Chapter 198 - 112: The Immortals Released (Part 2)
Chapter 198: Chapter 112: The Immortals Released (Part 2)
BOOM!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
As if it had sensed the aura of the Spirit Mark within.
The Qi Fortune Immortal Gate was being struck with increasing violence. It swelled continuously, leaping from a hundred feet to a thousand, and once it reached ten thousand feet, it would be forced open.
Tonight at the earliest, tomorrow night at the latest.
"Zhuo."
"Can he really leave?"
Su Chen looked at Kong.
To survive for a thousand years, Zhuo had merged with the lingering resentment of a fallen Great Immortal.
Although at this final moment of Immortal Arrival, he had separated from the Muddy World Immortal who represented that resentment.
But could it really be that simple? Could he truly leave?
The Muddy World Immortal, the patriarch who had created the Black Abyss, still coveted Zhuo’s body.
"..."
Kong fell silent.
He didn’t know how Su Chen had learned all this.
"I will bring Zhuo back."
"I promised him."
"Enough of this. Let’s drink."
Gazing at the Immortal Gate that was about to open, Kong smiled.
He could finally go home.
A long moment passed.
They finished their three cups of wine.
Kong left.
From beginning to end, there had been no sign of Zhuo’s presence in the Imperial City.
Kong didn’t say anything.
And Su Chen didn’t ask.
But deep down, he had a feeling.
Zhuo should have stayed in the World in the Palm.
Otherwise...
Something terrible would happen.
What, exactly?
He didn’t know.
But he just had that feeling.
DRIP. DROP.
In the abandoned fishing hut, rain began to fall from the sky.
"It’s raining."
"A Rain of Spiritual Qi, no less."
Su Chen extended his hand. He looked toward the distant Imperial City, where Ancient Immortals and Ancient Grandmasters were bathing in the Spirit Rain, their Vitality slowly regenerating as they awaited the opening of the Immortal Gate.
Like seekers of the Dao.
And like fugitives driven to a Dead End.
"Tonight and tomorrow night."
’I wonder how many more people will die,’ Su Chen lamented inwardly.
At the same time, within his body, the sapling-like tree burst with Spiritual Light. Its trunk grew, its branches extended, as if it were transitioning from childhood to youth.
He was about to reach the Fourth Realm of Longevity.
But...
Why did it have to be now?
A wave of drowsiness washed over him.
This advancement of his Longevity Dao Seed was different from before; he needed a period of slumber to allow the Seed of Longevity to enter its next stage.
"But..."
’Why does it have to be now?!’
Su Chen suppressed the growth of the Longevity Tree Species.
On the river, he strode across the waves.
He headed toward the distant island that was once the peak of Cyan Mountain.
There, three of his friends had once been buried.
Now, the place was filled with blossoming peach trees and swaying Hibiscus Trees. A bamboo house stood there, enclosed by a small, fenced-in yard.
Inside the bamboo house stood a figure in a fiery red dress.
She had a full head of snow-white hair.
Her eyes were cold and clear.
She seemed to have merged with the peach grove and the rainy night.
"Sir, why have you trespassed here...?"
She walked over, approaching Su Chen, this uninvited guest.
But, for some reason, she felt he looked vaguely familiar.
"What are you doing here?"
Su Chen asked.
But his gaze was not on her.
His eyes were fixed on the three graves.
Two were empty.
Then there was Xu Han’s tombstone.
The graves were tidy.
Even after three years, they were free of weeds, and offerings had been left.
"I’m waiting for someone."
The red-robed figure walked closer. She wanted to make Su Chen leave, but her depleted lifespan had long since robbed her of even a fraction of her peak strength.
What’s more, the man before her seemed incredibly powerful.
He had arrived by walking on the wind and waves.
The water did not touch him, the wind and thunder dared not disturb him, and even the Spirit Rain couldn’t permeate his body, as if he disdained its inferior quality.
"That’s good."
He took down his Heaven-Slaying Sword Gourd and poured out its contents before Xu Han’s grave, paying respects to his friend.
It was good wine.
A pity.
His old friend had died too soon.
"Are you the Wind Snow Sword Immortal?"
Lady Shui approached, sizing Su Chen up as she asked.
She knew who was buried here.
To come here and pay respects...
Perhaps...
It could only be the world-renowned First Immortal of the Human World.
He was also the one she was waiting for.
She had wandered the Jianghu for three years and witnessed countless storms, but after returning to the Imperial Palace and waiting a long time in the Library Pavilion, she never saw the person she wanted to see again.
That Imperial Physician seemed to have vanished.
And so, she came here.
She wanted to know what kind of person the original owner of her face was—someone cherished by both the Imperial Physician she loved and the Wind Snow Sword Immortal.
