There were far too many legends about the Transcendent Immortals, but once one seriously traced them back, one discovered that it had only been ascension, not immortality.
Especially in this age of flourishing technological civilization, multiple life research institutes on New Star, together with the major zaibatsu and others, had dug through Old Earth in pursuit of longevity. More than once, they had truly found figures recorded in the Records of Immortal Lords. When the underground palaces were first opened and their lifelike bodies were seen, it had been shocking. Yet moments later came sighs and regret: the people of legend turned to ashes in a very short time, directly proving that they had not attained immortality.
For instance, Chi Xuzi, a true immortal mentioned in the Records of Immortal Lords—his tomb had been found back in the old era, containing only a pile of ashes. And Guan Lingyin: even his coffin had been dug up and displayed as an artifact in a museum for many years.
Wang Xuan did not care whether the Transcendent Immortals had been disproven. Learning today about the limits of a Daoist Master's lifespan was already important enough to him.
The woman lying in the bamboo boat, as one of the strongest Daoist Masters, could live to at least seven hundred years, while her upper limit was nine hundred and fifty. Her lifespan was indeed far from short.
This could be borne out by the more famous Daoist Masters in history. For example, the illustrious Peng Zu was said to have lived to eight hundred, which indeed fell within that range.
Wang Xuan was instantly filled with confidence. If he truly set foot in that realm one day, he would have ample time to ponder what lay beyond the end of the Old Arts path.
But after calming down, he also thought of some problems.
For example, this woman clearly still had plenty of lifespan remaining. Why had she been in such a rush to seek Ascension to Immortality?
Had something happened back then? Was it related to her personally, or to the greater environment? He thought of many possibilities.
"Her Ascension to Immortality failed. The reason her physical body was preserved, along with the vitality it possessed in life, is closely related to this thick stalk of golden bamboo."
Zhou Yu explained that the institute had named this golden bamboo the Ascension Divine Bamboo. It contained dense supernatural matter and vigorous life force.
Qian Lei asked, "Do you have some other research project, experiments in another direction?"
"There is indeed another plan. We named it—the Longevity Seed."
"Let's hear it." Qian Lei knew that the people from the New Star institute must be holding things back from them, but there would be plenty of time later to slowly dig them out.
"Other than the dissipation of her mental consciousness, the Female Daoist practitioner's body remains highly active, as though she has simply been sleeping until now. Her physiological age is very young, and she is at the stage suitable for marriage and childbearing."
Upon hearing this, even the two composed experts from the military were stunned, their eyes wide and tongues tied. They felt that New Star's researchers were far too insane!
Qian Lei was also dumbfounded. He instinctively hurriedly steadied his black-rimmed glasses, as if afraid they would fall off, and could not help asking, "You mean that after three thousand years, you want the Female Daoist practitioner to bear a child?!"
"That's right. She is the person we have discovered who, in the truest sense, came close to longevity. She broke through the limits of the human lifespan ceiling. The genetic material she leaves to her descendants would absolutely be extraordinary and worth experimenting with."
Zhou Yu's face was ablaze with fervor. She was even more excited than when she had said she wanted to dissect the Female Daoist practitioner, and she could not help forcefully swinging an arm.
As the head of a department within the Exploration Organization, Qing Mu was usually calm and composed. But now, even he was somewhat startled. He suddenly felt that once these refined and scholarly researchers became "passionate," they were more terrifying than he was.
Wang Xuan: "..." He truly felt a little stupid. This could be done too? Even after being dead for three thousand years, she could not rest in peace and still had to get pregnant and bear children.
He made up his mind that if he failed to make a way through the Old Arts path, then when the day of his limit arrived, he would absolutely burn himself away with a single blaze.
He now seriously suspected that when other top Daoist Masters had finally ascended and burned themselves away, perhaps they had already foreseen this day.
Qian Lei said solemnly, his expression grave, "This experiment cannot be conducted at this stage."
As one of the project leaders, Zhou Yu had considerable authority. Yet upon hearing this, she had no intention of directly opposing him. She nodded and said, "We had not originally planned to launch it anytime soon. Although the maternal body is strong enough, we cannot find a suitable paternal body. Let us wait another ten years. If a suitable person emerges on the New Arts path, we can consider it. As for Old Arts, forget it. People like the Pre-Qin Daoist practitioners will never appear again. In this day and age, that path is becoming increasingly impossible to travel. Results come extraordinarily slowly, and it is not universally applicable."
Wang Xuan sighed inwardly. The Female Daoist practitioner had, at least for now, escaped a calamity in life. But he immediately shook his head. She was already dead; honor and disgrace, rise and fall, meant nothing to her.
Qian Lei spoke with Zhou Yu and the other New Star leaders here for a long time. When he finally left, he requested to take a section of Ascension Divine Bamboo back for research.
Zhou Yu and the others seemed to have anticipated this long ago and generously gave him the severed bamboo branch.
Qing Mu could no longer remain composed. He wanted to organize his words and request a section of golden bamboo on behalf of the Exploration Organization, but before he could speak, the New Star people brought it up themselves.
"We cannot cut any more branches of Ascension Divine Bamboo from the bamboo boat. We fear it would severely affect the bamboo boat's vitality and could more likely endanger the stability of the Female Daoist practitioner's body. If that happens, every experiment will run into problems and can no longer proceed."
Qing Mu was left open-mouthed. The other side had blocked every route. If he shamelessly continued demanding it, that would be undermining the overall situation here and obstructing the experiments.
Zhou Yu showed an apologetic expression, then offered him a golden leaf, saying that this was all they could do.
Qing Mu felt terribly bitter. He looked at the section of bamboo branch in Qian Lei's hand, then at the leaf in his own palm. Without comparison, there was no humiliation.
