I Shall Be Everlasting In the World of Immortals

Chapter 248: The Uncrowned King

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“Damn you, Turtle Talisman Master! Youʼve hidden yourself this deeply…”

The hooded man coughed up blood as he fell from the wall, his deep-set eyes growing even colder.

If not for the soft armor he wore beneath his robes, combined with the protection of his Core power shielding his organs, that simple elbow strike would have done more than just leave him seriously injured.

Within the hooded man, his Core power surged, his aura spiking as he began to unleash a powerful secret technique.

Suddenly, his body swayed, his head spinning as dark green blood oozed from the corner of his mouth.

“When… did you poison me?”

The hooded man barely managed to steady himself, his voice tinged with fear as he no longer dared to recklessly circulate his energy.

Since the moment Lan Changʼan had entered the room, he had been fully aware of his presence, not detecting any sign of a poisoning attempt.

“Hehe, I’ve had a hidden poison barrier set up in the hidden layer of this room for years. The moment any foreign energy waves penetrate it, the poison silently disperses,” Lan Changʼan replied with a light chuckle, an amused look on his face.
The poison he used was the degraded, expired third-rank toxin he had acquired from the ancient ruin.

The more injured one was, the faster the poison would spread once they circulated their energy.

Back in the day, even the formidable Tan Immortal was slowly worn down by this poison within the ruins.

“Bleh!”

The hooded man’s blood surged again, and he spat out another mouthful of poisoned blood.

Fury filled him. Who poisons their own bedroom like this? Was Lan Changʼan not afraid of poisoning himself?

Lan Changʼan’s Evergreen Technique granted him a superb ability to resist and neutralize poison, so he wasn’t worried about harming himself. This ability had already been proven years ago in the Mu family’s medicinal garden.

“Break!”

The hooded man quickly formed a hand seal and pointed toward the wall, releasing the isolation barrier he had set up.

At the same time, he gripped a talisman in his other hand, channeling his Core power for protection, and threw himself against the wall.

The hooded man was seriously injured and poisoned. Even if he managed to kill Lan Changʼan in this struggle, he might not survive the encounter himself.

As long as he could break through the wall, he could activate the third-rank Wind Escape Talisman in his hand and flee from the Xia Family’s territory.

Bang!

The hooded man’s body hit the wall as if it were an iron fortress, his head splitting open, blood streaming down as stars filled his vision.

“Aaagh!”

With a miserable scream, the hooded man slumped, unconscious.

In his final moments of awareness, he couldn’t understand why the walls of this seemingly ordinary room had become indestructible.

With the strength he used, even a second-rank stone should have shattered on impact.

Squeak!

A large rat demon, about the size of a small dog, emerged from the floor and lazily burped, smelling faintly of wine.

The walls surrounding the room, previously coated with an earthy-yellow crystalline pattern, gradually dimmed and faded away.

Lan Changʼan flicked out two talisman seals, sticking them to the hooded man’s chest and abdomen.

After confirming everything was secure, Lan Changʼan crouched down and took the third-rank escape talisman from the man’s hand.

While searching his body, he found a few other trinkets.

“Hm?”

After a while, Lan Changʼan pulled a thin, almost transparent mask from the hooded man’s face, revealing a somewhat ugly face underneath.

Infusing it with a bit of energy, faint blue patterns appeared on the mask’s surface.

A sense of familiarity struck Lan Changʼan, prompting him to take out his own Hundred Illusions Mask and compare the two.

After a preliminary inspection, he found that the hooded man’s mask seemed like a lower-end version of his Hundred Illusions Mask.

It could disguise one’s appearance, simulate the aura, and conceal their cultivation, though its effectiveness was much weaker.

“So, you’re from the Unseen Gate…” Lan Changʼan muttered thoughtfully.

…

Sometime later, Xing Peng awoke from unconsciousness to find himself in a dimly lit basement.

All of his mana was sealed, his body and limbs tightly bound by sturdy metal chains, leaving him barely able to move.

