Chapter 325: This Immortal Fate is Too Simple and Brutal!
Chapter 325: This Immortal Fate is Too Simple and Brutal!
"Huff!"
Hidden in a cave on a cliff, the Seventh Prince of Daxia felt the pain in his body and the impending loss of control over his eyes. He bit his tongue to stay as alert as possible.
But at that very moment—
Footsteps suddenly echoed from above, followed by the sound of a hunting dog and urgent shouts. Despair flashed in his eyes.
He could conceal his divine sense, making himself undetectable, but his injuries were severe, and the scent of blood on him was hard to hide. The enemy had a hunting dog that could track scents.
He had been exposed.
In his final moments, he clenched his teeth, took out a storage ring from his chest, quickly scanned the surroundings, and then hid it under a stone in the cave. He then tore off a corner of his garment and threw it into the cave.
With his last bit of strength, he prepared to rush out of the cave to lead the enemy away.
If his master learned of his death and came to search for him, they should be able to find his clothing in this cave and, consequently, the supreme treasure he had prepared for his master in the storage ring.
It was a hopeless situation.
"Is it truly impossible?"
Perhaps, in the face of death, a person's potential is limitless. The injuries that had caused him unbearable pain suddenly seemed to fade away, and he felt his body become light and his mind flash through countless scenes.
There was the scene of him practicing the sword in the palace.
There was also the scene of him accompanying the State Teacher, pestering him to learn the sword.
And just as he rushed out of the cave, he saw several flying swords shooting straight at him. Despair filled his eyes, and he slowly closed them, not even bothering to ask why these people didn't intend to leave any survivors. They had used lethal moves from the start, and he didn't even have the spiritual energy to activate his bodyguard. Faced with such ruthless methods, he had no power to resist.
He had imagined countless times how he would die.
Long ago, he knew he wouldn't die of old age.
Because when his master was still the State Teacher, he had once said that for a sword cultivator, dying of old age was the greatest shame.
He found it very reasonable.
So he had never thought he would die of old age. He had imagined many ways to die, and in the end, his death was "Returning Ten Thousand Swords to the Heart."
Not bad.
For a sword cultivator, this death was still dignified.
The Seventh Prince kept his eyes tightly shut as his body fell freely in mid-air, allowing the ten thousand swords to pierce his body. But for some reason, he waited for several breaths, yet the pain of ten thousand swords piercing his heart didn't come.
Instead, he felt a pair of large hands.
"Hmm?"
He slowly opened his eyes and saw an old man in a cassock using spiritual energy to catch him, while another old man in a green robe released his spiritual energy, effortlessly blocking the ten thousand swords.
"Thank you, seniors, for saving me."
Even if he was a fool, he knew that powerful cultivators had intervened to save him. Although he didn't know their identities at the moment, he quickly expressed his gratitude. He wanted to morally bind them, lest they leave him here and abandon him the next moment. If he could survive, he didn't want to die. He still wanted to see the larger world.
". . ."
The old man in the cassock furrowed his brows, not speaking, but staring intently at the 'Mock' character on the Seventh Prince's inner garment. After a long while, he finally smiled and said, "You're the Seventh Prince of Daxia?"
"?"
The Seventh Prince was slightly startled, momentarily unable to react. Was his reputation so great? But after leaving Daxia, he rarely introduced himself as the Seventh Prince of Daxia. Still, he subconsciously replied, "Yes, senior."
"The only disciple of Chen Qiu?"
"Yes, it's me."
"Hey!"
The old man in the cassock and the other old man in the green robe exchanged glances, both seeing the uncontrollable laughter and excitement in each other's eyes.
This person was no ordinary cultivator.
He was none other than the old ancestor of the Buddhist Sect and the old ancestor of the Green Mountain Palace in the Mystic Heavens Continent.
After Chen Qiu and his group left the Vast Continent, they stayed in the Mystic Heaven State, spending their days in seclusion, searching for opportunities. After experiencing so much, the two of them not only had an extremely good relationship but also had great tacit understanding, often acting together.
Moreover, due to their connection with Chen Qiu, they had also gained many opportunities by pretending to be tigers with fox pelts over the years, and their cultivation had long since broken through to the peak of Void Refinement, living a carefree life.
They had noticed this young man being pursued earlier.
However, they had only hidden themselves in the sky to observe the battle.
They didn't immediately reveal themselves.
