Life and Death Are Impermanent; So Am I

However, Heaven and Earth Exotic Fire was always a good thing. Yang Zhengshan sealed the Nether Prison Underworld Fire again and tossed it into the Pill Hall to keep the Golden Crow company.

The next moment, Li Shanghun threw out another mass of pitch-black water. The water flowed and transformed into a surging river that bore down upon Yang Zhengshan.

The corner of Yang Zhengshan's mouth twitched slightly. "You really do have quite a few good things—Mysterious Water, Strange Fire, hehe~~"

This was the foundation of a major power. Just look at all these good things.

Which one was not a treasure that could only be encountered by chance?

Authority Artifacts, Mysterious Water, Strange Fire—tsk, tsk~~

Even Yang Zhengshan had to marvel at Li Shanghun's wealth.

But on second thought, Yang Zhengshan seemed to possess all these things as well.

"Eh, I didn't think I was this wealthy too!"

Yang Zhengshan praised himself inwardly.

Strange Fire could not threaten him, and neither could Mysterious Water.

He sealed it in the Great Void as well, but this thing was somewhat wild and unruly. No one in White Jade Capital could handle it, so Yang Zhengshan could only carry it with him for now.

Li Shanghun took out four treasures in succession, which did slow Yang Zhengshan down a little. The distance between them instantly widened by more than ten li.

Yet he knew that he had not escaped Yang Zhengshan's pursuit. He took out one Spirit Artifact after another and threw them out, trying to hinder Yang Zhengshan's advance.

Yang Zhengshan remained unhurried. He was like someone strolling along while picking things up, leisurely accepting Li Shanghun's gifts.

It had to be said that Li Shanghun truly possessed a great many good things.

In this short span of time, he had thrown out another three Spirit Artifacts.

Although these were all yin-attributed Spirit Artifacts that Yang Zhengshan disliked, they were still Spirit Artifacts. Even if refined into raw materials, they could yield quite a bit of Third-Order Spiritual Material.

The distance between them continued to widen, and Li Shanghun's mind relaxed further. He felt that he had a chance to escape alive.

But his illusion was quickly shattered.

With a bang, he crashed headlong into an invisible wall. The collision left him dizzy and disoriented, nearly knocking him unconscious.

"What is going on?"

He stared in panic at the seemingly empty Great Void before him, unable to understand what had blocked his path.

Yang Zhengshan slowly approached. "Didn't you try this before? This stretch of Great Void has been sealed by me. Did you not know?"

Seal Great Void did not seal off the connection between the Great Void and the real world. Rather, it sealed the entire space. Like an enormous cage, it turned a hundred-li expanse of Void Space into a prison: those inside could not get out, and those outside could not get in.

Of course, if a Half-step Entering Dao expert were present, Yang Zhengshan's Seal Great Void would shatter like a bubble at the slightest poke.

After all, he had entered the Dao through the Way of Life and Death, not the Way of Great Void.

Li Shanghun's face turned first green, then pale. "Are you toying with this old man?"

"Toying with you?" Yang Zhengshan looked at the Mysterious Water and Crystal Skull in his hands. He had thrown everything else into the Life Realm Immortal Palace, leaving only these two items that needed suppression in his hands.

"How could that be? I merely wanted to see what other treasures you had!"

He wore a gentle smile, giving others the feeling of a spring breeze washing over them.

Yet in Li Shanghun's eyes, this was no spring breeze, but naked mockery.

"You forced my hand!"

As he spoke, he took out another item. It was a sheet of paper, though it looked more like the hide of some Demonic Beast.

The Skin Parchment was covered in densely packed runes, radiating a dense Dao Resonance that Yang Zhengshan found familiar.

The Way of Death!

The Way of Life and Death naturally encompassed the Way of Death. Yet the Way of Life and Death emphasized the transformation between life and death and harmonized with yin and yang, making it less focused than the Way of Death, which was devoted solely to death.

Holding the Skin Parchment, Li Shanghun's gray-white eyes turned blood-red. His aged face became incomparably ferocious, faintly revealing an expression of extreme agony.

"Sect Master, descend!"

He let out a hoarse roar.

At once, the Skin Parchment in his hand emitted a soft gray radiance. The light flickered as a faint mist spread out. In the blink of an eye, a phantom appeared within the mist-shrouded Great Void.

Yang Zhengshan looked at the phantom without making any move. Instead, he quietly waited for Chang Buzai's descent.

Borrowed Artifact Descent was a minor divine ability, not an especially powerful technique. Many Golden Core cultivators could use it.

However, this minor divine ability had considerable limitations. First, the artifact being borrowed had to meet the descender's requirements. The higher its grade, the stronger the descended avatar would be. Second, this was a divine ability that descended through a split spirit, injecting one's Divine Soul Spirit Seed into an artifact.

Put simply, the Divine Soul Spirit Seed was the channel and root through which the descender connected to the artifact, while the artifact formed the foundation of the descender's avatar.

Did that sound familiar?

