"Wait..." Xu San immediately grew anxious. How could Zhang Chulan be taken away so easily? Wouldn't that make all their efforts go to waste?
"San, don't chase him." Xu Si suddenly spoke up, stopping Xu San.
"Don't chase him?" Xu San frowned, a glint of cold light flashing in his eyes. "Why?"
They had worked so hard for so long, and Bao'er had waited for so many years. Were they just going to let him go?
Today, if Xu Si didn't give him a reason, this wouldn't be over!
Xu Si did not answer. His eyes burned with excitement as he said in a low voice, "Zhang Chulan was the process. Now, the result is already here."
"The result?"
Xu San froze, then seemed to realize something as he looked at the only outsider present—Lin Xian.
At this point, only Xu San, Xu Si, Lin Xian, and Feng Baobao remained inside Nadutong.
What exactly had happened?
Xu Si took a deep breath, put on what he thought was a brilliant smile, and softly asked, "Bao'er, do you know someone named Feng Yao?"
"Feng Yao?"
Feng Baobao murmured the name. It was as though an alarm clock had been pressed off; she instantly went still. Then her face turned pale, and with a thud, she collapsed onto the floor, clutching her head and weeping as though recalling something.
"Bao'er, Bao'er..." Feng Baobao's behavior instantly frightened Xu San. He turned and grabbed Xu Si by the clothes, roaring, "Who the hell is Feng Yao? Why is Bao'er like this?"
"Feng Yao may be the family Bao'er has been searching for all these years."
Xu Si took a deep breath and looked toward Lin Xian. "This Senior Lin told me that Feng Yao is Feng Baobao's father. Is that true?"
"Of course it's true. What would I gain from lying to you?" Lin Xian spread his hands. "I'm not the only one who knows. Some among the Thirty-Six Thieves from the Jia Shen Turmoil knew as well."
"Who is Feng Yao?"
"The Thirty-Six Thieves?"
The two brothers, Xu San and Xu Si, asked different questions.
Then they exchanged a look and spoke in unison, "Why?"
"Because Feng Yao was Wugensheng's real name." Lin Xian curled his lips into a smile, revealing the answer without any concealment.
Xu San and Xu Si might never have heard the name Feng Yao, but the name Wugensheng was thunderous in their ears—the former leader of Quanxing.
The beginning of the Eight Extraordinary Skills had started with Wugensheng, and Wugensheng could not escape blame for the Jia Shen Turmoil either.
"Th-this is impossible." Xu San stared at Feng Baobao in shock, unable to recover for a long time—until his phone ringtone jolted him awake.
If Feng Baobao was Wugensheng's daughter, then how long had she lived?
Through those endless years, her appearance had never changed, and she had still retained the heart of a child.
This... this was terrifying!
"Who knew how many years had passed in dreams, forgetting the burdens of dark hair and worldly thoughts. Looking back, old memories surfaced once more..." Music suddenly rang out. It was a call.
"Hello, who is this?" Xu San instinctively raised his phone, asking in a daze. The next second, he snapped fully awake as if revived, springing up like a carp and saying gravely, "President Zhao... what?! You're coming here personally?"
"Even the Ten Elders and the Eight Extraordinary Skills shouldn't warrant you..."
Xu Si's face also filled with shock upon hearing that. The person on the other end was none other than the company's chairman, Zhao Fangxu. He possessed immense prestige, considered matters with great thoroughness, and took maintaining the stability of Otherworlder society as his duty. He was the true Sea-Calming Divine Needle of the Inhuman World.
If the Old Celestial Master was the strongest in the Inhuman World, then President Zhao was an existence beyond all rankings.
With his ultimate technique, Half-Step East Wind Sky-Splitting Palm, Zhao Fangxu had trained to perfection. Before such a divine skill, Mount Wudang, Mount Longhu, and even the Ten Elders all had to lower their heads and do business.
"The influence of the Eight Extraordinary Skills may not be that great." Lin Xian suddenly smiled, his tone faint and eerie. "But what if it were Immortality?"
"What?!"
At this moment, Xu San and Xu Si were no longer merely shocked. They felt an indescribable chill, an instinctive rejection of the unknown. The Eight Extraordinary Skills were still within human comprehension, but what the hell was Immortality?
How many kings, nobles, generals, and ministers had sought Immortality in vain, only for it to appear in Bao'er?
How could that be possible?!
Xu San instinctively hung up, wanting to prevent any information from leaking out. Yet an aged voice still sounded from the other end.
"Don't hang up. I'm an Otherworlder too. I can hear you."
"President Zhao, let me explain." Xu San's hands trembled as he suppressed his fear and said, "Things aren't what you imagine..."
This was Immortality.
Compared to it, the Eight Extraordinary Skills were nothing but bullshit.
Unexpectedly, President Zhao cursed from the other end, "You two bastards, stop trying to hide it. I found out a long time ago."
In an instant, Xu San and Xu Si were stunned. A long time ago? How long ago?
So all of you knew, and only the two of us were clowns?
"When Old Xu first joined the company, I knew something was wrong." Zhao Fangxu's aged voice echoed through the entire room. "But the company's goal was stability, not uncovering the truth, so I allowed Old Xu to keep delaying things."
"Now, it seems it can't be delayed any longer."
"If it can't be delayed, then resolve it all at once." Lin Xian suddenly spoke, smiling. "President Zhao, find a place. Let's meet."
Zhao Fangxu fell silent for a moment before slowly asking, "What solution do you have?"
"Let immortals return to immortals, and dust return to dust." Lin Xian said calmly. "Let those who should come, come. Let those who should leave, leave."
"Fine." After a long while, Zhao Fangxu delivered that single word heavily. Before hanging up, the faint sound of helicopter blades could be heard from the other end.
