Chapter 53: Wrath of Cloud and Water

The bright moonlight was hazy like a thin veil, and the Jiangchuan River flowed eastward, never to return, year after year, seemingly unchanging since ancient times.

Chen Xuan stared at the willow dragon floating on the river surface, feeling a sudden chill.

"Longevity is not immortality; even a longevity species cannot withstand the power of time."

Chen Xuan sighed emotionally: "At some point in the future, the willow dragon's spiritual body will decay into ash and melt into the long river. Life in the present world will also reach its end, aging completely just like ordinary people."

Even, this day was not too far away—for the willow dragon.

Chen Xuan saw this ominous premonition within the destiny of the longevity species.

"Thud, thud!"

Chen Xuan kicked the willow dragon a few times, gradually increasing his strength, splashing white foam, but there was no reaction at all. He gave up trying, confirming that the willow dragon was trapped in an eternal slumber and would not wake up...

"This situation is similar to the Dream of Millet, but completely different from the Six Desires Heaven. Wang Chan is fast asleep, yet Yan Yushu can jump around... These are two different types and levels of destiny."

Chen Xuan muttered to himself, casting his gaze around to examine the surrounding environment once more.

Suddenly, he jerked his head up to look at the bright moon in the sky, his heart leaping into his throat.

The full moon was bright, its surface pitted, with wrinkles forming eyebrows and ravines resembling a mouth and nose, vaguely forming the resentful face of a man!

"A human face!"

Chen Xuan felt a chill in his heart, and could even make out a pair of lifelike eyes on this man's face, staring straight at him. No, the human face was staring at the willow dragon at his feet.

Chen Xuan stared blankly for a few seconds, then blinked and rebuked:

"What's there to look at? Get lost!"

Suddenly, the moon seemed to flicker slightly, instantly losing the look of a resentful man's face. Instead, it emitted a faint halo, appearing pure and sacred, with hazy, clear radiance that made one's mood instantly peaceful.

"I'm not afraid of a real human face either."

Chen Xuan shook his head. The terrifying scenes in the Lesser Netherworld and the Six Desires Heaven were no worse than this. He was already used to experiencing such bizarre and strange things, so he quickly calmed his mind and was even able to speak out and rebuke it directly.

"Willow dragon, let me see what secrets your body holds."

Chen Xuan lowered his head, focusing entirely on the willow dragon's body. After a few breaths, he activated the "Mind Fasting" technique for the second time.

He had experience doing this. Back in the Dream of Millet, he had used Mind Fasting a second time to catch a glimpse of his own past life and the True Scripture of Millet from Wang Chan.

"Hum, hum..."

Soon, more hidden images emerged.

Tadpole-like golden scriptures, dazzling with brilliance, flew out from the wounds on the willow dragon's body, hovering and dancing around as if about to form a golden silkworm cocoon to wrap the decaying willow dragon within.

Ancient seal script.

"A true scripture!"

Chen Xuan was startled. This was a supreme cultivation method comparable to the True Scripture of Millet. Just by glancing at it, the sound of the Great Dao seemed to roar and echo in his mind, making his soul tremble endlessly.

There was nothing more to say; he began to commit it to memory.

The ancient seal scripts connected tail to head, flying out from within the willow dragon's body like a glowing, ring-shaped golden chain.

"The *True Scripture of Longevity*."

Chen Xuan quickly found the beginning of the scripture, learned its name, and then studied it word by word.

Not long ago, he had learned some ancient seal characters at the Hanging Temple, barely managing to understand the first one or two chapters of the True Scripture of Millet without being proficient.

However, later while cultivating in seclusion in the Southern Wilderness, he commissioned several acquainted Qi practitioners and obtained several books written in ancient seal script. After putting in a great deal of effort to study them intensively, he finally mastered the entire set of the True Scripture of Millet.

Therefore, facing the full text of the Scripture of Longevity in ancient seal script now, he found it completely effortless, with only a few rare characters that he did not recognize.

Chen Xuan possessed extremely strong comprehension skills and quickly memorized the scripture to the end in a gluttonous manner. Then, his gaze paused on the last golden character.

"This true scripture is incomplete; only the first half exists, and the second half has not yet formed."

The last seal character stopped at the willow dragon's chest, with only half of it exposed, while the other part was still in the process of slowly forming:

"When the willow dragon's body completely decays, this True Scripture of Longevity will form a complete version... But by then, the willow dragon will probably have aged, and who can this true scripture be used by?"

Chen Xuan felt puzzled, but this was not the time for deep thought, because he noticed that the scene in his field of vision was vibrating, gradually blurring, and rapidly moving away.

"Hah!"

