Chapter 881: Zhu Tian: Why Are There More and More Immortals?

Originally, Daoist HanHai was instructing the Daoist Xiantian in his cultivation, guiding him smoothly from the early stage to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, when a spatial portal tore open directly in front of Daoist HanHai.

And directly opposite Daoist HanHai sat none other than the Daoist Xiantian.

Thus, the very moment the gateway manifested, it directly swallowed the Daoist Xiantian and pulled him through the void.

Sensing the presence of Yun Zhi on the other side of the passage, Daoist HanHai discerned no peril and did not deign to interrupt the spatial transit.

The moment Daoist Xiantian beheld Guan Shanhai bound in chains, he nearly leapt out of his skin in sheer terror.

First, they had captured the Imperial Preceptor of the Great Yu from their own era; next, they had brought about the demise of the second Imperial Preceptor; and now, had the turn finally come for the very first Imperial Preceptor?

Had this transpired during the reign of Great Yu, even the execution of ten generations of one's kin would not have sufficed to expiate such a crime.

Immediately following this, Daoist HanHai stepped one foot out of the spatial gateway, yet upon hearing the childish Grandmaster's words as he clung to the Daoist Xiantian's thigh, that foot instinctively sought to retreat.

But how could the childish Grandmaster permit Daoist HanHai to have his way? With a tiger-like pounce, he locked onto that retreating leg, dragging Daoist HanHai out of the spatial gateway by sheer, unyielding force.

"Patriarch HanHai, you have finally arrived! The Prison Peak simply cannot endure without you—"

At the sight of Guan Shanhai, Daoist HanHai's eyelids twitched violently. My goodness, a half-immortal was not enough for this senior sister and junior brother pair to torment, so this time they had brought back a literal Immortal?

Evidently, when Meng Junzi had borrowed the nascent form of Daoist HanHai's Dao Fruit, he had neglected to mention his true intentions.

Prising the childish Grandmaster’s fingers away with deliberate force, Daoist HanHai spoke with a genial, soothing countenance: "Little Tang, I do believe this Prison Peak suits no one better than yourself. Granted, the burden is formidable, but it also signifies the absolute trust and testing bestowed upon you by the entire sect."

"I took notice of you the very moment you entered our sect, sensing the steadfastness of your Dao heart and knowing you would achieve great things. Lo and behold, it has transpired exactly as I predicted—it took you a mere two millennia to ascend to the Tribulation Transcending Stage and become a renowned power of this age."

"The Patriarch believes that so long as you endure the trials of the Prison Peak, you will surely scale greater heights in the future, becoming a half-immortal powerhouse just like your Patriarch!"

The childish Grandmaster rolled his eyes, utterly impervious to Daoist HanHai's ghost stories.

He had initially sought out the Prison Peak purely for peace and leisure; who could have foreseen that serving as the jailer of Prison Peak would prove more exhausting than governing the entire sect?

"Grandmaster, you have been stranded at the half-immortal realm without progress for ages, have you not? Why not spend more time interacting with the Imperial Preceptor of Great Yu? Surely it would deepen your insights into cultivation, and perhaps you might even ascend to true immortality."

The two men exchanged a smile, each discerning the unyielding refusal mirrored in the other’s eyes.

Guan Shanhai was likewise shaken by the revelations of Prison Peak; he had known that Daoist Wanfa had been captured by the Asking Sect, but he had never imagined that Wu Youdao, long vanished from the world, was also confined here.

Furthermore, there was his former adversary, the Nightmare Sovereign, and the final half-immortal of Great Yu, the Void Sovereign.

Several perplexities that had previously clouded his mind were instantly resolved, though he remained ignorant as to the whereabouts of the long-lost second Imperial Preceptor.

"Patriarch, Grandmaster, please take your time to converse. I shall proceed inside to interrogate him."

Yun Zhi dragged Guan Shanhai along as she stepped into the deepest chamber of Prison Peak.

Meanwhile, Daoist Xiantian pestered Lu Yang, burning with a desperate yearning to learn the sequence of events that led to the capture of Great Yu's Imperial Preceptor.

"To tell you the truth, the capture of the Imperial Preceptor had absolutely nothing to do with me..."

"What?! A Great Yu half-immortal appeared in Yuzhou, and Patriarch Jiang Ping'an personally emerged from seclusion to settle the matter?!"

"Three of the Four Sovereigns of the Heavenly Court manifested in the Imperial City, and they are all the wives of the Qilin Immortal?!"

"A battle of two Immortals erupted over the Imperial City, with Guan Shanhai of Great Yu and the Meng Patriarch, Meng Junzi, fighting a bloody war that shook the heavens?!"

"Meng Junzi achieved immortality long ago?!"

