Chapter 127: To Live Long and Die Not Is the Mark of a Thief

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A beam of talismanic light descended before the two of them and formed itself into a letter.

Immortal Maiden Jade Zhi took the letter, glanced over it, and handed it to Ji Feichen.

Ji Feichen examined it closely. The letter had been written in a secret celestial script passed down among the immortals. To ordinary mortals, it would appear to be nothing more than a blank sheet of paper. Even ordinary cultivators would see only strange tadpole-like characters, utterly incapable of reading their meaning. Although the two of them had achieved the fruit of human immortality, even they found the letter difficult to decipher. Crimson radiance and golden flames continually obstructed their senses.

“This was not meant for us. The recipient is one of Her Ladyship’s friends. But we can still see the map on the back of the letter.”

On the reverse side was a winding map, clearly marking the place where that senior cultivator was located.

“Now that the two of us have recovered, what should we do next?”

“You said your identity was arranged by several seniors who had attained earthly immortality. In that case, we cannot let Cao Yu live in peace. While he is gravely wounded, the two of us should join forces and take his life.”

After discussing the matter, the two silently restored their magic power and repaired the aftereffects of the Spirit-Concealing Khitan Elixir, while waiting for the Dragon Maiden to awaken.

Six hours later, the Dragon Maiden slowly opened her eyes. The three of them immediately set out, returning to the stretch of sea where they had been before and beginning their search for Cao Yu.

Cao Yu was in an even worse state than Ji Feichen and the Immortal Maiden.

Immortal Maiden Jade Zhi had pretended to be unconscious so that Cao Yu would believe she had truly endured his blow head-on. Her meridians had been damaged, and her five organs had suffered severe injuries. Ji Feichen, meanwhile, had unleashed his full strength, injuring his opponent at the cost of sustaining heavy wounds himself. On top of that, the two had swallowed the Spirit-Concealing Khitan Elixir, leaving their foundations unstable. They had spent a long time stabilizing their realms, lest their cultivation weaken or their realms collapse.

Cao Yu, however, had been struck by Ji Feichen’s Weak Water, and his injuries were far more serious than theirs.

Weak Water came from the Netherworld. To living beings, it was a deadly poison, possessing the additional properties of corroding and contaminating magical power.

At that moment, Cao Yu was struggling to hide inside the belly of a giant jade whale, using the whale’s inner core to force the Weak Water out of his body.

“That damned brat! Where did he learn the Netherworld Sect’s Weak Water technique?”

Weak Water was one of the Netherworld Sect’s most famous signature arts. Cao Yu had spent half a day exerting all his strength, yet he still could not force the mass of Weak Water from his body.

“The Three Radiance Divine Water is ultimately formed from the primal energy of Heaven and Earth. It is easy enough for cultivators like us, who absorb the essences of the sun and moon, to deal with. But Weak Water…”

Weak Water came from the Netherworld. Even there, it was an unparalleled weapon of slaughter. How could anyone easily force it out?

“Could it be that I really have to find someone from the Netherworld Sect to dispel it?”

After enduring the torment for half a day, Cao Yu barely managed to reconstruct his body through demonic cultivation. With the inner core of his second soul, he gradually used his vital essence to rebuild his shattered head and heart. Recovering inside the whale’s belly was like being conceived anew within a mother’s womb.

Boom!

Suddenly, the giant whale collided with an iceberg on the ocean floor.

The iceberg rose a thousand fathoms high and was currently trapped within a whirlpool, unable to escape.

Through the whale’s eyes, Cao Yu saw the vast, snow-white mountain.

“How strange. The iceberg is so enormous, yet not the slightest trace of cold has spread into the surrounding seawater.”

If its chill had escaped, the whale would never have come anywhere near it.

The whale grew suspicious and looked more carefully. Within the iceberg, it could vaguely make out the figure of a man. He had been sealed inside the frozen mountain and then thrown into the whirlpool to be suppressed. At the summit of the mountain, a Yin-Yang Taiji talisman was circulating, turning the forces of yin and yang.

“Was this man suppressed by someone from the Mystic Sect?”

Cao Yu immediately understood the situation and directed the whale to swim away, circling around the iceberg.

