In a classical-style mountain estate on the outskirts of the city.
Deep within the estate, a redwood pavilion rich in old-world charm stood in a grassy garden divided by low hedges. The scenery was lovely, peaceful, and refined.
Yan Shanshui hurried across the lawn and drifted lightly down before the pavilion doors. Frowning slightly, she said, "Master, I've already sent a letter to Senior Taoist Yu, but he's still abroad. It isn't convenient for him to return to help search for Great-Uncle."
With a creak, the pavilion doors slowly opened, and a somewhat sickly-looking woman with long hair stepped out. Though her face was beautiful, her hair had long since turned frost-silver. Her lovely oval face was rather pale, and she moved like a frail willow swaying in the wind, a delicate beauty weakened by illness.
She stepped over the threshold and rested a slender hand on the doorframe. Her tightly knitted brows betrayed her anxiety and worry.
"Then let it be."
The white-haired, sickly beauty spoke in a low, hoarse voice. Frowning, she said, "Taoist Yu isn't part of our Defiled Earth Jianmu lineage. He merely has some friendship with Uncle. Even if we waited for him to return, I'm afraid it would be too late."
"Master, have the other experts found no news of Great-Uncle either?" Yan Shanshui couldn't help asking.
"No."
The white-haired, sickly beauty slowly shook her head and sighed. "Besides the experts I asked you to contact, I also sent letters to Fairy Featherfall, the Free Spirit of Flowing Lake, and others. Apart from the peerless experts who have achieved the Five-Pass Breakthrough, I've asked everyone I could. But there's still no news of Uncle."
"Even experts at the Fifth Heavenly Pass can't find Great-Uncle?" Yan Shanshui asked with a frown.
The white-haired, sickly beauty sighed softly. "Although they are experts at the Fifth Heavenly Pass too, Uncle has cultivated at that stage for many years. He's only one step away from perfecting all Five Passes, and he excels at concealing his aura. If he means to hide, I'm afraid even Fairy Featherfall would struggle to find him..."
She paused, then asked, "By the way, didn't you say you'd also contacted an expert you met recently? Has there been no news from him either?"
At that, Yan Shanshui sighed helplessly. "If that senior were willing to make a serious effort to help, he would certainly find him. But... I can't fathom his temperament. He seems to place greater importance on fate, so I'm afraid he might not make a serious effort..."
"He would find him if he made a serious effort?"
The white-haired, sickly beauty frowned slightly and said doubtfully, "Are you certain? Even an expert like Fairy Featherfall couldn't find your Great-Uncle. Could this senior you know be a peerless expert who has broken through all Five Passes?"
"Well... Since that senior has chosen to live in seclusion, I wouldn't dare disclose anything about him without permission," Yan Shanshui said hesitantly.
The white-haired, sickly beauty glanced at her and gently shook her head. "I know most of the peerless experts in the world today, but I've never heard of any living in this province."
Yan Shanshui felt rather helpless.
She could hardly say that Senior Lin was an immortal mighty enough to know even the Three Sovereigns, Five Emperors, and Twelve Gods, could she?
Suddenly, a streak of light flew in from the horizon, crossed the sky, and hovered before the white-haired old woman.
It was a tiny, exquisite flying sword, with a letter tied to it.
"A letter from Fairy Featherfall. Could she have found Uncle?"
The white-haired, sickly beauty joyfully took the letter from the flying sword and opened it with eager anticipation. Yet as she read it, her face turned pale, and she involuntarily stepped back.
"Master?" Yan Shanshui asked in confusion.
The white-haired, sickly beauty drew a deep breath and said somberly, "Fairy Featherfall has searched a thousand-li radius with the Heaven-Earth Formlessness Method, but she still hasn't found Uncle. It's almost a quarter past eight, so she's given up too..."
Yan Shanshui took out her phone and checked the time. It was already ten past eight.
According to the calculations made a few days earlier, Great-Uncle would reach the end of his lifespan at around a quarter past eight that evening.
And now... perhaps Great-Uncle had already reached his end and passed away of old age.
"Why must Uncle do this?"
The white-haired, sickly beauty's eyes dimmed. Gently biting her lower lip, she said mournfully, "If we used that method of defying heaven and changing fate, we might still extend his lifespan. Then perhaps Uncle would have a chance to break through all Five Passes. But he..."
"Master, that method of defying heaven and changing fate is far too cruel and sinister, after all. It takes decades of other cultivators' lifespans to extend his life by ten years. A righteous man like Great-Uncle would rather sit and watch his end approach than agree to let us juniors sacrifice our lifespans," Yan Shanshui said with a sigh.
The white-haired, sickly beauty fell silent for a moment, then sighed quietly. "That's true. But if Uncle hadn't used a forbidden technique and sacrificed his lifespan to save my master and all of us disciples back then, how could his end have come so soon? Alas... Not only can we juniors do nothing to help him, we don't even have the chance to see him off..."
"Master, you've already done everything you could," Yan Shanshui comforted her softly.
She had seen it with her own eyes. To find Great-Uncle and prolong his life, her master had spared no treasures, set aside her pride, and pleaded desperately with the experts.
Yet those experts at the Fifth Heavenly Pass had searched for almost an entire day. Now that Great-Uncle's end was upon him, there was still no news whatsoever.
