Immortal Scripture

Immortal Scripture

An immortal's wrath leaves rivers of blood in its wake.

Corpses choked the long streets, and the reek of blood lingered for days without dispersing.

Even years later, people passing by the alleys and street corners of the West Gate Street in Gongzhou City in the dead of night would still hear distant wails and cries welling up from beneath the earth.

People said those were the resentful souls and evil ghosts banished to hell by the immortals, weeping over their endless cycles without reincarnation and burning in the blazing fires of the netherworld's purgatory.

The Duke of Wei's Estate after dawn.

Many people in Gongzhou City might have witnessed that night of sword light and rosy clouds tearing the firmament asunder, yet few knew what had actually transpired.

Inside the Duke of Wei's Estate, however, the news had already spread. The officials and runners brought by Zhongxing Du were stationed at the gates recounting the tale of yesterday's West Gate street battle, drawing a dense crowd of people from all over the mansion.

The men wearing saber-straps at the gate belonged to the Martial Rites Division. Zhongxing Du's personal guards and those rushed in from the Capital City—whether in martial skill or background—far outmatched anything one could find in Gongzhou City.

Usually arrogant, cold, and domineering, they wouldn't even deign to cast a straight glance at ordinary servants when entering or leaving the Duke of Wei's Estate, save for a select few.

At this moment, however, he chattered away incessantly like a marketplace peddler, brimming with excitement and completely immersed in the scenes he had witnessed the previous night.

After the events of last night, every trace of arrogance was gone, leaving in his gaze only a yearning for that sword immortal.

It was as if some baptism had scoured away all his haughtiness.

Because no matter how formidable one's martial arts or how illustrious one's background, it all appeared utterly insignificant before such an immortal.

He was no different from anyone else—merely a mortal among the common masses beneath the dome of heaven, unable to escape the trials of aging, sickness, death, and the bitter suffering of reincarnation.

"Those were Yu Fire Thunders unique to the Eastern Yu Kingdom, forged by extracting the grease of Exotic Beasts of the East Sea. They melt gold and incinerate iron. In the past when laying siege to cities and conquering territories, which of those who ate the king's grain didn't tremble at the mention of this stuff?"

The man spoke with dancing eyebrows and waving arms. "Yesterday you all saw the immortal walk right out of that monstrous sea of fire. How big was that blaze, you ask? It illuminated the entire west side of the city."

"Yet."

He straightened his posture and raised a hand with an air of absolute authority.

"The immortal didn't even singe a single hem of his robe."

"Why?" Lowering his head, the man used an interrogative gaze to sweep across the crowd, whetting everyone's appetite to the utmost.

A crowd of maidservants and footmen chimed in with eager questions: "Why?"

"Spit it out already!"

Only after thoroughly drawing out the suspense did the man hum and explain, "Because the clothes the immortal wears are celestial raiment! Is that something a mortal could ever compare to? Everything an immortal uses is brought down from the heavens. How could mortal fire possibly ignite it?"

Though it was only a few minutes of action, he dragged it out intermittently for over an hour.

From the assassins entering Yinglai Inn to the roaring fires sweeping across West Gate Street, and finally to a single sword light illuminating the nine heavens and eclipsing the bright moon.

Captivated by that stirring and imaginative tale, everyone's heartstrings rose and fell, ultimately surrendering entirely to the immortal's dashing grace.

"Those remnants of the Silver Flower Palace truly courted death, daring to provoke an immortal."

With the story finished, the surrounding gatekeepers, guards, and runners chimed in with their own remarks.

Previously, whenever these officials, runners, and pugilists mentioned the sword immortal, they called him an immortal, but whether there was any true divinity to it remained anyone's guess.

At this moment, however, they regarded him fully and completely as a genuine immortal.

If not an immortal, how could he wield that immortal sword whose long rainbow pierced the moon and whose chilling radiance illuminated fourteen provinces?

If not an immortal, how could he tread upon raging flames without his robes taking on a single speck of dust?

Meanwhile, in the main hall of the Duke of Wei's Estate, Grand Duke Li Guoyuan learned the full details of the previous night from Zhongxing Du. He, too, grew as fired up as everyone else, his blood boiling with excitement as he slammed the table and roared in applause.

"Dozens of Yu Fire Thunders, capable of being called divine fires, couldn't injure him in the slightest. With a single sword stroke spanning miles, he plucks a man's head from his shoulders."

