Returning from the Immortal World

The abrupt saber beam cut off several towering giant trees with diameters of several tens of meters. Despite his vigilant observation of the surroundings, that early-stage Perfected Golden Immortal was hit hard by the surprise blow and flew away to smash heavily on a tree trunk.

As a matter of fact, he had restrained all the huge aura he released previously, but the enemy had been extremely deceitful and treacherous, thus inflicting heavy injuries on him. He wouldn’t be able to recover in a short time even though he took a Purple Scene Pill.

“Who are you?! GET THE FUCK OUT!!”

Unleashing his Innate Natal weapon, an iron chain-like weapon, he vigilantly stared at the front and shouted.

Ahead of him, a burly figure appeared in front of that Perfected Golden Immortal. The man was more than 3 meters high and had a sharp horn on his forehead and a few sharp spikes growing on his shoulders. The most striking thing about him was his arm since he had four, each of which was holding an Immortal weapon.

“Hand over your ring and I’ll spare you, or you can choose to die early!” Thornhead Sage licked his purple lips and stared fixedly at the Perfected Golden Immortal’s body with eyes resembling a dormant viper’s.

“It’s you?!”

Venerable Primal Forest’s expression changed. He had seen this Thornhead Sage and knew that he was a mid-stage Perfected Golden Immortal. Even if he were to fight against this person at his peak condition, it was likely he wouldn’t be his match. Not to mention that he had fought repeatedly and now was seriously injured after the ambush.

Thornhead Sage grinned. “Well, well, you seem to know who I am! Very well, you should know my strength since you know me, so be obedient and do what I told you! Gimme your ring and I can let you off. Else, I’ll kill in this Secret Palace even though I must chase you down for thousands of miles and expose myself.”

“Thornhead Sage, I’ve fought against many strong enemies after entering this Secret Palace. Except for this one Solitary Thread Herb I just got, I haven’t obtained any other treasure. I can give you the Solitary Thread Herb, but we must avoid a fight between us,” said Venerable Primal Forest.

Solitary Thread Herb?

Thornhead Sage’s expression shifted. Seeing that Primal Forest was afraid of him, he nodded happily and said, “Might as well. You chose to hand over the Solitary Thread Herb and have paid a big price for it. I accept your request, so take it out!”

Venerable Primal Forest took the stalk of Solitary Thread Herb from his interspatial ring and threw it to Thornhead Sage.

“What a great item!”

Thornhead Sage was ecstatic after receiving the herb. Even if his Immortal Soul was injured, he would be able to recover quickly. Having this item was equal to having another half-life in this danger-ridden Secret Palace.

Buzz…

A sword light similar to a rainbow suddenly swept across Thornhead Sage, causing his defensive artifact to activate as it hit his body. The impact on his chest made him spurt out a mouthful of blood. The moment he grabbed the Solitary Thread Herb, he prepared to retreat to adjust his breathing and then kill this damn bastard. but to his shock, he found that several talismans had appeared around him.

“Celestial Runes Array!”

Primal Forest hideously grinned and loudly shouted to ignite the explosion of talismans. The last lightning bolt eventually formed a dazzling celestial star chart and only took an instant for it to explode the Celestial Runes Array directly.

“SHIT!”

Thornhead Sage instantly put the Solitary Thread Herb into his interspatial ring and took out a bamboo hat-like defensive artifact from the inside. However, he was too late to cover himself with it when the Celestial Runes Array burst and exploded. The explosion of this array not only caused great damage to him, but it also severed his ability to fight.

Primal Forest was not unscathed, either, and coughed up a mouthful of blood. He’d have also fallen to the ground if it wasn’t for his Immortal Sword that suddenly appeared in his hand that he used to support himself. The Celestial Runes Array was great at killing, but the only drawback was that the caster would also be affected. He had been seriously injured and now was inflicted by the impact of this array, worsening his injury.

Puff…

A sword tip suddenly swept across. Even though Primal Forest saw the flashing of the sword strike, he was only able to retreat for several meters before the sword cut him into two halves. His Immortal Soul frantically tried to escape, but it then was hit by a lightning talisman and eventually vanished.

“Well, well. Killing people and snatching their treasures is indeed thrilling.”

Tang Xiu took the Venerable Primal Forest’s ring and instantly shifted his attention to Thornhead Sage in front. A smile crept on his face and he straightly ignored the pleading look on the guy’s face. After killing him, he searched out the guy’s interspatial ring and then buried their remains as fast as possible before vanishing in this spot of the dense forest.

15 minutes later…

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three figures flickered lightning-fast and instantly appeared at the slaughtering spot. The three men looked hostile and guarded against each other only found the traces of battle here and nothing else. They then quickly left in three separate directions as though having a prior agreement.

In the jungle.

Tang Xiu silently moved along while observing Primal Forest and Thornhead Sage’s interspatial rings. What he found made him happy. Both men had lots of good things, especially a huge number of Immortal Crystals and Crystal Essences. Thornhead Sage, in particular. This guy actually had obtained a lot of heavenly materials and earthly treasures though he was only in the Secret Palace for a short time. The fella seemed to have ambushed several unlucky ghosts, so the number of treasures and wealth in his interspatial ring was several times than Primal Forest’s.

As he kept moving forward, Tang Xiu found many precious herbs and Immortal Stones, Immortal Crystals, and Crystal Essences scattered in the bushes. He inferred that the likelihood of this Secret Palace having some mines of these resources was very slim. It was very likely that the Immortal Stones, Immortal Crystals, and Crystal Essences he found in the bushes were casually discarded by Drunken Immortal Supreme.

