I Shall Be Everlasting In the World of Immortals

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Chapter 420: Reincarnation Nutrient, The Return to the Two Sects

Outer Sect Alliance Territory.

The fallout from Old Evil Shen’s death and the splitting of Poison Dragon Pool continued to intensify. With schemers operating behind the scenes, the region was expected to remain turbulent and unstable for many years to come.

In chaotic times, the rise and fall of powers were inevitable.

Not long after, Xuan Yin Pavilion produced its second late-stage Core Formation cultivator, expanding its influence amidst the chaos. It began retaliating against the cultivation forces that had once oppressed the Xuan Yin Hall, gradually rising to become one of the dominant forces within the Outer Sect Alliance.

...

Eastern Great Qing, in the far eastern badlands—this was the territory of the Two Sects.

Beyond the endless Poison Marshes to the east of the Righteous Dao Alliance, lay a region even more treacherous than the Endless Sands Chasm. That was the territory of the Two Sects.

From the Fengyuan Kingdom or the Outer Sect Alliance, traveling southeast would also lead to this region, though the journey was slightly less perilous.

This Far Eastern wasteland held spiritual veins and resources surpassing even those of the Righteous Dao Alliance, yet its environment was extremely hostile, initially deemed unfit for human cultivators.

Many years ago, the Five Poisons Sect dominated this area. Expanding their territory aggressively, they were the most formidable of the evil sects, on par with some factions within the Six Demonic Sects.

Roughly ten to twenty thousand years ago, a new power, the Thousand Mechanisms Sect suddenly rose, allegedly originating from Central State, home to the oldest cultivation legacies of Heaven Honoured Continent.

From then on, the Far Eastern Wastelands entered a standoff between the Two Sects. This treacherous and perilous region became known as the Two Sect Territory.

It was the only eastern region of the continent the Six Demonic Sects had not dared to invade.

Over half a year later.

On the outskirts of Thousand Mechanisms Sect’s territory, surrounded by jagged mountain ranges and crimson-black rivers, there lay a grand estate built atop a quasi-fourth-rank spiritual vein.

The manor's scenery was picturesque, lush green mountains, flowing water, breathtaking views, forming a stark contrast to the harshness of the surrounding lands.

This was the ancestral home of the Teng Clan.

Their old ancestor, True Monarch Giant Elephant, was a Nascent Soul elder of the Thousand Mechanisms Sect. Now in his twilight years, he had retired to this estate to live out his days in peace.

With a Nascent Soul elder of the Sacred Sect overseeing it, combined with the treacherous terrain and protective formations, the Teng family's ancestral land has become a forbidden zone in the surrounding region. It was both the most dangerous and the safest place.

That day, the grand defensive array of the Teng Clan’s estate suddenly trembled, bursting forth with dazzling spiritual radiance and triggering chaotic fluctuations in the surrounding spiritual energy.

What followed was an earth-shattering spectacle.

A massive tempest surged forth, unleashing a vast ocean from within the clan grounds!

The defensive array’s foundations were destroyed from within. In just a few breaths, the protective shield shattered—overwhelmed by the surging tides.

From above or afar, the entire Teng Clan ancestral land appeared to have been swallowed by an endless ocean. Apart from occasional bursts of spiritual light, little could be seen clearly.

...

Deep beneath the floodwaters, at the heart of the sunken estate, a hoarse and furious voice echoed:

“Who exactly are you?! Why strike at the Teng Clan?! Even if this old man dies today, I must at least know the truth!”

At the estate's sunken core, eight peak third-rank puppets formed a battle formation, protecting a withered, one-eyed elder at the center, Elder Teng.

The puppets' exteriors were heavily damaged. The formation’s array diagram was dim, their internal puppet energy nearly depleted, completely spent.

Elder Teng’s face was deathly pale. His divine soul felt like it was splitting apart, and his frail body trembled as poisonous blood seeped from the corners of his lips. One of his eye sockets had become a bloody crater, seemingly pierced by a long, spectral nail.

Wounds covered his arms and torso. His abdomen bore a shocking withered hollow, the vitality in his blood rapidly draining.

Facing an unprecedentedly powerful enemy, Elder Teng was in complete despair.

