Immortal Sword Master

Chapter 483: Chapter 479: Undying Celestial King, Hidden Killing Intent

”You’ve guessed correctly. The person who created the Hidden Dragon List is indeed a figure of immense power. It wouldn’t even be an exaggeration to call him the most supreme figure in the entire East Sea!”

Meng Haoran’s expression grew more solemn than ever before, and a look of admiration appeared on Meng Tianyu’s face beside him.

”You mean... that one they call ’the old undying one’?” Ning Jiang paused before slowly saying, ”The Undying Celestial King?”

”That’s right. It is indeed the Undying Celestial King. Only he has the kind of heaven-reaching power needed to create the Hidden Dragon List!”

Meng Haoran said respectfully.

The Undying Celestial King, one of the Four Great Kings of this era, a supreme powerhouse who stands at the very apex of the East Sea!

”According to the rumors, the Undying Celestial King has already lived for over ten thousand years?” Ning Jiang asked, intrigued.

Normally, a King’s lifespan is ten thousand years.

And it’s a fixed ten thousand years!

Whether you’re the most common One-Star King or a Nine-Stars Heaven King, once those ten thousand years are up, it’s dust to dust. Your body dies and your Dao vanishes.

This is difficult to change, as it is a shackle placed upon Celestial Martial Realm Kings by the heavens themselves.

After all, Celestial Martial Realm Kings are too powerful. Along with their great strength, they must also endure certain limitations imposed by the world.

A ten-thousand-year lifespan cannot be extended, no matter what Heavenly and Earthly Treasures one uses. It would be incredibly difficult even for a Venerable to do so, unless they were to use their own origin essence. But no Venerable would ever do such a thing.

Normally, there is only one way to break the ten-thousand-year limit: breaking through from the Celestial Martial Realm to the Saint Martial Realm...

”It sounds incredible, doesn’t it? But it’s true.”

Meng Haoran said in awe, ”Back in my youth, a thousand years ago, the Undying Celestial King was still known as the Longevity Celestial King. He had already lived for over nine thousand years, so some people called him ’Nine Thousand Years Old.’”

”Now, a thousand years have passed, yet the Longevity Celestial King has not perished. He is still alive, so people gradually began to call him the ’Undying Celestial King.’ How the Undying Celestial King managed to break the ten-thousand-year limit has always been one of the great mysteries of the Great Thousand Realms.”

As a King himself, Meng Haoran could clearly feel the limit on his own lifespan—a limit of ten thousand years.

He believed that once his ten thousand years were up, he was destined to die.

Yet the Undying Celestial King had broken this limit, which was truly incredible.

”Interesting.”

As a Legendary Venerable, Ning Jiang was vastly experienced and knowledgeable, so he wasn’t particularly shocked. He actually knew of several methods to break the ten-thousand-year limit.

But those methods all came at an immense cost...

”Even if the Undying Celestial King truly broke the ten-thousand-year limit, he can’t have extended it by much. A hundred years at most. He still won’t be able to escape his eventual demise,” Ning Jiang said, shaking his head.

The ten-thousand-year bottleneck can indeed be broken. After all, there is always a sliver of a chance. But the extension would be a hundred years at most.

’If I’m guessing correctly, perhaps that Undying Celestial King doesn’t have much time left.’

”Of the current Four Great Kings, the Undying Celestial King is the eldest and the most unfathomable. No one in the East Sea has ever dared to question the authority of the Hidden Dragon List he created.”

Meng Haoran said.

It made sense. Who would dare question a peerless Celestial King? What other King’s judgment could possibly surpass that of a Celestial King?

”I heard that this eldest Celestial King has a rather deep connection to the youngest Celestial King of the past. I wonder if it’s true,” Meng Tianyu couldn’t help but ask.

”Are you talking about Golden Cicada? To my shame, Golden Cicada and I are from roughly the same generation. But his talent was unparalleled; he became a Celestial King in less than a thousand years, while I only barely managed to step into the King Realm.”

