Eternal Life: I Can Sell Everything

On this day, the latest rankings of the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List were announced.

The Human Race had a new Celestial Pride take the tenth spot, forcefully pushing the previous tenth-ranked Ao Feng of the Dragon Race down to eleventh!

With this, the top ten of the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List was now split nine to one.

One from the Demon Race, nine from the Human Race!

This change caused a massive stir, not just in Demon Suppression Pass, but throughout the entire Human and Demon Realms.

Demon Suppression Pass, the Grand Governor’s Mansion.

The Great Zhou had established Four Great Demon Passes in total: Demon Suppression Pass, Demon Slaughter Pass, Demon-Trap Pass, and Demon Extinction Pass.

Each Demon Pass was guarded by a True Immortal Level expert—either a True Immortal or a Martial Saint. The Grand Governor of Demon Slaughter Pass, for example, was a True Immortal and a member of the Royal Family—the Immortal Dynasty’s Eldest Princess, Princess Qingguo.

Presiding over Demon Suppression Pass was the Martial Saint, Zhou Lingtao.

Zhou Lingtao hadn’t taken action in two hundred years. This Martial Saint was once world-renowned for his incomparably tyrannical and domineering Martial Techniques and personality. His path to fame was paved with the blood of the Demon Race.

He fought for three hundred years, advancing triumphantly without ever meeting a worthy opponent.

Finally, he achieved sainthood by slaying the Demon Saint, Ghost Car!

From then on, Zhou Lingtao stood guard at Demon Suppression Pass. Even if he never made a move, his presence was like a pillar supporting the heavens, an immovable anchor firmly planted on the border between the two races.

Thus, while the Demon Race’s desire to invade never died, not a single one of their truly top-tier Great Saints dared to encroach upon Demon Suppression Pass.

Zhou Lingtao’s reputation was indisputable. Yet on this day, as the renowned Martial Saint appeared in the rear garden of the Grand Governor’s Mansion holding a scroll of the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List, a sigh suddenly escaped his lips.

Of the ten Grand Generals under his command, five were present.

Seeing the Martial Saint sigh, the five Grand Generals all felt a tremor in their hearts.

Guo Wanjun, Grand General of the Xun Wind Camp, was the most hot-tempered. He clenched his fist and said in a deep voice, “Grand Governor, are you worried the Demon Race will once again abandon all martial honor and send experts to assassinate our Human Race’s Celestial Prides?”

The air popped between his fingers. Guo Wanjun roared, “The hell with them! If they come, we’ll kill them. As for the Ancient Divine Palace, I’ll go myself later. As long as we bring Du Xingheng and Yun Liuguang back, our race can maintain its advantage!”

SMACK!

But someone slapped him on the shoulder. Guo Wanjun turned around in a rage, only to be met with an exquisitely beautiful and enchanting face.

The red-robed beauty extended two slender fingers, tapping Guo Wanjun’s sharp, square jaw with a look of feigned annoyance. She pushed his face back around, her tone crisp and cold. “What a show of might, Grand General Guo. The Grand Governor is right here, and you’re throwing a tantrum? You’ll go to the Ancient Divine Palace? Hah. If you go, who will manage the Wind Fury Camp?”

The number of Demon Race experts was limited, but so was the number of Human Race experts.

In Demon Suppression Pass, every Grand General’s station had its purpose. Whether they could be deployed, and how they should be deployed—all of this required the Grand Governor’s coordination. It was certainly not a decision to be made on a whim.

Being chided like this with his face pushed away, Guo Wanjun didn’t dare get angry. Instead, he shrank back like a big bear, his face red, and muttered in a low voice, “It’s all the fault of those useless folks from the Ling Martial Sect. And the Profound Heart Sect. We asked them to send experts, but they just kept making excuses. They don’t even seem worried about their own kids…”

The red-robed beauty shook her head and paid him no more mind. She looked toward Zhou Lingtao, who stood before the covered walkway with his hands behind his back, dressed like an ordinary old man, and said softly, “Grand Governor, news came from the Curios Pavilion this morning. An ‘earth-core snow’ has erupted in the depths of the Merfolk Abyss. Amidst the Ten Thousand Years Profound Ice, a Lingshu Jade Mushroom has grown. If used in alchemy, it can be refined into a Seven-star Longevity Pill, capable of extending one’s life by two hundred years!”