After all, the force pursuing him was not insignificant in the Mystic Heaven State, not that they couldn't afford to offend them. They just wanted to see what was being pursued and whether it was worth fighting for. If the interests were significant, they would kill everyone; if not, they would pretend they hadn't seen anything.
But when the young man flew out of the cave, the 'Mock' character on his inner garment caught their attention.
Everyone in the Vast Continent knew what the 'Mock' character represented, and no one dared to embroider it on their clothes for no reason. When they saw this character, they instinctively rushed to save him without thinking twice.
But after saving him, they became perplexed.
They were familiar with the members of the Mock Heaven Sect, as they had met them before. Moreover, hadn't all the disciples of the Mock Heaven Sect left with Chen Qiu? How could there still be a lone disciple here?
But soon—
They thought of a possibility. There was a disciple of Chen Qiu who had been training alone, and this news had come from the First Rank Continent. Not long after they ascended to the Vast Continent, they received a message that someone claiming to be Chen Qiu's disciple had started challenging various powers.
Furthermore, Chen Qiu had personally come down to support him and even issued a Heavenly Dao Proclamation.
They had never met this person, and he had initially claimed to be the Seventh Prince of Daxia.
So, he initially asked tentatively, but to his surprise, they caught on.
"We're in for a big reward."
The Buddhist Patriarch, his expression dazed, gazed at the Seventh Prince in his hand, covered in wounds, as if looking at a supreme treasure. This was Chen Qiu's only disciple, and they had rescued him in his time of need. What kind of reward would they receive?
"You two!"
Just then—
A young master standing on the cliff, holding a token, looked calmly at the Buddhist Patriarch and the Green Mountain Palace Patriarch who were floating in the air: "This person is our 'Qi Family's' mortal enemy. He has no sect or clan, and no close relatives. So, you two shouldn't have any connection with him, right?"
"If you two are merely helping out of righteousness, I have 100,000 medium-grade Spirit Stones here as a token of my gratitude. I hope you two will return this young man to us."
"No sect or clan?"
The Buddhist Patriarch scoffed and pointed at the 'Mock' character on the Seventh Prince's chest, laughing: "Do you recognize this character? Do you think this means he has no sect or clan?"
"It's just the 'Mock' character."
The young master standing on the cliff spoke calmly: "Anyone can embroider this character on their clothes. It doesn't prove anything. All disciples of the Mock Heaven Sect have their own sect tokens. We asked him for his sect token, but he couldn't produce it. This also means he isn't a disciple of the Mock Heaven Sect."
"Moreover, all disciples of the Mock Heaven Sect left the Boundless Continent years ago. It's impossible for a single disciple to remain here."
"Don't be fooled by him."
"Where's your token?" The Buddhist Patriarch also looked at the Seventh Prince with some confusion.
"I don't have a token." The Seventh Prince of Greater Xia shook his head: "The last time I met my master, he gave me many things, but he didn't give me a sect token."
"Why?"
"My master forgot."
"Then why didn't you ask for it?"
"I forgot too."
". "
The Buddhist Patriarch waved his hand, too lazy to argue with this younger generation on the cliff: "I can't be bothered to explain. Go back and let your patriarch see who I am. With my relationship with the Mock Heaven Sect, do you think I could mistake someone?"
"Hurry back and find a way to apologize."
"Otherwise, when the Mock Heaven Sect arrives, tsk tsk..."
He was about to leave with the Green Mountain Palace Patriarch to take the Seventh Prince away, as the prince's injuries were severe and they needed to find a place to treat him first.
"Wait."
The Seventh Prince hurriedly spoke up: "I have something in that cave."
"I'll go with you."
"Today is a good day, a really good day."
In the Boundless Continent, in the Mystic Heavens State, within a spring in the mountains outside Cloud City, the Buddhist Patriarch sat by the shore, holding a flask of strong wine, gazing at the Seventh Prince sitting cross-legged in the hot spring, healing his injuries. His expression was a bit dazed as he muttered: "What reward should we ask for?"
"I want a red entry talisman, is that too greedy?"
"I don't know if the senior has a red entry jade slip, but I feel that with my abilities, it will be difficult to obtain a red entry in this lifetime."
"Or should I be modest and not ask for any reward?"
"Forget it." The Green Mountain Palace Patriarch shook his head: "Don't be modest. A senior like the senior's level doesn't have time to consider our feelings. If we dare to be modest, they won't bother. If the senior asks what reward we want, just speak up directly."
