chsdbacks Chapter 13 Secrets of Immortal Cultivation
Chapter 13 Secrets of Immortal Cultivation
"Isn't the immortal right here?"
"Immortals, aren't they right here...?"
"Immortal, no..."
The Emperor of Shenzhou's gaze fell upon the divine herb, and his pupils suddenly contracted.
Yu Dao's seemingly casual remark struck his mind like a thunderbolt, echoing and exploding endlessly. Each word was like the first sound of creation, shattering the composure and calmness he had cultivated for hundreds of thousands of years!
His breathing suddenly became heavy, and his fingers, which were pressing on the edge of the stone platform, unconsciously clenched, causing a piece of the blue stone, formed from the primordial energy of heaven and earth, to sink in silently.
The Great Emperor of Shenzhou attained enlightenment during the ancient times, ruled the world for tens of thousands of years across two generations, and then lay dormant in the Primordial Ancient Mine for hundreds of thousands of years. His state of mind was originally comparable to the vast ocean, but at this moment, this one sentence stirred up a monstrous wave!
Deep within his consciousness, countless fragments of memories surged forth. Those ancient scrolls from the mythical era, those ancient engravings etched deep within the primordial mines, those vague outlines touched by emperors throughout history as they deduced ancient history—all the clues he had once thought were merely the figments of his ancestors' imaginations—were now combined because of this one sentence. His lips moved slightly, his voice becoming strained.
"Brother Dao, do you mean... this immortal peach elixir is a manifestation of a celestial being?"
"good."
Yu Dao answered calmly, as if he were talking about something perfectly ordinary.
This time, he didn't resort to any mystification. The Great Emperor of Shenzhou had never launched a dark upheaval, and according to the original history, this supreme human being was likely one who, after the opening of the Path to Immortality in the Big Dipper, left his insights from the conquest of the Immortal Path to posterity and quietly transformed into the Dao. It's true that he severed his own life, but from beginning to end, his heart was turned towards the light, and he cannot be compared with those who fell into darkness and became sources of turmoil.
"It's not just the Peach Tree. Of the thirty-odd immortal herbs in the world, apart from a few that are naturally grown immortal roots from within a great world, the rest are all transformed from the fallen supreme beings who were immortal," Yu Dao continued, his gaze falling on the old, grayish-white mark on the peach tree trunk. "These beings, whose Dao traces remained intact and whose immortal essence endured even after their fall, naturally already held positions in the immortal path. Moreover, they were not ordinary true immortals; in their lifetimes, they could be called kings among immortals."
"A true immortal? A celestial king?"
The Great Emperor of Shenzhou took a deep breath, repeatedly chewing over the two words. He raised his head, and a rare hint of bewilderment appeared in his usually calm and unfathomable eyes.
"Beyond humanity... is there such a vast world?"
Before setting foot on Huntian Ridge, he had no idea that this ancient supreme being from the chaotic past would bring him such a great shock and impact.
In the vast universe, from the age of mythology to the present, countless enlightened beings who aligned themselves with the will of Heaven have swept across the nine heavens and ten earths, possessing invincible power, until they reached the end of a single path. The Great Emperors, finding no equal, were utterly lonely and isolated. But now he suddenly learns that above the realm of humanity lie True Immortals and Immortal Kings. The Heavenly Venerables of the mythological era, the Emperors of the Primordial Era, and the Desolate Era, all hailed as invincible in their time, seem like fireflies compared to the blazing sun. He feels like a frog at the bottom of a well looking up at the moon.
Yu Dao saw through his thoughts and slowly shook his head.
"Fellow Daoist, there is no need to belittle yourself. An immortal is merely a being powerful enough to produce immortal essence and thus exist in the world. Some opportunists who take shortcuts to enter the realm of true immortals are not necessarily stronger than supreme beings, and may even be defeated."
The Great Emperor of Shenzhou was slightly taken aback. The phrase "extreme rebellion against true immortals" would have seemed absurd to anyone else. But the man before him was a witness to the Chaotic Ancient Era, from the Heavenly Court established by the legendary Desolate Heavenly Emperor. His words carried weight and could not be disbelieved.
Yu Dao placed the teacup back on the stone platform with a very soft, crisp sound. The emerald green tea swayed gently in the cup, reflecting the dappled shadows of the peach branches and leaves overhead.
"In fact, those who can step into the realm of the ultimate path can basically be considered to have the aptitude to become immortals." His tone remained calm as he made a simple comment, reassuring the Great Emperor of Shenzhou. "The current cosmic environment is so harsh that immortal matter is almost non-existent. Only one person can attain the Dao in a lifetime, and even if they do, their lifespan is only tens of thousands of years, much like a breeding ground for poisonous insects. If we were in an environment with abundant longevity matter, most emperors and sovereigns of this era could step onto the path of immortality. Even in this world of declining Dharma, there are those with extraordinary talent who have embarked on the path of becoming immortals in the mortal world, which is extremely rare throughout the ages."
