The True Immortal Teng Snake

Li Ming transformed into a streak of Chaos Immortal Light, tore through the void, and flew toward the coordinates of the Crippled Immortal's remains.

The Nine Heavens and Ten Lands were boundless. Countless stars shone across the heavens, and life-bearing planets dotted the cosmos.

Yet darkness and cold still defined the universe of the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.

Vast stretches held nothing but dark, frigid emptiness. Many star systems lay lifeless, untouched by any living being for tens of thousands of years.

Legend said Saints could harness the universe's energies and cross the stars. In reality, such a journey was still perilous for a mere Saint.

Countless dangers in the cosmos could claim a Saint's life.

Only someone who had attained Enlightenment as Supreme could roam the universe freely.

Li Ming swept across the stars, deliberately slowing down to take in their wonders.

Countless stars receded behind him in an instant. Scenes on countless life-bearing planets flickered past like flowers glimpsed through mist. It was an experience unlike any other.

Before long, he spotted a planet that had been abandoned.

It was the planet where he had once unearthed several bodies with special constitutions while traveling the Ancient Starry Sky Road.

He had not expected its resources to run dry and leave it deserted.

Ruins stood everywhere. A great battle had clearly taken place here.

A battle between Quasi-Emperors, at the very least, had devastated the planet.

It had once been an ancient world favored by the Myriad Dao of Heaven and Earth, giving rise to countless lives.

He had never expected it to be destroyed like this.

Seeing it now drove home how much had changed.

Even as Li Ming looked at the ruined planet again, he could still recall all that had happened there.

Now it was all memory.

Li Ming shook his head and flashed away. Whether the planet lived or died had nothing to do with him.

He pressed onward, calculating his course as he went. Soon he plunged deep into the Chaos and found a desolate region of space.

A mysterious black hole hung there, surrounded by endless, churning purple mist.

Matter swallowed by the black hole blazed at its edge in the blink of an eye, burning with dazzling brilliance.

The entire black hole seemed ringed by a halo of gleaming gold.

Li Ming estimated that it measured at least a hundred thousand light-years across. Ordinary suns, moons, and stars were nothing beside it.

Li Ming knew ordinary people might struggle to imagine a diameter of a hundred thousand light-years.

To him, it was nothing remarkable.

He could now create a world within the Chaos. What was so strange about seeing a black hole like this?

He flew straight in!

After what felt like a long journey through space and time, he reached a black ocean lashed by towering waves.

The black ocean stretched beyond sight. Its immense waves rose so high they shattered the stars overhead.

When the terrible spray fell, Li Ming's figure emerged.

He gazed at the boundless black ocean, his expression grave.

Something was wrong here.

Since attaining Enlightenment as Supreme, Li Ming could scan almost the entire Nine Heavens and Ten Lands with a single thought.

Almost nothing in the world escaped his divine sense, apart from the Forbidden Zones he deliberately ignored.

But upon entering this black ocean, he found his divine sense severely restricted. It could reach only ten thousand li in any direction.

Farther out lay a hazy expanse of Chaos that concealed everything within it.

None of this quite matched the information he had drawn from Longevity Heavenly Venerable's soul.

Had something changed here recently? Li Ming wondered.

He thought of the Bronze Immortal Hall in his possession, then of the mysterious Bronze Mirror, and his confidence returned.

The True Immortal was dead, after all. Whatever had changed, Li Ming was confident he could handle it.

He sped above the ink-black seawater.

Soon he discovered one enormous island after another, each as vast as a continent.

The cultivators on them were too weak to notice him. Even more ordinary creatures lived peacefully on their shores.

As Li Ming ventured deeper into the black ocean, he suddenly sensed something.

"Come out!"

With an angry roar, Li Ming swept out his hand and seized a stretch of sea.

A gray figure struggled in his grasp but could not escape.

If Li Ming wanted him dead, it would take only a thought.

It was an enormous octopus covered in scales that gleamed like metal. He had clearly cultivated to an extraordinary level.

Judging by his aura, he was a Quasi-Venerable.

Li Ming's grip had left him bleeding. His face was pale, his aura weak, and he was plainly terrified.

The octopus transformed into a white-haired old man. Kneeling before Li Ming, he begged for mercy.

"Heavenly Venerable, I was too blind to recognize you! Please forgive me!"

Powerful Quasi-Venerable though he was, he dropped to his knees without the slightest hesitation.

Li Ming snorted. "You've got some nerve, spying on me from the shadows!"

"What were you trying to do?"

Li Ming's voice boomed like thunder, nearly shaking the Quasi-Venerable apart.

"Please calm your anger, Heavenly Venerable! I've always lived in these waters. I was cultivating and contemplating the Dao when I happened to sense your terrifying aura. I dared to take one look, nothing more. I meant no harm!"

A creature native to this place?

Li Ming had not expected this sea to produce a Quasi-Venerable.

"Get up. I have questions about this world, and you will answer them truthfully."

"Ask whatever you wish, Heavenly Venerable. I'll answer every question as best I can." The Quasi-Venerable agreed at once.