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Cao Yu had been born into the Mystic Sect and understood its customs well. Among fellow disciples of the Mystic Sect, a death sentence was rarely imposed. Whenever a grudge arose, the Three Palaces would intervene to mediate, while the Immortal-Locking Pagoda served as the means of punishment.

According to the doctrine of the Three Mystic Palaces, “All immortals are fellow cultivators and must not engage in murderous conflict.”

This tradition had endured from antiquity to the present.

In the ancient era, peerless human experts had passed down their lineages. Qi cultivators protected humanity and led the race forward through the wilderness. In those days, they barely had enough time to resist external enemies—how could they spare any for internal strife? Thus, under the leadership of the Supreme One’s successors, the qi cultivators formed a modest organization. This was the origin of the Mystic Sect.

Even ordinary people understood the need to establish dynasties. The qi cultivators, each possessing wisdom as vast as the sea, naturally established an organization of their own. At first, their purpose was simply to exchange what they possessed and prevent disputes from arising among them.

For that reason, they chose a revered successor of the Supreme One to mediate disputes and lead the rise of the immortal path.

As the number of qi cultivators continued to grow, various great sects gradually appeared. Several sects descended directly from the Supreme One, together with the Palace of the Supreme One, forged the Mystic Sect’s treasures for suppressing and stabilizing its destiny, preserving the inheritance of the qi cultivators. Even if one sect were annihilated, fellow cultivators could be asked to pass on its teachings.

This tradition allowed the qi cultivators to grow stronger and stronger without restraint. In the end, their numbers became so great that they began to affect the workings of Heaven and Earth. Heaven and Earth responded by gathering the Forty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation to target the immortals.

Someone then proposed the initiation of a killing calamity, forcing the qi cultivators to slaughter one another and thereby prevent the Forty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation from taking shape.

But the qi cultivators were all versed in the secrets of Heaven and devoted themselves to cultivation. Who would willingly spend every day scheming and fighting among themselves? Thus, every attempt to set the killing calamity in motion ended in failure.

Having no other choice, those behind the scheme used the distinction between purity and turbidity to create two naturally opposed camps, forcing them into conflict.

After learning the truth behind the immortals and demons, Cao Yu had chosen to join the Demonic Sect and establish a new lineage within the Primordial Dao. His original intentions had been good enough. But as time passed, his state of mind changed.

At first, when others committed evil, he merely served as their lookout. Gradually, he began assisting them. In the end, he became the one who planned and directed everything. Step by step, he fell into demonic corruption and became a true demonic cultivator.

Even so, Cao Yu understood the attitude of the Mystic Sect.

“Even a mistake committed by an immortal of the Mystic Sect results only in imprisonment within the Immortal-Locking Pagoda. This man is certainly not a member of the Mystic Sect.”

If he was not of the Mystic Sect, then he could only be a great figure of the Demonic Sect, suppressed by some mighty expert from the Mystic Sect.

Seeing this, Cao Yu had no intention of lingering.

But the iceberg suddenly shot out a beam of white light and drew the giant whale inside it. The light then sank into the whale’s belly, seized Cao Yu, and hurled him into the interior of the iceberg.

The only fortunate thing was that, as this power captured him, it also temporarily froze the Weak Water within his body, sparing him its torment.

When Cao Yu opened his eyes, he found himself inside the iceberg.

The world was formed entirely of crystal ice, and the cold pierced to the bone. Even Cao Yu’s immortal body could not help trembling. He looked around and saw the Taiji diagram rotating above the iceberg.

That Taiji diagram bore similarities to Immortal Maiden Jade Zhi’s techniques. It was constantly driving the forces of yin and yang to wear away the iceberg.

“This Taiji diagram and the Yin-Yang talisman on the iceberg share the same origin. Is this how that man is being suppressed?”

Cao Yu’s gaze fell upon an icy stone wall not far away. Through it, he could clearly see the demon sealed within.

The figure in the stone wall looked at him.

“Judging by the nature of your cultivation, you should be a disciple of our Holy Church.”

Cao Yu’s heart stirred. He bowed respectfully and said, “This junior is of the Eastern Holy Church. May I ask who senior is?”

“Hmph!”

The man within the iceberg spoke coldly.

