Stealing Immortal

By now, Chen Qingyang had resolved to confront these people from the Demon Sect. ”Let’s not overcomplicate things,” he said. ”Where is the Myriad Cave? Just take me there to see it.”

Celestial Master Zhang was already able to sit up in bed. Just as he was about to speak, the old Daoist Ding Xiulong cut in, ”Senior Brother Zhang, allow me to accompany Senior Brother Chen.”

”Then I’ll leave it to you, Junior Brother.”

...

After leaving the small courtyard, the two of them shot up into the sky from the peak of the small mountain, heading directly southeast.

The entire capital lay beneath their feet. Its towering walls, like a great dragon crouching upon the earth, remained clearly visible even through layers of cloud and mist.

Chen Qingyang’s gaze shifted forward to an endless vista of rolling mountain ranges. A complex network of paths snaked through them, each one leading to where the peaks disappeared into the clouds.

”Senior Brother Chen, at our current speed, we’ll arrive in just a moment. Ever since a disciple of the Tai Xu Immortal Sect established a presence here, my Ci Yun Temple has borne the heavy responsibility of cultivating Spirit Grass and guarding the kingdom’s borders. No one ever imagined something like this would happen!”

His words went unanswered. After a moment of silence, the old Daoist spoke again. ”I can see that despite your youth, Senior Brother Chen, your cultivation is quite profound. You must be highly regarded within the Tai Xu Sect. I have also heard that the Pill Masters of Cyan Bamboo Peak are famous far and wide. You must be one of their esteemed members...”

It was a stream of flattery. Though the man might not have mastered the Immortal Dao, he had certainly mastered the art of social graces. Chen Qingyang simply grunted in response. ”Mm.”

The old Daoist pointed ahead. ”Behind that mountain up there is the Myriad Cave. It’s a Cave Mansion formed by nature itself. Inside, there are numerous underground rivers and spectacular stalactites. The terrain is extremely complex, branching out into countless different sections and passages...”

”And even though this mountain is in the southeast, it’s blocked by the larger mountain beside it. The valley rarely gets any sunlight, so the Yin Qi is exceptionally dense...”

Chen Qingyang had a rudimentary understanding of arrays and knew a bit about geomancy. Ding Xiulong’s simple explanation that the place was just heavy with Yin Qi was incorrect. ’The formation of the Myriad Cave must have been influenced by the mountains, rivers, sun, moon, qi, and even the changing of the seasons. It would have taken ages to take shape.’

For the next quarter of an hour, Ding Xiulong chattered on without a moment’s pause. Finally, he asked Chen Qingyang, ”May I ask where Senior Brother intends to begin your search for the Demon Sect’s trail?”

Little did he know, Chen Qingyang’s consciousness was already sweeping the area for a hundred li around them. ’If those Demon Sect Disciples haven’t left, I’m bound to find something.’ ”How are you so certain the Yin Grass is in the hands of the Demon Sect Disciples?”

The wrinkles on Ding Xiulong’s face gathered together, and his eyes seemed to fill with a newfound sincerity. ”To tell you the truth, I do believe the Yin Grass is in their hands. However, it’s not a particularly rare item; it just grows in a uniquely suitable environment. That’s why I think they stole it not for the item itself, but as a way to draw our attention!”

Surprised he could offer such an insight, Chen Qingyang pressed on, ”Tell me everything you know.”

”Sigh... It started as nothing but a groundless rumor, and it’s a long story. I can’t even be sure if there’s a connection. I once reported my thoughts to Xuanwei Master, but he just laughed at me. He said the Demon Sect’s actions were merely revenge. What could they possibly want from a barren land like the Yong Kingdom?”

This was true. The situation was just like what he had seen at Nine True Temple. The Tai Xu Sect had managed this area for many years; if there were any real treasures, they would have been taken long ago. They wouldn’t have been left for the Demon Sect to find.

As he spoke, the two of them landed on the ground.