Hovering above his head was a majestic and noble peacock, its wingspan stretching nearly eight zhang. Its earlier strikes had effortlessly torn apart Elder Teng’s protective barrier, dimming his protective magical treasures and overwhelming his resistance.

His feet were petrified into a mound of stone, a strange force pulling from the ground.

Weird black threads coiled around his lower body, emanating from underground, controlled by a fourth-rank demonic beast.

These black threads were eerie and terrifying, devouring spiritual energy and sealing his magical powers, leaving him utterly helpless.

This was a rare treasure Elder Teng hadn't encountered in all his years in the Two Sect region, the Spirit Devouring Black Silk, a wig looted from the mid-Nascent Soul True Monarch Netherwater.

Lord Earthrock, using it for the first time in a real battle, had achieved unexpectedly devastating results. Combined with the fourth-rank poison and the soul-piercing Barbed Arrow, Elder Teng was nearly subdued from the outset.

In front of Elder Teng stood a mysterious middle-aged man cloaked in black, surrounded by flowing blue water-light.

This man had infiltrated the highly restricted Teng estate using methods beyond imagination, disguising himself as a direct descendant, and then launching a surprise attack inside Elder Teng’s personal chambers.

Such terrifying infiltration was unheard of in the Two Sect region, only perhaps the legendary Unseen Gate Master of one of the Six Demonic Sects might accomplish such a feat.

“I am the Hall Master of the Azure Dragon Society. I’ve come to the Two Sects’ land today to seek justice for my subordinates and settle past grudges!”

Lan Chang'an spoke with calm detachment as he waved a sea banner magical treasure engraved with a turtle pattern, summoning vast watery vortexes to pin Elder Teng in place.

This operation was a full assassination mission.

Using the Black Wind Cloak and the Hundred Illusions Mask, Lan moved through the Teng estate as if walking through air.

Before striking, he had already planted explosive talismans on the clan protective formation’s core structures.

The moment he launched the ambush, Elder Teng sensed something, but couldn’t dodge the deadly Barbed Arrow.

Then came the pincer assault by Lord Earthrock and the exotic spirit peacock.

Combined with fourth-rank poison and the Spirit Devouring Black Silk, Elder Teng was subdued nearly instantly.

Aged and frail, Elder Teng was a Nascent Soul cultivator in retirement. With less than a century of lifespan remaining, his strength had long declined, he was far weaker than the dead Old Evil Shen.

Lan Chang'an’s goal was to capture the Nascent Soul spirit body. Fearing a repeat of last time when the target was annihilated by overflowing damage, he went with a conservative approach, focusing on containment and preventing the Nascent Soul from escaping.

At this point, both Elder Teng’s physical body and soul had been heavily wounded, and his strength greatly diminished.

Against such an aging cultivator, Lan Chang'an had no problem unleashing the Withering Divine Light, compounding the elder’s suffering, shaving off his remaining lifespan, and draining the last vestiges of his life force.

...

"Azure Dragon Society… subordinate?"

Elder Teng’s expression was filled with shock and uncertainty as he murmured to himself. He knew that he wouldn’t escape this disaster today and only wanted to understand the truth.

He had never heard of the Azure Dragon Society before. Yet just a mere branch leader of the group possessed such terrifying power, comparable to a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. He couldn’t even begin to imagine the full extent of the iceberg hidden beneath the deep sea.

Elder Teng gradually realized that the truth must have something to do with the "subordinate" this Azure Dragon Society Branch Leader had mentioned.

However, no matter how he racked his brain, he couldn’t recall forging any deep life-and-death grudges over the past several hundred years.

"Jie jie… Looks like Senior Brother Teng no longer remembers someone like Wei."

From behind came the sound of surging waves. The heavy, murky waters parted to reveal a tall, burly figure—a black-faced, fanged puppet clad in green armor.

Elder Teng froze at first, then his expression shifted subtly as long-buried memories surged forth.

"Junior Brother Wei?"

Upon recognizing the identity of Puppet Master Wei, Elder Teng as a fourth-rank puppet grandmaster himself, immediately sensed the abnormality of the green-armored puppet before him.

