My Life Is Over!

Seven years passed in the blink of an eye.

Year 89 of the Immortal Calendar.

"I've spent four years rebuilding my cultivation to the Greater Celestial Circuit, but I still haven't managed to break through. It's probably because I've stayed in the market all this time and haven't had enough real experience."

"In a few days, I want to set out and retrace the road I took back then. I'd like to visit Angming City and Yinlian Village."

One day.

Meng Nan brought something up with Zhao Xiaoshuang.

After thinking it over carefully during this time, Meng Nan realized that ever since he began cultivating, he had never once gone out to gain experience.

He had either been in Yinlian Village or here in Qingtian Market.

He had never gone out, only cultivated hard.

His progress had indeed been decent in the early stages, but now he seemed to have reached his limit.

In his second life, Meng Nan had gone out once with Zhao Xiaoshuang and Feng Ying, but he had died barely a month later, before he could experience much of anything.

In this life, he wanted to truly get out and see the world, to gain some experience.

"Back to Angming City?"

Zhao Xiaoshuang was taken aback.

She knew how devoted Meng Nan was to cultivation.

Meng Nan had lost his memory seven years ago, and his cultivation had fallen back. For all these seven years, he had cultivated tirelessly, never daring to rest a moment longer than necessary.

Now he had hit a bottleneck and finally wanted to go out.

But she hadn't expected him to retrace the fifty-thousand-li journey.

Zhao Xiaoshuang was surprised for only a moment before she immediately said, "I'll go with you."

Meng Nan had been living on borrowed time for seven years. No one knew when he might pass away.

So Zhao Xiaoshuang went along with whatever he wanted to do.

Cultivation, for instance.

Alchemy, for instance.

By rights, Meng Nan didn't have long to live. What was the point of starting his cultivation all over again now?

He had little time left.

It would only waste time and money!

But Zhao Xiaoshuang simply supported him in silence.

This time was no different.

"I don't have much time left either, and I don't want to be apart from you. Take me with you."

Zhao Xiaoshuang smiled at Meng Nan.

She was telling the truth.

Though she had already advanced to the True Essence stage, each time she reached a new level of Sense Imprint, she gained several more years of life. But in the years before that, she had also used the 'Great Pill' several times, which had taken a toll on her lifespan.

She had only lived a few years longer than Meng Nan because her cultivation was deeper.

But now, nearing ninety, Zhao Xiaoshuang could feel that her time was almost up.

She didn't want to be apart from Meng Nan during these final days.

Hearing him mention it, she suddenly wanted to return to Angming City and visit Yinlian Village too.

"Good."

"Together."

Meng Nan smiled.

April, Year 89 of the Immortal Calendar.

Qingtian Market.

"Ah!"

Standing outside the market, Qian Yu watched Meng Nan and Zhao Xiaoshuang depart. She couldn't help sighing.

She knew this parting might well be forever.

Thinking back, Meng Nan had been only eighteen when he'd stood before her, speaking confidently of a partnership despite being merely at the Fetal Breath Stage. It hadn't worked out at first, but later Meng Nan brought out a 'Suoluo Seed', forging a bond between them. Thanks to him, she had advanced to True Essence and seen the thousands of li of lands that included Angming City, Tianlin Cave, and Qingtian Mountain.

Now she even had a chance to glimpse the immortal realm of Qi Refining.

Looking back, it all seemed like yesterday.

But when she turned around, she realized nearly a century had passed.

"An old friend has left."

"There's nothing left in Qingtian Market worth lingering for."

Qian Yu thought back over the past.

She had stayed in Qingtian Market all these years, partly for the sake of cultivation.

Cultivation required resources, and the market was a source of wealth.

But after she reached the fifth level of Sense Imprint, what the market produced was of little use to her.

She had stayed only because of old acquaintances. Of them, only Meng Nan and Zhao Xiaoshuang were left. She remained to protect Meng Nan as he cultivated, hoping he might advance to True Essence and gain a few more years of life.

Sadly, she had waited in vain.

As for the others—

Her three children had all died or gone their separate ways.

There was nothing left to keep her in Qingtian Mountain.

"The immortal path!"

"How hard it is to become an immortal!"

Qian Yu sighed. One by one, those around her had left, whether through death or parting. Even after all these decades, dust had long settled over her heart, layer upon layer, and she had no idea how to sweep it away.

Now that she had severed her mortal ties, she had no close friends left.

"Let's go."

Qian Yu turned around.

The next day, Qian Yu left Qingtian Market alone and ventured deep into Ghost Mother Mountain.

Perhaps the next time she emerged, she would already be a Qi Refining Immortal Master.

If she failed to make it out—

Several more months passed in a flash.

The immortal path was hard.

The roads of the South Frontier were hard too.

Meng Nan and Zhao Xiaoshuang had set out in April of Year 89, but by the end of the year they had traveled only twenty thousand li, reaching the territory that had once belonged to Tianlin Cave.

At this rate, Meng Nan's plan to visit Angming City before this life ended would likely fall through.

But he wasn't in a hurry.

He enjoyed the journey.

Mountains and rivers.

Forests.

Demonic beasts.

Fights between cultivators.

For the first time, Meng Nan was traveling through the true wilds of the South Frontier. He saw demonic beasts and poisonous insects, encountered miasma, and witnessed the vast, majestic wilderness.

