A visitor from the Underworld

"As expected of you. Away for two hundred years, and you actually found an Immortal Medicine."

Several days later, on the Qilin Ancestral Star, the old qilin sat cross-legged atop a cliff facing the rising sun. He cradled the dusty gray bodhi tree seed in his hand, his imperial aura surging as golden patterns slowly emerged on its surface.

A palm-sized little qilin crouched quietly on his shoulder. Round-bodied and innocent, it looked no different from an ordinary young qilin, except for the few green leaves and rootlets adorning its body. A wondrous fragrance lingered around it, along with an enduring resonance of the Dao.

At that moment, the little qilin blinked in unison with the Qilin Emperor, staring intently at the Bodhi Seed shrouded in hazy golden light. A moment later, it lost interest, shook its head, and leaped into Yuangeng's arms.

"Just a small gain. At our level, finding one or two Immortal Medicines is hardly difficult."

Yuangeng shook his head. In this universe, young Dao Provers yearned for the great secret of longevity contained within Immortal Medicines, while Immortal Medicines likewise yearned for the protection of Dao Provers. With both sides seeking each other, almost every venerable and emperor throughout history had an Immortal Medicine at his side.

"What interests me more is this: do you know which Dao Prover once possessed this divine medicine?"

As he spoke, his fingers and palm shone. He extracted a trace of Dao resonance from the Bodhi Seed and manifested the form of the Immortal Bodhi Tree in the void. The tree was not tall, only sixteen feet, yet it looked exceedingly ancient. Its bark resembled coiling dragons, and even its tender leaves carried Buddhist rhythms, as though an old monk sat meditating within it. Its Zen aura was extraordinary.

"Awooo!"

When the bodhi tree appeared, a sudden gleam lit the Qilin Divine Medicine's innocent eyes. Some ancient spiritual awareness seemed to have stirred within it. With a cry, it lunged toward the illusory bodhi tree, only to pass through empty air and tumble in midair.

"I seem to have heard something about it. Legend says that in the early Primordial Antiquity, an emperor comprehended the Dao beneath an Immortal Tree and awakened to great wisdom. He was said to enter the Dao through the heart and gaze across eternity with his spirit."

The Qilin Emperor drew the little divine medicine back and placed it on his shoulder. Studying the ancient tree, he carefully recalled everything he had seen and heard over more than twenty thousand years before finally speaking.

From the vantage point of their current era, the early Primordial Antiquity lay over a million years in the past. Some emperors who had left no clans behind, or whose lineages had died out, had long since been buried deep in history. Only because the Qilin Emperor had spent time researching them did he know of many Ancient Emperors lost to the past.

"That sounds right. What became of that emperor?"

Yuangeng nodded. Whether in the Buddhist traditions he had known before transmigrating or the secrets of the monk king's lineage in the Immortal Ancient Era, the bodhi tree was a sacred object representing wisdom and awakening, capable of enlightening countless roots of wisdom. Legend held that the Immortal Monk King had once comprehended the Dao beneath it and gained clear insight into ultimate truths.

"They say he was a solitary emperor, with neither a clan nor a lineage. In his final years, he vanished along with his weapon. Some say he entered a forbidden zone; others say he may have ventured onto a Road to Immortality," the Qilin Emperor said, shaking his head.

"Awooo!"

The palm-sized Qilin Divine Medicine cried out from his shoulder, then leaped onto Yuangeng's shoulder and carefully studied the illusory Immortal Bodhi Tree. Still innocent and bewildered, it seemed to be struggling to recall the past, but found nothing.

"When a person and an Immortal Medicine are perfectly attuned, the benefits can be immense. Perhaps that emperor was such a case."

Yuangeng sighed. This was what happened when an emperor was attuned to an Immortal Medicine, as with the Solar Essence Saint Emperor and the Fusang Divine Tree, or Emperor Venerable and the most unusual of all Immortal Medicines, the Human-Shaped Divine Medicine. Both of those Extreme Dao figures had gained enormous benefits while studying their Immortal Medicines.

As he thought, he reached out to tease the Qilin Divine Medicine, gently stroking the tender divine leaves on its head until the little qilin narrowed its eyes in contentment. Perhaps because of his aura, this ancient divine medicine was very affectionate toward Yuangeng, showing a closeness even the Qilin Emperor had never experienced.

"What exactly are Immortal Medicines?"

The Qilin Emperor posed this profound question. Since ancient times, legends had claimed that Immortal Medicines contained the ultimate secret of longevity, yet beyond helping someone live a second life, there seemed to be nothing more to them.

He, too, was fundamentally attuned to the Qilin Divine Medicine. Yet after studying Immortal Medicines for many years, he had gained nothing that could shake the universe, no different from other ordinary emperors.

"Once-supreme beings whose essence surpassed even immortals. Now they have fallen and become what you see."