"You… you're still alive? You actually turned yourself into a puppet spirit and fused with a true fourth-rank puppet! How did this happen?"

Elder Teng was dumbfounded as if he'd just seen a ghost.

Based on lifespan estimates, Puppet Master Wei should have long since died after being sabotaged by Elder Teng back in the day, his cultivation foundation was damaged with no hopes of reaching the Nascent Soul realm.

"Jie jie jie! Senior Brother Teng, you didn't expect this, did you? I switched to cultivating ghost arts to greatly extend my lifespan. Moreover, thanks to my master’s generous opportunity, I forged a true fourth-rank puppet and fused my soul with it to become its Puppet Spirit. Not only did I survive, but I’ll also outlive you by far!"

Puppet Master Wei’s gloating words hung thick in the air, leaving Elder Teng’s face dripping with gloom, his heart churning with a truth he’d have been happier never learning.

"Senior Brother Teng, I heard that you once forged a fourth-rank Giant Elephant Puppet in Thousand Mechanisms Sect, a war machine said to be indestructible. Why not bring it out today and spar with this old man?"

Puppet Master Wei had deliberately held back from attacking, waiting for the perfect moment.

Faced with Wei’s provoking words, Elder Teng was like a walking corpse, utterly defeated and spiritless.

"That Giant Elephant Puppet… Most of its materials and funding came from the Sacred Sect. I was only the builder of it and had permission to use it. Now that I’ve retired in old age, I returned it to the Sect in exchange for benefits for my descendants. Even if it were here, it wouldn’t be a match for your true fourth-rank puppet, Junior Brother Wei."

Elder Teng gave a bitter smile, then pleaded:

"Junior Brother Wei, could you spare a few of my direct bloodline descendants?"

"Hmph! Did you show any mercy when you ambushed me back then? My wife and daughter… you slaughtered them both!"

The green-armored puppet's eye sockets flared with ghostly flames. One puppet arm suddenly expanded into a massive steel claw, stirring up a storm of iron-gray gales and slamming down on Elder Teng.

"Since he doesn’t have the Giant Elephant Puppet, there’s no need to hold back."

At Lan Chang'an’s command, Lord Earthrock and the Peacock Puppet launched their attacks.

At this moment, the Soul-Devouring Black Threads had already wrapped around Elder Teng’s neck. His spiritual power was almost completely sealed, and he could no longer struggle.

From the sky, the exotic spirit peacock once again released a beam of five-colored divine light.

Boom!

Elder Teng’s face turned grim with resolve. Burning his life essence and spiritual power, he detonated his own body, creating a surge of pressure comparable to a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

At the same time, all eight of his puppet soldiers self-destructed.

The terrifying spiritual shockwave, mixed with bloody spiritual essence and puppet fragments, sent the vast oceanic domain into violent chaos and tore open several rifts.

The combined attacks from the green-armored puppet, peacock puppet, and Lord Earthrock were disrupted and pushed back.

Lan Chang'an’s face remained cold and composed, a verdant green light swirling around him. In his hand appeared another Barbed Arrow.

Above, the peacock puppet gathered five-colored radiance once again, locking onto the explosion site.

...

Whoosh!

A tiny Nascent Soul figure, an elderly miniature version of Elder Teng darted out during the explosion, quickly moving several hundred zhang in a specific direction.

Severely wounded and still traumatized by the Barbed Arrow, Elder Teng’s Nascent Soul instinctively avoided Lan Chang'an’s location.

Next was the peacock puppet, its five-colored light posed a clear threat to his spiritual form.

Eliminating those two directions, Elder Teng fled toward a rift opened in the oceanic domain.

Even though a Nascent Soul was non-corporeal, escaping through this water domain still posed resistance, draining energy and limiting speed.

But just as he put some distance behind him, he was suddenly intercepted by a blur of green light.

"Heh, I guessed right!"

The blur took shape into a black-winged man whose speed rivaled that of a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. He blocked the path using a clone movement technique.

Elsewhere, the “Lan Chang'an” holding the Barbed Arrow vanished into a swirl of fading green, revealed to be a Illusory Wood Doppelgänger.

Just a decoy!

"No! I’ve been tricked!"

Elder Teng’s Nascent Soul trembled in panic.

