Ageless Immortal

Xu Ying was inexplicably excited, pondering in his heart, "As a Qi Refiner, controlling my own Magic Power is a given. Deities' Magic Power transforms into Flying Swords, so their control of Magic Power is their control of Flying Swords. I can also control my Yuan Qi; my Yuan Qi leaking out can transform into the Elephant King Divine Body, so naturally, it can also transform into a Flying Sword!"

He tried enthusiastically to make his Yuan Qi take the form of a Flying Sword, but failed after several attempts.

Xu Ying was not discouraged and continued to practice. However, the form of a sword was different from the Elephant King Divine Body. The Elephant King Divine Body was a cultivation path with natural constraints. The sword form had no constraints and required Xu Ying to control his Yuan Qi to form the shape of a sword, making it extremely difficult.

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

Xu Ying's heart stirred, and he immediately tried to channel his Yuan Qi into the willow branch, using his divine sense to guide the Yuan Qi within the branch, then slowly released his palm.

The willow branch swayed and actually floated in the air.

Xu Ying was overjoyed. With a thought, the willow branch twisted and flew through the air.

Yuan Qi watched, stunned. "He actually did it... Which of my words enlightened him? If I can enlighten him, I can definitely enlighten myself!"

He suddenly gained confidence.

"What's so great about Xu Ying? He's just a junior who received guidance from this Snake Lord. If Xu Ying can do it, this Snake Lord can naturally do it too!"

Xu Ying controlled the willow branch, practicing the sword techniques he had previously comprehended. The willow branch was too light and difficult to wield. If he put too much thought into it, it wouldn't form proper moves.

He clumsily controlled the willow branch, practicing the sword techniques he had comprehended over and over again, learning how to control his thoughts, divine sense, and Yuan Qi.

He pondered on his own but made rapid progress, quickly figuring out the Sword Control Technique, controlling the willow branch, and executing various basic sword moves!

Yuan Qi still couldn't figure out which sentence it was. Seeing Xu Ying performing sword techniques with considerable skill, he felt grief and indignation. "What's the use of this brain for this Snake Lord?"

The willow branch flew over and hovered half a foot above Xu Ying's shoulder, moving with his body. Wherever he went, the willow branch followed.

Xu Ying frowned slightly, pondering, "My Sword Control Technique is like an extension of my arm, but I wonder if I can unleash sword energy and sword light like I would holding a sword?"

Seeing him struggling with this problem, Yuan Qi chuckled, "A Ying, I've heard that intelligent people can often draw parallels..."

Xu Ying's eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands. "You're absolutely right! Thank you for the guidance, I finally figured it out!"

"I haven't finished speaking... Never mind, as long as you're happy."

Xu Ying was inexplicably excited. While controlling the willow branch to perform sword techniques, he said rapidly, "You're right, drawing parallels! I use my divine sense to control the Yuan Qi in the willow branch; my divine sense is equivalent to my arm. When I hold the willow branch, Yuan Qi enters the branch through my arm, allowing me to unleash sword energy. This means I can follow my divine sense and continuously channel my own Yuan Qi into the flying willow branch, thereby unleashing sword energy and sword light!"

The willow branch whizzed around Xu Ying and Yuan Qi. Suddenly, with a swish, an invisible sword energy shot out from the tip of the branch, emitting a sharp whistling sound as it cut through the air.

Yuan Qi quickly retracted his tail. The sword energy grazed his tail and split a rock, sending up a cloud of dust. The rock was cut in half by the invisible sword energy!

Xu Ying controlled the willow branch, making it fly back and forth. At the tip of the branch, sword energy crisscrossed, unstoppable. With a flash of sword energy, the crown of a large tree was cleanly severed!

The tree crown flew up with a whoosh, traveled more than ten paces, and then landed!

Yuan Qi's heart pounded. That tree crown weighed no less than ten thousand catties! It was sent flying more than ten paces by the power contained in Xu Ying's sword strike, which showed the immense power within it!

This kind of sword energy could completely rival the incense-fueled Flying Swords of the Deities!

Xu Ying retracted the willow branch, overjoyed, and laughed heartily, "Little Seven, without your guidance, I would never have mastered the Sword Control Technique so quickly!"

Yuan Qi mustered his courage and said, "This shows that reading is useful. A Ying, that... since I guided you to learn the Sword Control Technique, could you teach it to me?"

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

Yuan Qi tried hard for a while, then became suspicious. "Very simple? Are you tricking me?"

He practiced again and again, but still couldn't make the willow branch fly.