Yuangeng concealed nothing as he explained the true nature of Immortal Medicines. Those he currently knew of, such as the Peach of Immortality, the bodhi tree, and Enlightenment Tea, could all trace their roots to the Immortal Ancient Era. They had been either the ancestral root of a great domain, the foundation of an Immortal King's lineage, or even actual Immortal Kings of the Immortal Domain. It was enough to make one sigh.

"Beyond immortals? How could beings like that possibly be reduced to this?"

The Qilin Emperor found it hard to believe. Throughout the ages, many emperors and lineages had pinned their hopes of longevity on Immortal Medicines. Though the vast majority of living beings had been fairly restrained in their research, there had been no shortage of extremists. During certain experiments or struggles over them, even the essence of Immortal Medicines had been damaged.

It was now the late Primordial Antiquity. After the tribulations of the entire Mythological Era and more than half the Primordial Era, gathering all the Immortal Medicines was simply impossible. Of those the Qilin Emperor knew about alone, at least four had been destroyed over the course of history. Their medicinal bodies were gone, and even their seeds had been destroyed.

"What was destroyed was their medicinal body. Ultimately, that was only a form. Their true essence is the Dao they represent. Those laws have long since been imprinted upon the origin of this realm. As long as even a trace remains, there is hope of revival," Yuangeng said, shaking his head.

He remembered that in the original story, Ye Fan had revived Emperor Venerable's Human-Shaped Divine Medicine while in the Extreme Dao realm. Many had believed it destroyed, yet he had nurtured it back to life.

Meanwhile, he lifted the Kirin Immortal Medicine from his shoulder. The little fellow had existed since the Mythological Era and had undergone who knew how many cycles of withering and flourishing. Yet it remained innocent and bewildered, understanding only fragments of what Yuangeng said.

Yuangeng was curious about its true essence. Taking someone at Pan King's level as a reference, this little fellow must have been at least a qilin Immortal King in its "previous life." But there had been qilin Immortal Kings in the history of the Immortal Domain as well as that of the Primordial Ancient Realm. It was impossible to say which one it had been.

"If someday we can bring it into the Immortal Domain and restore it to its rightful place, the true essence of the Kirin Immortal Medicine will probably exceed anything you can imagine."

Yuangeng told the Qilin Emperor plainly that once the old qilin lived a third life, the opportunity for his fourth might lie within the Immortal Medicine.

For some inexplicable reason, Yuangeng thought of the Azure Emperor, who would emerge many, many years in the future. He, too, was an exceedingly unusual being. The Chaos Green Lotus had once been an Immortal King before undergoing Nirvana, yet even after many trials, it had failed to recover its former self.

Presumably, the Green Lotus Immortal Medicine had not yet taken root on the green copper cauldron...

Yuangeng sighed. Considered alongside that ancient history from the Chaotic Ancient Era, every Immortal Medicine had its own unique story. Yet as the great ages shifted, those once-unsurpassed beings had been reduced to a group of feeble "medicines." Even a Saint could easily toy with these great medicines that possessed longevity and nothing else.

In the future, Ye Fan's Heavenly Court would bring many Immortal Medicines into the Immortal Domain. For cultivators in this universe after the Heavenly Court's departure, that was certainly not good news, but for

the Immortal Medicines themselves, it was a blessing beyond measure.

If Immortal Medicines possessing the essence of Immortal Kings, such as Pan King and the Black Tortoise, someday returned to their true selves, he wondered what those Immortal Kings would think of these memories...

Yuangeng suddenly felt that this universe was truly fascinating. As the world changed, there were far too many secrets worth unearthing.

Moved by inspiration, Yuangeng employed a transformation art and became a towering, mountain-like qilin with four horns, demonstrating and explaining the Immortal Qilin Aspect to the Qilin Emperor. The Immortal Medicine beside them watched with keen interest. Though it remained innocent and bewildered, it still sensed something nostalgic in Yuangeng's aura. Its tiny qilin body danced, actually resonating with Yuangeng as wondrous phenomena appeared without end.

This discussion of the Dao lasted an entire year. Yuangeng explained many things to the Qilin Emperor, and even though the old qilin was already in the twilight of his second life, he still gained considerable inspiration.

Three years after that discussion ended, a strange ray of light reaching into the nether depths suddenly flew out from the depths of the universe. It crossed the void, traversing countless galaxies, before finally reaching the Ancient Qilin Star and planting itself firmly beside the stone house where Yuangeng lived.

"Hm?"

Naturally, Yuangeng sensed the Extreme Dao aura contained in that strange light. It was an arrow, one forged from an unknown divine stone, with an arrowhead made of ink-black dragon pattern black gold. Merely holding it in his hand, he could feel a bone-piercing chill.

"Fellow Daoist, please join me for a conversation!"

Yet this arrow, powerful enough to shatter the weapon of someone on the verge of proving the Dao, had not been used to attack. Instead, it served as a letter, containing a vast surge of divine sense that extended an invitation to Yuangeng.

The invitation came from the Underworld.