Satisfied, Li Ming nodded. "Have you heard of the True Immortal's corpse in this world? Where is it now?"

The moment he heard Li Ming mention the corpse, fear appeared on the Quasi-Venerable's face.

"Heavenly Venerable, you mustn't go there!"

"Something strange seems to have happened where the corpse lies. It has become a place of deadly danger!"

"I saw a Quasi-Emperor die there with my own eyes!"

"Just tell me what happened there. Don't worry about anything else," Li Ming said calmly.

The Quasi-Venerable soon told him what he knew about the True Immortal's resting place.

Over a thousand years ago, the True Immortal's corpse had begun to emit Immortal Light. Many powerful cultivators in this world believed a treasure might have formed within it.

They joined forces to calculate its secrets and explore the corpse, hoping to claim that treasure.

At first, everything went smoothly. They entered the True Immortal's body without difficulty.

Then they realized they had walked into a nightmare.

Several powerful Quasi-Venerables were swallowed.

They were eaten before everyone's eyes.

The octopus had kept his guard up and escaped by chance.

He had lived in fear ever since, wanting to flee this world before the terrifying corpse came for him.

"Did the True Immortal come back to life?"

"No, that's impossible. If he had, he probably would have eaten me long ago."

"It felt more like an obsession lingering in his body. Or perhaps Corpse Spirit Awakening." The Quasi-Venerable chose his words carefully.

After hearing him out, Li Ming made his own calculations.

He found the place truly unusual. Its workings were shrouded from sight and difficult to divine.

A long time passed before Li Ming opened his eyes.

"Heavenly Venerable, may I leave now?"

The Quasi-Venerable asked cautiously.

"Not yet. Take me to the True Immortal's corpse."

"That... Heavenly Venerable, it's far too dangerous there. Please don't go."

"I barely escaped with my life. I never want to return."

"You're the strongest person here, and you know the most," Li Ming said. "If you won't guide me, who will?"

"Or should I just search your soul?" Li Ming asked with a smile.

"Heavenly Venerable..."

"Enough. Lead the way!" When the Quasi-Venerable tried to protest again, Li Ming snapped, "One more word, and I'll crush you with a single palm strike."

Li Ming's patience had clearly run out.

The Quasi-Venerable fell silent and obediently led him onward.

As they crossed the vast black ocean, they came upon many corpses.

Some had belonged to Saints, others to low-level cultivators, and some even to mortals.

Some had been dead for a long time, while others were plainly more recent.

Li Ming studied the bodies, all drained of their vital essence, with a thoughtful look.

It seemed there really was something wrong with the True Immortal's corpse.

After roughly half a day of winding through the ocean, Li Ming finally saw what lay ahead.

An immense corpse stood there like a divine mountain.

Li Ming fixed his blazing gaze on it, studying it as though he could see through every secret it held.

Beside him, the Quasi-Venerable trembled under its terrifying aura.

"Heavenly Venerable, can I leave now?"

"Go."

Li Ming waved him off as if dismissing a fly.

The Quasi-Venerable had intended to leave. But after sensing Li Ming's overwhelming power, he gritted his teeth and decided to stay.

Fortune favored those willing to risk their lives.

Any treasure this Heavenly Venerable overlooked would be enough to benefit him for the rest of his life.

His cultivation had long since stalled, and he had little lifespan left.

He might as well take his chances. Perhaps the Heavenly Venerable would even reward him.

Li Ming saw the Quasi-Venerable lingering but said nothing.

He flew forward.

The True Immortal's corpse resembled a True Dragon at first glance, but a closer look revealed the difference.

It was a Teng Snake!

It was not a true dragon.

Though it had grown claws and possessed a head like a True Dragon's, the differences elsewhere were plain.

Its scales looked as though they had been forged from Immortal Gold and gleamed with a cold luster.

The Teng Snake's corpse lay coiled there. Even in death, it radiated an aura that seemed capable of suppressing the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.

The enormous black corpse drew in the essence of suns and moons from across the stars. That essence gathered into silver rivers that poured into its body.

Though it was clearly dead, its body showed no trace of decay. It looked lifelike, as if merely asleep.

"The remains of a Crippled Immortal?"

"This is clearly a complete True Immortal's corpse!"

Li Ming considered it. Longevity Heavenly Venerable probably had not misled him on purpose.

Longevity Heavenly Venerable must have come here, but in a much earlier age.

Perhaps he, too, had tried to steal the True Immortal's remains and failed.

Who would have thought that, after countless years here, the corpse would regain its original, complete form?

Suddenly, to Li Ming's astonishment, the corpse moved. It shifted ever so slightly.

He immediately retreated a short distance and watched.

The Teng Snake truly was moving. It even raised its head and let out a dragonlike roar.

Li Ming felt his spirit shudder. Across this world, the blood essence of countless living beings converged, staining the sky red.

All of it poured into the Teng Snake's body.

No wonder they had seen so many corpses along the way. The Teng Snake's corpse had devoured them all.