Xu Ying had no choice but to put him aside and continue to ponder the Sword Control Technique. Suddenly, he thought, "I can make the willow branch fly using my divine sense and Yuan Qi. My divine sense doesn't bear the weight of the willow branch. Then, can I step on the willow branch and fly?"

He acted on his thought immediately. His divine sense moved, and the willow branch flew up.

Xu Ying leaped onto the willow branch, but it crashed to the ground with a thud.

Xu Ying tried again, but the willow branch still couldn't bear his weight and fell to the ground again. He tried repeatedly, but the willow branch could never carry him to fly.

"A Ying, we've arrived at Mount Wu Wang!"

Yuan Qi suddenly sped up, excitedly. "Quick! This is my hometown. My Old Niu Family has lived on Mount Wu Wang for three generations! On our Mount Wu Wang, to the north is Shuikou Temple, the temple of Emperor Shun; to the west is Yilin Temple; to the south is Xiaoshan; and to the east is Niaotangpu. Our mountains are full of wild fruits. Every autumn when the leaves turn yellow, transformed monsters in the mountains will carry ripe wild fruits to the market outside the mountains to trade for rice and flour."

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

Yuan Qi stood on the mountain, stunned, and suddenly panicked. "No! No! Where did such a large Yilin Temple go? And Shuikou Temple! Where did Shuikou Temple go? Where is Niaotangpu? Such a large Niaotangpu..."

He tilted his head back, looking around in confusion, and muttered, "Is this still Mount Wu Wang..."

He was familiar with everything around Mount Wu Wang. However, at this moment, Mount Wu Wang was surrounded by towering peaks, as if sliced by knives, with a great river flowing through the mountains. In the distance, a large lake rippled like the sea.

All he recognized was Mount Wu Wang itself.

Suddenly, the earth shook and the mountains roared. Mount Wu Wang rumbled and grew upwards, its massive body continuously emerging from the ground, becoming taller and taller!

A cliff appeared where Yuan Qi stood, incredibly steep, growing outwards from the mountain body right in front of him!

A moment later, the cliff had grown to about a thousand zhang. Giant rocks continuously broke off from the cliff face and fell, making booming sounds.

Yuan Qi looked up, his eyelids twitching. He saw two characters written on the cliff face.

Wu Wang.

The Mount Wu Wang he knew was gone, replaced by Mount Wu Wang.

"Qin Yan Cave! Right! My Qin Yan Cave must still be here!" Yuan Qi scrambled down the slope in a hurry, heading towards Qin Yan Cave.

Xu Ying quickly followed him. After a while, Yuan Qi finally found his old home, Qin Yan Cave. He saw waves of auspicious light erupting from the cave, containing immense vitality and brilliant radiance.

As Xu Ying walked to the cave entrance, wisps of rosy light enveloped him. He immediately felt a tingling itch on a wound on his chest that had already healed. He couldn't help but scratch it!

The itch intensified the more he scratched. He quickly pulled open his collar to look and froze.

There were several wounds on his chest. Three of them, deep enough to expose bone, were claw marks left by the Stone Mountain God, which had nearly ripped him open.

After bathing in Dragon Blood at the Hometown Gazing Platform, all of Xu Ying's wounds had healed, but they had left behind shocking scars.

The scars on his chest were like little scarlet dragons clinging to his chest. They were rough and unsightly to the touch.

But now, these scars were rapidly fading away!

Where the scars receded, the skin was the same color as the surrounding skin!

There was no sign that he had ever been injured!

"This Qin Yan Cave contains vigorous life force, it's no ordinary place!" Xu Ying exclaimed, filled with surprise and uncertainty. Was this truly the place where the Niu family had lived for three generations?

Yuan Qi's scars also faded, leaving no trace of his previous injuries. He hadn't anticipated such a transformation in Qin Yan Cave either. Without a second thought, he immediately rushed into the cave.

Xu Ying, worried about him, quickly followed.

Qin Yan Cave extended for over ten miles, burrowing deep into the mountain. With the mountain's transformation from Mount Wu Wang to Mount Wu Wang, Qin Yan Cave had also widened many times over, becoming even deeper than before!

As Xu Ying followed Yuan Qi, he saw many ganoderma mushrooms growing on the cave walls, emitting a strange fragrance.

Some cave walls looked newly formed, without any patina, very fresh. Yet, enormous spirit pearls hung from them, emitting a faint glow that illuminated the path.

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

Yuan Qi led the way. The cave twisted and turned, filled with cliffs, stalactites, and bizarre, jagged rocks.