That was right—the Soul Crow Split Spirit Technique.

The Soul Crow Split Spirit Technique was also a method of Borrowed Artifact Descent. Soul Crows were shaped from Divine Soul Spirit Seeds. The only difference was that Soul Crows did not borrow artifacts but condensed from spiritual energy. Their essence was the same. Soul Crows were merely a lower-level divine soul technique, so they were cruder and easier to employ.

As expected, the arrival was none other than Chang Buzai.

A phantom more than ten zhang tall stood in the Void, like a lofty god looking down upon Yang Zhengshan, a tiny ant.

"Who are you?"

Chang Buzai regarded Yang Zhengshan with an icy expression.

He wore a Bronze Ghost Mask Crown, with a Seven-Orifice Soul Lantern embedded within it. He was draped in a Hundred Souls Heart Refining Robe, its hem embroidered with Death Runes and trailing Yin Fire Phosphor Light. In his hands rested a thick black book.

The instant he appeared, the Skin Parchment in Li Shanghun's hand flew into the black book in his grasp.

"White Jade Capital, Yang Zhengshan!"

Yang Zhengshan flicked his fly whisk, his body soaring upward as he too transformed into a giant ten zhang high, meeting Chang Buzai's gaze as an equal.

"Yang Zhengshan!" Chang Buzai fell silent for a moment, seemingly searching his memories for Yang Zhengshan's origins.

By then, he had long forgotten Yang Zhengshan and the Yunxiao Yang Family. Although he had previously arranged for Soul Hooking Hall to deal with the Yunxiao Yang Family, he would never keep such a trivial matter in mind.

"What do you intend?"

He asked in a low voice.

Yang Zhengshan did not answer. He merely swung his fly whisk again, and the Life and Death Yin Yang Diagram expanded once more, enveloping Li Shanghun within it.

Before seeing Chang Buzai, Yang Zhengshan had not been certain he could contend against him. But now that he had seen Chang Buzai, he instead gained considerable confidence.

Although Chang Buzai's cultivation was far deeper than his, Chang Buzai actually cultivated the Way of Death.

The Way of Life and Death, the Way of Death.

In terms of Dao Intent, the Way of Life and Death was in fact a higher-level Dao Intent than the Way of Death, possessing effects that restrained and assimilated the Way of Death.

Of course, assigning ranks and levels to Dao Intent was not truly reasonable.

Dao Intent was not stronger simply because its meaning was deeper. For what was powerful had never been Dao Intent itself, but people.

A higher-level Dao Intent only possessed a certain degree of restraint and suppression over a lower-level Dao Intent, and that restraint and suppression were extremely limited.

Who was stronger and who was weaker still depended on the person!

This suppression gave Yang Zhengshan some advantage, but he merely felt that he could contend against Chang Buzai. He was not absolutely confident that he could defeat him.

Faint Dao Resonance wrapped around Li Shanghun, and he felt his life force draining away at a terrifying speed.

He cried out in horror, "Sect Master, save me!"

He wanted to flee, but Seal Great Void remained in effect. He could not escape at all.

He wanted to block the Life and Death Dao Intent from being imposed upon him, but unfortunately, his grasp of Dao Intent was far inferior to Yang Zhengshan's.

Before Yang Zhengshan, his Dao Intent was like a balloon—one poke and it burst.

Moreover, he had no Spirit Artifacts left to use. He had thrown every last one to Yang Zhengshan earlier.

Seeing Yang Zhengshan show him so little respect, Chang Buzai's expression turned cold. The black book in his hand abruptly opened, and a black chain shot from its pages, racing toward Yang Zhengshan.

Yang Zhengshan looked at that familiar chain, and the corner of his mouth curved upward slightly.

"Soul Suppressing Lock!"

"Divine Soul Split!"

"Way of Death!"

"Chang Buzai, you were far too careless!"

The Chang Buzai before him was not a physical entity. Naturally, neither the book nor the Soul Suppressing Lock in his hands were physical entities. They were all formed from the aura contained within that Skin Parchment.

Yet all of it had been split from Chang Buzai and remained connected to him.

That connection was not a thread or a passageway, but a part of the body itself.

Thus, the phantom before him was both Chang Buzai's avatar and a part of Chang Buzai's Main Body, much like a finger Chang Buzai had extended toward him.

A finger itself was unimportant. What mattered was that the finger was connected to the entire body.

Dense Death Dao Intent descended around the chain. Yang Zhengshan swung his fly whisk and wrapped it around the chain.

"Life and death are impermanent; so am I. Reverse death and turn it into life—the Great Dao is impermanent!"

Yang Zhengshan spoke softly. At the same time, the fly whisk in his hand was dyed blackish-gray, nearly merging into one with the Soul Suppressing Lock.

As his voice fell, dense Death Dao Intent surged into his body like a tide, corroding him and turning his aura the blackish-gray that represented death.

Yet the Life and Death Yin Yang Diagram beneath him spun rapidly, faster and faster. In the blink of an eye, the clearly distinct black and white colors merged together.