His personal belongings, including his storage pouch, were nowhere to be found.

“Speak honestly, and I may leave you alive,” Lan Changʼan’s familiar voice sounded nearby.

Soon, the familiar figure of the white-robed man came into view.

“Lan Changʼan, everyone in the Unseen Gate is a dead soldier. We do not fear death!” Xing Peng sneered arrogantly, defiance etched across his face.

“If you dare to kill this seat, you won’t escape the Unseen Gate’s and the Six Sacred Gates’ relentless pursuit.”

Despite his life being in Lan Changʼan’s hands, Xing Peng’s pride and arrogance remained unbroken.

“A mere Fake Dan dares to call himself ‘this seat’?” Lan Changʼan scoffed, sneering at the man’s bravado even in the face of death.

He had recently gathered some information on the Unseen Gate, one of the six great demonic sects. It was said to be the most mysterious and terrifying of them all.

Even if one managed to capture an agent of the Unseen Gate, extracting information was nearly impossible, often leading to the captives taking their own lives.

“Fine, I’ll grant you a swift end.”

Lan Changʼan made up his mind. He would kill Xing Peng here in his own residence to avoid implicating the Xia Family of Qingsha Bay.

Dumping the body elsewhere would be pointless.

After all, he was already in the Unseen Gate’s sights, and Xing Peng’s mission likely involved superiors and accomplices.

For a Fake Dan cultivator like this, it was likely his sect had set up a soul lamp for him.

The moment he died, or if he failed to report back after a set time, it would alert the sect’s backup forces.

Whoosh!

Lan Changʼan sprinkled some dark red powder over Xing Peng’s body.

Once the powder was absorbed, it would begin to incinerate on its own, with a half-day delay.

“Unseen Gate canʼt be messed with! This is my chance to escape, before Xing Peng’s superiors notice anything, I’ll leave Jing Kingdom and head to the vast and resource-rich Feng Kingdom. With Chu Tianfeng True Monarch, the top cultivator in the surrounding nations, holding down the fort, even the Unseen Gate wouldn’t dare act recklessly there.”

Lan Changʼan was confident that with his Evergreen Technique and Hundred Illusions Mask, he could carry out his escape plan successfully.

No matter how formidable the Unseen Gate was, it was still only one sect, and to infiltrate multiple neighboring countries, the distribution of manpower in each territory was definitely limited.

Thud!

Just as Lan Changʼan reached the door of the chamber, a sound came from behind him.

“Master Lan, I… I admit my mistake!”

The hooded man was on his knees, pleading, tears and snot streaming down his face in desperation.

Lan Changʼan paused, stunned.

The Unseen Gate was rumored to be full of dead warriors, and this man had shown such unbreakable pride, seemingly unafraid of death.

This sudden reversal left Lan Changʼan momentarily at a loss.

This guy was really good at pretending.

From the very beginning, Lan Changʼan had been deceived by his mysterious and imposing demeanor.

“I preferred your defiant attitude,” Lan Changʼan remarked, both amused and exasperated, as he stepped forward and kicked the man.

The hooded man looked up with a flattering smile, shamelessly saying, “As long as Master Lan likes it, Xing Peng can act that way for you anytime.”

Lan Changʼan relaxed slightly; if the hooded man feared death, then things would be much easier to handle.

A plan began to form in his mind.

If he could go along with this man’s plan and become an outer contact for the Unseen Gate, he could not only avert the immediate crisis but also have a steady flow of intelligence in the future.

After all, Lan Changʼan’s Hundred Illusions Mask was of far higher quality than the hooded man’s mask, making it perfect for slipping under the radar and blending in.

As long as he kept a low profile and avoided high-ranking members of the Unseen Gate, he could maintain his cover for a long time.

…

”From now on, Iʼll ask, and you answer. If you dare lie, I’ll kill you on the spot and flee to another country.”

”Yes, yes, Master Lan,” the hooded man replied obediently, his demeanor completely deferential.