"What I mean is..."
"Why not try to become a disciple of the Mock Heaven Sect?"
"Hey!"
The Buddhist Patriarch straightened up and took a swig of the wine in his hand, excited: "That's a good idea. If I can become a disciple of the Mock Heaven Sect, holding their sect token, who in this world would dare to provoke me?"
"But isn't this condition too high? The Mock Heaven Sect is very strict in recruiting disciples. Since the Mock Heaven Sect's establishment, I've never seen them recruit disciples from outside. It's always been the same group of people."
At that moment—
On the other side, in the secret realm of the Ascension Assembly, in the vast greenstone square, after flying in the void for an incense stick's worth of time, the square's speed gradually slowed down.
The unchanging, blinding light also finally changed, and ahead was no longer an endless sea of blinding light, but—
A sky full of peach blossoms.
". Where is this...?"
Chen Qiu was a bit shocked by the scene before him. This sight was too stunning, a level of awe that landscapes on land couldn't match. Landscapes on land have limitations, but in the void, there are no such restrictions.
The endless, blinding light suddenly gave way to countless peach blossoms, each glowing with a rainbow of colors. This scene was truly exquisite.
Perhaps it was because it seemed too surreal to exist in reality.
It gave people a dreamlike feeling, as if they were in a dream.
The greenstone square pierced through the sea of flowers like a needle through a flower bud, heading straight for the ocean of peach blossoms. After a few breaths, everyone saw a greenstone square wrapped in peach blossoms.
With a loud boom,
The greenstone square beneath them collided with the other square wrapped in the ocean of peach blossoms, neither too fast nor too slow. As the two squares collided,
A prompt sounded in their ears.
"Ascension Assembly, Day One Activity, Masked Banquet, officially begins."
"The Great Team has priority for the Masked Banquet."
At that moment,
Many people rushed towards the nearby greenstone square, not knowing if running fast would bring any benefits, but it certainly wouldn't cause any harm.
However, Chen Qiu didn't rush over immediately. Instead, he raised his eyebrows and looked up at the countless peach blossoms enveloping the greenstone square.
Just then—
He sensed the Cao Tian Palace nearby, which meant that if he wanted, he could summon it here at any time.
During his absence from Cao Tian Palace, the palace had remained suspended in the void, not drifting aimlessly. What surprised him was that his previous aimless navigation in the void in search of an exit had somehow led him near the Secret Realm of the Ascension Assembly.
He was completely unaware of this.
If he had discovered this Secret Realm at that time, perhaps he could have returned to the continent by infiltrating it through this method.
In other words...
The Heavenly Dao Shackles of the Fifth Rank Immortal Realm, the Tide Immortal Plane, were not far from his Cao Tian Palace. As long as he knew the exact coordinates of the Tide Immortal Plane in the void and had the password to enter the Heavenly Dao Shackles, he could enter the Tide Immortal Plane from the void at any time.
What advantage did this have over using the title of 'Heavenly King' to enter the Tide Immortal Plane?
Most of the time, there was no advantage at all, and it might even be more troublesome.
But it had a higher level of prestige.
After all, many people possessed various means to freely traverse the upper and lower realms, but almost no one could enter a continent directly from the void like him. This level of prestige was not just a little higher.
At this moment, many people had already rushed to the newly connected Greenstone Square.
Chen Qiu didn't waste any time and immediately led Chief Ba and the others to the square.
The structure was the same.
The familiar Greenstone Square, the only difference being that this square was adorned with various celebratory items, such as bonfires, spirit fruits, and grilled meat.
Above their heads, countless slowly drifting peach blossoms encircled the Greenstone Square.
No one knew what these peach blossoms were.
They couldn't possibly be ordinary peaches, for in the void, anything that could exist without being annihilated couldn't be mundane.
As everyone arrived at the Greenstone Square, a hoarse and emotionless voice echoed in their ears.
"The first day's activity is the Masked Banquet, with the following rules."
"When the activity officially begins, everyone will wear a mask that blocks all divine senses, making it impossible for any means to detect the true appearance beneath the mask. Not only will the face be obscured, but the voice will also undergo corresponding random changes."
"All entering cultivators will be randomly shuffled."
"The first team to find all their members will receive the 'Top Prize' reward."
"Rewards will be given according to ranking."