When this news was revealed, the other four Grand Generals, including Guo Wanjun, were all astonished.

All eyes turned toward the red-robed beauty. As the Grand General of the Qingfeng Camp, she specialized in intelligence. The Qingfeng Camp was also the best scout camp in the West Wind Army.

Guo Wanjun asked hurriedly, “Senior Sister Liu, is the Curios Pavilion selling this Lingshu Jade Mushroom?”

The red-robed beauty’s name was Liu Ying. She shot Guo Wanjun an exasperated glare and said irritably, “They haven’t even managed to harvest it, how could they sell it? If they could sell it, the Curios Pavilion would have sent the Lingshu Jade Mushroom directly, not just a message!”

Guo Wanjun chuckled and scratched his head like a big bear.

Then he added, “So, should we send people to harvest it? We absolutely must get our hands on that Seven-star Longevity Pill!”

As he spoke, he secretly glanced at the silent Zhou Lingtao, who stood with his hands clasped behind him.

The Martial Saint, Zhou Lingtao, was already over five hundred years old.

In recent years, Zhou Lingtao’s face had grown increasingly aged. No one dared to guess which day his lifespan would finally reach its end.

After all, Martial Artists were vastly different from Cultivators. Although a Martial Saint’s combat power was nearly equal to a True Immortal’s—and in a head-on battle, a Martial Saint was even more likely to be stronger—

However, a True Immortal’s lifespan was three to five thousand years, while a Martial Saint’s would often end between five hundred and eight hundred years!

Even those who were exceptionally skilled in life-preservation techniques could rarely live past one thousand.

Zhou Lingtao was already over five hundred. How could this not be a cause for concern?

The news of the Lingshu Jade Mushroom was therefore exceptionally tempting at this moment.

Zhou Lingtao, tall and with an aged face, turned around. He didn’t respond to the matter of the Lingshu Jade Mushroom. Instead, he unfurled the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List in his hands and slowly read a line of text aloud.

“Human Race, Xing Lan, tenth on the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List. Medical Cultivator, skilled in manipulating Heart Demons, possesses the ability to bring the dead back to life. Supreme Skills: Void Illusion Demon Sword, Fetal Breathing Saint Method. Accomplishments: Eliminated the eleventh-ranked Celestial Pride, the Demon Scholar’s Night Traveling Lamp; slayed the second incarnation of the Demon Book Insect; defeated the former Celestial Pride expert, Innate Fourth Transformation Martial Artist Yu Wenxu.”

Zhou Lingtao smiled faintly. “Each generation produces talents anew, and the Celestial Prides of today far surpass the glory of our own generation.”

He acted as if he hadn’t heard the news about the Lingshu Jade Mushroom at all, completely ignoring it.

The few Grand Generals of the West Wind Army grew anxious. Zhou Lingtao’s safety and lifespan concerned not just him, but the entirety of Demon Suppression Pass!

If Zhou Lingtao could truly extend his life by another two hundred years, how would the Demon Race dare to be as rampant and restless as they were now?

Indeed, the demon scourge had grown increasingly severe recently. Though no one said it aloud, they all understood in their hearts that this was not unrelated to Zhou Lingtao’s advancing age.

Humans were different from demons. Humans were a short-lived species!

Not even Martial Saints could live forever; their lives lasted but a few short centuries. For some Ancient Blood Demon Saints, that was merely the length of a nap.

As the saying went, if you can’t kill them, you can certainly outlive them.

The Demon Race’s restlessness was surely not just due to the struggle for destiny on the Celestial Pride List, or the rising Spiritual Energy Tide and frequent shifts in the earth’s ley lines.

The Grand Generals each had their own worries, but none dared to speak them plainly.

「Mingqiu Desert.」

A column of riders on horseback was approaching from the south.

At the head of the column were two people: one, a tall, righteous-looking middle-aged man, and the other, a young woman in white who moved with an ethereal grace.

Behind them, dozens of people surrounded a compact, sturdy man of slightly shorter stature.

They thronged around him, their curious gazes so intense they made his whole body tense up.

Cai An tugged at his reins, shifting uncomfortably.