No matter how many descriptions he heard or how many words he read, nothing compared to going out and seeing it all with his own eyes.

Meng Nan immersed himself in the journey. He was no longer fixated on returning to Angming City, and devoted more of his attention to the scenery along the way.

But after they entered the territory once held by Tianlin Cave, the atmosphere seemed a little strange.

"We've met three groups of people heading the opposite way in the past month. That's not normal."

The South Frontier was vast and sparsely populated.

The two of them weren't even traveling on a well-trodden road. They crossed mountains and ridges, with no path to follow. Yet even so, they had encountered three groups of people—more than ten people altogether—in a single month.

That was far from normal.

The last time there had been this much commotion was in Year 50 of the Immortal Calendar, when control of Tianlin Cave changed hands.

Forty years had passed since then. Had something happened at Tianlin Cave again?

"Let's go!"

"Let's check it out!"

Zhao Xiaoshuang looked excited.

Meng Nan felt a stir of anticipation too.

Neither had much time left, and neither was worried about the danger ahead. Instead, it only piqued their interest.

They continued onward at once.

Only a few days later, they ran into someone else.

But this time, the person didn't merely pass them by. Holding a compass, he came straight toward them—

"He's coming for us!"

Zhao Xiaoshuang warned Meng Nan, then her long sword rang out with a clear chime. She shouted at the approaching man, "Fellow Daoist, stop there. Let's avoid a misunderstanding."

"Haha!"

"No misunderstanding. You're exactly who I came to kill!"

The man looked middle-aged and moved with astonishing speed. As he darted forward, the branches and grass around him swayed, as if cheering him on.

His feet barely touched the ground.

His body moved like a ghost.

Clang!

Before Meng Nan could react, sparks flew to his left. A figure flashed past. Zhao Xiaoshuang stood with her sword in hand, its blade trembling slightly. Clearly, she had blocked the man's sneak attack on Meng Nan.

One sword strike drove the enemy back.

Zhao Xiaoshuang held her sword in her right hand and formed a hand seal with her left—

Crackling!

Lightning flashed in her palm, and thunder roared through the air.

The next instant, a bolt of lightning crashed down, splitting the air with a deafening blast.

Boom!

The man was blasted into view.

"Heh!"

"Palm Thunder! So you're remnants of Cha Mountain after all!"

Wei Yuncong chuckled, feeling that fortune had smiled on him. The world was vast, and Cha Mountain's remnants were scattered and fleeing. They were not easy to find.

But if he had run into them, then he was meant to strike it rich.

At once.

True Essence surged through Wei Yuncong, and his figure vanished again. But he was still there, waiting for a chance to strike.

"This is the Stealth Technique from the Evergreen Technique of Sky-Scraping Cliff. It uses plants and trees to hide your figure and conceal your aura, making it ideal for ambushes."

Zhao Xiaoshuang held her sword at the ready and explained it to Meng Nan.

"Sky-Scraping Cliff."

"Evergreen Technique."

"Stealth Technique."

Meng Nan had read his records and knew where the Evergreen Technique and Stealth Technique came from.

The Evergreen Technique, like Cha Mountain's Thunder Illumination Scripture and Dragon Mountain Scripture, was a cultivation method for would-be cultivators who had yet to enter the immortal path.

Only by joining an immortal master's school or performing a great service could one earn the right to learn the true techniques.

These cultivation methods usually came with several matching arts that were rarely taught to outsiders, such as the Stealth Technique and Palm Thunder.

They were among the distinctive marks of each school.

If someone used the Evergreen Technique, they had to be under Sky-Scraping Cliff. If they also used the Stealth Technique, there was a good chance they were a registered disciple of an immortal master.

He was not to be underestimated.

Zhao Xiaoshuang was fully on guard. She also cultivated the Gale Thunder Sword Technique and the Hundred Transformations Cloud-and-Mist Movement Technique, but she had to protect Meng Nan now, which made it difficult to use her movement technique.

With only the Gale Thunder Sword Technique, it wouldn't be easy to hold this man off.

She was gradually falling behind.

"An old woman bringing an old wreck along, yet you've come out to imitate young people and roam the world?"

"You two really are old in years but young at heart."

After probing them for a short while, Wei Yuncong quickly realized that of the two, the old woman was stronger. She was probably at the second or third level of Sense Imprint, and had already completed Sense Imprint for her sight and hearing. Her vision and hearing far surpassed those of ordinary people, and she was no pushover. He wouldn't be able to take her down quickly.

But she was trying to fight him while protecting that useless old man, giving him an extra opening.

Wei Yuncong laughed as he made feints at the old man without striking, using him as a threat to force the old woman to rush to his rescue with her sword.

Again and again.

Her weakness soon showed.

"Now!"

Wei Yuncong's figure flickered in and out, darting back and forth. Then he suddenly attacked from the side, sword in hand, aiming for a spot where the old woman would find it extremely difficult to change her move and defend.

This sword strike was sure to land.

However—

Wei Yuncong thrust his sword, only to see the old woman, unable to form a hand seal or swing her sword in time, turn her head and open her mouth. A streak of blood-red light shot straight at his face.

The bloody light was incredibly fast.

There was no time to dodge.

"My life is over!"

Wei Yuncong's emotions swung from elation to despair. As if he'd fallen into hell, his features twisted beyond recognition, and he crashed to the ground.