Are You an Immortal?

"Amid the chaos, once your song ends, mine begins..."

As the young man strode across the immortal bridge, a distant voice suddenly rang out, reminding them, "Call your President Zhao again and have him 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 childhood nickname.

For decades, Xu Xiang had never mentioned it, because that name existed only in the past.

"Xu Xiang."

Before the Xu brothers could react, a golden-and-silver immortal bridge stretched across the void, concealing their figures as it flew like a streak of light in the direction Feng Baobao had indicated.

Xu Xiang was the person in charge of the company's North China region. He held great authority and status. After falling ill, he had remained in the Central Hospital of the neighboring city, where the medical conditions were best, recuperating—or rather, prolonging his life.

He was already at the end of his rope, yet there were matters he could not let go of. He had held onto his final breath, as though waiting for someone to arrive.

The hospital stood in the city center, where crowds were thick and bustling. Unwilling to cause a major stir, Lin Xian landed the golden bridge atop a secluded little hill.

"Aren't we flying over?" Feng Baobao tilted her head and asked. Her watery eyes held a slightly dazed, adorable look.

"Walking amid the mortal world is also a form of cultivation." Lin Xian stood with his hands behind his back, his immortal aura drifting around him. Every gesture he made practically radiated the air of showing off.

That was a lie!

The system mercilessly mocked him. You're just 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 as he pulled out his phone and made a call. "Hello, Lu Liang... Mm, mm, that's right. We're here. Get us a taxi."

Crossing the void on an immortal bridge like immortals was naturally meant to intimidate Xu San, Xu Si, and the company behind them.

After showing off, 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. Every bit of divine power he could save was worth saving, so he could remain in peak condition.

Perhaps after obtaining the Six Vaults Immortal Thief, this situation would improve.

Some time later.

Lin Xian and Feng Baobao arrived at Xu Xiang's hospital room. The white walls and scent of disinfectant all proclaimed that this old man had reached death's edge. One more step, and he would fall into the abyss.

Yet Feng Baobao, who was even older than Xu Xiang, still looked like a girl of eighteen or nineteen. Her long hair fell loose around her shoulders, her face calm, utterly unconcerned by the passage of time.

"A... Awu."

Xu Xiang removed his oxygen mask from the hospital bed. His clouded eyes were full of reluctance and longing. Feng Baobao had been like a shadow throughout his life—his childhood, youth, and old age. Every stage of his life bore Awu's presence.

That feeling had long transcended life and death. It resembled friendship, love, and family affection. It was the feeling of family.

"Did you... find your own past?" Xu Xiang asked through coughs as he struggled to sit up.

Technological civilization could not compare to cultivation civilization in terms of individual power, but in certain fields, it excelled.

Long-distance voice transmission was a skill only cultivators could master, yet mortals merely needed to spend a little battery power to communicate across countless miles.

Through the phone, Xu San and Xu Si had told Xu Xiang many things.

Feng Baobao nodded earnestly. "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 hospital 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... it's true." Xu Xiang's pupils widened as though he were about to swallow his last breath. He spoke haltingly, "But, but I... still don't want to die... I want to watch over you..."

Feng Baobao had come from Wugensheng, but Xu Xiang had always cared for her like family. He had always been the one investigating Feng Baobao's past. It had become an obsession, and also a hope.

Now that the obsession had been resolved, the hope vanished with it. The moment Xu Xiang let out that breath was also the moment his life force was completely exhausted.

"Who in this world can avoid death? Settle your final affairs before you go." Lin Xian sighed. Qi-State Origin-Flow emerged in his hand and flowed into Xu Xiang's body, preserving his final breath. Under the support of divine power, white radiance spread throughout the room.

There were two kinds of people he hated most in his life: one was riddle-speakers who refused to explain themselves clearly, and the other was people who refused to let him be a riddle-speaker.

"You... are you really an immortal?" Xu Xiang held onto his last breath. Feeling his strength slowly return, he gasped as he asked, doubt surfacing in his eyes.