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

Li Guoyuan burned with the desire to go and invite the immortal in person, yet he checked himself on the spot.

He was a reigning duke and a relative of the imperial family; making premature contact with someone who practiced immortality would hardly be beneficial and would only invite the emperor's suspicion.

Since Zhongxing Du belonged to the Martial Rites Division and answered directly to the inner palace, representing the emperor, his going would be far more appropriate.

Composing his agitated mood, Li Guoyuan sat back down. "Zhongxing Du, why don't you hasten to invite this immortal here so we may journey to the Capital together?"

Believing that he too could use this matter to soar to great heights, Zhongxing Du drifted slightly on air, his entire face flushed red. "The immortal has been invited to a large northern mansion by Lu Canghai and Xu Bayuan. Zhongxing Du will set off at once."

Being far more prudent, Li Guoyuan urged, "Hold on. Having been ambushed just last night, it is better to wait until past noon."

"Also, bring along the generous gifts I have prepared. Remember, you must not show the slightest discouragement or disrespect."

"Zhongxing Du understands!"

Within a large mansion in the north of the city, Gao Xian could faintly see many fresh-faced maidservants and young footmen peeking at him from atop the courtyard walls.

One had to admit, Gao Xian's outward shell could be summed up in a single word.

Handsome!

After all, if one wanted to be an immortal these days, the requirements for appearance were quite stringent.

Coupled with the trace of a Daoist mark between his brows, he genuinely possessed eight or nine tenths of the graceful demeanor of an exiled immortal descending to the mortal realm.

Gone from Gao Xian's face was the churning killing intent of the previous night, as if everything that had happened before had already drifted away like a passing white colt.

In one hand he held a folding fan, while the other clutched a stack of silk fabrics covered in dense, intricate writing.

"Depraved Flower Immortal Scripture."

This was the heritage treasure of the Silver Flower Palace, the foundation upon which the sect established its footing in the martial world, and the very backing that allowed this demonic overlord sect to control its disciples.

Carefully reading through this cultivation manual, Gao Xian discovered that it differed from ordinary arts. It had actually been created as an ambitious path toward immortality forged by a former pugilistic expert, the Old Demon of Depraved Flowers, after reaching the absolute peak of his martial arts.

No true methods of immortal cultivation existed in this world, yet this man had carved out a unique path.

All things in heaven and earth possessed spiritual nature—grasses, trees, rivers, mountains, humans, beasts, birds, and insects alike. Ranging above humans and beasts were various souls of different colors, while descending upon grasses and trees was spiritual essence.

Once this man's martial cultivation reached its peak, his physical form grew complete and his consciousness harmonious, allowing him to perceive the spiritual nature of all living things.

Struck by a sudden whim, he sought to seize the spiritual essence of all things, merge it into his own cultivation, and ultimately reverse mortality to become an immortal.

The souls of humans and beasts were complex; trying to absorb them led either to death or madness. Only the spirits of vegetation offered a viable path for experimentation.

Although the man failed to discover a true method of immortal cultivation before his death, he did manage to grope his way toward certain discoveries, which culminated in this set of the Depraved Flower Immortal Scripture.

It allowed practitioners to extract trace amounts of vegetative spiritual essence from aged medicinal herbs through specialized techniques, known as immortal elixirs, alongside various unranked formulas and even methods for utilizing poisons.

This explained why Young Master Silver Flower remained on the cusp of middle age while retaining the appearance of a youth, and why successive palace masters of the Silver Flower Palace were so formidable, beating down every expert in the martial world without leaving room for counterattacks.

"Alchemy?"

An idea sparked in Gao Xian's mind as he read to this point.

Aside from his passive ability to Bestow Divinity upon Spirits, he actually lacked any genuine cultivation methods. The so-called sitting in meditation, practicing, and visualization were merely pretexts for taking a long nap.

Besides, after a year of sitting in meditation and chanting scriptures, he had merely been putting on a show.

Yet this Depraved Flower Immortal Scripture opened up an entirely different path for Gao Xian.

Could he use this method to extract the spiritual essence of heaven and earth, expand upon it, and refine all manner of miraculous spiritual pills?

At that moment, the voice of Lu Canghai drifted in from outside. "The medicinal ingredients required by the Immortal Elder have all been brought, and every single one of them is of sufficient age."