Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Shen Ying, pack up the house once you’re done eating,” Lonemoon instructed the foodie Shen Ying as he scurried around. Shen Ying had been eating steak and rice. “I’ve already made arrangements for Yu Hong to bring the disciples here and move all of your things over to the west hall. You’ll be staying there from now on.”
“Huh?” Shen Ying gave a blank expression. “Why?” She was happy to remain where she was. Why did she have to move? So troublesome.
“Isn’t there an Immortal Abode at the bottom of this peak?” Lonemoon asked rhetorically. “I’ve already studied it. When you are right now is a perfect position from which we can reach the center of the Immortal Abode if we dig right through the ground.”
“Why are we trying to reach the Immortal Abode?” Isn’t it crushed by now?
“Why else? Of course we’re going to collect the remains! Don’t you usually collect the equipment of those you kill?”
“…” That makes sense.
Lonemoon rolled his eyes and started to nag, “You’re a Sect Master after all. Can you please spend some thought for the sect? Don’t you know now that we’ve ascended to immortality, none of our weapons, spirit stones, pills or herbs will be useful? So many people from our sect has now ascended to immortality. If we don’t gather what we need, we would just be sitting around and eating the air. And…” He turned to look at the man to his right. “Who is this? Where did you pick him up from? Can you stop giving our sect trouble?”
Bitao: “…”
“This is Floaty.”
“I don’t care about Float Whatever. Put him back where you found him,” Lonemoon said, exasperated. As if it was not enough to wake up and find that the entire sect had ascended to immortality; everything that he had worked so hard to collect over the past few years have suddenly been reduced to trash. He was so anxious that he felt as if he was losing his mind. Yet, at this nerve-wrecking moment, all Shen Ying cared about was food. “The Sect has no money to support a freeloader.”
“Er, well… Immortal Friend, I am Bitao. We met in the mystic realm earlier,” Bitao explained awkwardly. He went on to describe everything that he had been through up to that point.
“You were the immortal soul that was forcing me to receive your outdated inheritance?”
“…” Is it necessary to call it “outdated”?
Lonemoon scanned him from head to toe, his eyes twinkling as if he had thought of a brilliant idea. He reached out and plucked Radish off his thigh, pushing it into Bitao’s arms. “That’s perfect! Since you have decided to stay in Invincible Sect, you can make some contributions! It’s time to put your skills to the test. Bring this radish around and refine some immortal pills. Refine only the valuable kinds.”
“Ji?” The Radish paused and studied Bitao. Then, it let out a loud “Pui!”
Yet another ugly thing!
Bitao: “…”
Is everyone in the Invincible Sect this determined to milk all the benefits out of everything they possessed?
Lonemoon turned back to Shen Ying and asked, “Shen Ying, what do you have planned for the future of the sect?”
“Plans?” Shen Ying paused.
“You don’t even have a single freaking plan?” Lonemoon’s mouth twitched as he felt his temples tense up from the frustration he felt. “Shouldn’t you at least have come up with a plan? Should we remain here or should we find somewhere else to move to? How about those newly recruited disciples? Drop your act! Didn’t you think of all of these when I passed out earlier on? You even fixed the annihilation problem. Keep working your brain and think!”
“Hm…” Shen Ying frowned. It was so tiring to work her brain. Moments later, she tapped Lonemoon on the shoulder and said seriously, “Father Niu, I’m counting on you!” What did she need her brain for while Father Niu was around? She’d might as well throw it away!
“Get lost!” Lonemoon shouted irritatedly. I’m not your nanny. “Don’t say I didn’t remind you: we know nothing about the immortal realm. On the surface, it looks like we’ve resolved the Azure World’s problem, but we still don’t know if Xun Li had any friends or relatives who might come knocking on our doors soon. What I’m afraid of is- ”
“You don’t have to worry about that,” Bitao stepped forward and interrupted. “The Qing Tong Immortal Abode is located in Qu Shuang City, in a marginal area that has thin Immortal Qi. What’s more, while the story of Xun Li’s immortal meridian is no secret, he did not want many people to know that he was using living souls to nurture his immortal meridian. So he normally minimises interaction with immortals from other Immortal Abodes. As long as we register our sect in Qu Shuang City and pay our dues on time, the city will not get involved in private disputes between different abodes.”
