Ageless Immortal

Xu Ying was exceedingly excited. He calculated inwardly, As a Qi Refiner, controlling my own magic power is only natural. Divine beings turn their magic power into flying swords, so controlling their magic power means controlling flying swords. I can control my own energy too. When my energy leaks out, it can transform into the Elephant King Divine Body, so naturally it can transform into a flying sword as well!

He was brimming with enthusiasm as he tried to shape his energy into a flying sword, but after several attempts, he still failed.

Xu Ying was not discouraged and continued refining it. However, the shape of a sword was different from that of the Elephant King Divine Body. The Elephant King Divine Body followed the circulation path of a technique and had natural constraints. The shape of a sword had no such constraints. Xu Ying had to control his own energy and make it form the shape of a sword, which was therefore exceedingly difficult.

"Perhaps I can first try controlling a willow branch."

Xu Ying's heart stirred. He immediately tried pouring his energy into the willow branch, using his spiritual sense to control the energy within it, then slowly released his palm.

The willow branch wobbled and actually floated in midair.

Xu Ying was overjoyed. With a thought, the willow branch began flying crookedly through the air.

Yuan Qi stared in a daze. "He actually did it... Which exact words of mine enlightened him? If I can enlighten him, surely I can enlighten myself!"

Confidence suddenly surged through him.

What was Xu worth? He was merely a junior who had received guidance from Lord Snake. If Xu could do it, Lord Snake naturally could too!

Xu Ying controlled the willow branch and used the sword arts he had comprehended earlier. The willow branch was too light and was difficult to wield. With the slightest exertion of his thoughts, his moves fell apart.

He clumsily controlled the willow branch, practicing the sword arts he had comprehended again and again, learning how to control his thoughts, spiritual sense, and energy.

He pondered on his own, yet progressed with astonishing speed. Before long, he had worked out Sword Control Technique. Controlling the willow branch, he performed all kinds of basic sword moves!

Yuan Qi still had not figured out which words had done it. Seeing Xu Ying already perform the sword arts with considerable skill, he felt grief and indignation. "What use is this brain of mine to Lord Snake?"

The willow branch flew over and hovered half a foot above Xu Ying's shoulder. It moved with his body; wherever he went, the willow branch flew.

Xu Ying furrowed his brows slightly and pondered. "My Sword Control Technique is as easy to command as my own arm, but I wonder whether I can use it to release Sword Qi and sword radiance, just as I would when holding a sword?"

Seeing him struggle with the problem, Yuan Qi smiled. "A Ying, I've heard that clever people can often draw inferences from one thing to another..."

Xu Ying's eyes lit up. He suddenly clapped his hands. "You're absolutely right! Thank you for enlightening me. I finally understand!"

"I haven't finished speaking yet... Forget it. As long as you're happy."

Xu Ying was exceedingly excited. While controlling the willow branch and practicing sword arts, he spoke rapidly. "You're right—drawing inferences from one thing to another! I use my spiritual sense to control the energy within the willow branch, so my spiritual sense is equivalent to my arm. When I hold the willow branch, energy enters it through my arm, allowing me to release Sword Qi. In other words, I can follow my spiritual sense and continuously send my own energy into the flying willow branch, thereby releasing Sword Qi and sword radiance!"

The willow branch darted rapidly around Xu Ying and Yuan Qi. Suddenly, with a sharp hiss, an invisible Sword Qi shot from its tip, producing a piercing sound as it tore through the air.

Yuan Qi hurriedly retracted his tail. The Sword Qi skimmed past it, and a mountain rock suddenly split open, dust billowing out as the invisible Sword Qi cleaved it in two!

Xu Ying controlled the willow branch as it flew back and forth. Sword Qi crisscrossed from its tip, unstoppable. With a flash, the Sword Qi cleanly severed the crown of a great tree!

The crown flew up with a whoosh, traveling more than a dozen steps before finally crashing to the ground!

Yuan Qi's heart pounded. How could that tree crown weigh less than ten thousand catties? Yet the power contained in Xu Ying's strike had sent it flying more than a dozen steps. The might concealed within that sword strike could well be imagined!

Such Sword Qi could completely rival the incense-fire flying swords of divine beings!

Xu Ying recalled the willow branch, overjoyed. He laughed. "Little Qi, if not for your guidance, I absolutely couldn't have mastered Sword Control Technique so quickly!"

Yuan Qi summoned his courage. "This proves that reading is still useful. A Ying, well... since I was the one who guided you to learn Sword Control Technique, could you teach it to me?"

Xu Ying nodded repeatedly. "Of course. It's very simple."

Yuan Qi struggled to learn it for quite some time, suspicion rising in his heart. "Simple? Could you have deceived me?"

He practiced again and again, but still could not make the willow branch fly.

Xu Ying had no choice but toss him aside and continue pondering Sword Control Technique. Suddenly, he thought, "I can make the willow branch fly using my spiritual sense and energy. My spiritual sense itself doesn't bear the willow branch's weight. Then, can I stand on the willow branch and fly?"

