Chapter 118: Through Many Trials, Entwined Fates

Chapter 118: Through Trials and Tribulations, Layers of Cause and Effect

Three Immortal Officers advanced to pursue and slay the Fire Crow Demon King, while two others remained behind to restrain the Cold Pool Demon King.

The Cold Pool Demon King feigned weakness, striving to hold his ground against the two remaining Immortal Officers.

All were Earth Immortals, exchanging blows, relying on their formidable physical bodies to withstand magical attacks head-on.

The battle was fierce and unyielding, and gradually the expressions of the two Immortal Officers grew solemn.

Two against one and still unable to subdue him—wouldn't that make them look utterly useless?

Just as they were about to act, a loud laugh echoed from afar.

“Fellow Daoists, why haven’t you captured this demon yet?”

Immortal Officer Yuan, accompanied by two others, floated in on clouds, carrying the barely breathing Fire Crow Demon King.

On the small mountain peak, the five converged, standing aside as the Cold Pool Demon King faced off against the five Immortal Officers.

Yuan sneered coldly. “That Fire Crow actually self-destructed his life treasure, almost allowing him to escape.”

“If it weren’t for my mastery of concealment techniques and setting an ambush in advance, today we might have left behind a hidden danger.”

Nearby, the tall Immortal Officer flattered him, “Brother Yuan, your skills are outstanding; such a mere demon is nothing to you.”

A short Immortal Officer chimed in, “Demons are just demons—how much true power could they have?”

The five casually discussed as if chatting in their own courtyard, showing no regard whatsoever for the Cold Pool Demon King.

After all, five against one—if they lost, they might as well hang themselves.

Yuan glanced over carelessly. “I’ll give that demon a chance—open your primordial spirit so I can imprison it. I’ll spare your life.”

In an instant, the other four Immortal Officers involuntarily hesitated, their expressions varied.

The tall Immortal Officer, having flattered all along, eyes gleaming, sighed, “Brother Yuan, why keep such a demon alive? Just kill it.”

Yuan inwardly sneered at these damned old foxes—they feared that if he grew too powerful, he’d turn against them.

Back in the Heavenly Court, celestial laws bound them; reclaiming a demon was no issue.

But now, expelled from the Court and reduced to wandering cultivators in the wild mountains, things were different.

Among such wandering cultivators, betrayal was ruthless—fighting over a single pill or treasure was common.

While they were still colleagues in the Court, relations were poor but stable; now cast down to the mortal realm, they banded together temporarily, balancing one another to maintain peace.

If Yuan were allowed to reclaim the Cold Pool Demon King, that balance would shatter.

Then Yuan would truly become their leader.

Fearing this, the Immortal Officers all nodded in agreement.

“Exactly, exactly.”

“What use is such a petty demon?”

Yuan’s expression darkened as he cursed these cunning old foxes in his heart.

Yet he had resolved to kill the Cold Pool Demon King; otherwise, this temporary alliance would dissolve on the spot.

Just as Yuan was about to speak, the Cold Pool Demon King howled toward the sky, his demonic aura soaring into the clouds.

A profound spiritual pressure, transcending heaven and earth, swept over them.

The five former Immortal Officers’ faces turned pale, and they exclaimed in unison, “Celestial Demon King!”

“Retreat!”

The situation reversed instantly—the hunted became the hunter, and the once imposing five bandits fled for their lives.

The Cold Pool Demon King sneered, “After serving so long as Heavenly Court Immortals, you still don’t understand the gap between Earth Immortals and Celestial Immortals?”

Earth Immortals cultivate the blessed lands; Celestial Immortals govern the heavenly realms.

The greatest difference lies in that Celestial Immortals, besides mastering spatial laws, have also comprehended temporal laws.

As the Supreme One said: primordial matter gives rise to space, space gives rise to time, and time births all things.

Time exists because of space, and space nurtures time.

The great path of space-time is the foundation of the universe.

A single Celestial Immortal cannot influence the entire cosmos, but manipulating five Earth Immortals is effortless.

The Cold Pool Demon King’s primordial spirit twitched slightly, leaping out of space into the void—no trace of the Cold Pool Demon King remained in the Three Realms.