Lin Xian's bearing was far too much like that of an immortal, and his methods were incomparably mystical. Although Tianxuan's cultivation technique was merely a Saint Realm scripture, in a city of supernatural abilities, it was a dimensionality-reducing strike.

Who in this world could avoid death? Yet how could the two before him be explained?

"An immortal?" Lin Xian shook his head. "That depends on how you define one. Without eternal life, one is ultimately only a member of the common masses—a mere country bumpkin."

A person needed to know his own limits. Lin Xian was very clear about his position. Peerless genius, unmatched prodigy, defying immortals, reincarnated emperor—none of that had anything to do with him.

What level were prodigies and outstanding talents at, and what level was he at? The gap was simply too vast.

According to the system's calculations, cultivators of the greater universe could be divided into six tiers.

The first tier possessed the Desolate Ancient Sacred Body. Their comprehension of the Dao was as easy as drinking water, their luck was like a dragon's, and fighting immortals across realms was routine. Killing enemies eight or nine minor realms above them was nothing unusual. They possessed the potential of a Heavenly Emperor.

Ye Fan: "This proves that I am the Heavenly Emperor. I shall suppress and kill all enemies."

The second tier had emperor weapons protecting their Dao, imperial bloodline empowering them, unparalleled talent, and strength rarely seen throughout the ages. Their combat power rivaled veteran experts, and they had hope of attaining the Dao.

Dao Yi: "Only because I am Emperor Daoyan's son."

The third tier cultivated Emperor Scriptures and had seniors protecting their Dao. They were prodigies of their generation; with a single strike at the Other Shore realm, they could shatter a hill, and they had hope of becoming Quasi-Emperors.

Ji Haoyue: "I will defend the glory of the Eastern Wasteland Divine Body."

The fourth tier dominated among the younger generation, possessed secret techniques, were renowned across a region, and had special constitutions. Sainthood lay within reach.

Eternal Ascension King Body: "Restoring Emperor Yuhua's glory is the duty of cultivators like us."

The fifth tier came from Great Saint Realm lineages, were direct disciples of holy masters, sects' immortal seedlings, and the unit of measurement in a golden age.

Purple Mansion Holy Son: "I will defeat Ye Fan and marry the Innate Dao Embryo, the Purple Mansion Holy Maiden."

There were as many prodigies in this world as carp crossing a river, with capable people emerging in endless succession. Yet he was merely a slacker.

The sixth tier consisted of ordinary bodies with cultivation talent, possessing the combat strength of ordinary cultivators.

Lin Xian: "As long as I'm not defeated across realms by the Sea of Bitterness Emperor's Son, defeating cultivators of the same realm counts as success."

His Life Spring was a genuine Life Spring!

"Without eternal life?" Xu Xiang took a deep breath, his face growing increasingly flushed. This was a final burst of vitality, the last stage of life. Looking at Lin Xian and Feng Baobao, he sighed. "But you look very much like an immortal."

"That is merely a layer of immortal clothing." Lin Xian shook his head.

After arriving in the world of The Outcast, he had used his own advantages to become an immortal in everyone's eyes.

Yet he had never considered himself an immortal. Everyone's filter was, in essence, the emperor's new clothes.

Wearing immortal clothing to fool outsiders was enough. It was merely a flexible means on the path of cultivation. If he fooled even himself, 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 was merely myself. I was not Immortal Lin Xian; I was only Lin Xian.

The emperor's new clothes would only consume one's true self. Let the whole world praise him without urging him onward; let the whole world condemn him without discouraging him. Distinguish between inner and outer, discern honor and disgrace. Accepting his ordinary self was his true self.

At that thought, Lin Xian felt his vision blur. He vaguely glimpsed a mass of mist. Only by forming the divine veins of heaven and earth, crossing that mist, and firmly establishing his own Dao and heart could he see through illusion and continue seeking his own Other Shore.