Buzz…

Suddenly, Tang Xiu felt like he had crashed into a thread. At the moment when he wanted to retreat, a huge suction force instantly sucked him into a particular space.

“Congratulations on activating the Chessboard of Drunken Immortal, Young Friend.”

A resonant voice suddenly rang in Tang Xiu’s ear and a white-haired and bearded old man appeared out of the blue. The old man was leaning on a dragon-headed cane and had a purple gold gourd hanging on top of his cane.

A wisp of consciousness?

Tang Xiu slowly cupped his fists and said, “Junior Tang Xiu greets Senior Drunken Immortal.”

The old man stroked his beard and smilingly asked, “How do you know that I’m Drunken Immortal Supreme? You don’t think that I may be the guardian of the palace left by Drunken Immortal Supreme?”

“The most remarkable feature of Drunken Immortal Supreme is the wine that never leaves his body,” replied Tang Xiu with a smile. “Hence, I’m sure this Secret Palace belongs to the Elderly. Further, there’s also a wine gourd hanging on your cane, so I have no doubt that Senior should be Drunken Immortal Supreme.”

“Smart.” Drunken Immortal Supreme smiled and said, “It was not easy for anyone to come into contact with the Secret Palace I left in the Immortal after 80,000 years! It’s open now, but it wasn’t easy! Also, you’re the 3,600th person who has touched the enchantment, yet you’re the only one who correctly guessed my identity—a more difficult feat to achieve. My main body gave three chances to fuse with this consciousness, so if you can answer one question from me, I’ll use one of the chances for you. How about it?”

Fusing consciousness, meaning that his main body in the Gods Realm would be communicating with me?!

Tang Xiu was taken aback and respectfully said, “Please do ask, Senior.”

The wisp of consciousness of Drunken Immortal Supreme asked with a smile, “You’ve been cultivating all this while, what are you cultivating for?”

Tang Xiu didn’t even ponder and answered directly, “It’s to live.”

Drunken Immortal Supreme shook his head and said, “Your answer is ambiguous and the idea is nothing new.”

“You see, I’ve thought of the very question you asked me countless times already, but the answer I got is always the same—to live and to be alive!” Tang Xiu firmly added, “Only by living can I pursue the meaning of the Great Dao and the essence of life itself. Only by being alive can I add more color to the canvas of life, tasting the emotions and realizing the true meanings behind every insight. The longer you live, the richer your experience, and the more you can gain in and from life. But the meaning of life itself lies in the process and the journey, not in the result.”

Suddenly, a fluctuation radiated from Drunken Immortal Supreme’s wisp of consciousness. After a while, a rainbow light flashed out of his eyes and firmly locked Tang Xiu within. A light whisper then rang in Tang Xiu’s ear:

“Why is your aura a bit familiar?”

Tang Xiu slightly frowned and then burst into laughter as he immediately said, “Surely you jest, Drunken Immortal Senior. You existed 80,000 years ago and I’m a cultivator of this age. We’re from different eras and not even on the same plane. How can you jest that I have a familiar aura? You must have made a mistake.”

Drunken Immortal Supreme shook his head and said, “I don’t think I’m mistaken. If it was eons ago, I may not remember your familiar aura, but I’ve sensed this aura 800 years ago—an aura that appeared and then vanished as quickly as it came. I’m sure of it. Did you cross a tribulation and ascend to Godhood 800 years ago?”

Tang Xiu’s countenance changed and he stared at Drunken Immortal Supreme with eyes full of vigilance. He didn’t expect that back when he had crossed his Divinity Tribulation and got exposed to the divinity force from the Gods Realm, Drunken Immortal Supreme who was in the Gods Realm was actually able to perceive him.

“Senior, were you perhaps at the Immortal Exuviate Pond?”

Drunken Immortal Supreme slightly nodded and smilingly said, “That’s right. Every newcomer who ascended to Godhood must guard the Immortal Exuviate Pond for 100,000 years. And I have been stationed here for 80,000 years, so that’s why I can sense your aura, though you eventually didn’t ascend to the Gods Realm.”

“I met some mishaps and ran into some wicked people,” said Tang Xiu. “Let’s just say I encountered and got hit by a certain predestined fate. For lack of a better option, I can only re-cultivate again from scratch.”

“That’s really unfortunate.” Drunken Immortal Supreme sighed. “Only two people from the Immortal World have ascended to Godhood in the last 80,000 years. I thought that our camp would have new blood from our world, but in the end, it turned out that an inescapable fate had hit the new member. Alright, you promise me one thing and I’ll teach you the secret of the Heavenly Circuit World Array. You’ll be able to receive the inheritance I left behind in the Secret Palace and won’t be subject to any restrictions here.”

Tang Xiu’s eyes shone and he immediately cupped his fist and said, “Please instruct me, Drunken Immortal Senior.”

Drunken Immortal Supreme said, “You already have sufficient cultivation level, so you won’t be pressured to re-cultivate again. As long as you’re not killed by other powerhouses, it won’t be a problem for you to reach Godhood again in the future. Hence, my inheritance won’t be of great significance to you. Besides, you already have your Dao, the path you need to walk on. Promise me not to get my inheritance but inherit any treasures in my Secret Palace. You can take away anything here if you have the ability.”