Heavenly Origin City.
This ancient city, with a history of ten thousand years, now appeared sowhat dilapidated. After a great battle, half of it had been reduced to ruins. In that battle, ten Foundation Establishnt cultivators from the Four Seas Gate had ambushed eight from the Celestial Northern Dipper Pavilion. After the bloody conflict, only two Foundation Establishnt cultivators from Four Seas Gate survived, and even they were slain by Lin Mu after they left the city.
Currently, the defenses of Heavenly Origin City were at their most vulnerable.
In a tavern, Lin Mu sat by a window, observing the citizens of the Ancient Land as they struggled to erge from the rubble-strewn streets. The sects were the cause of their success, and also their failure. Thanks to the Spiritual Energy of the Ancient Land, those from the Ancient Land Sects had much longer lifespans than people in the secular world. In the outside world, a centenarian was exceedingly rare, less than one in ten thousand. In the Ancient Land, however, it was common to see elders over the age of one hundred and twenty.
But in return, they were also more susceptible to being caught in the crossfire because of the cultivators’ presence. Just like this ti, more than half of Heavenly Origin City’s ten million citizens had perished in the chaotic battle between the eighteen Foundation Establishnt cultivators. Now, they didn’t even dare to remain in the city. The deaths of eighteen Foundation Establishnt cultivators was a clear sign that this affair was far from over.
The great battle would continue.
Fortunately, the Teleportation Array was still functional. The city’s inhabitants left in droves via the array, heading for other cities. Many also departed Tian Yuan on foot, venturing into the wilderness.
"Sir, what are your thoughts on this scene?" Shangguan Shiming, acting as a maiden servant, poured tea for Lin Mu. The tavern owner had already fled, leaving just the two of them.
"The cycle of the Heavenly Dao," Lin Mu uttered just four words.
Shangguan Shiming opened her mouth, unsure how to respond.
Does the Heavenly Dao truly have a retributive cycle? On reflection, perhaps it did. Eighteen Foundation Building Immortals had battled in the city, killing countless people, and in the end, they were all killed too. Was this their retribution? And what about her? She was the one who had triggered this great battle. Would she be plagued by sin in the future and suffer a violent end?
Seeing Shangguan Shiming still looked puzzled, Lin Mu said indifferently, "Do cultivators die of old age?"
His words struck her like a thunderclap.
Do cultivators die of old age? Shangguan Shiming swallowed hard as she pondered the question. Perhaps so did, but surely not many. Even the exiled immortal of the extre realm from Celestial Northern Dipper Pavilion was besieged and killed by his enemies in his old age, his lifespan nearly exhausted and his cultivation level greatly diminished! So, does that an cultivators are destined not to have a peaceful end?
Just as Shangguan Shiming felt she was beginning to grasp so essence of cultivation, she heard Lin Mu speak again.
"You’re always looking over your shoulder, your heart filled with fear. What kind of Dao are you even cultivating?"
Shangguan Shiming was stunned once more.
The cycle of the Heavenly Dao! Do cultivators die of old age? These two statents seed to imply that the Heavenly Dao had a retributive cycle, that karma was inescapable. But Lin Mu’s last statent seed to refute the very idea of retribution! What on earth did he an? Shangguan Shiming found that the more Lin Mu spoke, the more confused she beca.
"Pour the tea. This is the last cup."
She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but Shangguan Shiming sensed a tinge of lancholy in Lin Mu’s words. She wasn’t wrong. Lin Mu was indeed reminiscing, recalling his past life in the Immortal Realm. The sects of the Ancient Land were so much like it. The strong were revered, the weak were prey for the strong, and human life was treated as worthless as weeds.
TAP, TAP, TAP!
Footsteps echoed from the stairwell. A young master dressed in white robes, remarkably similar to Lin Mu’s, ascended to their floor and walked straight to their table.
"I didn’t expect to find soone drinking tea at this hour. Do you mind if I join you?"
Despite asking if he was intruding, he sat down of his own accord before Lin Mu or Shangguan Shiming could reply. He even grabbed a teacup for himself and gestured for Shangguan Shiming to pour, acting as if he belonged there.
