to leave this world?"

Kou Hong considered it, but still shook his head. "To leave the Immortal Forsaken Land, you must pass through the Immortal Severing Grand Formation. With the body of a mere mortal, there is no possibility whatsoever of getting through. Every attempt would be nothing more than seeking death. Besides, at your age, with one foot already in the grave, why are you still so determined to leave? Isn't being a local emperor quite good?"

Kou Hong looked utterly unconcerned.

"This old man may die without regret, but I still wish to leave something behind for my descendants." Li Fan refused to give up and asked again, "If my descendants could cultivate to the Foundation Establishment Realm, like Immortal Master, wouldn't they have a chance to leave?"

Kou Hong burst into laughter. "Leaving aside the fact that there is not the slightest trace of spiritual energy here, making cultivation impossible, immortals and mortals are forever separated. Mortals here are covered from head to toe in miasma—how could they cultivate the immortal Dao?"

Kou Hong sneered. "I advise you to abandon that thought. If you mortals wish to cultivate, you must first go to the outside world and reshape your bodies, washing away the miasma covering you. Otherwise, even if the path to immortality were laid out before you, you would be able to see it but never touch it."

After receiving such definite answers to several questions, Li Fan finally seemed to give up.

"Immortals and mortals forever apart, immortals and mortals forever apart..." Li Fan muttered in a daze. "So there truly is no way?"

"There truly isn't." Seeing Li Fan's spirits sink to their lowest point, Kou Hong somehow became greatly pleased.

"There truly isn't," he repeated.

"As Immortal Master says, immortals and mortals are forever apart." Li Fan let out a long sigh.

"Exactly, exactly, exactly." Kou Hong nodded repeatedly.

As though crushed by this cruel truth, Li Fan looked somewhat absent-minded as he took his leave.

The instant he stepped out of the shelter, the massive door slammed shut.

Kou Hong's expression changed, and a sense of foreboding surged through him.

But it was already too late.

Billowing white mist infused with Immortal-Mortal Miasma burst forth from every corner of the room.

"Aah!"

Kou Hong let out a scream before being swallowed by the dense fog.

Outside the shelter, Li Fan's gaze was dark and distant as he slowly said, "Since immortals and mortals cannot coexist."

"Then how could a mere mortal like me dare believe everything you say?"