The First Lesson of Sealing the Mountain: Ten Thousand Immortals Experience a Hundred Deaths and Rebirths

The decree of the sage had been issued, and the Imperial Edict of the Dao Protector had been proclaimed.

When the four words "seal the mountain for a thousand years" were calmly uttered from Chen Changsheng's mouth, the entire Golden Ao Island exploded.

After a brief dead silence, a skyward uproar erupted.

"What? Seal the mountain for a thousand years?"

"What does the Dao Protector mean by this? How are we cultivators supposed to advance our cultivation if we don't enter the world to train and compete for opportunities?"

"This... how is this any different from being imprisoned!"

Tens of thousands of disciples, especially those Inner Sect Disciples who were naturally combative and accustomed to roaming the Primordial World, all showed expressions of shock and resistance.

The strength of the Jie Sect was forged through battle, not through hiding.

This was almost a truth branded into their very bones.

Facing the gradually boiling murmurs below, Chen Changsheng's expression remained unchanged.

He did not explain. He simply watched quietly.

Daoist Duobao stepped forward, releasing a faint aura of a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, his voice ringing out like a great bell across the entire venue.

"The Dao Protector's command is the Master's command!"

"Anyone with objections may go to the Jade Palace themselves and plead their case to the Master."

One sentence instantly suppressed all the commotion.

Go to the Jade Palace?

They wouldn't dare even if they had ten times the courage.

Zhao Gongming also followed up, announcing in a clear voice.

"From this day forward, the Calamity Aversion Department is officially established! I will oversee training and drills, while Senior Disciple Brother Duobao will oversee research and development! All disciples must cooperate unconditionally!"

The two highest-ranking Senior Disciple Brothers personally backing this up completely cut off any thoughts of bargaining from the crowd.

The most profound transformation in the history of the Jie Sect began under this coercive atmosphere.

The efficiency of the Calamity Aversion Department was astonishing.

In just one day, a brand-new hall rose up beside the Dharma Transmission Platform.

There were no ornate carvings, only heavy, plain, massive stones that radiated a sense of security.

Above the hall's doors hung a pitch-black plaque bearing three bold, flowing characters.

"Calamity Aversion Department."

As the Dao Protector, Chen Changsheng was naturally the highest authority of this department.

But he chose to act as a hands-off manager, delegating all specific affairs entirely to Duobao and Zhao Gongming.

Daoist Duobao seemed to have found a second spring in his life, his enthusiasm soaring.

He moved out all the various Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures he had collected over countless years, gathered all the disciples skilled in artifact refinement and formations within the sect, and threw himself day and night into the research and development of "life-saving treasures."

For a time, Golden Ao Island was no longer filled with soaring Sword Qi, but with blazing furnace fires and the clanging of hammers.

Zhao Gongming was in charge of training.

He divided all disciples into different tiers based on their cultivation levels, conducting the most basic physical fitness and reaction speed drills every day.

However, this wave of reform seemed to exist only among the upper echelons.

Among the lower-ranking disciples, after the initial awe had faded, a sense of slackness gradually set in.

Especially the Inner Sect Disciples—each one was proud and arrogant. Making them stand in stances and run laps like newly admitted disciples was nothing short of torture.

"Sigh, we've been training like this for three days now. What's the use, besides being a bit faster at running?"

"Exactly. When facing a real enemy, it's all about Divine Abilities and magical treasures. Are we supposed to compete over who runs faster?"

"I think this Calamity Aversion Department is just the Dao Protector's new broom sweeping clean. It'll settle down after a while."

On the Martial Arts Arena, many disciples went through the motions half-heartedly, whispering among themselves, clearly not taking this so-called training seriously.

Zhao Gongming saw this and grew anxious, but he was helpless.

He couldn't very well beat up all several thousand junior brothers.

One day, when signs of laziness appeared on the Martial Arts Arena once again, Chen Changsheng finally showed up.

He still wore that same aura of depleted vitality as he slowly walked up to the high platform of the arena.

All the disciples immediately straightened their expressions and bowed respectfully.

"We pay our respects to the Dao Protector."

"Today marks the first lesson of the Calamity Aversion Department."

Chen Changsheng wasted no words and got straight to the point.

He clapped his hands.

Daoist Duobao personally led a dozen disciples, carrying an enormous, ancient bronze mirror, and laboriously placed it in the center of the high platform.

That bronze mirror was about a hundred zhang tall, its surface smooth as water yet utterly still, exuding instead a profound aura of primordial chaos.

"This is..."

Zhao Gongming's pupils contracted. From this mirror, he sensed a trace of a sage's Dao Charm.

"This treasure is called the 'Myriad Tribulations Samsara Mirror.'"

Chen Changsheng's voice slowly rang out.

"It was bestowed by our master. It can reflect the myriad heavens and simulate countless killing tribulations. Those who enter this mirror will have their Primordial Spirit experience the most real scenes, the most real pain, and the most real... death."

As the word "death" left his lips, the temperature in the arena seemed to drop a few degrees.