Chen Qingyang looked up to see a cave entrance before him. It was located at the foot of the mountain, with a small temple built in front of it. The entrance itself was framed with brick and stone, upon which were carved four words: ”Myriad Images Begin Anew.”

A proper road had even been built, leading all the way out of the mountains.

”So this is the Myriad Cave? Is the place where the Extremely Yin Grass is grown inside?”

Ding Xiulong replied, ”Precisely. This place was originally protected by an array, but the Demon Sect members destroyed it, leaving it exposed like this. Still, the area is remote, so common folk don’t come here, and even wild beasts won’t venture into the cave.”

Chen Qingyang considered this for a moment. ”Then continue leading the way. You can tell me what’s on your mind as we walk. I have time.”

He said it so casually, it was hard to tell if he was genuinely interested or just making conversation.

Ding Xiulong, however, remained completely earnest. ”Senior Brother, please follow me!”

The entrance opened into an artificially paved brick road, extremely wide—enough for a horse-drawn carriage to pass—that led deep into the darkness.

It was flanked by two small streams, and water dripped from the stalactites overhead. Light from the entrance reflected off the wet surfaces, making everything near the mouth of the cave glisten.

”About fifty years ago, a Profound Robe Daoist suddenly appeared outside the Imperial Palace. This man was not an Immortal Master of the Tai Xu, nor was he a Daoist from Ci Yun Temple. He stood at the gates of the Royal Palace and planted two beans, and in an instant, they grew into towering trees. It wasn’t a Blinding Technique, but an incredibly advanced skill.”

Chen Qingyang could now perform such a feat himself. He only needed to release some Wood Spirit Qi from his Jade Peach Tripod Furnace to easily make a sapling grow into a massive tree. ”And then?”

”Of course, this astounded the Emperor, who invited him in as a guest of honor. Afterward, this Profound Robe Daoist began telling the Emperor’s fortune. He was incredibly accurate every time, even predicting the wind and rain with perfect precision.”

’That’s a bit of an exaggeration.’ Chen Qingyang, who cultivated the Purple Star True Skill, knew firsthand how difficult divination was. Nothing under the heavens could be predicted with absolute precision, especially not the weather.

”The Emperor revered him, even to the point of giving Senior Brother Zhang the cold shoulder, and wanted to appoint him as the National Preceptor. This was a terrifying prospect, because if it happened, our Tai Xu Sect’s influence in this kingdom would be drastically reduced. Senior Brother Zhang took the matter very seriously.”

The Tai Xu Sect was immense.

Some performed alchemy for it, some mined ore, and others toiled for it in the Red Dust to earn the faith of the common people. There were even Daoist Temples, isolated from the main Sect, that defended its interests against foreign enemies.

Regardless of their function, all were a part of the Tai Xu Sect.

”But Senior Brother Zhang is a cautious man. He didn’t act rashly before figuring out the man’s background. Instead, he used a few subtle methods to reinforce the position of Ci Yun Temple.”

Chen Qingyang understood. ’He’s trying to hint at something, to show off Celestial Master Zhang’s accomplishments in this place.’ ”And then?”

”Later, when the Profound Robe Daoist could no longer stay, he set up a Magic Altar. After a moment of calculation, he pointed at the Emperor and declared, ’You have a son, one with an affinity for the immortal path. This child is not in the court, but in the wild.’”

”At the time, the court officials and imperial concubines were all dumbfounded, because the Emperor had twelve sons, all of them esteemed princes. Some people even began to mock the Profound Robe Daoist, thinking his prediction was wrong. But the Daoist simply said, ’In the wild. In the wilds of the New Abode.’”

”The New Abode was the Emperor’s old residence from his days as the Crown Prince. At those words, only the Emperor’s expression changed drastically. It turned out he had once had an affair with a Palace Maid and had indeed fathered a son. Guided by the Profound Robe Daoist’s divination, the boy was found. He became the Daoist’s disciple, destined to leave the Red Dust behind and enter an Immortal Sect.”