Once he had the thought, he acted on it. His spiritual sense stirred, and the willow branch rose.

Xu Ying sprang up and landed on the willow branch, which slapped down onto the ground.

Xu Ying tried again, but the willow branch still could not bear his weight and once more fell to the ground. Again and again, it remained incapable of carrying him into flight.

"A Ying, we've reached Mount Wu Wang!"

Yuan Qi suddenly sped up, exclaiming excitedly, "Come quickly! This is my old home. Three generations of our Old Niu Family have lived on Mount Wu Wang! To the north of our Mount Wu Wang is Shuikou Temple, the Temple of Emperor Shun; to the west is Yilin Temple; to the south is Mount Xiao; and to the east is Niaotangpu. Our mountains are full of wild fruit. Whenever the autumn leaves turn yellow, transformed demons from the mountains carry baskets of ripe wild fruit to the markets outside the mountains to exchange for rice and flour."

He rushed onto Mount Wu Wang and pointed west, smiling. "Look, that's Yilin Temple. The abbot there is the Demon God Bai Junzi... Huh? Where's Yilin Temple?"

Yuan Qi stood rooted to the spot on the mountain. Suddenly, he panicked. "No! No! Where did such a huge Yilin Temple go? And Shuikou Temple! Where did Shuikou Temple go? Where's Niaotangpu? Such a huge Niaotangpu..."

He raised his head and looked around in bewilderment, muttering, "Is this still Mount Wu Wang...?"

He was familiar with everything surrounding Mount Wu Wang, yet now the area around Mount Wu Wang was filled with towering peaks, their sides sharp as if carved by knives and axes. Great rivers cut through the mountains, while in the distance, a vast lake surged like the sea.

The only thing remaining of what he knew was this Mount Wu Wang.

Suddenly, the earth shook and the mountains trembled. Mount Wu Wang rumbled as it rose upward, enormous chunks of mountain thrusting continuously out of the earth and growing ever higher!

A cliff appeared where Yuan Qi stood. Incredibly steep, it grew outward from the mountain right before his eyes!

After a moment, the cliff had risen roughly a thousand zhang. Huge rocks kept breaking free from its face and crashing down with thunderous booms.

Yuan Qi raised his head, his eyelids twitching uncontrollably. Two characters were written on the cliff face.

Mount Wu Wang.

The Mount Wu Wang he knew was gone too. Only Mount Wu Wang remained.

"Qin Yan Cave! Right! My Qin Yan Cave must still be here!" Yuan Qi hurriedly slithered down the mountainside and headed toward Qin Yan Cave.

Xu Ying hurriedly followed. Before long, Yuan Qi finally found his old home, Qin Yan Cave. Bursts of rosy light surged from within the cavern, containing vigorous life force and shining with dazzling splendor.

Xu Ying walked to the cave entrance. As the rosy light touched him, the wounds on his chest that had already healed suddenly began itching again. He involuntarily scratched them!

The more he scratched, the itchier they became. He hurriedly pulled open his collar to look, and could not help freezing.

There were multiple wounds on his chest. Three of them were claw marks that went deep enough to show bone, left by the Stone Mountain God and nearly tearing open his torso.

After Xu Ying had bathed in dragon blood at the Hometown Gazing Platform, the wounds on his body had all healed, but they had left behind one horrifying scar after another.

The scars on his chest were especially like little crimson dragons sprawled across it. They felt knobby and uneven to the touch and were extremely unsightly.

But now, those scars were rapidly fading!

Where the scars vanished, the skin was exactly the same color as the skin elsewhere!

There was no sign left on his body that he had ever been injured.

"This Qin Yan Cave contains flourishing life force. It's extraordinary!" Xu Ying was uncertain and astonished. Was this truly the place where three generations of the Old Niu Family had lived?

The scars on Yuan Qi's body also faded away, leaving no trace of his former injuries. He too had not expected Qin Yan Cave to undergo such a transformation. Without another thought, he rushed into the cavern.

Worried that something might happen to him, Xu Ying hurriedly followed.

Qin Yan Cave extended more than ten li into the mountain. After the mountain's transformation, with Mount Wu Wang becoming Mount Wu Wang, Qin Yan Cave had expanded many times over and become even deeper than before!

Xu Ying followed Yuan Qi onward. He saw many lingzhi herbs growing on the cave walls, filling the air with a strange fragrance.

Some sections of the cave wall seemed newly grown, without any patina and looking extremely fresh. Yet enormous spirit pearls hung from them, radiating a faint glow that illuminated the path.

"Little Qi, your home is huge." Xu Ying looked around in amazement.

Yuan Qi led the way. The cave twisted and turned, filled everywhere with sheer cliffs, stalactites, and grotesque rocks jutting out in jagged profusion.

Within Qin Yan Cave, caves lay within caves, connected to one another. Some places were submerged and required them to swim through underwater.

