The moment the news spread, it was like a magnitude-eight earthquake, shaking the entire Inhuman World and sweeping across the four seas and eight wastelands like a storm.
The chairman of an Otherworlder corporation worth three hundred billion took a private plane; a gossip-loving spirit medium boarded a high-speed train out of Shanhai Pass; an ascetic monk cultivating his heart wiped the dust from his face and walked barefoot toward Jiangxi; esteemed sect leaders with immortal bearing were chauffeured by their disciples and granddisciples.
Countless Otherworlders—domestic, foreign, affiliated with sects, unaffiliated with any sects—marched toward Mount Longhu in unison.
Independent wanderers who knew their limits regarding the Eight Extraordinary Skills and the position of Celestial Master, and had not intended to come join the excitement, could not help setting out after hearing that they might witness a legendary battle between immortals.
Half the imperial banners gathered there, while winds and rain from all directions converged upon Mount Longhu.
"Croak! A duel between such masters would be worth the ticket even if I died!"
"This is incredible! There aren't many people in the world who can exchange blows with the Old Celestial Master!"
"This trip was totally worth it, teeth!"
At the foot of Mount Longhu, people from every walk of life gathered, forces from all sides converged, and voices rose one after another until they formed a roaring sea of noise.
Even the Company had no choice but to send personnel to maintain order on Mount Longhu.
Some came seeking revenge and causing trouble, some laughed and chatted, some sought pleasure, and some carried heavy hearts. Human joys and sorrows did not connect; sometimes, one simply found others unbearably noisy.
Still, no matter the occasion, there was never any shortage of people looking for entertainment.
Xiao Xiao, an Otherworlder from the De Yun Society, sat down before the mountain gate, as steady as Mount Tai. Before him stood no one but a table, a chair, a fan, and a wooden clapper.
With a crack of the clapper, he drew attention from all around.
"Ladies and gentlemen!"
"We traditional Otherworlders value four essential skills: cheating, bluffing, swindling, and conning—pah, I mean speaking, learning, joking, and singing..."
"Foreign Otherworlders are no exception. Look there—that old gentleman is Old Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts Academy. He dual-wields wands with such ferocity, rode all the way here on a broomstick, and is known throughout the martial world as the Old Honeybee!"
"Take another look at that wand. He's been twirling it for thirty years—a purple bamboo shaft, beautifully polished with age. Give it a casual wave and, hey, guess what? It'll disarm you!"
"Old Dumbledore is no simple man. His academy is first-rate, with outstanding talents gathered beneath him. There's Gryffindor Military Operations Academy, Hufflepuff Transportation and Logistics Academy, Ravenclaw Electronic Information Academy, Slytherin Political Strategy Academy..."
Heroes rose one after another below Mount Longhu, each taking the stage after another finished performing. Yet Mount Longhu itself was utterly silent. Disciples from the major sects guarded the key routes and secret locations in every direction, preventing outsiders from trespassing.
Unlike previous Luotian Grand Ceremonies, nearly every Otherworlder in the world had come this time—if not all of them, then at least eighty or ninety percent. Mount Longhu was like a boiling cauldron of oil; the slightest spark would make it explode completely.
"Alas..."
For the past few days, Old Celestial Master Zhang Zhiwei had kept his brows tightly furrowed. No one knew how many times he had sighed. Turning to Lu Jin at his side, he shook his head and said, "We're both over a hundred years old. What are we still fighting and killing for? There are always greater people beyond people, higher heavens beyond heaven. How can an ordinary man like me possibly defeat an immortal?"
"Brother Lu, could you pass a message to that Divine Bridge Immortal Venerable? Tell him that I, the Heaven-Connecting Daoist, concede defeat and wish to cancel this match whose outcome is already decided."
"Old Celestial Master." Lu Jin's expression turned solemn as he said in a low voice, "You do not care about empty fame. Would a superior figure like the Divine Bridge Immortal care about the title of number one under heaven?"
"Xiang Zhuang performed the sword dance with Liu Bang in mind. The drunken old man's interest lies not in the wine."
"That man is likely only one step away from the legendary realm. He came here for Immortality."
"Immortality?" Old Celestial Master Zhang Zhiwei's frown deepened, and he let out a long sigh. "It's all trouble caused by the pursuit of becoming immortal."
"Senior Brother, you're wrong about that. Cultivators seek immortality and the Dao. What is wrong with that?"