Ding Xiulong spoke as he walked, so their pace remained slow.

Chen Qingyang listened as they walked deeper into the cave. It was now so dark that an ordinary person would struggle to see. At the end of the path stood what looked like another palace. A few Magical Artifacts were arranged before it, and several other paths branched out in all directions.

He guessed the Magical Artifacts were Array Bases. ’When the array was intact,’ he thought, ’the Myriad Cave must have been illuminated, not dark like this.’

”On the day the Profound Robe Daoist departed, the Emperor himself saw him off at the Imperial Palace. We all saw it clearly. The Daoist took the boy and rose into the sky with Wind Control, heading west.”

”A moment after their figures vanished, a voice echoed down from the heavens: ’On a certain day, forty-nine years from now, the Royal Family will once again give birth to a daughter. This girl shall be uniquely blessed. Once she steps upon the Immortal Dao, she is destined to achieve ascension!’”

At this point in his story, the old Daoist seemed lost in thought and fell silent.

Chen Qingyang asked, ”Those kinds of tricks might fool mortals, but you’re a cultivator. Surely you don’t believe in such superstitious nonsense? Besides, how could any of this be related to what’s happening today?”

In the darkness, Ding Xiulong’s voice was deadly serious. ”You don’t understand, Senior Brother Chen. That’s exactly what Senior Brother Zhang thought at the time. As soon as he saw the Profound Robe Daoist leave, Senior Brother Zhang immediately gave chase on the clouds. Unfortunately, the man’s cultivation was far superior to his. All he could determine was that he headed west... Senior Brother Chen, please, this way!”

By now, the two had arrived in front of the palace-like structure. Ding Xiulong pointed down another path. ”The arrays aren’t functioning, so I’m afraid I must trouble Senior Brother Chen to continue on foot. It’s just a short walk down this trail to the place where the Extremely Yin Grass is cultivated.”

Chen Qingyang was beginning to suspect the old man was just afraid he’d get bored on the walk and was spinning tales to pass the time.

He didn’t respond, so Ding Xiulong continued, ”Senior Brother Chen, you were born and raised in an Immortal Sect, so you naturally view the world from a high vantage point. People like us, with one foot still in the Red Dust, have to look up at the world from below.”

”The difference is that everything you see falls under the banner of the Tai Xu Immortal Sect’s Lower Institutes. But what I see is a world full of Immortal Cultivation Clans and sects, with reclusive masters hidden in mountain forests and deep ravines. The colossal Tai Xu stands proud above them all, but the world is a veritable forest of powers, too numerous to count.”

”Because of this, we just assumed the Profound Robe Daoist was merely one of those reclusive masters and paid him no further mind.”

This time, Chen Qingyang nodded seriously. There was a great deal of sense in the old Daoist’s words.

”Five years passed just like that. Then, the Emperor suddenly died a violent death. The Empress had her heart, liver, and other organs dug out and her body was hung from the city gate. Many disciples at Ci Yun Temple also died. When Senior Brother Zhang investigated, he found traces of the Demon Sect. Furthermore, the culprit bore a strong resemblance to the Thirteenth Prince from all those years ago.”

”Only then did we begin to suspect that the Profound Robe Daoist was from the other side of the Cyan Nether River—that he was a member of the Demon Sect. The Thirteenth Prince must have cultivated a Demonic Sect’s Technique and returned to avenge his mother. The Emperor was a heartless man, and the Empress had plotted against the boy’s mother in secret, so they both met a violent end.”

”Senior Brother Zhang determined that the man’s cultivation wasn’t very high—he wasn’t even in the Essence Condensation Realm—but his methods were insidious and his mind was exceptionally vicious. In the end, they were unable to find him.”

Hearing the story to this point, Chen Qingyang finally felt that it was starting to sound plausible.