Just then-
Yan Shanshui's phone vibrated slightly with a new message. She opened it, and her eyes lit up. Somewhat excited, she said, "Master, that senior says he's found Great-Uncle! He's at Quchi Subway Station in the city's Old Town!"
The white-haired, sickly beauty's lovely eyes first brightened, then dimmed again. She sighed softly. "Very well. Let's go and see Uncle off."
It was already too late.
Even if they found Uncle before his lifespan ran out, there would be no time to perform the life-extending method.
All they could do by going was witness his death and add to their grief.
But no matter what, they had to see him one last time.
"Yes." Yan Shanshui nodded.
"Let's set up the Mistwater Barrier and fly there as fast as we can."
Speaking softly, the white-haired, sickly beauty waved her sleeve and was about to cast the technique when a great blaze suddenly flared up in the open space before her.
As the flames gradually faded, a man of about fifty stepped out of them like a deity emerging from fire. His hair was meticulously slicked back, his temples were touched with gray, and his features bore a refined air.
"Great-Uncle?" Yan Shanshui froze.
"Uncle?"
The white-haired, sickly beauty stared at the newcomer in astonishment. She hadn't expected Uncle to return so suddenly, much less to cast off his former dejection and despair and regain his old bearing.
Most baffling of all, the deathly aura of someone whose lifespan was running out had vanished without a trace. Instead, he seemed reborn, brimming with vitality.
What... what was going on?
"Niece Ye, little Shui."
Zhu Chenghuo's gaze swept over them both, and he smiled faintly. "I'm sorry to have caused you both so much worry today. Rest assured, I'm all right now."
"U-Uncle... what happened to you?" The white-haired, sickly beauty looked at Zhu Chenghuo with delight and confusion. She couldn't help asking, "Did you make a breakthrough before your lifespan ran out? Did breaking through all Five Passes and perfecting your Dharma Body increase your lifespan?"
As far as she knew, Uncle Zhu was still one step away from perfecting the Fifth Heavenly Pass, let alone breaking through all Five Passes. That final hurdle of perfecting the Dharma Body had stopped countless experts. How could it be so easy to overcome?
But she could think of no other explanation, so that was her only guess.
"I did make a little progress just now, thanks to a senior's guidance."
Zhu Chenghuo smiled, then shook his head. "But I only perfected the Fifth Heavenly Pass. I still have no idea how to perfect my Dharma Body."
"Then how did you..." The white-haired, sickly beauty was bewildered.
Without perfecting the Dharma Body, a cultivator could live for five hundred years at most. That was a limit imposed by heaven and earth. No amount of medicinal herbs in the mortal world could break through it.
"I cannot say. I cannot say."
Zhu Chenghuo shook his head with a smile. "But I can tell you this: I survived entirely because a senior living in seclusion saved me."
Yan Shanshui spoke up. "Great-Uncle, could it have been... Senior Lin?"
"Senior Lin?" Zhu Chenghuo looked at Yan Shanshui in confusion.
"Senior Lin said he found you at Quchi Subway Station in Old Town," Yan Shanshui said, unable to resist asking, "Wasn't he the one who saved you?"
"Is this Senior Lin you mentioned a very handsome young man?"
Zhu Chenghuo asked immediately, then added, "That senior appears to be an ordinary mortal, without the slightest trace of magic power. Yet spiritual awareness cannot detect his presence. Is that him?"
"Yes, that's him." Yan Shanshui nodded slightly and smiled. "When I saw how completely renewed you looked just now, I wondered whether Senior Lin had saved you... It seems you're blessed with great fortune too, Great-Uncle, to encounter such an immortal opportunity just before your lifespan ran out."
"An immortal opportunity?"
The white-haired, sickly beauty beside her couldn't help asking, "My disciple, is this Senior Lin the senior you said you met recently?"
"Yes, Master," Yan Shanshui replied with a nod.
The white-haired, sickly beauty was stunned.
She had never imagined that her disciple had quietly become acquainted with someone so extraordinary.
An immortal opportunity?
No wonder none of the experts could find Uncle, yet her disciple had said that as long as this senior was willing to make a serious effort, he would certainly find him.
So... he was actually an immortal expert!
"Wonderful!"
Zhu Chenghuo said delightedly, "I was just worrying about where to find that senior so I could repay his kindness. Who would have thought little Shui knew Senior Lin? Little Shui, take me to visit him tomorrow."
"Well..." Yan Shanshui hesitated, then said, "Senior Lin enjoys peace and quiet and lives in seclusion among mortals. He's a true hidden master. I wouldn't dare take you to see him without warning, Great-Uncle. I have to ask him first."
"Of course," Zhu Chenghuo said at once.
"All right. Shall I contact Senior Lin now?" Yan Shanshui asked.
"Then I'll leave it to you." Zhu Chenghuo nodded, then reminded her, "Little Shui, you must mind your manners. Whatever you do, don't offend Senior Lin."
"Uh..."
Holding her phone, Yan Shanshui said cautiously, "Great-Uncle, actually, Senior Lin and I are quite close. He even teaches me calligraphy, and we often have breakfast together."
"Huh?"
Zhu Chenghuo was rather dumbfounded.
PS: (I've created a thread for cameo characters-the pinned one in the review section. If you're interested, feel free to leave a comment. You can also check in on the other pinned check-in thread while you're there. I'm counting on you all for this book's first Alliance Leader~~)