To Li Ming's surprise, a pulse of life came from within the corpse.

As the blood essence flowed into it, that pulse grew steadily stronger.

The Teng Snake's corpse even rose slowly into the void.

Li Ming watched as vast amounts of spiritual energy and the blood essence of countless creatures poured into its body.

He felt as though the dead thing was awakening.

Yes, it really was waking up.

"Roar..."

Its dragonlike roar shook the entire world.

Endless Immortal Dao Runes appeared across the Teng Snake's countless scales, blazing with light.

Countless Grand Dao Runes appeared around it as well, forming Great Dao Chains that bound the Teng Snake fast.

So someone had trapped the True Immortal's corpse in a supreme formation.

After careful study, Li Ming finally concluded that the vast formation appeared to have been laid by Lingbao Tianzun.

Had Lingbao Tianzun wanted to refine this True Immortal's remains and live another Lifetime?

According to the account, he should have failed.

"Did Lingbao Tianzun die along with this Teng Snake whose corpse had awakened as a spirit?"

Li Ming could sense that the corpse was no mere empty shell. Life had truly arisen within it. Its spirit had awakened.

If a True Immortal's corpse awakened and began cultivating, its talent would undoubtedly be astonishing.

But its original Primordial Spirit had long since been destroyed. Regaining its former strength would be no simple task.

Especially in a world where no True Immortals existed.

Li Ming stared at the True Immortal's corpse. He knew Lingbao Tianzun had made arrangements here, and they could not be so simple.

The thought deepened his admiration for Lingbao Tianzun.

He had never imagined that Nine Secrets: Zu could be so wondrous and powerful that it had actually killed a Crippled Immortal.

And bound his corpse firmly in this place.

But even Lingbao Tianzun could not have expected the True Immortal's corpse to awaken as a spirit, could he?

The life force within the True Immortal's corpse surged.

It swiftly broke past the Quasi-Emperor threshold and reached the level of an Ultimate Dao Supreme.

"A consciousness on par with a Dark Supreme, housed in a True Immortal's body?"

Li Ming was startled. He had not expected the awakened corpse to have cultivated to such a level.

If Li Ming's arrival had not roused this new consciousness, it might have continued growing stronger here.

An ancient incantation rang out, and the Teng Snake's body began to move.

Then its eyes snapped open and fixed on Li Ming.

With a roar, the Teng Snake flew into the air and lashed its tail viciously at Li Ming.

Even bound by chains, the Teng Snake unleashed an earth-shaking attack.

Greed gleamed in its eyes, as though it could already see itself devouring Li Ming after killing him.

The True Immortal's tail tore through the void. Brilliant Immortal Dao Runes blazed across it as it whipped toward Li Ming.

Boom! The Teng Snake screamed.

Li Ming was not killed instantly as it had imagined. Instead, the impact left the Teng Snake's tail bleeding.

"What?"

"How is that possible?"

The Teng Snake was aghast. It had been wounded.

How had that Human Race powerhouse blocked an immortal's attack?

Boom! Immortal Light burst forth, and another heavy blow sent the Teng Snake flying.

Grand Dao Heavenly Sound thundered, Immortal Dao Runes blossomed, and Immortal Light shone with dazzling brilliance.

The Immortal Dao Laws, dormant for countless years, burned fiercely.

But all of it came to an abrupt halt before Li Ming.

The Teng Snake was hurled sideways, coughing up mouthfuls of blood.

"Why is this happening?"

The Teng Snake let out a shrill howl.

It could not understand. Its corpse had awakened as a spirit, its strength was immense, and it possessed a True Immortal's body. How could it fail to defeat that Human Race powerhouse?

When the dazzling radiance faded and the Chaos Thunder vanished, an ancient bronze hall emerged.

It was the Bronze Immortal Hall.

The verdigris covering it had turned crystalline green, as though the hall had been carved from jade.

It was a genuine Immortal Weapon.

Though its Weapon Deity was gone, the Immortal Dao Runes upon it were real.

They were more than enough to contend with the Teng Snake's True Immortal corpse.

"The Bronze Immortal Hall!"

The Teng Snake recognized the Immortal Weapon. Utter shock spread across its face.

Its body even trembled slightly, setting all the chains that bound it rattling.

It gazed at the Bronze Immortal Hall from afar, its expression deeply conflicted.

"I never thought the Bronze Immortal Hall would end up in this world..."

"And to think it fell into your hands..."

"What a pity. So its Weapon Deity is already dead..."

"You recognize this Immortal Weapon? Did it really fall from the Immortal Domain into this world?" Li Ming frowned.

"Hmph! Of course it came from the Immortal Domain!"

"How could this world possibly forge an Immortal Weapon?"

"To have cultivated to this level in this broken Lower Realm, you truly are a rare talent!"

"If you free me, I can take you onto the Road to Immortality and into the Immortal Domain, where you can become an immortal."

"Otherwise, you can only grow old and die quietly in this world!"

The Teng Snake was trying to entice Li Ming into breaking the formation and setting it free.