Entry: I Secretly Cultivate Immortality in the Martial Arts World

261: Chapter 261 Cangwu Realm, Immortal Venerable Chenyue!The sound of Gu Yan’s sermon spread throughout the grotto-heaven.

All living beings heard it as if drinking sweet dew, each gaining something, becoming entranced and intoxicated; there is no need to detail it further.

However, outside the Supreme Creation Daluo Grotto-Heaven, in the eastern part of the Immortal Realm within the Immortal Court, a different scene was unfolding.

Lingyangzi sat in the guest seat, flanked by the master of the Immortal Court, Emperor Cang, and the master of the Divine Court, Emperor Haotian.

The halls of the Immortal Court were towering and shrouded in clouds; the three sat facing each other drinking tea, the atmosphere seemingly relaxed, but each harbored their own thoughts.

The subject of this gathering was none other than that Venerable Datong.

Emperor Cang’s Face was somber as he began to recount his grievances with Venerable Datong from the beginning.

”Brother Lingyangzi, I previously intended to form an alliance with the Buddhist Sect to jointly resist the Heaven and Earth Boundless Great Tribulation.”

”For this purpose, I promised the Buddhist Sect seven Immortal Domains. Seven Immortal Domains—everyone present knows exactly how much weight that carries.”

”The Buddhist Sect said they would consider it and dawdled for a long time. Later, they proposed that I send one of my offspring to the Lower Realm to purge a certain Minor Thousand Mortal Realm.”

”At the time, I thought it was just a Mortal Realm, what danger could there be? So I sent my beloved daughter, Princess Jin Zhao.”

”Princess Jin Zhao’s cultivation is at the Early Stage of the Golden Immortal Realm. Even in the Immortal Realm, she is a figure of note. Going to a Minor Thousand World, shouldn’t it have been a simple task?”

”And then what?” Emperor Haotian interjected.

”As it turned out, when Princess Jin Zhao reached that Mortal Realm, she was killed by that Venerable Datong,” Emperor Cang’s voice grew heavy.

”My beloved daughter, an esteemed Immortal King, gone just like that.”

”I was furious and intended to personally confront that Venerable Datong. But before I could act, that Mortal Realm completely vanished, and Venerable Datong disappeared along with it.”

”I mentioned these matters to you before, Brother, but never in such detail.”

Lingyangzi nodded slightly. ”I previously went to the Buddhist Sect at Spirit Mountain to inquire.”

”Buddha Datongguang personally stated that the Buddhist Sect’s falling out with Venerable Datong had a simple cause: the other party monopolized the entire faith of a Mortal Realm for himself, leaving nothing for the Buddhist Sect.”

”You both know how the Buddhist Sect operates.”

”First, they sent Arhat Huiming to the Mortal Realm. As a result, for some reason, Arhat Huiming fell into a demonic obsession and could not extricate himself.”

”Later, they sent Arhat Jingxin to the Mortal Realm to negotiate. But Venerable Datong gave no Face; without a word, he injured Arhat Jingxin and tossed him back in front of the gates of the Great Leiyin Temple on Spirit Mountain.”

At this point, the corner of Lingyangzi’s mouth twitched slightly, whether in a smile or a sigh: ”A dignified Arhat of the Buddhist Sect, tossed at his own doorstep like a sack of grain. The Buddhist Sect’s Face has been completely lost.”

He spoke calmly, but his words carried a hint of watching a spectacle for amusement.

As they were speaking, a Great Heavenly General outside the palace requested an audience.

This Great Heavenly General’s cultivation was in the Golden Immortal Realm, making him a figure of some standing in the Immortal Realm, commanding hundreds of thousands of Heavenly Soldiers.

Ordinarily, he was a majestic and imposing figure.

But as soon as he entered the hall, he bowed tremulously and reported:

”Reporting to Your Majesty, the Buddhist Sect is making small moves again. They have just sent a Pratyekabuddha to the Mortal Realm. According to intelligence from our secret lines, he intends to establish himself as a Buddha in a certain Mortal Realm.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the hall fell silent for a moment.

Emperor Haotian frowned, his tone displeased: ”Why bother reporting such a trivial matter?”

Emperor Cang was equally unhappy, setting his teacup down on the table: ”The Buddhist Sect sending a Pratyekabuddha to the Mortal Realm—what kind of move is that? Is it worth a special report? I have a myriad of affairs to attend to daily; is this what I must listen to?”

The Great Heavenly General stood in the hall, his heart as bitter as if he had chewed on Coptis root, unable to speak.

This order had been personally given to him by Emperor Cang.

Emperor Cang had instructed that any strange little movements from the Buddhist Sect, regardless of size or distance, must be reported personally and immediately, without delay or delegation.

He was merely following orders, not daring to omit a single word or delay for a single hour, yet now he was being blamed for being meddlesome.

But he dared not say anything.

Over the years, he had seen too many people have their cultivation stripped and be banished to the Mortal Realm by Emperor Cang over various trivial matters.

