Chapter 257: "Seeking Immortality, What Fear is There in Death?"

Chapter 257: "Seeking Immortality, What Fear is There in Death?"

Standing by the spring, Bear Gao gazed at his father's departing figure, his excitement gradually calming down, but a smile still lingered on his lips.

He was very happy.

Extremely happy.

Only those who have endured hardships can truly appreciate the taste of happiness. He often heard people talk about falling into nihilism, and those who did were usually well-off. He always believed that if he were in the endless desert of Daxia, struggling to eat enough every day and constantly worrying about food for the next day, he would never fall into such a state of existential crisis.

When people are hungry, they become mischievous.

Precisely because of this, he was very satisfied and excited about his current situation. In other words, he was the sole Great Emperor of the Brown Bear Clan!

Who says the Brown Bear Clan has no Great Emperor? He, Bear Gao, is here!

"Wait until you play a few more tunes, wait until you return to your hometown, wait until your name is written on the golden roll of honor..."

"Oh, my dear, don't be sad. In this life, I'll only roll up my sleeves for you. After three rounds of wine, the moon will rise, and my heart will be forever yours."

Bear Gao took a pair of scissors from his pocket and crouched by the spring, looking at his reflection in the water. As he trimmed his fur, he hummed a little tune, eagerly anticipating his future life.

Everything was slowly getting better.

From this day forward, Bear Gao would no longer remain unknown!

"Hehe."

"Hehe."

At that moment, in the Tranquil Prefecture of Peace River Province, an elderly man with white hair and a withered face sat in the backyard, leisurely rocking a fan in his hand, and chuckled without any particular reason.

Ten days ago, a Heavenly Dao Edict resounded throughout the Vast Continent!

Chen Qiu, the King of Xuantian, had successfully passed the First Rank Heaven Tribulation, the Heaven-Slaying Thunder Tribulation, and obtained a strand of Supreme Prodigy Fortune, a strand of Heavenly Dao Fortune, and a one-year limited-edition Multicolored Entry.

He didn't know what the First Rank Heaven Tribulation was, nor had he ever heard of the Heaven-Slaying Thunder Tribulation. Moreover, he was unaware that Heavenly Tribulations had different ranks.

However, he understood one thing.

That was the value of the Supreme Prodigy Fortune and the limited-edition Multicolored Entry. Based solely on these two points, he could gauge the power of the First Rank Heaven Tribulation. Rewards were always proportional to the hardships endured, at least in the eyes of the Heavenly Dao.

Aside from the Heavenly Dao, countless others endured numerous hardships without any reward.

In the eyes of the Heavenly Dao, the greater the reward, the greater the hardship.

Such a reward was enough to prove the might of the First Rank Heaven Tribulation.

He had witnessed it with his own eyes.

Well, not exactly witnessed, but he had a vague feeling. Although Peace River Province and Mystic Heaven State were separated by the State Continent Constraint, he had felt an extremely dense concentration of spiritual energy in Mystic Heaven State, so he went to the border between the two provinces.

He didn't see the tribulation clouds or the heavenly tribulation itself because the distance was too great.

However, he felt the entire Mystic Heaven State tremble slightly, and with the extremely dense spiritual energy in the center of Mystic Heaven State, he understood one thing: this tribulation had struck Chen Qiu, and he was surely dead.

After all, his cultivation was at the Core Formation Mid-stage, and he had once killed two Core Formation Apex cultivators.

This tribulation was clearly a Core Formation Stage tribulation.

However, Elder Qin from Tranquil Prefecture frowned and fell into a silent confusion. No matter how he tried to think about it, he couldn't understand how a person could advance from the Refinement Void First Level to the Core Formation Initial Stage in less than a year.

Did you, old man, fly there?

But now he was very glad about one thing. He had made a very wise decision a while ago when he feigned death and relinquished the Peace River Throne. At that time, he had been so decisive. This was the Peace River Throne, and he had given it up without hesitation.

After sitting on the Peace River Throne for a year, he would have completely owned the Peace River Kingdom. In fact, he could have waited almost a year and then relinquished the throne, allowing him to enjoy the 10-fold cultivation speed for nearly a year.

It was fortunate that he hadn't done that.

Not long after he returned from the Peace River Continent, the Peace River Continent was completely destroyed by a sky-collapsing and earth-devastating catastrophe. Countless lives were annihilated, and his pitiful descendants, including his parents, disappeared without a trace.