Xu Ying carried the Great Bell and followed Yuan Qi underwater. Strange rocks all around them cast bizarre, kaleidoscopic shapes, and enormous stone walls bore peculiar writing. The light was simply too dim to make it out, so they could not tell what was written there.

Xu Ying was astonished beyond words. Without Yuan Qi leading the way, he would never have imagined that there was another world beneath the water!

"Qin Yan Cave is so complicated. Those pursuers will absolutely never find this place!"

At this thought, Xu Ying suddenly laughed. Mount Wu Wang had become Mount Wu Wang, and the terrain all around had changed completely. Even Yuan Qi himself could no longer recognize it, let alone the authorities and the City God.

"They probably don't even know where Mount Wu Wang is." Xu Ying thought to himself.

Yuan Qi swam toward a stone wall, only to see crack after crack spreading across it. A section of the wall collapsed. They swam through the breach and surfaced. Before them was a flight of white jade steps stretching across the water.

Xu Ying followed Yuan Qi out of the water. A white jade bridge clung to the surface and extended forward.

Only after reaching this place did Yuan Qi finally relax. He murmured, "My home is still here. My home is still here..."

He led the way ahead. Xu Ying walked along the white jade bridge. After an unknown distance, the water ahead suddenly grew bright and spacious. A covered bridge lay across the rippling water, and a palace carved from white jade entered his view.

Yuan Qi smiled. "This is where I cultivate. Without me leading the way, no one could ever find this place!"

Xu Ying surveyed the surroundings, too shocked to speak. Who could have imagined that such a breathtaking palace existed within a mountain cavern?

Moreover, the life force grew even denser here. His cultivation rose considerably with every breath, making this place seem like an immortal mountain and blessed land!

Suddenly, Xu Ying stopped, staring straight ahead as his heart pounded wildly.

In the center of the white jade palace ahead stood a pitch-black coffin.

Not far from the coffin, a Maiden stood with her back to them, gazing up at the towering jade wall before her.

"Little Qi, didn't you say that without you leading the way, no one could enter?" Xu Ying lowered his voice and quietly retreated.

The Snake Demon Yuan Qi also saw the Black Coffin. He retreated as well and whispered bitterly, "For more than three hundred years, our Old Niu Family has lived here, and no one else has ever come. Who would've known how the Female Ghost found this place?"

The changes to Mount Wu Wang had already driven him mad. He had never expected the Female Ghost to raid his old home too!

The Female Ghost they spoke of was the Maiden in the Coffin from the ancient well at the Stone Mountain Desolate Temple.

The coffin placed in the white jade palace was none other than the Black Coffin from the well!

Xu Ying would never forget what had happened on the night the Nether River changed course. He absolutely could not have mistaken her. The Maiden beneath the jade wall was precisely the "Female Ghost" who had escaped from the coffin!

Xu Ying still remembered how they had been controlled by the Strange Eye in the well and involuntarily dragged the chains, while blood bubbled up from the well.

He also remembered the Maiden sitting at the mouth of the well and combing her hair!

"The Great Bell was injured by her too!"

Xu Ying suddenly remembered that the Great Bell had been injured by the Maiden in the Coffin, while the Maiden in the Coffin had been suppressed in the well by the Great Bell for who knew how many years. Their enmity was truly irreconcilable!

But now, the Great Bell was being held in his own hands...

At this thought, he immediately tossed the Great Bell beneath the bridge.

Dong.

The copper bell fell into the water.

In the white jade palace, the Maiden in the Coffin was startled by the sound. She turned her head, and her appearance made Xu Ying's eyes brighten, while his breathing quickened slightly.

The Maiden in the Coffin seemed to recognize him. A trace of surprise crossed her face, as though wondering how he had found this place. But she quickly lost interest in Xu Ying, turned her head away, and continued gazing at the jade wall.

Xu Ying kept retreating. The Great Bell floated on the water like a piece of wood. Wherever Xu Ying went, it followed.

Xu Ying's scalp went numb. He silently pleaded, Sink to the bottom! Master Zhong, hurry up and sink!

The Great Bell seemed to be throwing a tantrum. It floated steadily on the water without sinking, looking determined to drag Xu Ying down with it.

At that moment, a faint sigh drifted from the white jade palace. A gentle, beautiful voice rang out, like a secluded orchid in an empty valley within this mountain cavern—calm and mysterious.

"To the south of Xiaoxiang lies the Cangwu Abyss. Beneath Mount Jiuyi stands the Ageless Immortal. This place of ascension has ultimately fallen into desolation."

The Maiden in the white jade palace murmured, "Even one as powerful as you could not escape birth, aging, illness, and death? Even one as powerful as you could only leave your cave abode to become a dwelling place for demons and evil spirits?"

Hearing that voice, the Great Bell shuddered and slowly sank into the depths.

Thanks to the rewards from the two alliance leaders, Taishu Zhengya and Sorrowful Anger. I'm deeply grateful!