Immortal Scripture

Chapter 13: Immortal Scripture

When an immortal is enraged, rivers of blood flow.

Bodies littered the long street, the stench of blood lingering for days.

Even years later, people passing through the alleys and corners of Gongzhou City's West Gate Street at midnight would still hear wails and cries from beneath the ground.

They say these are the vengeful spirits of the wicked, banished to hell by an immortal, weeping for their eternal damnation and the searing flames of the underworld's purgatory.

The Duke of Wei's Estate the morning after.

Many in Gongzhou City might have witnessed the sword light and celestial clouds that tore through the sky that night, but few knew exactly what had transpired.

Inside the Duke of Wei's Estate, however, the story had already spread. The soldiers and constables brought by Zhongxing Du were at the entrance, recounting the events of the previous night on West Gate Street, drawing a crowd from the entire estate.

Those at the entrance, with sabers at their waists, were from the Martial Rites Division, Zhongxing Du's personal guards. They had traveled from the capital, and their skills and backgrounds were beyond anything the people of Gongzhou City could compare to.

Normally arrogant and cold, swaggering, they barely spared a glance for the servants of the Duke of Wei's Estate, except for a select few.

Now, this man spoke incessantly like a street vendor, brimming with excitement, completely captivated by the scene he had witnessed the night before.

After last night, all his arrogance was gone, replaced by admiration for the Sword Immortal in his eyes.

It was as if a baptism had washed away all his pride.

Because no matter how high one's martial arts or how illustrious one's background, it all seemed insignificant before this immortal.

Like everyone else, he was merely one of the common folk under the heavens, a mortal unable to escape the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, death, and suffering.

"That's Yu Fire Thunder, only found in the Yu Kingdom. It's refined from the oil of exotic beasts from the East Sea, capable of melting gold and burning iron. In the past, when attacking cities and conquering territories, every soldier feared this thing."

The man spoke with animated gestures, his hands and feet moving as he described it. "And then, the immortal rode a donkey out of that monstrous inferno. You saw it yesterday, how huge the fire was, illuminating the entire west of the city."

"But."

He straightened up and raised his hand, striking a pose. "Not a single corner of the immortal's robe was even scorched."

"Why?" The man lowered his head, looking at everyone with a questioning gaze, piquing their curiosity.

A group of maids and servants eagerly asked, "Why?"

"Hurry up and tell us!"

After building the suspense, the man huffed and said, "Because the immortal was wearing a Heavenly Robe. How can mortals compare to that? The things immortals use are brought from the heavens; ordinary fire cannot ignite them."

What should have been a few minutes of storytelling stretched for over half an hour, told in fragments.

From the assassins entering the Yinglai Inn, to the towering inferno on West Gate Street, and then to a single sword light illuminating the heavens and eclipsing the moon.

Everyone's heartstrings were pulled by the moving and imaginative tale, ultimately surrendering to the immortal's magnificence.

"These remnants of the Silver Flower Palace are truly courting death, daring to provoke an immortal."

After the story concluded, other gatekeepers, guards, and constables chimed in.

Before this, when these soldiers, constables, and martial artists mentioned the Sword Immortal, they called him an immortal, but it was uncertain how much they truly believed he was one.

Now, however, they had completely accepted him as a true immortal.

If not an immortal, how could he unleash that celestial sword that pierced the rainbow and shone across fourteen provinces?

If not an immortal, how could he walk through flames without his robes being touched?

In the main hall of the Duke of Wei's Estate, Duke Li Guoyuan learned the details of the previous night from Zhongxing Du. Like everyone else, he was filled with excitement, pounding the table in approval.

"Dozens of Yu Fire Thunders, comparable to divine fire, couldn't harm him in the slightest. With a single sword strike, he traversed miles to take a head."

"A true immortal! This is a true immortal!"

Li Guoyuan was so eager that he wanted to personally invite the immortal for a meeting, but he immediately stopped himself.

He was a Duke of the court and also related to the emperor by marriage. Prematurely associating too closely with this cultivator might not be good, potentially arousing the emperor's suspicion.

Zhongxing Du, being from the Martial Rites Division, reported directly to the imperial palace and represented the emperor. It would be more appropriate for him to extend the invitation.

Li Guoyuan suppressed his excitement and sat down. "Zhongxing Du, quickly invite this immortal to the capital to join us."

Zhongxing Du also believed he would rise to prominence because of this matter, feeling a bit giddy, his face flushed. "The immortal has been invited by Lu Canghai and Xu Bayuan to a mansion north of the city. I will go now."

Li Guoyuan was more cautious. "Wait. They were just attacked last night. Let's wait until after noon to go."

"Also, take the generous gift I've prepared. Remember, do not show any disrespect."

"Understood, Zhongxing Du!"

In a large mansion north of the city, Gao Xian could vaguely see many young maids and servants peeking at him from over the wall.

It had to be said, Gao Xian's appearance was, in a word:

Handsome!

After all, in this era, to be an immortal, one had to meet rather strict requirements for appearance.

Combined with the trace of a Dao mark between his brows, he truly possessed the demeanor of a banished immortal descending to the mortal world, looking eight or nine parts like one.

Gao Xian's face no longer held the fierce aura from last night; it was as if everything that had happened before had passed like a fleeting moment, carried away by the wind.

He held a folding fan in one hand and a stack of silk brocade in the other, covered in dense, fine text.

"Depraved Flower Immortal Scripture."

This was the treasured inheritance of the Silver Flower Palace, the foundation upon which it stood in the world, and the means by which this major demonic sect controlled its disciples.

Gao Xian carefully read through the cultivation technique. He discovered it was unlike ordinary methods. It was a technique created by the Old Demon of Depraved Flowers, a powerful figure of the past, who had reached the pinnacle of his art and sought to ascend to immortality.

There was no true method of cultivation for immortality in this world, but this man had forged a unique path.

All things in heaven and earth possessed sentience: plants, trees, humans, animals, and birds alike. Above humans and animals were various souls, while below plants and trees lay Spiritual Essence.

After reaching the peak of martial arts cultivation, with a perfected body and a unified consciousness, one could perceive the sentience of all living things.

He had a sudden idea: to seize the sentience of all things and integrate it into his own body for cultivation, ultimately transcending mortality to become an immortal.

The souls of humans and animals were too complex; integrating them would either lead to death or madness. Only the sentience of plants could be attempted.

However, this man never managed to discover the true immortal cultivation method before his death. Nevertheless, he did uncover some principles, which formed this Depraved Flower Immortal Scripture.

It allowed for the extraction of small amounts of plant Spiritual Essence from aged herbs through special techniques, referred to as Immortal Elixir Formulas. There were also some less reputable methods, even techniques for using poisons.

This explained why Young Master Silver Flower, despite being nearly middle-aged, still looked like a youth. It was no wonder that the successive Palace Masters of the Silver Flower Palace were so formidable, capable of defeating all manner of martial arts experts without giving them a chance to retaliate.

"Alchemy?"

Upon reading this, Gao Xian's interest was piqued.

Aside from his passive "Bestow Divinity upon Spirits" ability, he didn't actually have any cultivation methods. His so-called meditation, cultivation, and visualization were merely euphemisms for sleeping.

After all, he had only been pretending to meditate and recite scriptures for the past year.

The Depraved Flower Immortal Scripture offered Gao Xian a different path.

Could he use this method to extract the Spiritual Essence of all things in heaven and earth, refine it, and concoct various elixirs and medicinal pills?

At that moment, Lu Canghai's voice came from outside: "The medicinal ingredients you requested, Immortal Master, have all been brought. They are all sufficiently aged."