This is the secret of Celestial Immortals’ immortality—living as long as the heavens themselves.

Only when a cataclysmic calamity arises, with its chaotic energy saturating the void and disrupting the Three Realms’ natural cycle leading to the fall of heavenly realms, do Celestial Immortals perish.

With a single finger pointed, the time within the five Earth Immortal Officers began to slow.

The Cold Pool Demon King grinned wickedly, extending his hand and, amidst the five Earth Immortals’ terror and desperation, twisted off their heads one by one.

The once elegant former Immortal Officers of the Heavenly Court perished here.

Even they themselves had not foreseen this journey to the mortal realm as a one-way path.

After dispatching the five Earth Immortals, the Cold Pool Demon King turned his gaze to the Fire Crow Demon King.

The Fire Crow’s cries and pleas, pressing his hands together, allowed him to unlock the method to break his soul’s seal.

With a faint touch, the proud Fire Crow Demon King turned into a clay statue, dust rising gently in the breeze.

The Cold Pool Demon King, upon opening the hidden seal, was slightly stunned and marveled.

Inside was a vast lake of water essence.

Water essence, remember, ten drops can form a rainstorm; ten thousand drops form a river.

To form a lake of water essence indicated how much was embezzled and siphoned off.

The five former Heavenly Court Immortal Officers’ crimes were deserving of execution—sent to the eighteen layers of hell.

The Cold Pool Demon King smiled faintly, waving his large hand to gather the entire lake of water essence into a pristine, radiant bottle.

Half an hour later, the water essence lake dissipated.

The moment it entered his hand, his body tilted forward, nearly toppling over.

Water is the softest substance under heaven, yet its softness is also its strength.

If he were to hurl a bottle containing billions of rivers, even a Golden Immortal would be brought low.

Satisfied, the Cold Pool Demon King strode out to the mountain peak where the battle had taken place.

Suddenly, a shout rang out.

“Demon fiend! How dare you harm others? Face my sword!”

An elder with a venerable Daoist aura slashed out several sword breaths, aiming straight for the Cold Pool Demon King’s life.

Dodging swiftly, the demon king fixed his gaze on the distant figure: white beard flowing past his knees, hair like a crane’s, youthful face, five-colored gauze fluttering in the wind, wide sleeves stirring without breeze, wielding a celestial sword and showing divine power—truly the image of an immortal.

The crane-haired elder, failing to kill, radiated righteous fury and shouted, “Demon fiend, your skills are impressive—no wonder you’ve committed such heinous crimes. I am the Longevity Son, and today I shall enact Heaven’s justice!”

As he spoke, three thousand silver threads danced with the wind, sword breaths tore through the void.

This elder was also a Celestial Immortal, striking directly into the heavenly realm to slay the demon king.

Celestial Immortals have transcended the Three Realms, living as long as the heavens themselves, only perishing in cataclysms.

Yet the few who survive such cataclysms are rare; most perish after several million years.

In the vast primordial cosmos, although Celestial Immortals are formidable, there are still greater calamities above them.

Above Celestial Immortals are Golden Immortals; above them, the Great Dao Lords, themselves subdivided.

A newly ascended Great Dao Lord cannot compare to a Primordial Great Dao.

The Dao is endless; the path infinite.

After the Longevity Son slew the Cold Pool Demon King, he entrusted the bottle of water essence to a friend, who traded it several times until it eventually fell into the hands of a heavenly soldier.

The soldier had yet to attain the Immortal Dao and could not perceive the bottle’s secrets, so he offered it to Jin Xin, chief of the Water Department Inspection Division, in exchange for a pill.

In the Water Virtue Hall, Luo Feng toyed with the water essence bottle, a faint smile crossing his lips.

After countless twists and turns, through many trials, entangled in layers of cause and effect.

Thus, even a Great Dao Lord, without meticulous calculation and inquiry, could not fathom its mysteries.

[One more update coming; will write it tomorrow morning. Off to sleep now.]

[By the way, I’m eight chapters behind and counting.]

(End of chapter)