The Undertaker Reappears, Supreme Clarity Temple Defeated

What Sixth Senior Brother said left Chen Changsheng with a vague sense of unease.

But that feeling did not last long before Chen Changsheng let it go.

After walking the mortal world for decades, Chen Changsheng had grasped one truth: once something exceeded the limits of your ability,

it would not fail to happen simply because you did not want to see it happen.

Rather than worry all day long, it was better to live each day happily, because time would prove everything.

Including whether his own guesses were correct.

After returning to Supreme Clarity Temple, Chen Changsheng once again lived a leisurely, carefree life.

In his daily routine, he either went to Book Grave to read or practiced Hundred Defeats Immortal's Nameless Fist Technique to keep his body limber.

When Nascent Soul Immortal had gone to the borderlands, he had drawn away more than half of Supreme Clarity Temple's strength.

Thus, although Yuanshan was still young, with Chen Changsheng assisting from the side, he could barely keep Supreme Clarity Temple running.

Moreover, the more Yuanshan experienced, the faster he grew. Before long, Chen Changsheng had become a hands-off shopkeeper.

Yet during this time, one matter exceeded Chen Changsheng's expectations.

The war between the Great Qian Dynasty and the Night Moon Kingdom lasted an entire twenty years.

By the fifth year, even the Spirit Transformation ancestor who had been in secluded cultivation for a long time went to the borderlands.

Supreme Clarity Temple's Book Grave.

After slowly setting down the last book, Chen Changsheng stretched his somewhat stiff body.

At that moment, a handsome man in a daoist robe, with sword-like brows and star-bright eyes, walked over.

"How did your consideration of what I mentioned yesterday go?"

Hearing this, Chen Changsheng glanced at him and said blandly, "No!"

"Why?"

"Ten years ago, you said that once I finished reading the books in Book Grave, you would allow me to go to the borderlands. Now I've finished every book in Book Grave. Why can't I go?"

"Don't forget, I'm the acting Temple Master of Supreme Clarity Temple."

Looking at the man before him, who was roaring at him, Chen Changsheng smiled. "Twenty years ago, you were a little brat who had to ask me about everything."

"Now you finally dare to pound the table and challenge me."

"Not bad. You've improved."

Hearing Chen Changsheng's words, the grown-up Yuanshan's eyes began to redden. His voice carried a hint of choking emotion as he said,

"Seventh Senior Brother is dead. Fifth Senior Brother is blind. First Senior Brother, who loved us most, lost an arm."

"Brother Changsheng, I'm already at Golden Core Late Stage. I can help them now. I really don't want to see anything happen to my senior brothers again."

Looking into Yuanshan's reddened eyes, Chen Changsheng did not know what to say for a moment.

He had kept watch over the situation at the borderlands these past years. The Great Qian Dynasty's situation was far from optimistic.

More than ten Nascent Soul Realm experts had died in battle. There were even rumors that Spirit Transformation cultivators had begun to fall on the battlefield.

If he let Yuanshan go to such a brutal battlefield, it would undoubtedly be sending him to his death.

On a battlefield like that, even Golden Core stage cultivators were merely slightly more advanced cannon fodder.

Just as Chen Changsheng was about to find another excuse to keep Yuanshan from going to the battlefield, a familiar aura suddenly came from above Supreme Clarity Temple.

Sensing that aura, Chen Changsheng and Yuanshan hurried out to receive the arrival.

But what they saw was Third Senior Brother, covered in blood, his left hand severed and his right eye blind.

"From this moment onward, I am the Temple Master of Supreme Clarity Temple. Ninth Junior Brother Song Yuanshan will be the Deputy Temple Master of Supreme Clarity Temple."

"All main and branch temples of Supreme Clarity Temple are to retreat three thousand li west!"

The once-lazy Third Senior Brother had become decisive and swift. He did not even have time to greet the two junior brothers he had not seen for so long.

After issuing a string of orders, Third Senior Brother's taut nerves finally relaxed.

Seeing how greatly Third Senior Brother had changed, Yuanshan walked over trembling.

"Third Senior Brother, where are Master and the others?"

Facing Yuanshan's question, Third Senior Brother spoke in a somewhat hoarse voice.

"For some reason, the Night Moon Kingdom's Nascent Soul Realm experts suddenly more than doubled."

"Master was besieged by three Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivators and ultimately fell on Phoenix Mountain."

"Our senior brothers had been acting together, but we were suddenly ambushed. First Senior Brother risked self-destruction to send me out."

"The Great Qian Dynasty was defeated. Beginning from the borderlands, five thousand li of territory was ceded to the Night Moon Kingdom as compensation."

Upon hearing this news, Yuanshan immediately felt the world spin around him.

Then Yuanshan grabbed Third Senior Brother by the collar and demanded fiercely, "Where is Master's body?"

"Why didn't you bring it back? Did you want to watch Master's corpse be refined into a puppet?"

Facing Yuanshan's roar, Third Senior Brother did not resist. There was only endless silence.

"Stop shaking him. Keep shaking, and you'll shake Third Senior Brother to death."

Chen Changsheng's calm voice sounded from behind him, and Yuanshan instinctively stopped.

When he turned around, Chen Changsheng had somehow already carried over the Lightning Strike Wood Coffin from the Back Mountain.

Before Yuanshan could figure out what Chen Changsheng intended to do, Chen Changsheng had already come before Third Senior Brother.

He took out a porcelain bottle and poured out a medicinal pill for Third Senior Brother to swallow.

It was as though Chen Changsheng had not been affected at all by the terrible news just now.

"You've damaged your foundation. My abilities are limited; I can't save you."

"The Night Moon Kingdom's offensive is so fierce. Their goal definitely isn't merely five thousand li. They likely want to swallow the entire Great Qian Dynasty."

"Yuanshan has good talent, but he is still somewhat childish. For the next fifty years, you must guide him well. Supreme Clarity Temple's future rests on him."

After saying that, Chen Changsheng stored the Lightning Strike Wood Coffin on the ground into the System Space, then turned and walked out.

At that moment, the stunned Third Senior Brother came back to himself and immediately said, "Changsheng, what are you doing?"

Hearing this, Chen Changsheng stopped. After hesitating for a moment, he said,

"I'm going to collect Master's and my senior brothers' bodies."

"Don't laugh at me, Senior Brother, but before I came to Supreme Clarity Temple, my old trade was selling coffins."

"And that Lightning Strike Wood Coffin was something I prepared for Master in advance. Now it has come in handy."

"We cultivate immortality in pursuit of longevity. Everyone thinks that after attaining longevity, one can gain great freedom and ease, never realizing that longevity itself is the greatest pain."

"The world is like a bitter sea. Longevity means floating forever in that bitter sea."

"Master and the others have escaped the bitter sea. We should be happy for them."

As he spoke, Chen Changsheng hesitated once more. Then he turned to Third Senior Brother and revealed a radiant smile.

"I remember Third Senior Brother once told a story from the cultivation world, using it to scare Yuanshan."

"You said there was a mysterious existence in the cultivation world that specialized in collecting the bodies of those whose lifespans had run out."

"Once he appeared, it meant death was about to arrive."

"No one knew this mysterious existence's name. They only knew he was called..."

"The Undertaker!"