Whoosh!

A ghostly green spiderweb suddenly appeared above his tiny figure, expanding to twenty zhang across, perfectly covering his escape route.

Thump!

The old Nascent Soul had no time to change course, crashing headlong into the sinister net.

The Ghost Spider Soul Net quickly transformed into a spirit cage, trapping the soul and radiating strands of eerie ghostly energy.

Elder Teng’s Nascent Soul immediately felt a wave of paralysis and icy cold. He tried to activate secret techniques to escape, but the more he struggled, the tighter the net constricted.

Tendrils of purple-black poisonous smoke rose from his form. His consciousness grew dim, and his strength drained away.

"Heh! A heavily wounded Nascent Soul already poisoned by fourth-rank soul venom, how can I let you break free and run away?"

With a flick of his hand, Lan Chang'an pulled the net and the captured Nascent Soul into his grasp.

Inside the ghostly web, the miniature Elder Teng was wracked with all manner of negative effects. Weakened and powerless, he no longer resisted.

"Congratulations, Master, for capturing the 'Giant Elephant True Monarch' of Thousand Mechanisms Sect."

Puppet Master Wei bowed in praise.

At this moment, his blood enemy Elder Teng already had his physical body destroyed and was nothing but a helpless Nascent Soul.

"Old Wei, clean up the rest. I’ll handle the interrogation."

Lan Chang'an ordered calmly.

Puppet Master Wei respectfully acknowledged and departed.

Back in the Teng clan ancestral home, there were still a few surviving cultivators. Naturally, Puppet Master Wei wouldn’t allow his enemies to leave loose ends, with methodical precision, he executed everyone one by one, leaving no witnesses alive.

...

“Elder Teng, our grievances end today. Hand over the hidden treasury and the Thousand Machines Divine Transformation Art, and I might consider giving you a chance to return to the cycle of reincarnation,”

Lan Chang'an said coldly, his tone laced with threat.

“Haha! Foolish dreams! Even if you capture me alive, you’ll never obtain the Thousand Machines Divine Transformation Art. For core cultivators of the Sacred Sect, the related memories in our sea of consciousness are sealed by an unbreakable restriction. Even a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator may not be able to soul-search the complete technique.”

Elder Teng faintly sensed the wails echoing from the ancestral estate, his most outstanding direct descendants, hidden in a secret chamber, were being dragged out and slaughtered one by one by Puppet Master Wei.

Overwhelmed by sorrow and grief, he threw his head back and laughed, unafraid of death.

“The Thousand Mechanisms Sect possesses a secret treasure that plants a unique soul imprint on its core disciples. If you destroy my Nascent Soul, the Sacred Sect has ways to trace it back to you!”

Elder Teng tried to buy time with his words, throwing out a veiled threat.

“Oh really? Your sect has only one mid-Stage Nascent Soul elder, and at most a mid-grade fourth-rank ancestral puppet, all while being kept in check by the Five Poisons Sect. Do you really think your sect would risk everything just for a dying Nascent Soul elder like you?”

Lan Chang'an’s response made Elder Teng’s heart sink.

This Azure Dragon Society Hall Master was even more terrifying than a typical mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. In the Great Qing region, he had practically no rivals.

Once Puppet Master Wei and Earthrock Lord finished the cleanup...

Lan Chang'an suddenly reached into the ghost spider net, grabbed the struggling Nascent Soul miniature while contacting the Nine Seal Stele deep within his consciousness.

Buzz!

The ancient stele emitted a hazy white glow, following his spiritual connection through his arm and sweeping Elder Teng’s Nascent Soul up into the light.

“What is this-”

Elder Teng’s consciousness let out a terrified shriek as he was consumed by the irresistible force of laws. His Nascent Soul was shredded into fine particles.

Within the fifth seal frame of the Nine Seal Stele, a pure, crystal-white glow ignited, lighting up one-tenth of the seal’s area.

“Seventy-five percent!”

Lan Chang'an saw the progress bar for his fifth life and couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction.

There was no time to examine Elder Teng’s memories.

“Withdraw!”

Lan Chang'an swiftly retrieved his puppets, spirit beasts, and magical treasures, then disappeared under the concealment of the Black Wind Cloak.