The look of idleness on the disciples' faces gradually gave way to a hint of solemnity.

"Of course, dying within the mirror won't truly damage your Dao foundation; it will only let your Primordial Spirit feel a one-hundred-percent impact of death."

Chen Changsheng swept his gaze across the crowd, a meaningful curve tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"The topic of today's first lesson is simple."

"Survive."

His eyes shifted and landed on a burly young Daoist with a violent aura among the crowd.

"Nephew Huoyun, you are the foremost in combat among the Inner Sect Disciples. Would you be willing to set an example for your fellow disciples?"

The one called out, True Lord Huoyun, was a notorious battle maniac among the inner disciples. His fire-based Divine Abilities were superb, and he had no equal among his peers.

Hearing this, he stepped forward proudly and cupped his hands toward Chen Changsheng.

"Disciple is willing!"

He didn't believe this mirror could be that formidable—it was just an illusion after all.

"Good."

Chen Changsheng nodded.

Daoist Duobao activated his incantation, and ripples spread across the surface of the Myriad Tribulations Samsara Mirror.

True Lord Huoyun's figure was instantly drawn into a beam of light and vanished.

The next moment, a gray, hazy space was clearly displayed on the massive mirror.

Within that space, Sha Qi surged to the heavens, and ten great arrays were faintly arranged in various positions—the infamous Ten Ultimate Arrays.

True Lord Huoyun's figure appeared before the arrays.

"Just an illusory formation—watch me break it!"

The Huoyun within the mirror let out a long roar, summoning his prized treasure, the 'Crimson Flame Pearl,' which transformed into a fire dragon as he charged straight into the Golden Light Array.

The moment his foot stepped into the array's range.

The twenty-one treasure mirrors within the Golden Light Array shook in unison, shooting out ten thousand beams of golden light.

True Lord Huoyun couldn't even react; his protective immortal light shattered like paper, and his entire body was riddled with holes, turning to ash.

On the mirror's surface, two blood-red characters clearly appeared.

[Fallen.]

The entire Martial Arts Arena fell into dead silence.

Everyone was stunned.

Just like that... he died?

The top combatant among the inner disciples couldn't even last a single breath?

A flash of light on the mirror, and True Lord Huoyun's figure condensed again before the array.

His face bore a mix of confusion and fury.

"Again!"

This time, he learned his lesson and didn't charge in recklessly. Instead, he chose to probe from the direction of the Heavenly Severance Array.

As soon as he got close, three black banners within the array swayed, drawing in the energy of heaven and earth, and a Chaos Divine Thunder crashed down with a roar.

True Lord Huoyun screamed once more, turning into charcoal.

[Fallen.]

Respawn.

He charged the Earth Blazing Array, was swept up by red sand, and instantly ground to nothing.

[Fallen.]

Respawn.

He charged the Blazing Flames Array, was burned to nothing by Samadhi True Fire.

[Fallen.]

Respawn.

He charged into the Cold Ice Array, was frozen into an ice sculpture, and shattered into a pile of ice shards.

[Death.]

On the Martial Arts Arena, tens of thousands of Jie Sect disciples fell into dead silence.

They simply watched, helplessly, as their usually imposing senior brother Huoyun was slaughtered again and again in the mirror in every conceivable way.

At first, some found it somewhat amusing.

But by the time True Lord Huoyun had "died" for the thirtieth time, no one could laugh anymore.

When he "died" for the fiftieth time, some disciples' faces had already begun to pale.

When he "died" for the ninetieth time, only heavy breathing remained across the entire Martial Arts Arena.

Each death in the mirror was utterly real.

The heart-wrenching screams, the excruciating agony of having his Primordial Spirit ground away—it all seemed to transmit through the mirror's surface into everyone's perception.

Finally, after the ninety-ninth death, when his magic treasure was corrupted by the black sand of the Blood Dissolving Array and he dissolved into a pool of pus and blood—

A bedraggled figure was flung out of the Myriad Tribulations Samsara Mirror, crashing heavily onto the high platform.

It was True Lord Huoyun.

He lay sprawled on the ground, his entire body trembling violently, his eyes vacant, his face bloodless, muttering to himself.

"Dead... all dead... I died ninety-nine times..."

His once formidable Dao heart had been utterly shattered by these repeated, genuine experiences of death.

On the Martial Arts Arena, there was a deathly stillness.

The disciples who had earlier complained that training was boring were now drenched in cold sweat, their legs weak.

They asked themselves honestly—if they had gone in, they probably wouldn't have lasted even ten times.

Chen Changsheng slowly walked to the edge of the high platform, looking down at the sea of pale faces below.

His voice was calm and cold.

"Now, do you still think living is such an easy thing?"

No one answered.

"From today onward, the Calamity Aversion Department's live combat drills officially begin."

"All disciples, inner or outer, must enter the Myriad Tribulations Samsara Mirror and complete the 'Hundred Deaths Achievement.'"

"As for those who fail..."

Chen Changsheng paused, then revealed a gentle smile.

"No meals allowed."