"During the banquet, touching or consuming any spirit fruit, grilled meat, or spirit beast may trigger an Immortal Opportunity."
The moment the voice fell silent.
Chen Qiu felt a mask appear on his face, and the people around him, including Fat Dragon, were instantly shuffled. Everyone nearby also donned a mask, and the so-called priority allowed them to start searching for their teammates a hundred breaths in advance.
He sighed lightly, gazing at the crowd. In his perspective, the masks on everyone's faces seemed transparent, serving no purpose in concealment.
It was clear that the Artifact Spirit had given him an advantage.
He had thought that Fat Dragon and the others would remain by his side, but it seemed this operation was a mandatory function of the Secret Realm, and the Secret Realm's Artifact Spirit didn't have the necessary permissions. Still, it was enough.
He didn't say anything more.
He immediately walked into the crowd, like an eagle hunting chicks, and began searching for his team members one by one. Their team had many members, and with thousands of people in the square, it was quite troublesome, even with the masks appearing transparent in his vision.
At this moment, they were scattered across the newly connected Greenstone Square. The spirit beasts, bonfires, and spirit fruits were just a step away, yet they couldn't touch them.
Only by gathering all their team members could they proceed to the banquet to trigger the Immortal Opportunity.
The Immortal Opportunities were limited, and they would surely miss out if they arrived late.
Everyone in the square was running and shouting simultaneously, even with the masks. There were still many ways to communicate.
For example, the simplest method was shouting.
Similar to...
"Toad Sect disciples, gather here!"
But how effective was it? Standing out in such a noisy environment wasn't easy, and some mischievous individuals liked to shout randomly, making it harder to discern. Some sect tokens had positioning effects, and the patriarchs were quickly locating their members using the master token, which was also a good method.
Indeed, there were many ways to pass this trial quickly.
This advantage wasn't a very powerful one.
But clearly, this was the maximum permission the Secret Realm's Artifact Spirit could grant.
Chen Qiu continued to ponder as he searched for his teammates in the crowd.
"Tsk."
Jiang Buying, amidst the chaotic crowd, couldn't help but chuckle as he looked around. It was time for him to make a move. His team had only two members, and he had already attached a tracking Gu to Miss Bai's clothing.
So, no one should be faster than him.
With a thought, he sensed Miss Bai's location and slowly walked towards her. "We're all here," he said softly.
However, the next moment—
"Judgment error. The person in front of you is not your teammate."
Jiang Buying furrowed his brows slightly, looking at the woman wearing a rabbit mask. Despite the mask, he was familiar with her build and eyes, and with the tracking Gu, how could he be wrong?
Perhaps, the Secret Realm misinterpreted his words.
He immediately placed his hand on Miss Bai's shoulder. "We're all here."
"Judgment error. The person in front of you is not your teammate."
"Hey!"
Jiang Buying, not one to give up easily, kicked everyone around him, clearing a space in the crowd. Pointing at Miss Bai, he said firmly, "We're all here."
"Judgment error. The person in front of you is not your teammate."
"Judgment error. The person in front of you is not your teammate."
"Judgment error."
After several attempts...
Jiang Buying finally gave up his attempts and remained silent for a long time, his expressionless face showing no emotion. After a while, he spoke softly, "You don't plan on giving me incorrect judgments until Chen Qiu wins the top prize, do you?"
If he couldn't figure out the situation now, he would truly be foolish.
It was clear that the artifact spirit of this secret realm had awakened its own consciousness. Somehow, Chen Qiu had managed to make this artifact spirit completely side with him, and now it was so biased that no one else could pass through the trials until Chen Qiu did.
He was certain that the woman in front of him, wearing a rabbit mask, was Miss Bai, the only member of his team. But the constant notifications of judgment errors made him so furious that he felt like killing someone.
Just then—
"Congratulations to 'Great Team' for being the first team to gather all their members and receive the top prize reward."
".
Jiang Buying fell silent for a moment, then pointed at Miss Bai again, "All members gathered."
The next moment—
"Congratulations to 'Jiang Buying's Team' for being the second team to gather all their members."
"Heh."
Hearing the secret realm's notification sound in his ear, Jiang Buying suddenly laughed in anger. So that's how it was, huh? Was this bitch going too far?
He suddenly wanted to report this damned artifact spirit to the Heavenly Dao the moment it awakened. It was being way too biased!