The moment Elder Teng’s Nascent Soul was destroyed and devoured...

Thousands of li away, in the Thousand Mechanisms Sect’s main headquarters...

Poof!

Elder Teng’s Soul Lamp extinguished instantly, alarming the sect’s head cultivator and several elders.

This was exactly why Lan Chang'an hadn’t devoured the Nascent Soul right away. He’d delayed on purpose, stalling with nonsense while the cleanup finished.

Of course, the Nascent Soul couldn’t be kept for long. The commotion would soon alert the Thousand Mechanisms Sect’s headquarters, and they most likely possessed methods to track the soul aura a core elder left behind.

...

Two months later.

Lan Chang'an successfully circled back into the Fengyuan Kingdom, skipping the Ice and Snow Sacred Mountain entirely and heading south to return to the cultivation world of the Liang Kingdom.

He could have taken a direct route west, crossing the endless poison swamps between the two sects' territories to reach the Liang Kingdom faster.

However, that path would have meant traversing through the very heartlands of the Thousand Mechanisms and Five Poisons Sects, far too risky for a clean escape.

As for the refinement of the Infant Transformation Pills, superior quality third-rank Life Extension Pills, and other spirit pills, Lan Chang'an had already arranged for them before wiping out the Teng Clan. Using a different late-stage Core Formation alias and through favor owed by Heavenly Master Zhong, he’d commissioned the fourth-rank alchemy grandmaster within the Five Poisons Sect’s domain to refine them.

Overall, his mission across the two sects' regions had gone relatively smoothly. After all, it was just bullying the elderly whose body was aging and strength had declined.

Still, capturing a Nascent Soul was far more difficult than just killing one. To reach his goal, he had to give it his all with no room for sloppiness.

Jin Yun Valley.

Lan Chang'an quietly returned to his Evergreen Peak Dao Ground, avoiding contact with other sect cultivators. At most, only Zhang Tianfeng who possessed a spiritual treasure artifact spirit might’ve noticed.

He’d only been gone for a year. It wasn’t enough to arouse suspicion.

Over the past few years, Lan Chang'an had kept an erratic profile, his movements hard to track.

As a fourth-rank divination grandmaster, concealing his location or deliberately misleading pursuit wasn’t all that difficult.

Inside his secluded cultivation chamber, Lan Chang'an reviewed the entire journey, running divination to check for overlooked flaws.

“Though there are a few loose ends, the vast distance between regions delays information sharing. With no identifying marks, few would connect figures from different territories out of thin air.”

“The Azure Dragon Society alias should still hold up a while longer.”

He then subtly guided the threads of fate, concealing and diverting information related to the Azure Dragon Society and its Hall Master, subtly steering the trajectory of destiny toward a path more favorable to himself.

Of course, it helped that he hadn’t exposed any obvious weaknesses. His publicly displayed magical powers were all water-based, not the wood-based life cultivation techniques he truly relied on.

The one who knew the most was Master Zhong.

But that fourth-rank divination grandmaster was in the same boat as Lan Chang'an and would actively help hide his secrets.

Otherwise, if the Thousand Mechanisms Sect traced him to the Ice and Snow Sacred Mountain, even Zhong would find it hard to deal with the fallout.

...

Lan Chang'an once again carefully examined the spoils taken from Elder Teng and shook his head slightly, a hint of regret in his expression.

The loot from Elder Teng was far inferior to that of Old Evil Shen.

There were two main reasons for this.

First, Elder Teng’s physical body had self-destructed at the time, destroying several valuable items in the process.

Second, as a retired Nascent Soul cultivator, Elder Teng didn’t even have full ownership of his most precious fourth-rank puppet. It was merely on loan from the Thousand Mechanisms Sect, intended to be returned eventually. This allowed him to maintain a reputation for nobility and integrity, offering up the puppet in exchange for the sect’s special cultivation resources for his descendants.

Fortunately, Elder Teng was a fourth-rank puppetry grandmaster. He possessed a considerable amount of rare materials used for puppet refinement, which Lan Chang'an could put to good use, especially to repair and complete his puppet army.