Tian Jizhong, whose limbs were incomplete, was pushed over in his wheelchair by Xiaoyu. He retorted, "What is wrong with immortals? It is merely the human heart stirring up chaos."
"One leaf covering the eyes, and one fails to see Mount Tai."
The Old Celestial Master shook his head and said meaningfully, "Things that Perfected Lin and I do not care about may still matter to others. I only fear someone will take advantage of the chaos."
"No matter how great the title of number one under heaven is, it cannot outweigh the foundation of Mount Longhu."
"Old Celestial Master, are you referring to Quanxing?" Lu Jin narrowed his eyes, revealing a trace of killing intent. Without mercy, he said, "If they dare come, I, Lu Jin, will kill every one I see."
"I heard Quanxing has produced an acting leader. Heh, the leader of Quanxing... Don't let me find him. Otherwise, I'll tear him to pieces and grind his bones to ash!"
Xiaoyu, the Daoist child pushing Tian Jizhong's wheelchair, trembled inwardly. He lowered his head even further and stood respectfully in the corner.
"Quanxing is nothing to fear. They failed to accomplish anything decades ago, and they will fail now as well."
"Even if they do succeed, that will be the Company's concern. They are the ones who should be anxious."
Tian Jizhong considered the matter from another angle. Narrowing his eyes, he asked in a low voice, "Senior Brother, I have only one question for you now."
"Can you win?"
"So it's time. I'm fighting an immortal? Is this for real?" Even with the Old Celestial Master's century of cultivation, his heart sank at that moment. Videos of Lin Xian's feats had already been broadcast throughout the entire Inhuman World.
No matter how detached from worldly affairs the Old Celestial Master was, he had watched those videos and reached one conclusion: those were not methods of the mortal world.
No matter how powerful he was, he was still ultimately an ordinary man. How could he contend with an immortal?
The question was not whether he could win, but how badly he would lose.
"Invincible under heaven, yet an enemy descends from heaven." Lu Jin also sighed, patted Zhang Zhiwei on the shoulder, and asked, "Old Celestial Master, do you have confidence?"
Under his junior brother's expectant gaze and his close friend's encouragement, Zhang Zhiwei nodded despite his uncertainty and said in a deep voice, "I will win."
Ordinary methods no longer held any meaning at this point.
For a mortal to battle an immortal was a guaranteed death.
Magic had to be defeated with magic; an immortal had to be defeated with an immortal!
On the vast Mount Longhu, the only thing connected to immortals was the Thunder Method passed down by the ancestral Celestial Master Zhang Daoling, who was said to have ascended and become immortal.
Five Thunder Righteous Method, the glorious might of heaven!
No matter the world, Thunder Tribulation symbolized the majesty of the Heavenly Dao and possessed inconceivable power.
"Old Lu, Junior Brother Tian, I will enter seclusion for three days. I will see no outsiders."
Zhang Zhiwei took a deep breath and made up his mind. The Celestial Master would enter secluded cultivation to prepare for the final battle and fight for that slim chance of survival.
However, even Tian Jizhong did not know that Zhang Zhiwei's place of seclusion was not his own meditation chamber.
Old Celestial Master Zhang Zhiwei went alone to the Patriarch Hall in the back mountain. Facing the memorial tablets of Mount Longhu's Celestial Masters through the ages, he sat in meditation for three days and three nights.
Three days later.
Incense smoke curled upward, rising straight into the blue clouds.
Within the Patriarch Hall stood the tablets of every patriarch from the sixty-fourth-generation Celestial Master Zhang Jingqing down to the second-generation Celestial Master Zhang Heng, all receiving offerings of incense. Yet the tablet of the most important ancestral Celestial Master, Zhang Daoling, was conspicuously absent.
"The Dao is learned through the heart, and the heart is conveyed through incense. Incense swallows the jade censer; the heart abides before the Emperor. May the True Spirit look down, may the immortal banner arrive at the pavilion. Let this servant submit his petition, that it may reach the Ninth Heaven directly."
Zhang Zhiwei held three incense sticks and bowed to the patriarchs through the ages. Reverently, he said, "To fight an immortal in a mortal body is to seek death. At a time like this, I must thank the patriarchs for leaving such good things behind for us unworthy descendants."
"I only hope this battle can preserve a measure of dignity for Mount Longhu."
His great sleeves fluttered, his steps followed the Tiangang, violet lightning and azure thunder flashed—the Celestial Master emerged from seclusion!