At first, Chang Buzai noticed nothing unusual. But as he watched the rotating Life and Death Yin Yang Diagram, a terrible premonition abruptly rose in his heart.

Wuchang Land, within Wuchang Hall.

Chang Buzai sat upon a seat piled from bones, head lowered in thought.

The aura around him continuously gathered and dispersed, appearing and vanishing, shifting without end between strength and weakness.

Suddenly, he shot to his feet and roared furiously, "Damn it, how dare you?"

A calm voice seemed to pierce through the distant Void and reach the hall. "What is there that I dare not do?"

A violent aura erupted from Chang Buzai's body. In an instant, dense Death Dao Intent flooded the entire Wuchang Hall like a tide, and even outside the hall, a wind of death began to blow.

The wind grew stronger and stronger, sweeping across all of Wuchang Land within a few breaths.

Flood-like Death Dao Intent passed through the Void, through the Great Void, and surged into Yang Zhengshan's body.

The raging Dao Intent whipped Yang Zhengshan's robes into loud flapping, sent his beard and hair flying, and dyed him blackish-gray.

Yet no matter how violent the Death Dao Intent became, Yang Zhengshan's eyes remained one black and one white, still calm and undisturbed.

At that moment, Yang Zhengshan was like a greedy sponge, madly drawing in Chang Buzai's Death Dao Intent. At the same time, he used the Life and Death Yin Yang Diagram to transform the violent Death Dao Intent into Life Dao Intent, doing his utmost to maintain a state of balance.

This was practically the Great Celestial Dragon Absorption Technique. Yang Zhengshan was absorbing the Dao Intent Chang Buzai had accumulated over ten thousand years.

No wonder Chang Buzai was so enraged.

Yang Zhengshan fixed his gaze on Chang Buzai and muttered inwardly.

Don't rush, don't rush. You must not sever your connection to the avatar! I haven't absorbed enough yet!

Every additional second he absorbed now was equivalent to several years of bitter cultivation in seclusion.

Such an opportunity was truly too rare.

Chang Buzai had actually descended through a borrowed artifact, actually sent down an avatar linked to his Main Body. It was like handing Yang Zhengshan the plug of a power bank, allowing him to seize Chang Buzai's Dao Intent without restraint.

If Chang Buzai's Main Body had been here, Yang Zhengshan would instead have been unable to draw out his Dao Intent like this, because the Main Body's control over Dao Intent far surpassed that of an avatar.

Chang Buzai raged and roared, until at last he understood that there was nothing he could do in the face of this situation.

Left with no choice, he could only sever his connection to the avatar.

If he did not, the foundation he had accumulated over ten thousand years would all be handed over to Yang Zhengshan today.

Watching the phantom disperse, Yang Zhengshan could not help revealing a regretful expression.

The dense Death Dao Intent had left him unable to stop himself.

The feeling of reaping without sowing was simply too wonderful. In only a few short breaths, he had obtained reserves equivalent to a thousand years of secluded cultivation.

He felt wonderful, but Chang Buzai had it far worse.

Yang Zhengshan had only gained reserves equivalent to a thousand years, while Chang Buzai had lost three thousand years' worth. The difference had been consumed in the transmission and absorption.

"Ah, what a pity!" Yang Zhengshan said regretfully. At that moment, he wished he could tie Chang Buzai to himself and turn him into his own power bank.

But if he truly tied Chang Buzai to himself, Chang Buzai would likely kill him.

If Chang Buzai's Main Body came, he would no longer be able to seize Chang Buzai's Dao Intent.

Yang Zhengshan gently caught the drifting Skin Parchment, studying the runes upon it and sensing the Death Dao Resonance contained within.

"What a pity it is only a fragment. It is of little use!"

He then turned to Li Shanghun. At that moment, Li Shanghun had already fallen completely into despair.

The Sect Master had vanished, while he remained here.

Feeling Yang Zhengshan's gaze fall upon him, he felt a chill run through his entire body.

"You cannot kill me!" he said in panic.

Yang Zhengshan looked at him curiously. "Why can't I?"

"I... I... I am willing to serve you!" Li Shanghun thought for a long time but could not think of any reason for Yang Zhengshan to spare him. In the end, he could only choose to submit to Yang Zhengshan.

Betraying the Wuchang Ghost Sect and pledging allegiance to Yang Zhengshan was not a bad choice for him either.

At the very least, he could stay alive.

The older a person grew, the more they feared death.

Li Shanghun feared death as well!

It was not that he lacked backbone.

He simply did not wish to die so meaninglessly.

That was right. To him, meeting death like this held no value whatsoever.

If he were to die on the path of breaking through, he would not hesitate in the slightest.

But to die for the Wuchang Ghost Sect filled his heart with resistance.

The Wuchang Ghost Sect was not a harmonious sect. It was filled with scheming and strife.

That left him with little sense of belonging toward the Wuchang Ghost Sect, and allowed him to betray it without any psychological burden.