First Glimpse of the Immortal Sect

Inside the quiet chamber.

You Xuexin's beautiful eyes were tightly shut. As if avoiding snakes and scorpions, she flung the [Five Thieves Steal Heaven Myriad Transformations Divine Talisman] far away, then directly sat cross-legged on the floor.

At some point, a red-skinned gourd had appeared in her hand.

The spell she cultivated primarily was [Swordsmanship], and she excelled at wielding flying swords. As instruments of slaughter, her flying swords were normally kept within a Sword Chest to be nurtured.

This gourd was her Sword Chest.

At this moment, as she circulated her Dharma Power, surging Spirit Sense poured into the red-skinned gourd. The once-still gourd gradually began to emit the roars of dragons and tigers.

"Please, treasure, reveal yourself!"

You Xuexin formed a hand seal and recited an incantation. Without hesitation, she then pried open the gourd's mouth, and billowing Sword Qi immediately burst forth like floodwaters from a broken dam.

"Clang! Clang!"

The cries of swords rang through the quiet chamber, as though an invisible flying sword were darting through the air. In the end, it settled steadily above You Xuexin's head and spun lightly once.

In an instant, it was as though some invisible connection had been severed by the flying sword. Clarity returned to You Xuexin's beautiful eyes, and she let out a long breath before cupping her hands toward the gourd. It answered with a sword cry, then returned to the gourd, all strange phenomena subsiding.

"Thank goodness..."

You Xuexin patted her ample chest, then looked with lingering fear at the jade slip she had hurled into the corner of the quiet chamber.

She had even used a spell for that throw.

It was [Scene Transposition], the technique she had used when capturing Wang Ping before. As its name implied, it could shift the outer scenery, shape space, and create a realm where what was inches away was actually the ends of the earth.

For example, although the jade slip appeared to be at the other end of the quiet chamber, anyone who truly wanted to pick it up would have to walk at least a hundred kilometers before they could touch it.

Yet when dealing with such an evil object, no precaution could be considered excessive. Out of caution, You Xuexin did not dare retrieve it just yet. She thought it would be better to wait until her Dharma Power and Spirit Sense had both recovered to their peak, make every preparation, and only then pick it back up.

With that thought, You Xuexin inspected her Sea of Consciousness again.

Before her eyes, within the vast ocean formed of memories, a small area had visibly warped. A great number of cultivation-method memories had vaguely taken the form of a talisman.

"Hiss...!"

You Xuexin sucked in a sharp breath. "Good thing I severed the related memories in time. Otherwise, once the talisman took shape, I'm afraid I truly wouldn't have been able to forget it."

That was the sinister strangeness of the [Five Thieves Steal Heaven Myriad Transformations Divine Talisman].

Once a cultivator was bewitched by it and saw the contents of the cultivation method, a resonance would immediately arise within their Sea of Consciousness. Their memories of the method would form into a talisman out of thin air.

Engraved deep within the Sea of Consciousness, this talisman allowed cultivators to skip the stage of arduous cultivation and directly grasp all the experience of this supreme immortal art. Read it one moment, use it the next—the speed of mastery could be called the finest in the Immortal Sect. Yet accordingly, it also possessed a nearly fatal flaw.

That was being targeted by the Heaven-Stealing Thief.

"The Heaven-Stealing Thief spreads this method. At its core, it is simply raising venomous insects in a jar. Every cultivator who rises above the rest through it will ultimately become nourishment for his immortal path."

With such a defect, no matter how great the benefits were, You Xuexin would never be tempted.

Inside the [Six-Desire Demon Banner].

Wang Ping had his eyes shut as he similarly examined himself inwardly. In the Sea of Consciousness, there was indeed an additional talisman, the size of a thumb and flowing with boundless radiance.

The next moment, the talisman's true name surfaced in Wang Ping's mind.

[Life-Stealing Thief].

"A thief of life can steal Life Essence and seize another's spirit, energy, and essence related to their lifespan the instant it comes into contact with them."

It did not sound all that impressive.

But in truth, this means of stealing Life Essence was extraordinarily tyrannical. If cultivated to its highest realm, it could steal someone's life the instant it touched them.

Touch anyone, and they died on the spot!

Moreover, the stolen Life Essence would not simply dissipate. It would all merge into oneself and nourish the body, with effects better than any spiritual pill or wondrous medicine!

At that thought, Wang Ping's gaze grew deeper. He stared fixedly at the [Life-Stealing Thief] talisman within his Sea of Consciousness, examining it this way and that, searching high and low, carefully savoring and absorbing the knowledge and experience it conveyed. Only then did he finally spot two words amidst the talisman's lines—

Eat people!