These words, spoken casually, struck the Great Emperor of Shenzhou like a thunderbolt. He felt that the shock he experienced today far exceeded that of the previous hundreds of thousands of years combined. Thoughts churned within him, and he had to secretly circulate a mind-clearing technique to barely suppress his turbulent emotions.
"Brother Dao, you say that someone in this world has already embarked on the path to immortality amidst the mortal realm? Why have I never heard of such a thing before?"
"It's not that I haven't heard of it, it's just that the cultivators of this era know too little about the Dao of Immortality and can't see through those clues." Yu Dao picked up his teacup and took a sip, speaking casually. "I haven't been awake for very long, but by sensing the traces of the Dao in the world and sorting through the ancient history of this era, I can distinguish a few of them."
He held up one finger.
"Take, for example, the Emperor of the late mythological period. He founded the Heavenly Court, and several emperors coexisted. He once forged an Immortal Ascension Cauldron, ranking among the three great immortal artifacts of his time. If this person had not embarked on the path of immortality, how could he have forged an immortal artifact, even with the greatest fortune?"
He certainly knew that the Emperor's Ascension Cauldron borrowed the boundless divine essence of the ninety-nine Dragon Mountains, but at that time, the Emperor must have already begun to venture into the realm beyond the human realm. The difference between humans and immortals is as vast as an insurmountable chasm. For a supreme being of the human realm to forge an immortal artifact, wouldn't that be as absurd as the prayers of the sages of the Yao Guang Holy Land to the heavens, and the sudden transformation of the dragon-patterned black gold cauldron into an imperial weapon? This principle is so simple that it needs no further explanation.
Then, Yu Dao extended a second finger.
"Take that ruthless figure from the ancient times, for example. In his first life, he devoured all the kings and transformed into a chaotic body. In his second life, he transcended and refined his body into an ultimate divine weapon. Later, he was reborn and became the Heavenly Emperor of the Southern Ridge. He has lived life after life and still exists in this world, ruling the forbidden land of the ancient times. If he had merely severed his supreme status, leaving his immortal platform incomplete and his great path damaged, how could he have endured death after death and been reborn again and again?"
After finishing his conversation about the Emperor and the Ruthless Great Emperor, Yu Dao stopped talking, picked up his teacup, and slowly took a sip. The scalding hot tea went down his throat, and the fragrance spread between his teeth. He did not continue speaking.
In truth, at least the Great Emperor Wushi, the Undying Emperor, the God Emperor, and the Tribulation-Crossing Celestial Venerable are all walking this path of immortality in the mortal world. However, compared to the Emperor Venerable and the Ruthless Man, their paths are far more secretive, unknown to the world, and some are even not detailed in the original works. He has only recently awakened, and if he were to go into too much depth or detail, it would seem strange. Giving two examples is sufficient.
He put down his teacup and quietly waited for the person opposite him to process everything.
The teacup in the Emperor's hand was still steaming, the emerald green tea reflecting his slightly swaying face. His thoughts were no longer on the tea.
The method of purifying the mind was activated countless times, but Yu Dao's words still caused chaos in his sea of consciousness!
Emperor, Ruthless One—he had heard these two names countless times during his hundreds of thousands of years of seclusion. Like all supreme beings, he acknowledged their power, but never imagined they had reached another level.
A thought suddenly surfaced in his mind. Years ago, before he had severed his own life, he had used his imperial will to remotely observe several relics left by the Emperor deep within the Central Plains Imperial Palace. On the stone wall of one of these relics was a fragmented scroll, depicting a figure standing high above the heavens, with prostrate stars at his feet. At the time, he had simply assumed it was the Emperor's imposing presence, a way to display the majesty of the Heavenly Court's ruler. Now, he thought it might not have been imposing presence, but rather a realistic depiction. The Emperor had already seen the landscape beyond the human realm; that scroll was merely a fleeting glimpse, a record of the entirety.
There was also a ruthless individual. The Great Emperor of Shenzhou remembered clearly that during the ancient era, he had been awakened from his slumber by an extremely terrifying aura. That power emanated from the direction of the Ancient Forbidden Land, directly piercing through the layers of restrictions of the Primordial Ancient Mine, causing him to abruptly open his eyes within the Immortal Source. At the time, he thought it was some supreme being who had unleashed an unprecedented dark upheaval, but afterwards, there was no further movement, and that aura vanished without a trace. Now, thinking back, it was perhaps the aftershock of a ruthless individual experiencing a death tribulation in a past life. A person, passing through tribulation after tribulation, living life after life, while he slept soundly in the nearby Primordial Ancient Mine, completely unaware of it all.
