Chapter Forty-Four: The Primordial Transcendence of the Great Immortal Art

The other cultivators were not as gravely wounded as the Little Sword Demon. They first assigned some people to open the city gates, while others carried the Little Sword Demon on their backs.

Three thousand elite soldiers were let into the city under the cover of night. By now, Xu Cheng’s cultivation had barely stabilized.

Together with the incoming forces, they accepted the surrender of the Great Xia Dynasty’s soldiers.

Even the Nascent Soul expert guarding the city had perished at Xu Cheng’s hands; these five hundred elite soldiers had not the slightest will to resist.

Those able to wield life-nurturing spells began to heal the Little Sword Demon. Xu Cheng, relieved to have a respite, took the opportunity to collect all the wandering spirits hidden within the city into the Gate of the Yellow Springs.

The townsfolk remained huddled in their homes, too frightened to step outside, fearing that the invading force would pillage, burn, or even massacre the city.

With Chrysanthemum and his companions helping to capture the ghosts, their efficiency improved greatly.

Most of these spirits lingered in the world due to an unyielding obsession and posed little real danger to ordinary folk. All they could do was frighten people—unless their resentment was so deep that they fused with corpses and became monstrous ghouls, creatures that fed on blood and drew power from hatred, needing slaughter to survive.

But with a Nascent Soul master overseeing the city, no such ghouls could exist; any that appeared would have been swiftly destroyed.

Those spirits with merit were sent to reincarnation, while the wicked were sacrificed by Xu Cheng to the Yellow Springs.

Afterward, Xu Cheng distributed Nether Essence Pills to Chrysanthemum and the others.

“If not for your powerful spell, Master, we might all have perished at the hands of the Nascent Soul Patriarch! But… that spell…” Chrysanthemum spoke reverently, curious when Xu Cheng had quietly mastered such a formidable art.

“An immortal technique! I wonder if Yun Sheng has ever studied immortal techniques,” he mused, thinking of his former superior—the bald youth. Xu Cheng harbored a desire to compare himself to that one.

“Master Right Envoy, the truth is, Demon Lord Yun Sheng has powerful backing. All his immortal techniques are readily available; he doesn't need to deduce and perfect spells to forge a single immortal art,” Chrysanthemum remarked, as if he had long suspected this. Upon hearing that Xu Cheng’s spell was an immortal technique, he was not surprised.

“Chrysanthemum, do you know who Yun Sheng’s backer is?” Xu Cheng asked. To be able to learn immortal arts at will, that bald youth must have powerful support.

“Yun Sheng himself doesn't dare to say. All I know is that he is not his true self, but an avatar forged by spellcraft,” Chrysanthemum revealed. If Yun Sheng hadn’t mentioned it, neither he nor Azure Technique or Vermilion Ape would have known the bald youth’s true nature.

“An avatar?”

Speaking of avatars, Xu Cheng’s attention was piqued. Could he, too, use spellcraft to create an avatar and thus escape the mark of the Yellow Springs?

“Enough about that. The difference in strength remains; we should focus on our cultivation,” he said, trying to move on. Sending a Nascent Soul expert into the Yellow Springs had inflated Xu Cheng’s confidence, but Chrysanthemum’s words poured cold water on his ambitions.

He changed the subject and decided to try using Minor Earth Genesis and Minor Water Genesis techniques to see if he could fashion an avatar.

The group settled in an unclaimed residence.

The powers of Earth and Water intertwined, gradually forming a humanoid figure. But as earth and water are mutually incompatible, the result was a heap of sludge, yellow and foul.

Feeling a vague discomfort, Xu Cheng frowned and washed the muck from his hands.

“Forget it. I’ll wait till I have gold, fire, and wood, to complete the five elements,” he muttered dejectedly. He would have to wait until he reached the Nascent Soul stage, when his power was sufficient. With the Yellow Springs Eye’s deduction ability, the time needed to master the five elemental arts would be much reduced.

And then there was that immortal technique on Yan Mengdie’s face.

He spent the entire night focusing his spirit, fusing vitality into his soul and pouring it into his golden core.

The morning in Xu State was bleak and cold. Every household’s doors were shut tight; there wasn’t a single vendor or market-goer to be seen.

Soon, as the sun shed its first threads of warmth, the Little Sword Demon, riding a tall red stallion, emerged. After a night’s rest, he had recovered from everything except mana exhaustion. Leading three thousand elite soldiers, he formally took control of Xu State.

To the city’s people, there was but one government: that of the Han Dynasty.

Though the man was red-haired and bore the bearing of a bandit, after a lively ceremony with drums and gongs, many curious townsfolk were drawn out to witness the event and ended up accepting the Little Sword Demon, even cheering for him. In an instant, the streets—previously empty but for Han soldiers—were thronged with people.

“Could someone have used an illusion spell?” Xu Cheng glanced around but saw nothing abnormal in anyone’s eyes.

“There’s no need for illusions. If we simply promise to reduce the oppressive taxes by ten percent, the attitudes of all these people would change instantly,” Yan Mengdie said softly as they walked the streets.

“That’s true. I myself once became a homeless beggar because of natural disasters and unremitting taxes,” Xu Cheng remembered the bitter days of begging along the streets. “By the way, Yan Mengdie, what is the name of that immortal technique on your face? Does it have any other effects?”

“Oh, that! It’s the pinnacle immortal art of my Jade Spiral Butterfly lineage—The Great Origin Transcendence Immortal Technique. Once mastered, using it grants one ten times, even a hundred times more mana than others of the same level. Even mortal cultivators can wield power not inferior to immortals. That’s why it’s called the Great Origin Transcendence Immortal Technique.”

Hearing this, Xu Cheng grinned foolishly. Though the aftereffects of using such power were unpleasant, at a critical moment it was a lifesaving art—just like last night.

“Heh heh heh…”

After a while, even after the Little Sword Demon’s ceremony to take over Xu State had concluded, Xu Cheng was still lost in his fantasies.

One day, he would not only escape the Yellow Springs, but also sweep across the mortal realm, invincible, ascending the throne itself.

In his imagination, as he sat upon the throne, he suddenly snapped awake.

The idea of claiming the throne didn’t seem like his own. Something was wrong—could it still be the influence of the Yellow Springs?

No wonder the old demon Qiong’s thoughts were so strange. After being bathed in the Yellow Springs for over a millennium, Xu Cheng wondered if he, too, would one day become like that.

Meanwhile—

Within the imperial palace of the Great Xia, in the imperial study beside the Golden Luan Hall, Emperor Xia Hao stood before a figure shrouded entirely in a black robe, with Marquis Wu Wenhou Qu Wenbei standing behind him.

The relationship between Xia Hao and Qu Wenbei had reached the point where each could entrust his back wholly to the other.

“As the saying goes, there are no eternal enemies in this world, only eternal interests. I wonder if my terms have moved you,” Xia Hao said, fixing the black-robed figure with a penetrating gaze.

“But how can I trust you? I heard you already tricked that little bald one,” the black-robed figure replied, his voice low and raspy, like a knife scraping bone.

“That little bald fellow didn’t know his place and tried to steal the True Immortal Atlas, but I believe you are a person who knows the times,” Xia Hao said, and at his words, his eyes seemed to blaze with ten thousand rays of light.

“Indeed, a wise man submits to circumstances. Our deal can begin, but only as a preliminary arrangement. If I discover you breach the agreement, our cooperation will end,” the black-robed figure responded shrewdly; he was not one to let the hawk fly before he’d seen the hare.

“So be it, just as you say,” Xia Hao swept his sleeves and made his decision.