Some colleagues were stripped of their immortal status and cast into Reincarnation just for being half a moment late in delivering a message.

They didn’t even get a chance to explain.

There were others even more miserable, who were taken to fill a Formation simply because Emperor Cang was in a bad mood and looked at them once too often.

The more one speaks, the more mistakes one makes; the less one speaks, the fewer mistakes; and not speaking at all leads to no mistakes.

This was the ultimate rule for officials in the Immortal Court.

The Great Heavenly General bowed and said only: ”This subordinate accepts his punishment.”

With that, he turned to leave, his steps hurried, wishing he had eight legs for fear that a slow step would lead to him being refined into a Magic Treasure.

The three in the hall did not take this minor matter to heart.

A Pratyekabuddha going to the Mortal Realm to be a local Buddha was likely because the incense of that Mortal Realm was too tempting, and he wanted to occupy some territory to gather more followers.

Such things happened every few days between the Immortal Realm and the Buddhist Sect; it really wasn’t anything significant.

Lingyangzi picked up his teacup, and Emperor Cang continued to speak about the matter of Venerable Datong.

Emperor Haotian chimed in with some unintelligible murmurs from the side.

...

At the same moment, within the vast All Heavens and Myriad Worlds, there was a Minor Thousand Mortal Realm called the Cangwu Realm.

This Cangwu Realm was the very world where Shen Qingyi was born.

At this moment, in this world, a woman was searching everywhere for Shen Qingyi’s whereabouts.

The woman was dressed in white, untainted by a speck of dust, with long hair like a waterfall and a cold countenance, bearing a few points of resemblance to Shen Qingyi.

But now, on this cold Face, her brow was furrowed, and she pursed her lips, saying:

”Sister’s Reincarnation body was in this world; how could it have disappeared?”

Her name was Immortal Venerable Chenyue.

In the Immortal Realm, this name carried immense weight.

How much weight? An ordinary Immortal King would feel their legs turn to jelly upon hearing it.

Because she was an Immortal Emperor, and no ordinary one at that.

Standing behind her was a mysterious and ancient power with foundations so deep that even Emperor Cang of the Immortal Court and Emperor Haotian of the Divine Court were unwilling to provoke her lightly.

That power held ancient secret techniques and hidden mysteries that were not even recorded in the Immortal Realm.

And Immortal Venerable Chenyue was the current leader of that power.

But at this moment, there was no profound mystery on this Immortal Venerable’s Face, only anxiety and confusion.

She looked like a Mortal who couldn’t find their way home, rather than an Immortal Emperor in charge of a hidden ancient power.

The sister she spoke of was precisely Shen Qingyi.

Though she called her sister, the two were actually of one body.

The Karma involved was a long story, but if it had to be explained in a few words, it was that Shen Qingyi and Immortal Venerable Chenyue originated from the same source.

Shen Qingyi was the primary, and Immortal Venerable Chenyue was the secondary.

Immortal Venerable Chenyue presided over the Immortal Realm, leading that ancient power, while Shen Qingyi entered the cycle of Reincarnation, experiencing the Mortal World to comprehend various Daos.

With each life’s Perfection, the understood Daos, accumulated virtues, and experienced emotions were shared between the two.

This process had repeated, cycle after cycle, for ninety-nine million, nine hundred and eighty thousand lives.

Each life was a complete existence, with joys and sorrows, partings and reunions, birth, age, sickness, death, love, and hate.

These insights gathered together formed an unparalleled foundation.

This life was Shen Qingyi’s ninety-nine million, nine hundred and ninety thousandth Reincarnation.

It was also the final life.

Once this life reached Perfection and the two merged into one, Immortal Venerable Chenyue could break through the Bottleneck above the Immortal Emperor level.

She would step into the Realm that countless Immortal Emperors dreamed of: the Great Luo Unity Realm.

In the past, Shen Qingyi’s Reincarnations had never encountered a problem.

Immortal Venerable Chenyue had her own secret methods to sense her sister’s location and safety at any time, protecting her from the shadows.

For the previous ninety-nine million, nine hundred and eighty-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine lives, every life had been smooth and safe, without incident.

Yet, in this final one, a change occurred.

She had merely fallen into a deep sleep, closing her eyes for a brief nap.

With her cultivation, a brief moment could be hundreds or even thousands of years.

She had been resting in the Secret Realm of that ancient power, nurturing her Divine Soul, waiting for her sister’s final life to reach Perfection.

But when she woke up and her Divine Thought swept out, her sister was nowhere to be found.

Immortal Venerable Chenyue exhausted all her means.

Deducing heavenly secrets, tracing Karma, even using the forbidden techniques passed down by that ancient power.

But she gained nothing.

Shen Qingyi’s soul was not in Reincarnation, nor was it in the River of Fate.

It was not in any place within the All Heavens and Myriad Worlds.

Not in the past, not in the present, and not in any predictable future.