Each continent had its separate underworld.

The Peace River Continent had its underworld, and the Vast Continent had its own. With the destruction of the Peace River Continent, its underworld also vanished, taking with it countless unfortunate souls.

As for now,

He could only mourn for the current Peace River King. This person had come to him before taking the throne, with a very polite attitude, asking if he really didn't want the Peace River Throne. If he didn't, then this person would take it himself.

Seeing such a friendly attitude, he couldn't help but advise, "Why don't you forget about it? The Peace River Throne is a hot potato, and it might cost your life."

At that moment,

The man exuded a burst of heroism, waving his hand nonchalantly, "My friend, you're joking. Seeking immortality, what fear is there in death?"

Yes, very heroic.

He felt ashamed of himself. He sought immortality, but he also feared death. If he didn't fear death, why seek immortality? Why not just find a place to end his life?

He admitted that his level of enlightenment wasn't that high, so at the time, he could only sigh and say, "You're better than me."

He watched as the man left, and after receiving his affirmation, he saw the man's heroism become even more intense. His departing figure exuded a sense of a hero who would rather shoulder the burden of the world than let the world shoulder his burden.

His evaluation was,

"Everyone has their fate, and those who seek death are hard to save."

May you still have the courage to say, "Seeking immortality, what fear is there in death?" when you encounter Chen Qiu's Twelfth Stage Core Formation Kill Technique.

At the same time—

In Eternal Province,

A middle-aged man stood on the edge of a cliff, his face dark and gloomy. Behind him was a rather shabby small house with a plaque above the door engraved with two characters, "Immortal One," which was both his name and the name of his residence.

He had given himself this name.

It implied that he was the first among immortals.

Some might call it arrogance, but his achievements justified his pride.

A few months ago, when Chen Qiu crafted the Heavenly Mandate body beyond the self, using statues as materials in the Celestial Palace, he had elevated his body beyond the self to the Twenty-Fourth Stage. Not many people knew about this, but he was certainly one of them.

Because in the Eternal Palace of Eternal Province, he also had two statues. When Chen Qiu elevated his body beyond the self, the statue also raised his Core Formation Kill Technique from the Ninth Stage to the Eleventh Stage.

If nothing else had happened, he would have been laughing uncontrollably.

But now, he couldn't bring himself to laugh.

How could he laugh?

He was the King of Eternal Province!

He had been in this position for seven months. In less than five months, he would have sat on the throne for a full year! After all the Kings of the Twelve Provinces had sat on their thrones for a year, the State Continent Constraint would be lifted, and the Unique King Contention would begin!

How could he fight now?

In the vast continent, a young woman sat on the edge of a flying boat, fishing rod in hand, as she listened to her friend's concerns. With a flirtatious gesture, she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, her voice crisp and confident.

"I know," she replied.

"The Heavenly Dao Peak External Body is naturally a Twelfth Rank Body Fusion Kill Technique. I learned of this when Chen Qiu crafted the Twelfth Rank External Body a few months ago. What's so surprising about that?"

"But..." On the flying boat, a petite and delicate young girl expressed her worries, "That's a Twelfth Rank Body Fusion Kill Technique. You and I both know that the power of Body Fusion Kill Techniques differs greatly with each rank."

"Although you are the strongest in the Sky-Surging Province, having never met a match, and you hail from a hidden family in Sky-Surging Province with both personal and familial prowess, you are only at the Eleventh Rank Body Fusion Kill Technique. How can you possibly stand against Chen Qiu?"

The young woman couldn't help but smile and gently poked the girl's nose beside her. "The Eleventh Rank Body Fusion Kill Technique is old news. I didn't want to mention it, but it's no secret."

"A few years ago, I stumbled upon an incredibly strange town. It was a town inhabited by ordinary people with only Qi Condensation cultivation, but every corner of that town was filled with top-tier opportunities."

"I accidentally wandered in, and I still don't know how I got there. At the time, I didn't realize anything peculiar about the town. Even if there were incredible opportunities within, they were hidden as if covered in dust, invisible to divine perception or any other means."

"I thought it was just an ordinary town, so I casually explored and was about to leave. Before departing, on a whim, I decided to buy a souvenir. I purchased a seemingly ordinary jade ornament from an unassuming stall."