"Why are all the Immortal Sect's cultivation methods walking the demonic path?!" Wang Ping's scalp went numb. "What [Life-Stealing Thief]? Put plainly, isn't it just eating people?!"

Raising his gaze, Wang Ping looked outside the banner again.

As the radiance of the [Life-Stealing Thief] flickered faintly, he immediately saw the immeasurable, terrifying Life Essence within You Xuexin's body.

"Gulp..."

In an instant, Wang Ping's mouth filled with saliva. He had to expend tremendous effort just to swallow, while an indescribably terrifying hunger swept through his entire body!

So hungry! So hungry! So hungry!

Want to eat! Want to eat! Want to eat!

"...No, this thing is controlling me?"

Wang Ping abruptly held his breath, pouring all his Spirit Sense frantically into the [Life-Stealing Thief]. Only then did he barely suppress the hunger and preserve his sanity.

"What powerful demonic nature."

"This won't do. I need to find a way to completely control this hunger, or sooner or later, it will force me into cultivation deviation."

Would suicide work?

Wang Ping thought about it, then shook his head. His intuition told him it probably would not, because the [Life-Stealing Thief] did not exist based on this body of his.

It was based on his memories.

"If I want to eliminate its influence, I'll have to sever every memory related to it. Otherwise, even if I die and start over, this thing will probably still follow me."

For now, he could only suppress it with Spirit Sense while appropriately stealing some Life Essence to satisfy the hunger, striking with both fists. Though this method treated the symptoms rather than the root cause, it could delay things for quite a while—long enough for his cultivation to advance another step and for him to seek a new solution.

Only after a full three hours did You Xuexin finish regulating her breath and recover. She then beckoned with one hand, retrieving the jade slip from the corner of the quiet chamber.

Immediately afterward, she took out a jade box and tossed the jade slip inside, sealing it shut. She then pressed two fingers together like a sword and continuously inscribed rune-texts and secret talismans upon it, until the entire surface of the jade box could hold no more. Only then did she take out a larger jade box and repeat the same process...

Only after doing this several times in succession did she finally let out a breath.

"Time waits for no one. I should escort this item over as quickly as possible and let Master handle it. If it remains in my hands, something may yet go wrong."

With that thought, You Xuexin did not dare delay.

The next moment, she formed a hand seal, muttering an incantation beneath her breath. Finally, she pointed forward, and a brilliant golden radiance bloomed where she stood.

Within the [Six-Desire Demon Banner], Wang Ping had been quietly observing the outside world. At this moment, his vision blurred, and when he came back to himself, the scenery had completely changed.

The many sights of the Daoist temple had vanished, replaced by a magnificent deck. Before his eyes stood pavilions and towers gleaming with gold and jade, surrounded by blue skies and white clouds. It was an enormous ship suspended in midair, its hull covered in rune-texts and secret talismans that were lighting up one after another.

"What an airship!"

Wang Ping was inwardly shaken. Then he saw You Xuexin channel her Dharma Power, and the airship responded at once, rapidly pulling away from the earth amid a cluster of golden light.

Its speed surpassed Wang Ping's imagination.

In the blink of an eye, the Daoist temple had become a tiny black speck in his field of vision. He had not even managed to see the surroundings of the temple clearly.

All he could see were the mountains and rivers that had already shrunk to insignificance. Even they gradually became abstract paintings as time passed.

Suddenly, enlightenment came to Wang Ping.

"Stop looking down."

Only souls bound by gravity would keep their eyes fixed upon the earth. At this moment, he should raise his head and gaze upon the vaster, boundless firmament.

So Wang Ping raised his head.

In an instant, as the airship crashed through the astral cloud sea of the Thirty-Three Heavens and parted the clouds to reveal the sun, a familiar yet unfamiliar sight entered Wang Ping's eyes.

It was an abyssal darkness, as though the vault of heaven had been stained by spilled ink. Yet compared to the tiny earth, this darkness was so vast, so profound. As the airship drew closer, streaks of silvery starlight gradually lit up in its depths.

[The universe].

Wang Ping was one hundred percent certain that what lay before him was the universe. At this very moment, the airship was charging toward it.

What was this supposed to be?

A solo breakthrough of the atmosphere?

Wang Ping's gaze shifted over the stars that adorned the darkness, flowing with splendor, dazzling and endless. Almost instinctively, he began to observe them.

He tried to find the familiar parts among this sky full of celestial patterns... Yet to his disappointment, every constellation was unfamiliar.

The Big Dipper, the twelve zodiac signs, the twenty-eight lunar mansions... he saw none of them.

"...Heh."

Suddenly, Wang Ping laughed.