Forcing the Mind Fasting technique to activate produced a burning pain in his pupils that reached its extreme, almost scorching right through them, drawing a muffled groan from his throat.

The Mind Fasting ended, and nothing could be seen clearly anymore.

In his field of vision, the full moon resembling a human face and a celestial furnace, the rushing river, the decaying corpse... gradually faded away.

...

In the backyard, the atmosphere was very quiet.

The willow dragon wore a proud expression, his eyes deep, head held high, chest puffed out, hands behind his back, feet splayed outward. Dressed in ancient hemp robes, he looked imposing and majestic.

"..."

Chen Xuan stood motionless, his gaze piercing, remaining silent.

The willow dragon maintained this posture for a full few minutes before he began to lose his composure, saying in a deep voice:

"Young man, a glance is enough. Staring at the old man continuously is impolite..."

Chen Xuan's eyeballs seemed to move, or perhaps they didn't, and a voice came from his mouth:

"Well, let's talk about business..."

In fact, when Chen Xuan used Mind Fasting, he still maintained immense control over his physical body, only with a slight delay. When he first used Mind Fasting in Willow Town, the Black Cat Lady had not noticed anything unusual either.

Yan Yushu was the same. When she was enduring punishment in the Six Desires Heaven, her physical body in the real world was performing actions synchronously, handling both sides at once without delay...

"Phew!"

Chen Xuan took a deep breath, suppressing the immense fatigue generated by forcibly activating Mind Fasting, and immediately got down to business. He asked for paper and brush from the ancient scholar waiting outside the courtyard.

The willow dragon rubbed his slightly sore neck, staring suspiciously as Chen Xuan's brush flew like a dragon or a snake, rapidly writing down a set of breathing techniques.

"What use do I have for this?"

Chen Xuan said solemnly: "Practice it and see."

These were precisely the breathing techniques recorded in the *True Scripture of Longevity*.

"Alas, it won't work."

The willow dragon shook his head and sighed. Over millions of years, he had tried countless times. Back then, his ancient Qi practitioner friend had found him hundreds of different breathing techniques, none of which had ever been useful.

His branch of ancient bloodline was inherently unable to cultivate.

This was the greatest regret of his life. If he could only cultivate, even if his aptitude were terrible to the extreme, he could have forcibly piled up into a great cultivator with endless time; why would he have to live such a fearful and miserable life?

But the next moment.

The willow dragon was struck as if by lightning, his mouth opening in astonishment wide enough to swallow a duck egg, because a flow of spiritual energy was indeed moving within his body. It was not obvious, but it had truly stirred.

"Eh? This breathing technique?"

This was a feeling he had never experienced before.

This breathing technique seemed to actually work, as if it had been tailor-made specifically for him!

Seeing this, a hint of a smile appeared on Chen Xuan's face as he said, "I will trade this technique for the last remaining ancient immortal relic in your possession."

He had anticipated this scenario long ago.

The level of Mind Fasting was higher than these destiny holders. As long as he entered their destiny, he was bound to change certain things.

Entering the *Dream of Millet* allowed him to peep into dreams and obtain the True Scripture of Millet. Entering the *Six Desires Heaven* also allowed him to exempt Yan Yushu from the price she had to pay... In fact, he had not yet used Mind Fasting a second time to stare directly at Yan Yushu in her punished state. If he kept his eyes fixed and watched closely, he might even discover some unexpected pleasant surprises.

"Even if it weren't the *True Scripture of Longevity*, I would definitely have found other things, all of which could be used as negotiating chips."

Chen Xuan had such confidence in his heart, which was why he had calmly accepted the relic treasure given to him by the willow dragon earlier.

The willow dragon was in a trance, his heart shaken by tumultuous waves. He swallowed a few times, his lips trembling as he let out a hoarse voice: "Eh, is this a dream..."

For a moment, he simply could not accept what was happening to him at this moment.

Could he also practice Qi?

Ignoring the willow dragon, as time was running out, Chen Xuan continued to write down the second half of the *True Scripture of Longevity* with sweeping strokes.

After half an hour.

Chen Xuan put down the brush, raised his head, and said warmly to the willow dragon:

"This true scripture is also given to you, returning the favor of the jade bracelet you gifted me... Do not ask where the true scripture came from."

Since he had entered the longevity species' destiny without being discovered by the willow dragon, he would not leak the ability of his Mind Fasting.

Having formed a connection with Yan Yushu, he already felt it was extremely inappropriate. Had his cultivation method not required that woman, he would not have frequently contacted such a dangerous figure.

Tears flashed in the willow dragon's eyes, and he was already too emotional to say a single word.