“Pay our dues?” Lonemoon asked, frowning. “Explain what that means.”
Bitao nodded and began to explain how things worked in the Immortal Realm.
In summary, they were told that this Immortal Abode was really nothing spectacular in the Immortal Realm.
“The place where we’re at now is Immortal Zhang Yan’s Qu Shuang City, which is in the country of Chong Zhen, and continent of Feng Cang. Immortals who ascended to immortality can come here to establish a sect and recruit disciples. There are thousands of immortal cave abodes in Qu Shuang City alone, and Qing Tong Immortal Abode is but one. The City owns every domain in Qu Shuang City, so we have to pay a fixed amount of immortal stones each year if we want to establish a sect here. There is an immortal meridian underneath Qu Shuang City – the closer we are to the center of the city, the thicker the Immortal Qi would be. Qing Tong Immortal Abode could be considered a first-rank sect, but there isn’t much Immortal Qi here because we’re far from the center of the city. That’s why Qing Tong Immortal Abode didn’t have to pay much in immortal stones each year.”
“What about the Stygian Immortal you mentioned?” Lonemoon asked.
“The immortal realm is no different from the mortal realm – we still have to increase our cultivation here,” Bitao explained. “There are eight main levels: Earth Immortal, Golden Immortal, Mystic Immortal, Stygian Immortal and Exalted Immortal. People with newly formed immortal bones usually are Earth Immortals. After one breaks through the Stygian Immortal stage, they can become an emperor. There are three types of emperors: Young Emperors, Immortal Emperors, and Celestial Emperors. Emperors are free to establish their own nations. Chong Zhen is a nation established by Immortal Emperor Ge You. The Celestial Emperors, who are above Immortal Emperors, own mainlands. There are a total of ten Celestial Emperors in the Immortal Realm; they own one ocean or one mainland each.”
“You mean…” Shen Ying interrupted as she set aside her rice. “We are only considered a small village on a hill? As long as we pay our dues, no one will care who is managing this place or staying here?”
“You could say so,” Bitao nodded.
Lonemoon heaved a huge sigh of relief. He considered something for a moment and said, “People who formed immortal bones are Earth Immortals. But our disciples have not gone through the lightning tribulation and don’t have immortal bones. What are they?”
“Relax, Immortal Friend. There is an easy solution!” Bitao explained “As long as they soak themselves in the Immortal Ascension Pond, the Immortal Ascension Pond’s water will enter their mortal bodies and form immortal bones. The only problem is that they might not be strong enough to form immortal bones. They must be Nascent Souls at the very least in order to enter the pond.”
“Where is the Immortal Ascension Pond?” Where is he supposed to look for it?
“You’re mistaken, Immortal Friend. The Immortal Ascension Pond is formed by the condensation of Immortal Qi. We can dig a hole anywhere and fix up an Immortal Qi Condensation Array, and an Immortal Ascension Pond will form. The Immortal Qi in the Immortal Realm is much thicker than Spirit Qi, and there aren’t going to be any Lightning Tribulations in the Immortal Realm. These disciples can all become Earth Immortals in less than a hundred years.”
Lonemoon frowned. His disciples would ascend to immortality in less than a hundred years. He himself had worked so hard for hundreds of years, yet his disciples would catch up with him quickly. Just thinking about this made his heart hurt.
“Great Immortal Shen, when we pay our dues the next time, we should register our sect with Qu Shuang City. Invincible Sect will then be considered an official immortal sect here.”
“When is the next time we pay our dues?”
“We always pay them at the beginning of the third month…” He counted with his fingers and suddenly paused. Suddenly, his eyes widened. “That’s… tomorrow!”
“…”
Shit, why didn’t you say so earlier!
He turned around and rushed out. After a while, he returned with over about thirty disciples and gestured toward the hall. “Hurry up, stop hesitating and start digging! Don’t leave any immortal stone behind.”
Shen Ying: “…”