As for the usual collection of magic treasures, spirit objects, herbs, talismans, and even some high-level strategic resources, these were already treasures beyond the reach of ordinary Core Formation cultivators.

Having hunted and killed Nascent Soul old monsters multiple times, Lan Chang'an was long past being impressed by the standard resources used for breaking through to the Core or Nascent stages.

What he truly yearned for was the Thousand Machines Divine Transformation Art, the secret foundational art of the Thousand Mechanisms Sect.

Under normal circumstances, even soul-searching would not allow one to extract this kind of top-tier soul cultivation method completely or at all.

However, Lan Chang'an was an exception.

He closed his eyes and immersed himself within the Fifth Life Seal of the Nine Seal Stele, probing the newly lit ten percent portion, and began organizing the chaotic flood of Elder Teng’s expansive memories.

He had briefly checked on the return journey and confirmed that there were fragmented pieces of the Thousand Machines Divine Transformation Art buried in the memories, he just needed time to sift through and reconstruct them.

Now that he had reached the Nascent Soul stage, Lan Chang'an could process memory fragments from Nascent Soul True Monarchs at a much faster rate.

From Elder Teng’s memories, Lan learned that, indeed, if someone killed a Nascent Soul cultivator like Elder Teng, the Thousand Mechanisms Sect did have methods to trace the source.

However, it wasn’t as simple as he’d imagined, doing so required significant cost, and the further the distance, the more the effectiveness diminished.

Moreover, by devouring Elder Teng’s spirit body through the Nine Seal Stele, Lan Chang'an had eliminated certain karmic and spiritual contaminants tied to the act, thus greatly reducing the risks of being tracked.

This conclusion was based on subtle details within Elder Teng’s memory, specifically methods for detecting unusual aura residues.

...

Several days later.

Lan Chang'an successfully reconstructed the complete Thousand Machines Divine Transformation Art from the memory fragments.

To ensure nothing was missed, he invited Puppet Master Wei to study and verify the technique together.

As a puppet-crafting prodigy, Wei was thrilled at the opportunity to examine the secret divine technique of the Thousand Mechanisms Sect.

Even when he’d avenged the destruction of his family, he hadn’t felt this excited.

“The Thousand Machines Divine Transformation Art shares the same lineage as the puppet-crafting arts we’ve been practicing. The sect’s puppet-controlling techniques are all part of this same heritage. We already have the foundation for it, switching over should be no problem.”

After thorough analysis, Puppet Master Wei brought back encouraging news.

The Thousand Machines Divine Transformation Art was divided into nine layers, with the bare minimum requirement being the Foundation Establishment stage, at which point one can be considered to have entered the path.

Only by reaching the Nascent Soul realm would one fully access its core concepts, which delved deep into soul cultivation and numerous profound applications of the spiritual sense.

The technique’s boost to spiritual sense varied from person to person.

Most high-level cultivators could expect an increase of 30% to 50% in their spiritual sense.

Those who were gifted could see increases beyond 50%.

And those born with top-tier innate soul-related Dao physiques could even experience a boost that crossed into the next minor realm entirely.

However, such soul-endowed physiques were extremely rare in the history of the cultivation world, especially the truly top-tier existences among them.

Elder Teng himself had decent talent as a puppet master, though still inferior to Old Wei.

But lacking any special soul gifts, his progress in cultivating the Thousand Machines Divine Transformation Art had been slow. He had only barely reached the seventh layer, and his spiritual sense had only increased by 30%.

And that was back when he was at his peak. After aging, both his body and Nascent Soul began to decline, reducing even that modest enhancement.

Building upon Puppet Master Wei’s research, Lan Chang'an began practicing the Thousand Machines Divine Transformation Art himself and found his progress smooth, far faster than Elder Teng’s.

“Having gone through several lifetimes of reincarnation, my innate soul foundation is already strong. It seems to be perfectly suited for the Thousand Machines Divine Transformation Art!”

Lan Chang'an was overjoyed.

He estimated that once he cultivated the seventh layer of the technique at the Nascent Soul level, his base spiritual sense could potentially rival a mid-stage Nascent Soul expert without even having the fourth life descend.

(End of chapter)

New novel that's equally as fun^^ Five Immortal Sects