"Such chaos—one side had barely finished singing when the next took the stage..."
As the young man strode across the Immortal Bridge, a distant voice suddenly rang out, reminding the two of them, "Call your President Zhao again. Tell him to go to Gou Wazi."
"Ah!" The two brothers were instantly dumbfounded. "Who's Gou Wazi?"
Neither Xu Si nor Xu San knew that Gou Wazi was their father Xu Xiang's nickname.
For decades, Xu Xiang had never mentioned it either, because that name existed only in the past.
"Xu Xiang."
Before Xu San and Xu Si could react, a golden-silver Immortal Bridge spanned the Void, concealing their figures as it streaked away like a flash of light in the direction Feng Baobao had indicated.
Xu Xiang was the head of the company's North China Region. He held a high position and considerable status. After falling ill, he had remained at the Central Hospital in the neighboring city—the one with the best medical facilities—recuperating. Or rather, prolonging his life.
His lamp was out of oil, yet there were still matters he could not let go of. He had been clinging to his last breath, as though waiting for someone's arrival.
The hospital stood downtown, where crowds came and went. Unwilling to cause an uproar, Lin Xian landed the golden bridge on a secluded hilltop.
"Aren't we flying over?" Feng Baobao tilted her head, her watery eyes carrying a blankly adorable look.
"Walking amidst the mortal world is also a form of cultivation." Lin Xian stood with his hands behind his back, looking every bit the immortal. Every gesture of his radiated an air of showing off.
That was a lie!
The system's merciless mockery sounded in his mind. You're only an ordinary Life Spring cultivator, yet you're trying to show off in front of a girl. Be careful not to run out of divine power halfway through and fall out of the sky.
Lin Xian's expression did not change. He pulled out his phone and made a call. "Hello, Lu Liang... Mm, mm, yes. We're here. Get us a cab."
Crossing the Void on an Immortal Bridge like an immortal was naturally meant to intimidate Xu San, Xu Si, and the company behind them.
After showing off, though, he still had to honestly return to the mortal world. This world differed from the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths; it was infinitely close to the Age of Severed Spirits. Saving even a little divine power was worthwhile, so he could remain in peak condition.
Perhaps this situation would improve once he obtained the Six Vaults Immortal Thief.
Some time later.
Lin Xian and Feng Baobao arrived at Xu Xiang's hospital room. The white walls and the scent of disinfectant all proclaimed that the old man had reached death's edge. One more step, and he would fall from the cliff.
Yet Feng Baobao, who was even older than Xu Xiang, still looked like a girl of eighteen or nineteen. Her long hair draped loose around her, her face calm and tranquil, utterly unconcerned with the passing of time.
"A... Awu."
Xu Xiang removed his oxygen mask from the hospital bed. His clouded eyes were filled with reluctance and longing. Feng Baobao had accompanied his entire life—his childhood, youth, and old age. In every stage of his life, Awu's shadow remained.
That bond had already surpassed life and death. It resembled friendship, love, and family—a feeling like that of kin.
"Have you... found your past...?" Xu Xiang asked through coughs, struggling to sit up.
Technological civilization might fall short of cultivation civilization in terms of individual power, but in certain fields, it was exceptional.
For a cultivator, transmitting one's voice across a thousand miles was a skill. For ordinary people, all it took was a little battery power to communicate across countless miles.
Xu San and Xu Si had told Xu Xiang much of what had happened over the phone.
Feng Baobao nodded seriously. "I found it. Gou Wazi helped me find it."
As she spoke, she pointed at Lin Xian.
"Thank you. Then... that's... wonderful." Xu Xiang forced out a smile as he leaned against the bed, looking somewhat stiff. It was impossible to tell whether he was happy or sad.
"Gou Wazi, you're going to die." Feng Baobao crouched down and stared blankly at Xu Xiang. "They all said you're about to die. Is that true?"
"It... is true." Xu Xiang's pupils widened, as though he were about to swallow his final breath. He spoke in fits and starts. "But... I don't... want to die yet... I want to watch over you..."
Feng Baobao had come from Wugensheng, but Xu Xiang was the one who had always cared for her like family. He had also been the one tirelessly investigating Feng Baobao's past. It had become both an obsession and a hope.
Now that the obsession had been resolved, the hope faded with it. The moment Xu Xiang let out that breath was also the moment his lamp finally ran dry.