"So the Meng family is a lineage of Immortals!"

"The Imperial Preceptor was no match for Meng Junzi and self-detonated above the Imperial City, his life or death remaining a mystery?!"

"The Emperor of Xia has returned from the dead, living out a second life!"

One momentous piece of news after another swept across the entire cultivation world, each single report sufficient to shock the realms, to say nothing of this relentless torrent of revelations. Upon hearing these accounts, the people of the world fell into a daze, as though they had suddenly stepped into an ancient era where immortal wars never ceased.

The cultivators of the Great Xia had presumed this to be an era devoid of living Immortals, for the two Immortals who fought the Battle of the Eastern Sea were visibly not of this age.

Who could have fathomed that Great Xia possessed Immortals of its own, and two of them at that!

What did it matter if the Myriad Beast Empire possessed an ancient half-immortal? Their side commanded true Immortals!

"Come to think of it, so the Qilin Immortal actually possesses three wives. I had thought there were only two." Some looked on with naked envy at the Qilin Immortal's romantic fortune, for Ao Ling and the other two ladies were each peerless beauties without equal.

Others showed no surprise, adopting an air of entitlement: "You clearly lack understanding. That is an Immortal we speak of, a supreme existence. What do two or three wives matter? Perhaps the Qilin Immortal is just like the Yingtian Immortal, possessing a fondness for beauties and wedding several wives."

"If you ask me, the Qilin Immortal might very well harbor undisclosed liaisons with other ancient beauties in secret."

"Great Yu is truly inferior to our Great Xia; their Imperial Preceptor could not even defeat a foe previously bested by our Patriarch Jiang."

"I only wonder whether the Imperial Preceptor is dead or alive. To dare assault the Imperial City, self-detonation was a mercy too lenient for him!"

"By the way, how exactly did His Majesty manage to live out a second life?"

"Word has it that he plundered the Heavenly Spiritual Root of the Heavenly Court, or something of the sort."

"To think such a miraculous treasure exists in this world!"

Deep within the Beast Domain, Zhu Tian wore a deeply troubled expression upon receiving the missive dispatched from the Imperial City.

"This is absurd. Did we not agree previously that a half-immortal could reign invincible across the world? How do these Immortals keep emerging one after another?"

At this thought, the strength in Zhu Tian's hands intensified, planing the surface of the timber with greater fervor.

Whenever he found himself beset by terminal boredom, he would indulge in a bit of craftsmanship.

With a gentle breath, he blew away the stray wood shavings, exposing the form of the object held within his palms—a circular platform the size of a hand, bearing a single notch upon its surface.

Zhu Tian then retrieved a wooden figurine from his side, a carving that depicted his own form dancing gracefully.

He inserted the figurine into the circular platform, and a soothing melody began to resonate from within the mechanism as the carving automatically commenced its rotation.

Chief Jin, having caught word that the Young Ancestor had emerged from the mountains and caused a tremendous uproar in the Imperial City, requested a leave of absence from Daoist Buyu and returned to the Qiongqi Clan.

"What?! Our Qiongqi Clan no longer needs to repay the debt?!" Chief Jin grew exceedingly agitated upon hearing this intelligence, experiencing a sensation akin to a destitute youth suddenly transformed into a wealthy scion.

The Young Ancestor was truly formidable; a single journey to the Imperial City had completely resolved the most intractable crisis afflicting the Qiongqi Clan.

Jin Caiwei, thoroughly intoxicated by the effusive flattery of Chief Jin and the clan's Tribulation Transcending experts, wore a smile that never once faded from her face.

Standing upon the high ground, she gestured grandly as she laid out their grand strategy: "Debts and the like are minor concerns. The objective of our Qiongqi Clan has shifted; we shall no longer vie for the eleventh or twelfth rankings. We are now adherents of the Heavenly Court, bound to be the mightiest faction in this struggle of the great age. We are number one!"

Chief Jin felt his blood boil with martial fervor at the Young Ancestor's declarations, and he hastily stepped forward to offer a stratagem.

"Young Ancestor, I have just acquired a method for accumulating wealth from Brother Buyu. Our Qiongqi Clan can precisely seize this momentum to rise to prominence."

"Oh? What manner of method is it?"

"Hoarding rare commodities! It entails storing up an exceedingly vital resource until the external market price for it skyrockets. At that precise juncture, we shall unleash our stores and sell them off, thereby securing a massive profit as a matter of course!"

Jin Caiwei pondered the notion and deemed it an excellent stratagem. She wondered why they had never conceived of such a plan in the past; it appeared Little Jin had indeed acquired genuine wisdom while accompanying Daoist Buyu.

"Then what do we propose to hoard?"

"Candles."