"It was only after I left the town that I suddenly realized the jade ornament had begun to radiate multicolored light and quickly melted into my palm, elevating my Body Fusion Kill Technique by one rank. My Body Fusion Kill Technique is now at the Twelfth Rank."

"I am no weaker than Chen Qiu."

"Huh?" The young-looking and delicate girl's eyes widened in surprise. "There's such an incredible town in this world? Sister, didn't you go back to that town?"

"I did, but I couldn't find it again. I retraced my steps and searched meticulously, but the town had vanished."

"I regret not taking more things from that town. The stall owner was also extraordinary, selling items without asking for Spirit Stones. They just let you take whatever you liked. I didn't think much of it at the time and chose one casually. I should have picked more."

The girl nodded, not asking further questions. "If sister is so confident, then you must be able to claim the Sole King position. But sister, I advised you not to compete for the Sky-Surging Throne. Why did you go behind my back?"

"You don't understand." The young woman's eyes flashed with determination. "Although your family is prestigious and has helped me a lot these years, do you know that for prodigies like me, a single step back means eternal retreat?"

"The path of a prodigy is different from the normal path of seeking immortality."

"There can be no retreat. Once you retreat, your spirit will wane, and you'll soon be lost among the masses."

"Moreover..."

"Those who seek immortality fear not death."

The girl's eyes grew dim, and after a long silence, she forced a smile and stood up to bid farewell. "I won't disturb you further, sister. There are some family matters I need to attend to."

The young woman nodded, not saying more, attributing it to the whims of a child.

The petite and delicate girl soon transformed into a streak of light and shot off into the distance, coming to a halt after thousands of breaths on an uninhabited sea surface. She extended her divine perception, and her body vanished from its original spot.

Was it a mini-world or a portable small world?

Such an existence was exceptionally rare, and if word got out, it would attract the envy of countless others.

As the girl returned to her small world, tears welled up in her eyes, and she buried her face in the lap of the white-robed elder beside her, sobbing, "Grandpa, Sister truly doesn't care about me."

"It's okay, it's okay," the elder, named Bai Yisheng, consoled her, patting her gently.

Bai Yisheng was the protector of the grand young miss of the White Family, one of the top powers in the Three-Rank Continent, the Heaven-reaching Continent. He was also the protector of the young girl beside him, possessing Great Enlightenment Early-stage cultivation, making him one of the strongest in the vast continent.

Although his power was limited by the continent's rank, no one could match him, as the difference in cultivation realms was difficult to overcome.

A few years ago, the young miss of the White Family had fallen ill, and despite the White Family's influence, they couldn't find a cure. After exhausting all options, the White Family sought help in the Four-Rank Continent and found a divine physician.

The people of the Upper Continent could not travel to the Lower Continent, and at most, they could only relay information.

The White Family had spent a tremendous amount of resources to invite this Divine Doctor from the Fourth-Rank Continent to personally visit the Third-Rank Continent and diagnose the Young Miss of the White Family. The doctor concluded that the Young Miss had a rare disease called "Immortal Cancer."

An extremely rare illness, affecting approximately one in a billion people. It was so rare that no one in the Third-Rank Continent had even heard of its name, and there was no known cause for the disease; it simply occurred at random.

According to this Divine Doctor, Heaven's Path did not favor those with bad luck.

Those who contracted this disease were all unlucky, and their cultivation path would come to an end.

The symptoms of this disease were a continuous regression in cultivation, and the higher the rank of the continent one stayed in, the faster the cultivation would decline. This decline in cultivation meant a significant reduction in lifespan. The Young Miss, who had been at the initial stage of Body Fusion several years ago, had now fallen to the first layer of Refinement Void cultivation.

This was after the White Family had spent a considerable amount of resources to send the Young Miss, along with her guardians and servants, to the Lower Continent. The effect of the Second-Rank Continent, Vast Continent, was evident; if she had stayed in the Heaven-reaching Continent, her cultivation would have already dropped to the Primordial Soul stage by now.

At this rate, in a hundred years at most, the Young Miss would return to dust.

After arriving in the Vast Continent, they had originally planned to head to the Profound Heaven State, as it was the weakest state in the entire Vast Continent, implying that there would be fewer opportunities for conflict.

However, when the Young Miss was in Sky-Surging Province, she met a woman from the Li Clan, and they got along extremely well. She couldn't help but take root in Sky-Surging Province, and their group also established the Young Miss's power, the White Family, there.