"What... was she like?"
She was asking about Cyan Sparrow.
"Cyan Sparrow?"
In Su Chen’s mind, a faint image flickered—a fragile figure in a storm, for whom he had once held an umbrella.
But it was no use.
He could no longer remember clearly.
The Longevity Tree Species was relentlessly draining his emotions.
Now heartless, as time passed, his memories seemed to be covered in a layer of gray dust. Even the grief he once felt now seemed alien to him.
He had forgotten the feeling.
"Do I... look a lot like her?"
Lady Shui asked again.
"Have you found the one you’re waiting for?"
Su Chen didn’t answer, asking a question of his own.
"No."
Lady Shui’s white hair drifted in the wind as she gazed toward the distant Imperial Palace. Memories of him surged through her mind, and a smile touched her lips.
"But I will wait for him."
"Always! Forever!"
Su Chen was silent.
He looked at this woman, clad in fiery red, whose gentle temperament remained even after wandering the Jianghu. Above her head, her Longevity Fire was almost nonexistent.
She was dying.
Perhaps... it would be tonight.
"He... told you to go to the Jianghu."
"He just..."
"wanted you to see the beauty of the world, so you wouldn’t die a miserable death in the Imperial Palace..."
"Perhaps... he had something important to do and couldn’t attend to you..."
"Or perhaps... he is already dead."
Su Chen stated.
"Then, I will wait for him still..."
Lady Shui smiled.
"Why suffer so?"
Su Chen sighed.
He left.
Riding the wind and waves into the distance.
A long time later, an Imperial Physician climbed onto Qingshan Island, carrying a medicine box and walking toward her step by step.
His name was Xu Ge.
A Junior Imperial Physician from the Imperial Hospital.
But in the end, he was a step too late.
Beneath the peach tree, a shower of blossoms danced on the wind.
Under the tree, the figure in fiery red sat silently, gazing toward the distant Imperial Capital, her body already lifeless.
Her lifespan had ended.
Even in death, she was still waiting.
Waiting for the man she loved to appear.
But alas, he was late by the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
"Your wait is over."
Su Chen sat beside her, remaining silent for a long time.
Though his cultivation was peerless, and he was the First Immortal of the Human World,
he had seen too many people go. Faced with the death of an acquaintance, he couldn’t feel a single shred of sadness.
That night, wind and snow danced in the sky.
The entire river began to freeze over, with the lone island at its center.
Su Chen’s heart was in turmoil.
At that moment, everyone in the Human World—from the Ancient Grandmasters and Human Giants in the distant Imperial City—sensed the state of mind of the First Immortal of the Human World.
"He’s... still alive!"
"Heaven-Slaying... is actually still alive..."
The Celestial Alliance and the Imperial Mausoleum Immortals were stunned.
"He’s gotten stronger again!"
The two Sword Immortals, one mortal and one immortal, sensed the terrifying Sword Intent hidden within the silence and sighed in amazement.
There were three Great Sword Immortals in the Human World.
Somehow, the youngest of them had already surpassed them, claiming the title of number one.
"One Sword Immortal. The mortals didn’t get that title wrong."
"It’s hard to imagine."
"Twenty or thirty years ago, he was still receiving my Sword Dao instruction in his dreams..."
The Great Yu Sword Immortal remarked, as if mocking himself.
The next instant,
BOOM!
The Immortal Gate exploded!
One terrifying figure after another stepped into this world.
They were all at Qi Cultivation Perfection!
Behind them, several more terrifying figures followed—Foundation Establishment Daoist Cultivators from the greater Human World.
"Pillage!"
"Plunder everything!"
"Kill them all, pillage them all, take it all!"
They roared.
Demonic Qi surged like a tidal wave!
They were all terrifying Demon Cultivators!
In the Imperial City, the great powers who had been lying in wait also began to laugh.
"Let’s see if you have what it takes!"
The great battle erupted with a roar.
The sky filled with colliding, terrifying figures.
One figure walked forward slowly. He was the greatest of the Demon Cultivators; even those at Foundation Establishment had to retreat respectfully before him.
He was the Daoist of the Demon Sect.
But, he wasn’t looking for any Spirit Mark. Instead, he headed straight for the Heaven-Ascension Tower.
His objective was clear.
A figure blocked his path.
"What do you think you’re doing?"
Kong asked.
"Nothing much."
"Just welcoming back a former Daoist of my Demon Profound Sect."
The Demon Sect’s Daoist smiled.
He knew that the most precious thing in this world was never some Spirit Mark.
It was the two consciousnesses of good and evil left behind by the fallen Divinity Transformation Immortal!
According to the readings of their Demon Profound Sect’s supreme treasure, one of those consciousnesses was right here in the Heaven-Ascension Tower.