Meng Haoran thought for a moment, then said, ”Rumor has it that Golden Cicada knew the Undying Celestial King. I’ve even heard that the Undying Celestial King may have been the one to foster Golden Cicada’s rise back in the day. It’s a pity that this peerless Celestial King entered the forbidden land in the Six Eastern Provinces and vanished without a trace.”

”The Ancient Forbidden Land? That’s a forbidden zone as infamous as the Land of the Ruins in our own East Sea,” Meng Tianyu exclaimed.

Hearing their conversation, Ning Jiang was somewhat surprised.

’I didn’t expect Golden Cicada to have a connection to the Undying Celestial King.’

’That remnant soul of Golden Cicada still shows no signs of waking. It won’t be too late to ask him when he does,’ Ning Jiang thought.

”Ning Xiaoyou, now that you’re on the Hidden Dragon List, you must be careful. The tallest tree catches the most wind. You will make many new enemies, especially those who are jealous of your talent. They might try to attack you in secret.”

Meng Haoran warned gravely.

According to him, some people on the Hidden Dragon List had been assassinated by powerful figures in the past, causing a huge stir throughout the East Sea.

”It doesn’t matter. What’s coming will come. If someone really wants to kill me, let them try. I’ve never cared for such tribulations on my path.”

Ning Jiang waved his hand, completely unconcerned.

Any tribulation was merely a whetstone to temper him, something that would only accelerate his growth!

”However, there is also a major benefit.”

”Oh? What is it?”

”The most powerful faction in the East Sea is the Dragon God Celestial Palace, founded by the Undying Celestial King. And since he is the one who created the Hidden Dragon List, anyone who makes it onto the list receives a degree of protection from the Dragon God Celestial Palace...”

...

While Ning Jiang’s name was causing a great stir across the East Sea,

「In an undisclosed location in the East Sea.」

In a dim, cavernous hall stood a long table. Several ancient bronze lamps were arranged on either side of it, but none of them were lit.

”FWOOSH.”

Suddenly, the ancient bronze lamps ignited one after another, burning with an eerie green flame. Within each flame, a blurry figure appeared.

”Everyone, the new Hidden Dragon List is out. There’s another person on it this time.”

”A newcomer has made it onto the Hidden Dragon List after three years. Interesting.”

”Well? Should we make a move?”

”There’s no point in discussing this now. Let’s wait for the Lord to arrive before we decide.”

At the head of the long table sat an even larger, dark-red ancient lamp. Just then, a flame as crimson as blood erupted from it.

Within the flame, a majestic and imposing figure materialized.

”Greetings, My Lord.”

The other figures in the flames hurriedly clasped their fists and bowed with the utmost respect.

”No need for formalities.”

From within the blood-red flame, the mysterious figure spoke in an authoritative voice, ”You should all know why I have summoned you, but we will get to that in a moment.”

His gaze fell upon one of the flames as he asked coldly, ”I sent you to hunt down the Little Dragon Girl some time ago. What is the status?”

”Reporting, My Lord. The Little Dragon Girl is exceptionally troublesome. I’ve forced her into desperate situations several times, but she has always managed to escape. However, I will see the mission through to completion.”

”She is on the Hidden Dragon List, after all. It’s only natural that she’d be difficult to kill.”

The mysterious figure in the blood-red flame did not seem intent on assigning blame. Instead, he changed the subject. ”As long as the Undying Celestial King lives, our plans will be affected. He wants to use the Hidden Dragon List to select geniuses and groom a successor. We cannot allow him to succeed, no matter the cost. This time, we have this Ning Jiang. Who will go?”

”My Lord, I will go.”

”Ghost Shadow. With you handling it, I can rest easy. Do not disappoint me.”

”Yes.”

The flames in the lamps dimmed one by one, and silence once again fell upon the hall.