Martial Path Cataclysm

Unexpectedly, Su Jishi, who had never been known for his good temper, was remarkably silent at that moment.

After a moment of silence, Su Jishi and Chen Xiaosheng both looked at Li Ji'an with a flicker of something unusual in their eyes.

"Such an unwavering desire to seek immortality?"

Their first reaction wasn't that Li Ji'an had turned down an unparalleled technique, but rather to his resolve.

At such a young age, he already had such a steadfast desire to seek immortality!

Their martial arts had brought them to the very pinnacle of the world. They were also advanced in years, had been through too much, and had seen and heard too many people speak of seeking immortality. But most of them were only concerned with appearances; at heart, they were still pursuing the wealth, glory, fame, and status of the mortal world. Li Ji'an, on the other hand, could face an unparalleled technique and remain so resolute. That spoke volumes about his intentions.

Seeking immortality—hadn't each of them once dreamed of becoming an immortal?

After all, it meant truly transcending the mundane, and perhaps living forever, as long-lived as Heaven itself. All the wealth and glory of the mortal world, all its worldly pleasures, would be no more than a mound of dirt after a hundred years, a fleeting puff of smoke.

Especially now, with so little of their lifespans left, they felt it more keenly. Given the choice, if they could live their lives over, they would do everything in their power to become immortals, even for the slimmest chance.

The older people got, the more they feared death, the more they understood its horrors—and the beauty of being alive!

The more they understood how precious that sliver of hope for immortality was.

Alas... life offered no second chances. They couldn't start over.

They were all failures, and they had given up long ago.

Nearly all of them had given up after failing to be chosen at their first Immortal Seed Selection Ceremony.

They had spent their lives pursuing decades of wealth and glory, and the rise and fall of their Lineages.

In the end... they had brought nothing into the world, and would take nothing with them.

Without immortality, everything ended in emptiness.

And at that moment, Li Ji'an's resolve made them feel a pang of shame.

For at Li Ji'an's age, they had thought more about wealth, glory, status, and power. Some had even believed that while they might not live long, they should live gloriously—better to burn brightly for a brief time than to endure forever in obscurity.

"Good!" At last, the two men nodded, their eyes touched by a hint of wistfulness. They said no more.

They didn't blame Li Ji'an for his audacity; instead, they offered him a measure of encouragement.

This left Ning Haichan, who had been ready to play the bad cop, with the words he had prepared stuck in his throat.

"This... well... um, good, good. Nephew Ji'an, it's a good thing to have such resolve. Very good. You may withdraw for now and prepare to set out..." He had decided that the chances of Li Ji'an becoming an Immortal Seed in ten years were practically zero. By then, Li Ji'an's thinking would naturally change. There was no need to rush him.

After leaving the military tent, Ning Sujin and Ning Yutan watched Li Ji'an's carefree retreating figure, warmth stirring in both their hearts.

I'll wait for you in the Immortal Realm! I know you can do it! Ning Yutan's heart fluttered, and she mistakenly believed Li Ji'an had given up a fortune beyond imagining for the sake of reuniting with her in the Immortal Realm.

Hmph! As if you dote on me! If people knew how slick and frivolous you used to be, would they still believe a word you said? Ning Sujin gave a soft scoff, believing Li Ji'an's talk of seeking immortality was for the sake of being with her.

The journey that followed went smoothly.

Half a month later, the party arrived at the imperial capital!

As he traveled through its most prosperous and central district, the imperial capital, Li Ji'an grew ever more cautious.

There was trouble aplenty beneath the Son of Heaven's feet. Once entangled in it, you might die without even knowing how.

He declined Duke Dingguo's invitation and went straight to report to the Immortal Palace.

The moment he laid eyes on the Immortal Palace, the last trace of doubt in Li Ji'an's heart about the existence of immortals in this world vanished.

In the world of his previous life, even feudal rulers who used superstitions about divine mandate and immortals to govern the people would never have made the Immortal Palace the most magnificent building in the entire imperial capital, as the royal family of this world had.