Xu San and Xu Si exchanged a look, their faces full of complicated emotions. They could not help but sigh.
Bao'er was like this, and this old monster's appearance had not aged either. What exactly was happening to this world?
All of a sudden, it had become something they no longer recognized.
Wasn't this supposed to be a world of superpowers? How had it switched over to the Immortal Cultivation channel?
"Immortality is difficult. Knocking upon Heaven's Gate, through eternity, no immortal is seen. Time mercilessly tempers the Dao Heart."
Lin Xian slowly stepped forward and stroked Feng Baobao's head, helping regulate her breath. Then he gazed into her inwardly radiant eyes and could not help asking and answering himself, "You possess a pearl of clarity, long locked away by worldly toil. When will the dust clear and its light emerge, illuminating countless flowers across mountains and rivers?"
On the Immortal Path, what was most precious? Immortal Artifacts, immortal bodies, immortal power, immortal souls? No. It was a brilliant immortal heart.
How many Supreme Beings, lost before the uncertainty of the road ahead, had allowed dust to cloud their Dao Hearts and fallen upon the path to Immortality?
Before the Immortal Gate lay a sacrificial ground!
With the Self-Severing Slash, what was cut away was more than cultivation realm and the Heavenly Heart Imprint. It was also a slash across one's own Dao Heart, a denial of one's first Lifetime.
Only with an immortal heart could one avoid falling into darkness and cross the Sea of Bitterness of the mortal world.
Feng Baobao—what a miraculous existence. Having experienced the vast mortal world, her immortal heart remained unchanged.
In Lin Xian's eyes, Demon Emperor Little Pine, with his childlike heart, resembled a low-tier version of Xiao Nannan. His Dao Fruit was extraordinary.
The Immortal Path was long, and the Dao road boundless. Love between men and women was only temporary; in the blink of an eye, flourishing flowers turned to emptiness, and all that remained was a handful of yellow earth. Looking back again, everything had changed.
That was why Lin Xian was unwilling to form bonds lightly.
Only those who pursued Immortality could support one another on the Great Dao, witness the changing years, and temper their immortal hearts together.
Those who shared the same aspirations were true comrades. Only those unwavering until death were Dao companions.
"Fellow Daoist, awaken." Lin Xian gave a soft shout. His eyes, as clear as an infant's, met those inwardly radiant pupils and struck directly at the depths of her soul, sensing that trace of sorrow.
Soothing by the Qi-State Origin-Flow restored Feng Baobao's ability to move. She slowly raised her head, but her face was filled with confusion and bewilderment.
Where had she come from? The question that had troubled her for so long had now been answered. Her father was Feng Yao.
Then two questions remained.
"Who am I? Where am I going?"
Feng Baobao asked a philosophical question that struck directly at the soul. Everyone had a place they came from, and a place they returned to. Their names were given by their parents.
"Bao'er, you're Feng Baobao!" Xu San and Xu Si said anxiously, their eyes full of concern.
"I'm Feng Baobao. I'm Awu..." Feng Baobao spoke instinctively, paused, then said, "I want to find my memories, my family."
"You've already found them."
Lin Xian said softly, "Feng Yao is your father. You were born from Wugensheng. This is where you came from."
"B-but I can't remember..." Feng Baobao raised her head. Crystal tears shimmered in her grape-like eyes, full of pain. She could not remember who Feng Yao was or who Wugensheng was.
"Then who do you still remember?" Lin Xian asked.
"Gou Wa... Gou Wazi." Feng Baobao cried, carrying an indescribable sorrow in her voice.
Her heart was like a flawless mirror, untouched by the mortal world and pure beyond stain. That was why she had drawn close to immortality.
Only a very few people could leave a reflection upon that mirror and be remembered by her.
She could not remember Xu Xiang, Nadutong's former head of the North China Region, yet she remembered Gou Wazi.
"Then go see Gou Wazi one last time." Lin Xian stroked Feng Baobao's head, then took hold of her limp hand. The otherworldly twelve-year-old boy supported the woman in white as they walked out through the door toward the rosy clouds.
Divine Runes flickered, and the River Chart unfurled. The golden-and-silver Immortal Bridge crossed the Void, shining with the radiance of sun and moon as it extended all the way beneath their feet. Standing hand in hand beneath its halo, they looked like a golden boy and jade maiden, immortals descended into the world.
The immortal hummed a little tune as he stepped onto the Immortal Bridge, chanting as he strode slowly: "Everyone knows immortals are good, yet none can forget fame and rank. Where are the generals and ministers of old? A mound of barren grass is all that remains."
"Everyone knows immortals are good, yet none can forget gold and silver. All day they lament they have too little, but once they have plenty, their eyes close forever."
"Everyone knows immortals are good, yet none can forget beautiful wives. While you live, she speaks of devotion each day; once you die, she follows another."
"Everyone knows immortals are good, yet none can forget children and grandchildren. Devoted parents have existed since ancient times, but where can filial children be found?"
"Everyone knows immortals are good, yet none can forget family and friends. Today's gatherings and partings are all dreams; beneath the setting sun, only waters flow east."
"Everyone knows immortals are good, yet none can forget anger and obsession. Wine, lust, wealth, and pride form four walls, with everyone hiding inside."
"Everyone knows immortals are good, yet none can forget intellect. They cultivate only their innate nature, not the elixir; through countless calamities, yin spirits cannot enter sainthood."
"Everyone knows immortals are good, yet none can forget the mortal shell. Like a fool with no mirror to see his face, he may live as long as heaven and earth."
"Everyone knows immortals are good, yet none can forget inheritance. Four hundred and eighty temples of the Southern Dynasties—when the song of the jade tree ended, the royal aura faded."
"..."