It was practically inhuman!
"That's great."
Chen Qiu looked at the top prize reward and smiled lightly without saying a word. He quite liked the top prize reward—a 20% increase in cultivation progress, which was not credited in the form of a cultivation card but directly added to his cultivation progress.
This directly brought his cultivation progress to—
"Cultivation: Tribulation Breaker, 8th Layer (0.5%)."
Yes.
He had broken through, but there was no tribulation thunder. Logically, there should have been a minor tribulation thunder, but whenever he broke through a minor realm, the tribulation thunder never fell; it was always accumulated and given to him all at once, and he had gotten used to it.
It was a small reward, at least.
Moreover, due to the effect of the codex entry, he also gained an additional chance to choose one out of three Supreme Entries and a chance to choose one out of three Supreme Entries. Notably, he still had an unused chance for the "Supreme Three-Choice."
The so-called "Supreme Three-Choice" referred to the draw chance synthesized from "Three Supreme Entry Choices."
There was a certain probability of drawing the Rainbow Entry or a Heavenly Dao Entry Set.
He named it the "Supreme Three-Choice."
After successfully finding all the members of their team, they officially entered the banquet.
The disciples of the Mock Heaven Sect and others, including Badan, were also excitedly rushing over to explore. At this moment, the entire banquet was filled with only their group, and since they had the first choice for all Immortal Opportunities, they naturally had to act quickly.
Oh, and there was another group.
Chen Qiu turned his head and looked towards Jiang Buying and Miss Bai, who were approaching from a distance. He spoke softly, "That was fast."
".
Jiang Buying's expression darkened as he looked at Chen Qiu, and after a moment of silence, he rasped, "Thank you for the compliment."
Then, without bothering to say more to Chen Qiu, he headed straight into the depths of the banquet to search for his Immortal Opportunity. In this life, he hated nothing more than bootlickers, but both the previous and current Patriarchs of the Mock Heaven Sect were bootlickers, and he couldn't find anyone to reason with!
Seeing this, Chen Qiu didn't say anything more either. He merely snorted, wondering why this man carried more resentment than a woman.
He entered the banquet alone.
Casually, he picked up a spirit fruit and popped it into his mouth, and immediately, a panel shrouded in clouds appeared before him.
"Please choose one of the three rewards below."
"1: Cultivation Progress +20%."
"2: A purple Essence Entry Slip for a selectable profession."
"3: A Mansion Upgrade Stone."
".
Looking at the panel that had appeared, Chen Qiu was slightly startled. Although he knew that touching or consuming anything at this banquet would trigger an Immortal Opportunity, he hadn't expected it to be so straightforward and crude.
A 20% increase in cultivation progress was already a good thing.
Purple codex entries were second only to red ones, and this one was for a selectable profession. For some niche professions like Gu Cultivators and Puppet Cultivators, this would be an exceptional reward, as codex entries for these professions were hard to come by.
The Mansion was a unique cultivation method for Immortal Humans, and a Mansion Upgrade Stone could upgrade it once.
A Mansion Upgrade Stone could be used up to twelve times.
All three rewards were indeed good things.
But for him, was there really a choice? There was clearly only one option in front of him; where were the other two options? For him, the worst option was the cultivation progress increase, as advancing his cultivation was his sole and non-negotiable goal!
He immediately chose the first reward, a 20% increase in cultivation progress.
Afterward, Chen Qiu looked at the banquet, where several fruit plates were filled with spirit fruits, and behind them, a group of people anxiously searched for their teammates through the membrane. He took a deep breath and then, without hesitation, burst into action, rushing towards the banquet at full speed.
In the shortest time possible, he stuffed one spirit fruit after another into his mouth.
To be honest, these spirit fruits tasted quite good, even better than the ones he grew in his small world. However, he didn't have the leisure to appreciate their flavor and swallowed them whole, even the pits.
He felt like he had eaten all the spirit fruits he would ever eat in this lifetime.
As the spirit fruits went down, his cultivation progress soared.
Damn, this speed of cultivation progress was much faster than when he cultivated in the Mock Heaven Palace. If only the Ascension Assembly could be held once a year.
At that moment—
Several teams had already found their members and arrived at the banquet, and for a while, chaos reigned as everyone frantically seized the closest opportunities.
The bigger their commotion, the more anxious the people on the other side of the membrane became as they continued searching for their teammates.
(End of Chapter)
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