At this moment, all the overlooked details and misinterpretations surfaced, piecing together a complete and unsettling picture. All the clues pointed in the same direction, so clear that there was no room for argument.
"It turns out that some people have already embarked on the path to immortality."
The Great Emperor of Shenzhou murmured softly, his voice carrying a sense of realization born from years of experience. Both the Emperor Venerable and the Ruthless Great Emperor were beings at the pinnacle of the ultimate path. In fact, although Emperors and Sovereigns never met and many things remained unresolved, there were ultimately some supreme powerhouses who were generally considered superior to others, and these two were among them.
Now that they have found their path, what about the others? Several figures flashed through his mind. In the past, in the eyes of him and other supreme beings of the same level, those individuals were indeed extraordinary, their unique qualities drawing attention. But every Daoist who attained enlightenment had traversed the nine heavens and ten earths, and deep down, they never considered themselves inferior to anyone. They had witnessed the ruthless person living life after life, and the emperor refining the immortal cauldron, but they only attributed it to the wonders of nature or the uniqueness of their methods. They acknowledged that those two were very strong, but always believed that everyone was still on the same level.
At this moment, however, the answer is completely opposite.
The Great Emperor of Shenzhou did not question whether Yu Dao was lying. Once some things are pointed out, all the doubts and speculations of the past instantly connect. He remained silent for a long time, the steam in the teacup gradually thinning, and a very thin film forming on the surface of the emerald green tea, which he did not notice at all.
After a long while, he finally let out a long breath.
"No wonder you said that those supreme beings who instigated the Dark Turmoil and harvested the life essence of all living beings to prolong their lives went down the wrong path from the very beginning."
His tone carried a complex undertone. These supreme beings of forbidden zones instigated the Dark Turmoil to prolong their lives, waiting for the path to immortality to open. Once the Dark Turmoil began, billions of lives were reduced to ashes, and countless lineages vanished. They paid such a terrible price, only to gain a few more years of life, continuing to wait in the darkness for that elusive path. But true supreme beings need not wait for any path to immortality; they can ascend to immortality in the mortal world on their own.
Hidden for millennia, devouring countless lives, hands stained with blood, only to find themselves on a path long proven wrong. How absurd, how tragic.
"How lamentable."
The Emperor of Shenzhou's voice carried a deep sense of melancholy. He raised his head and looked at the Peach Tree of Immortality. The trunk of this immortal herb shimmered faintly in the mist, and the old, grayish-white mark resembled an unhealable scar. His gaze did not linger on that old mark for long before turning to the peach branches and leaves above. The tree was full of emerald-green leaves that swayed gently in the thin black mist, their serrated edges reflecting a faint light, as if silently telling a story.
"If I had known earlier that there was another realm beyond the human path, if I had known that someone had already succeeded on this path, I would not have chosen to sever my own life back then." His voice was not loud, but it carried a weight that had accumulated over hundreds of thousands of years. "What is the path to immortality, what is the waiting of eternity... It is better to venture into the mortal world and seek the path to immortality. Even if I fail, at least when I pass away, I will be on the right path, instead of waiting in vain for a vague and uncertain crack."
After saying this, he fell silent. The branches and leaves of the peach tree cast dappled shadows on his face, creating a play of light and shadow.
He thought he had let go of regret hundreds of thousands of years ago. When he severed his own life, when he fled into the Primordial Ancient Mine, when he entrusted the Divine Continent Dynasty to his descendants and left without looking back—he thought he had let go. But now he realized that it wasn't letting go, but rather that it was buried too deep, so deep that even he himself couldn't find it. Now, unearthed by Yu Dao's words, that regret was like an old wound dormant for millennia, reopened, without fresh blood, leaving only a dull ache.
But now Sendai is cracked, the main road is damaged, and the road is broken.
Hundreds of thousands of years of dormancy did not bring him the opportunity to become an immortal; instead, it severed his own possibility of truly embarking on the path to immortality. This problem is unsolvable; at least, none of the methods he knew could provide an answer. There has never been a precedent for a Great Emperor to recover from such a self-inflicted wound. Otherwise, those supreme beings of forbidden zones wouldn't have been content to slumber in darkness for eternity; they would have long ago sought ways to repair themselves.
He gently placed the teacup back on the stone table. The tea had gone cold, and his blurry reflection shone through the emerald green broth. He was preparing to suppress the surging emotions in his heart, to casually gloss over his earlier exclamation, and to return to being the taciturn Supreme Being of the Primordial Ancient Mine.
Yu Dao put down his teacup and chuckled softly.
The laughter wasn't loud, but it was like an invisible thread that tore apart the Emperor of China's composure once again!
"Although the altar is incomplete, it may still be repairable. Why should you give up hope, fellow Daoist?"