”Actually, how about this,” he offered. ”I can open my mind willingly so you can use a soul-searching spell on me. That way, I won’t be able to lie. However, certain information about the Unseen Gate is protected by restrictions, so I won’t be able to answer those questions.”

”Very well.”

Lan Changʼan cast a soul-searching spell on the hooded man, who had fully opened his mind to the process.

His powerful spiritual sense, superior to a Fake Dan cultivator, made him confident that this man couldn’t deceive him.

”First, tell me your position within the organization.”

”This seat is Xing Peng!” The man announced with pride. ”An Incense Master under Shadow Hall Chief’s command in the Liang Kingdom branch of the Unseen Gate.”

Under the influence of the soul-searching spell, the hooded man resumed his haughty, mysterious manner, as if he were above everyone.

Lan Changʼan couldn’t help but feel a bit speechless at the change.

”Why aren’t you based in the Jing Kingdom branch?”

”Jing Kingdom is just a small cultivation nation. It’s directly overseen by the branch chief of Liang Kingdom.”

”What’s the cultivation level of the Liang Kingdom branch chief?”

”Late Core Formation.”

”And your Shadow Hall Chief, what’s his level?”

”Mid Core Formation.”

After a few more questions, Lan Changʼan gained a rough understanding of the Unseen Gateʼs organizational structure.

Each mid-tier cultivation nation was overseen by a branch chief at the late Core Formation stage, responsible for intelligence, infiltration, and subversion.

Below the branch chief were the Hall Chiefs, who each managed a specific region or specialized duty.

For example, in Jing Kingdom, which Xing Peng was familiar with, there were three Hall Chiefs, each responsible for a different area: the local sects, the Merchant Alliance, and the Xuan Yin Demonic Sect.

Lan Changʼan was a bit surprised that a Hall Chief specifically managed the Xuan Yin Demonic Sect.

Below each Hall Chief were multiple Incense Masters, typically either early Core Formation cultivators or, like Xing Peng, Fake Dan cultivators with exceptional skills.

Due to Jing Kingdom’s weak strength, most of the Incense Masters there were only at the Fake Dan level.

”If you stayed in Qingsha Bay for a few more days, would it alarm your subordinates or attract suspicion from the Shadow Hall Chief?”

”A few days would be fine. My status under the Shadow Hall Chief is rather special, so my tasks are more flexible.”

”Oh? And why are you treated with such privilege?”

”Because the Shadow Hall Chief is this seatʼs elder cousin.”

Hearing this, Lan Changʼan finally understood; this guy was well-connected.

With a cousin at the mid-Core Formation stage backing him, it was no wonder he had such a strange attitude.

It seemed that, since Jing Kingdom’s tasks weren’t particularly demanding, Xing Peng had been given a loose assignment, allowing him to operate as he pleased. He was essentially coasting through his duties.

Lan Changʼan couldn’t help but sigh—any large organization inevitably accumulates some freeloaders just going through the motions.

”Why did you target Lan Changʼan?” he asked.

”Lan Changʼan was marked by the branch as a cultivator worth recruiting or subverting, as he posed low risk.”

”And why did he make it onto your list?”

”His friend, Fairy Shi, is a talented formation master suspected of having inherited an ancient formation inheritance. Another friend, Zhang Tieshan, recently succeeded in transforming his dan back into liquid, which might lead him to achieve an upper-tier True Dan. There are rumors that he has a Nascent Soul True Monarch behind him. These two could pose a problem during the future invasion of the Sacred Sect.”

”What’s the origin of the mask you’re wearing?”

”This mask is called the ‘Green Face.’ It’s only granted to those who hold a certain status within the Unseen Gate or who have earned notable achievements.”

”Are there other types of masks with different ranks?”

”Yes, from lowest to highest, they are White Face, Green Face, Blue Face, Purple Face, and the legendary ‘Faceless.’”

”Faceless?”

”The Faceless mask is the supreme treasure of the Unseen Gate, worn only by the sect master. Its wearer is regarded as the Uncrowned King.”