"Who in this world can escape death? Settle your last words before you go." Lin Xian sighed. Qi-State Origin-Flow appeared in his hand and flowed into Xu Xiang's body, holding onto his final breath. Empowered by divine power, white radiance spilled throughout the room.
There were two kinds of people he hated most in his life. One was people who spoke in riddles instead of explaining themselves. The other was people who would not let him speak in riddles.
"Y-you really are an immortal?" Xu Xiang held onto his last breath and felt his strength slowly returning. He asked between gasps, confusion rising in his eyes.
Lin Xian's temperament was far too much like that of an immortal, and his methods were incomparably profound. Although the Tianxuan Cultivation Technique was merely a Saint Realm scripture, in a city of superpowered beings, it was a dimensionality-reducing strike.
Who in this world could escape death? Yet how could the two standing before him be explained?
"An immortal?" Lin Xian shook his head. "That depends on how you define one. Without immortality, one is ultimately just another member of the masses—a mere country bumpkin."
A person had to know his own limits. Lin Xian knew his place very well. Heaven-defying genius, peerless prodigy, slaying immortals against the odds, reincarnation of a Great Emperor—none of that had anything to do with him.
What level were prodigies and outstanding talents at? What level was he at? The gap was far too great.
According to the system's calculations, cultivators in the Great Universe were divided into six tiers.
First tier: blessed by the Desolate Ancient Sacred Body, comprehending the Dao as easily as drinking water, fortune like a dragon, slaying immortals against the odds as commonplace. Killing enemies eight or nine minor realms above oneself was nothing unusual. Potential of a Heavenly Emperor.
Ye Fan: "This proves that I am destined to become a Heavenly Emperor. I shall suppress and kill all enemies."
Second tier: Emperor Weapons protecting their path, Imperial Blood empowering them, peerless talent, rare across all ages. Their combat strength rivaled that of senior masters, and they had hope of attaining the Dao.
Dao Yi: "Because I am Emperor Daoyan's son."
Third tier: cultivating an Emperor Scripture, protected by elders, a prodigy of their generation. With one strike at the Other Shore Realm, they could shatter a mountain peak. They had hope of becoming a Quasi-Emperor.
Ji Haoyue: "I will defend the glory of the Eastern Wasteland Divine Body."
Fourth tier: dominant among their generation, possessing secret arts, renowned across a region, with a special physique and the potential to become a Sage.
Eternal Ascension King Body: "It is the unshirkable duty of cultivators of our generation to restore Emperor Yuhua's glory."
Fifth tier: descendants of Great Saint Realm Dao Lineages, direct disciples of holy masters, Immortal Seedlings of their sects—the unit of measurement for the Golden Great Era.
Purple Mansion Saint Son: "I will defeat Ye Fan and marry the Purple Mansion Saintess with the Innate Dao Embryo."
There were as many prodigies in this world as carp crossing a river, and talented people emerged without end. Yet he was merely a freeloader.
Sixth tier: Mortal Bodies with cultivation aptitude, possessing the combat strength of ordinary cultivators.
Lin Xian: "As long as I'm not defeated by an Emperor's Son from the Sea of Bitterness fighting above his realm, and can defeat cultivators in the same realm, that counts as success."
His Life Spring was a real Life Spring!
"Without immortality?" Xu Xiang drew a deep breath. His complexion grew increasingly rosy—it was the final flare of life, the last stage before death. Looking at Lin Xian and Feng Baobao, he sighed. "But you really do look like an immortal."
"That is merely a layer of immortal robes." Lin Xian shook his head.
After arriving in the Under One Person World, he had used his own advantages to become an immortal in everyone's eyes.
Yet he had never considered himself an immortal. The filter through which others saw him was, in essence, the emperor's new clothes.
Wearing immortal robes to fool outsiders was fine; it was merely an expedient measure on the path of cultivation. But if he fooled himself too, then he would truly be a clown.
Facing the dying Xu Xiang, Lin Xian felt there was no need to lie. He said frankly, "I am human."
I am only myself. I am not Immortal Lin Xian—I am simply Lin Xian.
The emperor's new clothes would only devour one's true self. Unmoved by the praise of the whole world, undiscouraged by its condemnation; knowing the distinction between self and others, discerning the boundary between honor and disgrace—accepting one's ordinary self was the True Self.
At that thought, Lin Xian felt his vision blur. He vaguely glimpsed a mass of mist. Only by forming the Heaven and Earth Divine Veins, crossing that mist, and strengthening his Dao and heart could he see through illusion and continue searching for his Other Shore.