There Are No Immortals in This World, Only Emperors!

There are no immortals in this world.

Fan Yuan was taken aback, and subconsciously asked, "No immortals?"

"No." Qin Wangchuan's tone was casual, as if he were stating something perfectly ordinary. "At least not right now."

Fan Yuan stood there, stunned, before he could even speak, when Qin Wangchuan added, "Although there are no immortals, there are emperors."

"Emperor?"

Fan Yuan, who had cultivated for over a hundred years, now wore a childlike look of bewilderment.

"An emperor's word is law for all under heaven." Qin Wangchuan held his teacup, his tone unhurried. "He holds cause and effect in his palm, can turn life and death in a single thought, and can reverse the River of Time with a flick of his finger. He neither worships the heavens nor kneels to the earth—he himself is the rule of Myriad Realms."

Fan Yuan's pupils contracted slightly, and his breathing slowed down a few beats.

These words were too light, as if they were just casually uttered.

But every word he uttered struck him like a thunderbolt.

Overwhelming all ages, reversing time and space, and controlling cause and effect.

This is worlds above the "immortal" he speaks of.

He lived for 110 years.

Having witnessed the limits of Cultivator and touched the threshold of Celestial Person, I believe my understanding of this world is already deep enough.

It can "dominate all ages, reverse time and space, and control cause and effect."

--Only after those twelve words were uttered did he realize that he understood nothing at all.

Fan Yuan refused to believe it.

But the boy's demeanor was so natural that it didn't sound like he was recounting a legend, but rather like he was stating a fact he had witnessed firsthand.

Just hearing about it felt mystical, far exceeding his concept of immortals.

But try thinking about it from a different perspective.

Perhaps, this is the true immortal.

They are not the immortals of ordinary people who can fly, escape into the earth, Move Mountains and Fill Seas, but beings far beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

Like ants that do not know humans, like mortals that do not recognize gods.

Fan Yuan remained silent for a long time, his mind churning with these thoughts. In the end, he neither pressed for answers nor fully believed them.

He simply memorized those words, leaving them for future verification.

After Fan Yuan had finished processing the information, he raised another question.

"Regarding the abode of Immortal."

He carefully considered his words, cautiously observing Qin Wangchuan's expression.

"Common people say that Immortal reside high above the Thirty-Three Heavens. May I ask, Immortal Master, is this true?"

After listening, Qin Wangchuan put down his teacup, stood up, and walked to the Jujube Tree.

"Tall Building rise in the sky, each building a new world."

"This statement has some truth to it, but it's not entirely accurate."

He gazed at the moonlight filtering through the branches and leaves, his voice neither hurried nor slow.

Have you ever thought about how big this world is? Does it have an end?

Fan Yuan opened his mouth, but no words came out.

He really hadn't thought about it.

The world is so vast that it can never be fully explored. Since we can't see it all, why bother thinking about it?

Qin Wangchuan gently stroked the rough bark with his fingertips and continued speaking:

"This world is so vast that even ten lifetimes wouldn't be enough for a mortal to reach its end. What you perceive as mountains, rivers, cities, and deserts is but a small part of it."

"And a world like this—"

There are a full three thousand.

Fan Yuan instinctively held his breath.

"Each one has its own sun, moon, and stars; each one is so vast that it seems endless."

Three thousand.

Fan Yuan opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.

He cultivated for 110 years, read countless books, and heard countless legends.

I always thought that the Thirty-Three Heavens was the pinnacle of the world, the place where Immortal lived, and the end of the Dao.

But at this moment, the young man casually told him.

The world is vast; you've been walking for a hundred years and haven't even taken the first step.

Just like when he was a small cultivator in a town, he thought that town was the whole world; later, when he was able to travel far, he realized how vast the world was; and later, when he became Cultivator, he realized that the world in the eyes of mortals was just a drop in the ocean.

In other words...

"There are 2,999 worlds like ours."

Fan Yuan let out a long breath and subconsciously said, "The world is so vast..."

Of the three thousand worlds, I am one of them.

This result, while alarming, is still somewhat acceptable.

"No."

Qin Wangchuan turned around, his gaze shifting from the Jujube Tree to Fan Yuan.

"It's a powerful world, with three thousand of them."

"Like this tree, standing here, it can be seen from afar."

"This is one."

"And the world we live in now—"

Qin Wangchuan squatted down, grabbed a handful of sand from beside the tree roots, and slowly stood up.

The grains of sand slipped through my fingers, the moonlight shining on them, making them appear as a hazy, inconspicuous gray, until they fell back into the dust, indistinguishable from one another.

"There are countless."

"Countless second-rate worlds."

Fan Yuan was shocked upon hearing this.

He thought that three thousand worlds were all there was.

But he understood after listening.

Those three thousand are the ones that others can see.

But the one he was in, along with himself, was just a grain of sand within it.

A grain of sand.

A night breeze swept in from the alley entrance, causing the lamplight to flicker.

Qin Wangchuan had already walked back to the stone table and sat down, picking up his teacup with a calm expression.

Fan Yuan stood there, motionless, like a hollowed-out stone statue.

After a long while, Fan Yuan slowly stood up and bowed deeply to Qin Wangchuan.

I have benefited greatly from what you have said today.

"This old man... shall take his leave now."

He made up an excuse, his voice a little hoarse, and turned to leave.

They walked much faster than they had come, as if they dared not linger for even a moment longer.

Qin Wangchuan sat at the stone table, holding a teacup, neither getting up to see him off nor offering to keep him.

I just watched that figure walk across the courtyard, unlatch the door, and disappear outside.

A night breeze blew in from the alley entrance, causing the door to sway slightly before slowly closing.

Qin Wangchuan withdrew his gaze.

After a century of cultivation, having one's worldview overturned in a single day is not a pleasant experience.

If someone has a weak will, they might never recover.

Hopefully he'll come to his senses.

Fan Yuan returned to the inn, bolted the door, and lay down on the bed without even taking off his clothes.

His eyes were wide open, staring at the top of the tent, and he didn't close them all night.

He couldn't understand it.

The world is so big, with three thousand powerful worlds and countless insignificant ones.

What we are in is nothing more than a grain of sand among grains of sand.

And he was nothing more than dust on a grain of sand.

Dust.

He cultivated for 110 years, endured countless hardships, begged countless people, and escaped death countless times before finally reaching the Ninth Realm.

He thought he was ascending to heaven, but the boy told him...

You haven't even taken the first step.

What's the point of spiritual practice then?

Since we can't escape this world, since we're not even ants in the face of those powerful worlds, what's the point of spending our entire lives cultivating ourselves?

I don't know how much time passed.

Fan Yuan turned over, and moonlight shone through the window paper, falling on his pillow.

He stared at the pale light and suddenly thought of something.

What would others think if they knew this?

What would that immortal master think if he knew?

He reached into his robe and pulled out a Jade Pendant.

It wasn't large, and its surface was warm and smooth, gleaming faintly in the darkness.

This was left behind by the old immortal master who guided me onto the Cultivation Path.

An old immortal master, traveling through the land, saw that he had good aptitude and gave him some pointers.

Before leaving, he gave me this Jade Pendant, saying it was a matter of fortuitous opportunity.

But after examining it for a long time, I couldn't see anything special about it.

Fan Yuan stroked the Jade Pendant, remaining silent for a long time.

If that immortal master knew the truth about these Three Thousand Worlds, what would he think?

He gave a bitter smile, clenched the Jade Pendant in his palm, and closed his eyes.

Outside the window, the sky was just before dawn.

The crowing of roosters came from afar, one after another.

"It's so noisy."