Inside Qin Yan Cave, there were caves within caves, all interconnected. Some areas were submerged, requiring them to swim through.

Xu Ying, carrying the Great Bell, followed Yuan Qi as they swam. Strange, colorful rocks surrounded them, along with massive stone walls inscribed with peculiar writing. However, the light was too dim to make out the details, and he couldn't tell what was written.

Xu Ying was astonished. If Yuan Qi hadn't led the way, he would never have imagined that there was a hidden world beneath the water!

"Qin Yan Cave is so complex, those pursuers will never find this place!"

Thinking this, Xu Ying suddenly chuckled. Mount Wu Wang had become Mount Wu Wang, the surrounding geography had drastically changed. Even Yuan Qi himself couldn't recognize it, let alone the government officials and the City God?

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

Yuan Qi swam towards a stone wall, only to see cracks appearing on it. A section of the wall collapsed. They swam through the collapsed section and surfaced. Before them lay a white jade staircase, extending across the water's surface.

Xu Ying followed Yuan Qi out of the water. A white jade bridge lay flat on the water's surface, stretching forward.

Reaching this point, Yuan Qi finally breathed a sigh of relief and murmured, "My home is still here, my home is still here..."

He led the way. Xu Ying walked on the white jade bridge. After an unknown distance, the water surface ahead suddenly became bright and spacious. A covered bridge lay across the water, and a palace carved from white jade appeared before his eyes.

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

Xu Ying surveyed his surroundings, speechless with astonishment. Who could have imagined that within this mountain cave, there would be such a magnificent and beautiful palace?

Moreover, the life force here was even more potent, causing his cultivation to improve significantly with each breath. It was practically a blessed land of immortals!

Suddenly, Xu Ying stopped, staring intently ahead, his heart pounding.

In the center of the white jade palace ahead, a pitch-black coffin was placed.

Not far from the coffin, a young girl stood with her back to them, gazing up at a tall jade mural before her.

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

The snake demon Yuan Qi also saw the black coffin and retreated, whispering in distress, "For over three hundred years, our Old Niu family has lived here, and no one else has ever come. How did the female ghost find out about this place?"

The changes to Mount Wu Wang had already driven him mad. He hadn't expected his own home to be invaded by a female ghost!

The female ghost they spoke of was the girl in the coffin from the ancient temple's well on Stone Mountain.

The coffin placed in the white jade palace was the same black coffin from the well!

Xu Ying would never forget what happened that night when the River of Oblivion changed course. He absolutely wouldn't mistake her. The girl beneath the jade mural was the "female ghost" who had escaped from the coffin!

Xu Ying still remembered being controlled by the strange eye in the well, dragging the chains against their will, and the blood bubbling up from the well!

He also remembered the girl sitting at the well's edge, combing her hair!

"The Great Bell was also injured by her!"

Xu Ying suddenly realized that the Great Bell had been injured by the girl in the coffin, and the girl in the coffin had been suppressed in the well by the Great Bell for who knows how many years. Their deep-seated hatred was irreconcilable!

But now, the Great Bell was in his hands...

Thinking this, he immediately threw the Great Bell he was holding under the bridge.

Thump.

The bronze bell fell into the water.

Inside the white jade palace, the girl in the coffin was startled by the sound and turned around. Her appearance made Xu Ying's eyes light up, and his breathing quickened.

The girl in the coffin seemed to recognize him, showing a slight surprise, as if wondering how he had found this place. But she quickly lost interest in Xu Ying and turned back, continuing to gaze at the jade mural.

Xu Ying continued to retreat. The Great Bell floated on the water like a piece of wood, following Xu Ying wherever he went.

Xu Ying's scalp tingled. He silently chanted, "Sink to the bottom! Great Bell, hurry up and sink to the bottom!"

The great bell seemed to be sulking, floating steadily on the water's surface, refusing to sink, as if it wanted to drag him down with it.

At this moment, a faint sigh echoed from the White Jade Palace, and a gentle, beautiful voice sounded, like a secluded orchid in a valley, calm and mysterious, within this mountain cave dwelling.

"South of Xiaoxiang, the abyss of Cangwu. Beneath Mount Jiuyi, the Ageless Immortal. This place of ascension has ultimately become desolate."

The maiden in the White Jade Palace murmured, "Could it be that even one as powerful as you cannot escape aging and death? Even one as powerful as you, whose cave dwelling can only become a haunt for demons and evil spirits?"

Upon hearing this voice, the great bell shivered and slowly sank to the bottom of the water.

----Gratitude to allies Taishu Zhengya and Shangnu for their generous donations. We are immensely thankful!