It was just a matter of having a public identity, but even with minimal effort, they still became a top power in Sky-Surging Province.

The Young Miss had a kind heart.

A few years ago, for her adopted older sister, she defied the family head's opposition and gave her the entry qualification to the Land of Heaven's Favor, a significant opportunity that one could only enter once in a lifetime. However, the entrant must do so unknowingly.

The Young Miss was initially unaware of this, but after the family head inadvertently revealed it, she insisted on giving the qualification to her adopted sister. The family head was helpless but had no choice, as he doted on his daughter, and since she already knew about the Land of Heaven's Favor, she could no longer enter.

The Land of Heaven's Favor was a significant opportunity in the Third-Rank Continent, the Heaven-reaching Continent, and many people fought for it. It was a town composed of ordinary people, and everyone who entered the town would act in a daze, following their true nature. All the items in the town were treasures.

How much one could bring out depended entirely on their fortune.

When the Young Miss learned that there were three things in the town that were most suitable for her adopted sister, she made sure her sister could get them from the Land of Heaven's Favor. For a whole year, she kept nagging her sister about it.

"Sister, I feel like eating a green peach. If you see one for sale one day, please buy one for me."

"Sister, I've recently taken a liking to the harmonica. If I could have a purple harmonica, that would be great."

"Wow, I saw someone win a seven-leaf clover with seven colors at their doorstep. I want one too!"

She nagged for a whole year, even tiring him out.

Her adopted sister always promised quite confidently.

When the Young Miss believed everything was ready and officially transferred the entry qualification to the Land of Heaven's Favor to her sister, the result was unexpected. Her sister didn't bring back the green peach, the purple harmonica, or the seven-colored clover.

Instead, she brought back a jade ornament.

That incident made the Young Miss sad for a long time, mainly because her sister subconsciously didn't care about her. After listening to her nagging for so long, if she had seen such items in the town, wouldn't she have thought of bringing them back as gifts?

All it would have taken was bringing out those three items.

Such a significant opportunity could have allowed that woman to become a renowned figure in the Third-Rank Continent in the future.

The Land of Heaven's Favor was a top-tier opportunity in the Third-Rank Continent, and the family head had personally fought for it. Logically, such an opportunity should never have appeared in the Vast Continent if it weren't for their Young Miss.

Unfortunately, the Young Miss was the type to feel wronged but wouldn't voice her grievances. Although she was a bit sad that her adopted sister didn't care about her, she acted as if nothing had happened and continued to visit her sister daily.

Until—

Chen Qiu's sudden rise to prominence marked the official start of the Unique King Contention! Before Chen Qiu reached the Refinement Void cultivation, the Young Miss had already advised her adopted sister not to fight for the throne. They were unclear about the Lower Continent, but they knew that after obtaining the rewards for completing twelve milestone tasks, these statues could be used to enhance the External Body Stage in the future, corresponding to the rank of Fusion Strike. Even if Chen Qiu's External Body was only First Rank when created, with the statues' enhancement, it would reach the Thirteenth Rank.

No one in the Vast Continent could stop him.

However, the Young Miss's adopted sister was clearly overconfident. She placated the Young Miss like a child on the surface but secretly went to seize the Sky-Surging Throne.

These two incidents, along with subsequent events, made the Young Miss increasingly disappointed in her adopted sister. Her long-suppressed emotions finally burst forth, and she burst into tears in his arms. Although he was the Young Miss's guardian, having been by her side all this time, their relationship was like that of a grandfather and granddaughter.

"Young Miss," the white-robed elder sighed heavily before speaking in a low voice, "Don't be sad. It's not worth being sad over someone who seeks death. The family head told me that they've found clues about the Shadow Soul Fortune over there, and I believe that soon, Young Miss, you'll be able to return to the Heaven-reaching Continent."

Immortal Cancer was difficult to cure but not incurable.

The Divine Doctor from the Fourth-Rank Continent left behind a prescription, saying that if they could gather these heavenly materials, they could save the Young Miss's life and bring her immense fortune.

And the main ingredient of this prescription was—

A strand of Shadow Emperor Fortune.

Three strands of Shadow Soul Fortune could be combined into a strand of Yin Sage Fortune, and three strands of Yin Sage Fortune could be combined into a strand of Shadow Emperor Fortune. Although the family had found clues about Shadow Soul Fortune, gathering nine strands was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Moreover, they only had clues and no substantial progress.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end