"Forget it." He could only comfort himself like this.
Wang Xuan spoke: "I'm terribly sorry, but may I ask if I can dig away a few stones from this cave?"
Everyone present was surprised, while the New Star people looked puzzled.
Wang Xuan immediately explained, "I am someone walking the Old Arts path, and I revere the sages of old. Ascension to Immortality is like a myth to me. Being able to witness such ruins with my own eyes has already satisfied me, but I still want to take a few broken stones from the site as keepsakes, to spur myself on. The Old Arts path is viable. One can reach the realm of ascension and draw near to immortality!"
Qing Mu was surprised. He knew Wang Xuan and knew that he did not particularly revere the Transcendent Immortals. Had he changed his ways today? He actually wanted to take several stones away for display.
The middle-aged man from the military smiled. He was an extremely strong Old Arts expert. Nodding, he said, "Not bad, youngster. A martial arts fanatic, huh? You're much like me when I was young. Contact me more when you have time. Although I've begun transitioning to New Arts now, I haven't completely let go of Old Arts. If there's anything you don't understand, come find me. We can have a good talk."
Wang Xuan immediately put on a sincere smile and expressed his thanks. He even took the initiative to go over and exchange contact information with him. Naturally, the number he left was the phone number specifically used to coordinate with the Exploration Organization.
Seeing that he had gone this far, and with someone from the military having spoken up, the New Star project leaders and other researchers all nodded, looking utterly indifferent.
In fact, they had already turned this place upside down. The Female Daoist practitioner had indeed left behind some artifacts back then, but nearly all of them had been burned beyond recognition. There was nothing else of value.
Moreover, they had scanned the cave dozens of times with the most advanced instruments. There were no hidden layers or anything of the sort, nor any other special substances or energy.
Wang Xuan acted casually, using his bare hands to pry several stones from the cracked cave wall. The strength in his hands surprised the New Star people.
Although the cave had been cleaned up, scorch-black marks still remained in its cracks. They did not look like the traces of ascension burning; rather, they looked like a lightning strike.
Wang Xuan's face remained expressionless. He took six stones in total, then silently stepped back, wearing a quiet look while his heart surged with excitement.
Qing Mu sighed. "I practice Old Arts too, but unfortunately I'm not good enough. Though I worship the sages of old, my own strength falls short, so I must also take the New Arts road. I'll take two stones as keepsakes."
What could the New Star people say? They had only given him a leaf; surely they could not play favorites even with stones?
"Alas, our old road has reached its end. From now on, we can only place our hopes in New Arts." The middle-aged man from the military stepped forward, rather sorrowful, and grabbed two stones as well.
"How tragic!" Jin Chuan sighed, silently walked over, and tucked two fist-sized stones into his clothes.
Wang Xuan stared blankly. He was certain that these three understood nothing at all, yet they were following his lead. Were they monkey-smart, or merely blindly following the crowd?
The New Star people laughed. Trying to take advantage of them? How ridiculous. This cave had practically been turned inside out, tested a hundred times over. If anything valuable really existed here, would they have left it for them?
"You people!" Qian Lei sighed and shook his head.
Qing Mu, Jin Chuan, and the middle-aged man from the military were slightly embarrassed and somewhat sheepish. They were all people who understood.
Qian Lei took the lead in turning to leave. Soon, they took the elevator back to the surface and were sent out of the Great Canyon by a small spacecraft.
"Little brother, I see you brought out quite a few stones. It suddenly occurred to me that if my comrades ask me for some, the two on me won't be enough to share around. Give me another stone or two." The middle-aged man from the military looked at Wang Xuan with utter sincerity.
Wang Xuan sighed. This man had been so polite earlier, calling him a martial arts fanatic and saying he resembled his younger self, going on and on. So his gratitude had been for nothing.
Qian Lei adjusted his glasses and said, "Little brother, give me one too. After all, they are rocks from the site of the great ascension explosion. I need to take one back and have a specialist test it."
Wang Xuan was truly speechless. Sure enough, none of them were simple characters. They were all master actors!
Still, he did not care. He had long anticipated certain possibilities and had taken a few extra stones. What he truly cared about were only two of them.
Thus, he said nothing and silently tossed one stone each to the middle-aged man and Qian Lei. Seeing Qing Mu open his mouth too, looking embarrassed, he took the initiative to throw one over to him.
Jin Chuan immediately spoke up. "Brother, we belong to the same Exploration Organization..."
Before he could finish, Wang Xuan flatly refused. "No!" Naturally, he did not forget to add, "You tried to intercept and kill me last time!"
Jin Chuan was choked up badly. He wanted to correct him that it had been cutting in to snatch the prize, but in the end, he shut up and turned away, unwilling to seek out humiliation himself.
Looking at this group of middle-aged men, Wang Xuan said, "Aren't you overthinking things? I sincerely brought these back to display, to constantly remind myself that Old Arts can be very strong. What are all of you thinking about?!"
"Haha, life experience!" The middle-aged man from the military was quite frank this time and did not add any drama.
"Let's go, retreat. Time to head home!" Qing Mu patted his shoulder.
Not long after, they boarded the spacecraft and returned without incident. Although this mission had been fraught with danger but ended safely, Wang Xuan had already begun to consider withdrawing. He did not want to place his fate upon someone else's chessboard.
At present, his mood was not low at all. On the contrary, he was immensely excited. With the stones tucked against him, he wished he could immediately return to his residence. Even with his steady temperament, he could barely restrain himself. One could imagine the value of those stones.
After Wang Xuan returned to the city, he did not delay in the slightest and headed straight for his residence. He could not wait even a moment!
Time passed so quickly. It was already mid-month, so please give this tender new book some monthly votes. Thank you.
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