Never before had he so clearly realized that he had truly transmigrated. Yet precisely because of that, a momentary doubt arose within him.

"Something seems off."

Though these star patterns were entirely unfamiliar, when he looked closely, they somehow felt familiar, as though he had seen them somewhere before.

An illusion? Déjà vu?

Before Wang Ping could sort through his thoughts, even the star patterns disappeared from view—because the airship had not stopped. Instead, it sped toward one of the stars.

During this process, the star patterns gradually shifted, as though a curtain had been pulled aside. From an entirely new angle, Wang Ping saw the other side of the celestial patterns—before him were twelve objects radiating light like suns, mixed among the stars.

From Remote Viewing, they were not conspicuous.

But once the airship truly approached them, the essential difference between stars and planets immediately made the former shine brightly, displaying an absolute sense of presence.

"One Palace, Three Courts, Eight Immortal Peak..."

At that moment, You Xuexin's voice suddenly rang out, filled with emotion. "No matter how many times I see it, I can't help but marvel at the might of the Immortals."

Wang Ping listened secretly from the side and silently committed it to memory.

One Palace, Three Courts, Eight Immortal Peak—was that the source of the twelve lights of the suns? Taken literally, it seemed to be an internal organization of the Immortal Sect.

Wang Ping studied the twelve suns before him even more carefully, then noticed something wrong.

Each of the twelve lights of the suns led a group of stars. In the boundless darkness of the universe, they actually formed a pattern.

More precisely, they formed a gate.

Eight relatively dim sun-lights formed the frame of the gate, while three brighter sun-lights traced the outline of its plaque.

As for the most dazzling sun-light, it rested firmly at the center of the plaque. Unlike the other sun-lights, which led groups of stars and traveled along their orbits, this one neither deviated nor moved, as though declaring itself the center of everything.

What kind of power was this?

Wang Ping had no doubt that an external force had intervened. Otherwise, how could the paths of the stars form a gate? The possibility of it arising naturally was far too low.

"Is this the Immortal Sect?"

The moment the thought appeared, Wang Ping held his breath. The so-called "Immortal Sect" did not refer to a sect at all, but to a star system?

What kind of joke was this?!

Compared with the abstract descriptions of cultivation worlds from his previous life—things like world-heavens and seas of light—the tangible universe before him shook Wang Ping far more deeply.

Because it subtly aligned with part of Wang Ping's worldview. That overlap made him even more clearly realize what an enormous behemoth the [Immortal Sect] truly was. Measured on the scale of the universe, its resplendent immortal light seemed ever more dazzling and brilliant.

"How is it? Spectacular, isn't it?"

—A voice suddenly sounded.

The simple few words were like a basin of cold water, instantly extinguishing all Wang Ping's thoughts and freezing his consciousness in that moment.

But he quickly reacted.

"She wasn't talking to me!"

Within the [Six-Desire Demon Banner], Wang Ping lowered his head. He no longer watched the boundless starry sky overhead, instead looking down at the ground gradually enlarging below.

This was one of the stars.

It was not one of the twelve lights of the suns, but an insignificant star among the countless celestial bodies. It was a stop on the airship's escort journey.

Yet at that moment, the scenery suddenly changed.

The ground was like a curtain being lifted and crushed, shattering in an instant and revealing the boundless radiance behind it, which actually eclipsed even the stars of the universe!

"It is indeed spectacular."

A cold, calm voice answered You Xuexin's question, resounding between heaven and earth. "Fellow Daoist, your Spirit Sense is remarkable. Unfortunately, you noticed too late."

Stars fell, and heaven opened.

Within the brilliant divine radiance, Wang Ping saw a towering figure. He stood in the cosmic starry sky, fingers as vast as mountains and rivers slowly forming a seal.

Compared to him, the airship seemed no more than a fallen leaf in his palm.

Then his ten fingers entwined. At first glance, the hand seal he formed resembled a precious bottle, its mouth aimed directly at the airship.

"Manifestation of Divine Ability—"

The majestic incantation echoed through the stars, seemingly issuing an order. As the words fell, heaven and earth truly began to change as he had commanded.

All things abruptly collapsed inward.

The airship, the figures, the starry sky—everything that had stood on the scale of the universe was falling, like birds with broken wings plunging toward a vast lake.

Such a violent change in the scene left Wang Ping stunned for quite some time before he understood what had happened.

"No, it isn't that exaggerated. Heaven and earth aren't changing."

"It's me... It's this airship changing. It's shrinking!"

"Someone set a trap on the star the airship was about to reach, using some method to shrink the airship and send it into another world!"

Almost at the same time, that majestic voice commanding heaven and earth slowly uttered its final syllable.

"—[Heaven in a Pot]."