Shangguan Shiming glanced at the man; his most striking feature was his pair of Peach Blossom Eyes. "May I ask for your distinguished na, sir?"
Instead of pouring tea, Shangguan Shiming made a hand gesture indicating she was from an Ancient Land Sect.
The man with Peach Blossom Eyes smiled and waved a dismissive hand. "Stating one’s identity is so dull. If you knew who I was, you might not treat the sa way. So, it’s better to just use an alias." He tapped the bird pattern on his teacup and said, "Just call Qing Que."
Shangguan Shiming didn’t reply, instead releasing the aura of the Tenth Layer of Qi Cultivation.
"Whoa, Tenth Layer of Qi Cultivation. A sect genius, not bad, not bad at all." The man nodded, then shook his head. "A pity you used a Sky-Breaking Pill to break through. It will affect your future advancent to the Foundation Establishnt realm."
Shangguan Shiming was taken aback. Besides Lin Mu, this was the only other person to point out the elixir’s drawback. Even the great ancestor of the Shangguan Family, Shangguan Xue, had never ntioned it.
"However, I’m guessing you won’t have much trouble with your Foundation Establishnt, because the master you serve is no ordinary man." The man with Peach Blossom Eyes narrowed his gaze, looking at Lin Mu.
From the very beginning, even as the man ca upstairs and spoke, Lin Mu had paid him no mind. He simply continued to gaze out the window at the city’s residents leaving together.
"Friend, our eting here is fate. How about we drink a cup of tea in place of wine?" The man raised his teacup and offered it to Lin Mu.
Lin Mu finally looked at him directly and uttered a single sentence, "I never drink with the dead."
Shangguan Shiming’s gaze sharpened, her eyes now holding a dangerous glint as she looked at the man.
"Oh? You know who I am?" the man with Peach Blossom Eyes asked, his eyes still narrowed in a smile.
"I don’t know who you are," Lin Mu said indifferently. "I only know that today, you will die."
The man laughed. "For over a hundred years, countless people have wanted dead, yet I’ve lived freely to this day. You say I’m bound to die today? Then let’s make a bet. I bet I won’t die today. How about it?"
Lin Mu swallowed the last of his tea. The nostalgic look in his eyes slowly faded, replaced by an intense fighting spirit.
"I never thought the Ancient Land Sects would still have a cultivator of the Twelve-Fold Towers."
The first sentence Lin Mu spoke after setting down his cup nearly made Shangguan Shiming drop the teapot she was holding.
An exiled immortal of the extre realm from the Ancient Land Sects? How could she not have known? If the Ancient Land Sects still had such an exiled immortal, why hadn’t this supre being led them to dominate the Ancient Land!? She couldn’t understand. And to think this listless man with the Peach Blossom Eyes was an exiled immortal of the extre realm?
"I also never expected an exiled immortal of the extre realm could be born outside the Ancient Land, in the secular world. From that perspective, you are stronger than I am," the man with Peach Blossom Eyes said, smiling as he sipped his tea. He then chuckled. "Oh, but you’re wrong about one thing. I am an exiled immortal of the extre realm from the Ancient Land, not from an Ancient Land Sect. I don’t belong to any sect."
His statent was earth-shattering, startling Shangguan Shiming imnsely.
An exiled immortal of the extre realm not affiliated with any sect? That was sothing she couldn’t even imagine. If it weren’t for Lin Mu, she, the counterfeit exiled immortal, would have nearly beco the Sect Leader of the Four Seas Gate! Was this Qing Que a fool?
"If you don’t belong to any sect, why are you here to stop us?!" Shangguan Shiming blurted out, unable to contain her confusion.
The man with Peach Blossom Eyes finished the last of his tea and spoke faintly, "? I’m just a lazy sort. I don’t want to be a Sect Master, nor do I have any interest in the ssy affairs of the Ancient Land Sects. The vast Ancient Land is my ho. Cultivating to beco an immortal... isn’t it better to be free and unrestrained?"
"It’s just a sha soone broke through the Ancient Land Gate, and now the Spiritual Energy is bleeding out. My ho has been ruined. Tell , shouldn’t I seek vengeance for its destruction?"
User Comments
0 comments from readers