The gloom that had shrouded his heart for millions of years was suddenly parted by the clouds to reveal the azure sky. He felt as if he had been reborn, his entire body filled with strength. If the age gap between them hadn't been so vast, he would have knelt at Chen Xuan's feet and kowtowed in gratitude.

Starting today, he, an ancient person, could also practice Qi!

"This scripture is a 'one-person law'..."

Chen Xuan nodded, paused for a moment, and continued: "If you do not leave Peach Blossom Spring, it shouldn't affect you."

Just like the True Scripture of Millet, the *True Scripture of Longevity* was also a one-person law, a fact explicitly recorded within the scripture.

Since Chen Xuan had seen this scripture first, regardless of whether he practiced it or not, the Dao cultivation of all later practitioners on this path would be tied to his safety alone.

In fact, all true scriptures in the world were like this.

Otherwise, true scriptures were extremely rare; how else could Wang Zhenyang, a great cultivator of the Dao Repository Realm in Red Crow City, have been qualified to obtain a volume of the *True Scripture of the Mountain Quail* bestowed by the Ancient Chu Imperial Court?

Wang Zhenyang achieved enlightenment through the Mountain Quail Scripture, and for the rest of his life, apart from maintaining the rule of the Chu Royal Court, he had no other choices. Otherwise, once the Chu State fell, his decades of bitter cultivation and family glory would instantly vanish like bubbles, scattering like monkeys when a tree falls.

The willow dragon nodded repeatedly, then handed over a wooden box. While Chen Xuan was writing the true scripture, he had managed to sort out his emotions and retrieved the item from his treasury.

The willow dragon said in a deep voice: "My ancient Qi practitioner friend was named [Immortal Shangyang], an peerless sword immortal with extraordinary accomplishments within the sun orthodoxy. This jade pendant is his last remaining relic. I was originally determined to keep it as a memento and never let go."

"The forces behind the white-clothed sword-wielding youth today share an ancestral connection with [Immortal Shangyang]. This was an escape route I laid out twenty years ago. The Qinghe Cui family and that mistress from the Southern Wilderness cannot threaten me today, but now... take the jade pendant."

Twenty years ago, that towering figure of the Ancient Chu State sensed that their situation was not good and had already given a warning to the willow dragon, telling him to take precautions in advance.

Half of the great cultivators in the world are my friends—though this statement sounded exaggerated, it wasn't just spoken casually or at random.

The willow dragon paused, handed over a map, and continued: "This is the location of some of [Immortal Shangyang]'s former dwelling caves. As far as I know, most have been thoroughly explored by later generations, but there are still one or two locations where no news of their emergence has spread... I have nothing better to reward you with."

This was his true trump card at the bottom of the box, capable of trading with any great cultivator in the world and regarded as his ultimate lifeline for the future. Yet now, in return for kindness, he gifted it directly to Chen Xuan.

"Thank you."

Chen Xuan took the map, glanced at it, and returned it after committing it to memory. The nearest dwelling cave location was tens of thousands of miles away from the territory of Red Crow City and could not be visited for the time being.

The willow dragon stared at Chen Xuan with a complex mix of emotions, opened his mouth, and said: "Do you need me to send my clansmen to escort you a part of the way..."

Chen Xuan shook his head in refusal, then cupped his fists in farewell and laughed heartily:

"With today's parting, take care of yourselves, fellow Daoist! May misfortune turn to fortune and your youth last for eternity!"

As his voice fell, he turned and quickly left through the back door.

Within twenty years, he was bound to achieve the Dao Repository Realm, and in this lifetime, he probably wouldn't have the opportunity to enter the Peach Blossom Spring secret realm again. This was his first and last meeting with the longevity species, the willow dragon.

"Whoosh!"

Chen Xuan walked out of the ancestral hall, climbed to the top of a wooden building, cast his gaze around to survey the surroundings, and then, like a gust of wild wind, sped away in one direction.

Originally, acquiring a near-immortal's relic had already provoked much covetousness; now that he had obtained the last true ancient immortal relic in Peach Blossom Spring, many people truly could not hold back their desires.

Yan Yushu had already notified him earlier via the communication talisman that some family disciples from Red Crow City had left early to descend the mountain and summon their family forces. Not only the Qinghe Cui clan, but various other forces were also restless.

Chen Xuan had spent too much time writing the *True Scripture of Longevity* for the longevity species willow dragon!

"Phew!"

The field of vision pulled back from the sky. At the foot of the mountain, small-scale skirmishes broke out in all directions, but more figures, like an ant colony, were swarming toward the direction Chen Xuan had left.

The four seas churned, and the clouds and waters raged.

A chaotic battle was about to begin!