“Who I am is of no concern to you. You need only know that I can help you force out the Weak Water—and that I can just as easily take your life.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the mass of ice inside Cao Yu’s body transformed into a thunder pearl. His expression changed slightly.

“The Toad Palace’s Ice-Soul Thunder Art? Are you a member of the Northern Branch?”

The four great Demonic Churches had originally split from a single ancient lineage. Compared with the other branches of the Primordial Dao’s Demonic Sect, their internal struggles were even more vicious.

“I do not like people who talk too much.”

The cold voice emerged from the icy surface of the stone wall.

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Cao Yu fell silent. After a long while, he asked again, “Senior did not bring me here merely to treat my injuries, did you?”

“I sense a power of yin and yang within you. Was the person who injured you a successor of the Cloudsoaring Pavilion?”

Cao Yu did not understand at first. But when he saw the Taiji diagram above the iceberg, he immediately cried out, “The one who sealed senior was an immortal of the Cloudsoaring Pavilion?”

His expression shifted. The Cloudsoaring Pavilion had been destroyed many years ago. If this man had been sealed by an immortal of the pavilion, then his origins reached back into a distant age—at least three thousand years.

“Hmph!”

The man gave no reply, which amounted to tacit confirmation of Cao Yu’s guess.

Cao Yu then recounted what had happened to him, omitting the part about the rogue immortal Qinghong practicing demonic techniques.

“The Yin-Yang Dragon-Whisker Fan? In the hands of a human immortal? So the Cloudsoaring Pavilion truly has been destroyed?”

The demon suddenly burst into laughter.

“Good… very good! It was destroyed! Old Thief Fang, you suppressed me here for four thousand years. You never imagined that I would still be alive while your Cloudsoaring Pavilion would fall first! It seems that what happened back then truly succeeded. In the struggle between purity and turbidity, the ancient cultivators were destroyed. In the end, we won!”

As the demon laughed, the iceberg rumbled, and countless icicles came crashing down.

But in the next instant, the Taiji diagram above transformed into mysterious light and dissolved every icicle. It once more locked the iceberg in place with the forces of yin and yang. Two enormous dragons, one black and one white, coiled around the mountain, gradually compressing it inch by inch.

Seeing this, the demon’s laughter slowly faded. His expression once again became impassive.

“You will lure those two here. I will use the Dragon-Whisker Fan to escape.”

Back then, he had encountered the master of the Cloudsoaring Pavilion in the Black Sea. In the end, he had suffered a crushing defeat at Pavilion Master Fang’s hands and been suppressed within the whirlpool at the bottom of the Black Sea.

The Yin-Yang talisman above had been left behind by Pavilion Master Fang. After spending several thousand years, the demon had still been unable to escape. He could only condense an iceberg around himself to prevent the forces of yin and yang from dissolving him completely.

But if he obtained the Dragon-Whisker Fan, he could use its unique power to break the Taiji seal and finally escape into freedom.

Hearing this, Cao Yu immediately agreed.

“Rest assured, senior. I will definitely bring them here.”

With that, he prepared to leave.

As soon as he escaped from the iceberg and returned to his sect, who would ever come back?

As he walked, Cao Yu thought to himself: Rescue a demonic cultivator? Once I free him, he might simply say, “I am hungry,” and swallow me whole.

In the Demonic Sect, everyone schemed against everyone else. One absolutely must never trust its members.

He walked toward the outside, and the demon did not stop him.

But just as Cao Yu was about to leave the iceberg, the icy thunder within his body began to run wild. Cold spread gradually through his entire body, frightening him into turning back.

“I planted the Ice-Soul Thunder Art within you. If you do not obediently bring those people here, you will suffer.”

As he spoke, a snow lotus blossomed within the iceberg. The pure white flower contained not the slightest trace of demonic aura. Only a thread of innate frost energy coiled within its heart.

“This object contains a portion of my power. Take it with you and use it to capture them.”

With that, the demon personally sent Cao Yu out of the iceberg.

Though the snow lotus was in his possession, Cao Yu could still feel the restraint upon him even after leaving the mountain. A slight movement of the flower would be enough to take his life.

“And my jade whale’s primordial spirit is still trapped within the iceberg. It seems I have no choice but to obediently go and find them.”

Helpless, Cao Yu set out to look for Immortal Maiden Jade Zhi and the others.