It also stood at the very center of the entire dynasty.

In terms of grounds, location, and architectural scale, it surpassed even the emperor's palace!

That was enough to reveal the emperor's attitude toward immortals.

At the very center of the Immortal Palace stood a colossal, ten-zhang-tall gilded stone statue.

It depicted a kindly old man with an immortal's bearing, standing with compassion in a pose that seemed to embrace all living beings.

"Is this the immortal master whom the Great Ancestor of the Immortal Bestowed Dynasty encountered?" Filled with reverence, Li Ji'an followed the Duke's instructions from the journey and bowed respectfully.

Only after entering the Immortal Palace did he notice that beneath the immortal master's statue stood hundreds of life-sized "statues," packed tightly together. They were all kneeling, their poses ones of pleading for forgiveness.

Seeing these "statues," Li Ji'an drew a slow breath and quashed the wisp of dark emotion in his heart.

It was because these "statues" were all True Persons, most of them figures on the Immortal Bestowed Dynasty's Grandmaster Ranking fifty years ago. Each had been encased in molten iron: iron on the outside, flesh and blood within.

They stood there to warn every martial arts prodigy who entered the Immortal Palace: do not indulge in delusions or dream of challenging the might of an immortal!

That upheaval fifty years ago could even be called a great calamity for this martial arts world. Li Ji'an had heard of it in the first life he spent after arriving in this world.

At the time, he had assumed it was nothing but a lie told by the rulers to frighten and threaten the martial artists of this world.

But now, after piecing together everything he had seen and heard across his three lives, he was almost certain it had really happened.

They said that sixty or seventy years ago, a number of people had reached the ultimate peak of martial arts in this world—Great Perfection of Vital Energy and Blood, their vital energy and blood like blazing furnaces.

But there was nowhere further to go.

And as their lifespans dwindled, death became inevitable.

After enjoying the highest status and wealth this world could offer, they were even less willing to face death.

Especially since they had seen an immortal master with their own eyes. They knew immortals existed, and naturally yearned even more to become immortal and live forever.

Yet they knew even more clearly that they were among those who had been screened out, unqualified to become immortals.

So, little by little, some began searching for a glimmer of hope in their despair. At first, they merely hoped to find another route into the Immortal Realm besides being selected as an Immortal Seed by an immortal master.

This was also the royal family's ambition, and they secretly funded and supported the effort.

And so, for nearly twenty years, almost every expert in the Immortal Bestowed Dynasty had been exploring and mapping the land.

In the end, after countless attempts and efforts—even one of the largest expeditions on record, with hundreds of thousands of people transporting supplies and consuming nearly three-tenths of the nation's grain—they reached a conclusion: the Immortal Bestowed Dynasty was surrounded on all sides by an endless desert!

The farthest recorded expedition had crossed ten thousand li of unbroken yellow sands.

It was enough to drive them to despair!

At last, they believed the immortal master's words: the Immortal Realm and this mortal world were not in the same place.

Aside from an immortal master selecting and ushering in an Immortal Seed, they could see not the slightest hope of becoming immortal.

And they, of all people, had already been ruled out.

Some despaired, some went mad, and some rejoiced in secret.

The royal family, despite its despair, also felt secret joy. They were the only mortals in the world who had been granted an audience with an immortal master, the undisputed heads of all mortals, and the ones who controlled the resources of martial arts. They also handled affairs for the immortal master and might receive his gifts. After that, they devoted themselves to serving him, hoping only for a reward.

But the elderly, short-lived figures on the Grandmaster Ranking couldn't accept it. In the end, to claim a sliver of immortal fate, they formed a secret organization and decided to stake everything.

Obey Heaven, and die. Defy Heaven, and become immortal!

If you wouldn't let us become immortals, then we'd slay the immortals!

And so, the calamity of fifty years ago descended.

Seventy percent of the experts on the Grandmaster Ranking gathered hundreds of grandmasters and over ten thousand martial artists from across the land. At that year's Immortal Ceremony, they attacked the immortal master who had descended into the mortal world...