Why Wouldn't I Dare?

The guests had all arrived, and the auspicious hour had struck. Inside the Palace of Grand Beginning, celestial music chimed in unison, and a thousand lanterns blazed to life. Luan birds of every hue trailed long plumage behind them, churning the clouds into a riot of shimmering splendor. Even several spiritual birds that had not left their nests in centuries took to the air, prompting rounds of cheers from the low-ranking disciples below, who all felt they were witnessing a sight of a lifetime. High above, these old birds were conversing in faint strands of divine sense. A giant golden-feathered eagle said, "I've only been asleep for two hundred years. Why did you suddenly drag me out? Isn't it just someone ascending to immortality? What's the big deal? Last time, when that little fellow Tinghai ascended, I just slept right through it and ignored him." "This one is different!" "How could it be different?" The giant eagle remained unconvinced. An old bird with red plumage, a blue tail, and claws bearing True Solar Fire earnestly admonished, "You've been asleep the whole time, so you have no idea how terrifying Old... Immortal Chunqiu is! Leaving him aside, it's his grand-disciple and great-grand-disciple that are truly dangerous! Those two fellows might not have ascended to immortality yet, but both of them have taken immortal lives—more than one! Can we afford to cross people like that? "Besides, that Old... Immortal Chunqiu is the most petty and vindictive man alive! Back in the day, I merely showed him a slight lack of respect, and ever since, he has called me a mixed-breed mutt every single time he sees me!" Looking at the old bird's distinctly divided plumage, the giant eagle pondered thoughtfully. "Aren't you a mutt, though?" "That's not the point!" The old bird's expression changed. Another old bird chimed in, "The point is, if you fly circles to offer congratulations, he might not remember you. But if you don't come, he will definitely remember you!" The giant eagle gave a sudden jolt of fright, its feathers nearly turning black with terror. Then, thunder surged throughout the Palace of Grand Beginning as True Monarch Xuanyue stepped onto the platform. Following the tradition of the immortal realm, he displayed his celestial world. In this heaven and earth, there was nothing but a vast ocean of lightning slurry! There was no balance of the five elements, no equilibrium of yin and yang—only thunder, lightning in its purest, most extreme form! Such a world made countless immortals both above and below clamp their legs together in apprehension. Yet the immortals also saw the truth clearly: True Monarch Xuanyue's mind-manifested world harmed both enemy and self alike. How could a bellyful of celestial thunder be so easily harbored? When he hoisted this mind-manifested world into the celestial heavens, Xuanyue must have inflicted deep injury to the very root of his lifespan. Now that Xuanyue had made his appearance and displayed his mind-manifested world before all under heaven, skilled observers and diviners among the immortals immediately coordinated. One saw through the reality of the mind-manifested world, while the other calculated Immortal Monarch Xuanyue's remaining lifespan: one hundred and ninety-six years. The immortals all breathed a collective sigh of relief. It was merely two hundred years; they could endure it simply by entering secluded cultivation. In truth, True Monarch Xuanyue had profound foundations and a lofty cultivation attainment. He was an unprecedented genius who had practically never consumed fierce, life-draining elixirs. Under normal circumstances, ascending to immortality would have left him with at least ten thousand years of lifespan, yet now less than two centuries remained. Being vast in experience, the immortals instantly deduced that Xuanyue's lightning sea world was likely even more terrifying than it appeared. To hoist such a world into the celestial heavens, he must have burned his very lifespan. Having paid such a steep price, Xuanyue would never be content to sit quietly; he would surely go around picking fights! For a moment, a chill ran through the immortals, and they resolved to keep their heads down like turtles in their shells. Originally, if they could not defeat Xuanyue, they might still harbor the resolve to fight to the death. But seeing that his lifespan did not even exceed two hundred years, only a madman would consider throwing their life away against him. This was the first time Feng Hanzhou and Bai Kaishui of the Sword Palace had learned of this, leaving them momentarily at a loss for words. Immortal Monarch Yanshi and Zhu Yan had known all along, yet their expressions still darkened with sorrow. Xuanyue, on the other hand, let out a hearty laugh, showing not the slightest hint of gloom. "What is with those looks on your faces? This old Daoist has held back for decades. Now that I finally have the chance to fight to my heart's content for two hundred years, isn't that a joyous thing? To tell you the truth, having that old eunuch of a Venerable Master pressing down on my head was miserable. I could smell the stench of piss even in my sleep!" The Venerable Master had such an origin? Instantly, every immortal perked up their ears. After Xuanyue's words, everyone pasted on smiles and stepped forward one by one to present gifts and offer congratulations. The gifts this time were exceptionally heavy—especially from those who had not attended in person. This put Xuanyue in quite a dilemma: refusing them would breach etiquette, but accepting them would make it awkward to show up at their doorsteps to cause trouble later! In his dilemma, Xuanyue could not help but envy Wei Yuan. If it were Wei Yuan, the lad would undoubtedly take the gifts first and beat them up later without batting an eye. The gifts sent by the Academy and the Pure Land were intriguing: each had presented a boy, both possessing superb karmic luck and innate bone structure, each measuring over ten feet in radiance. This pair of unpolished gems proved so delightful that the old Daoist could hardly bear to put them down. Both boys possessed clean backgrounds and untainted karmic ties, marking them as future pillars of the sect; even if they could not ascend to immortality, they were certainly material for hall masters or monastery lords. Wei Yuan had no choice but to admire the move. As expected, none of the four great immortal sects was a pushover. This maneuver deflected pressure while mounting a subtle counterstroke; he was still too naive in comparison. With little lifespan remaining, Immortal Monarch Xuanyue placed extraordinary value on lineage and heritage. Furthermore, thanks to the master-disciple pair of Zhang Sheng and Wei Yuan, everyone who met Xuanyue was bound to praise him for his consummate skill in nurturing disciples who surpassed their master. Whenever Xuanyue heard this, his grin would stretch from ear to ear, often causing an imminent battle to dissolve into thin air. Seeing the patriarch's eyes shining so brightly that he wished he could scoop both boys up in his arms on the spot, Zhang Sheng poked Wei Yuan with a strand of sword qi and whispered, "Think of something." "Think of what? Send these two items back? We don't have a sufficient excuse!" Wei Yuan felt a headache coming on. Zhang Sheng kept a grim face. "I know there's not enough excuse. If it's not enough, find one!" Wei Yuan sighed. "The less lifespan the Patriarch has, the more he wants to see the younger generation flourish. Who knows, maybe he's finding disciples for the two of us..." Zhang Sheng said coldly, "Impossible! He wants to accept them as his final disciples!" "How could that be allowed?" Wei Yuan could no longer sit still either. By now, the external congratulations and gifts had concluded, and it was time for the internal halls of the Palace of Grand Beginning to offer their greetings in turn. Yanshi gifted tea, and Zhu Yan gave a wear-resistant immortal robe—nothing particularly novel. As the Master of Water Moon Hall, Wei Yuan should have been near the front, but being Xuanyue's great-grand-disciple, he was placed at the very end. When it finally came to Wei Yuan's turn, he waved his wide sleeve. Immortal clouds rolled across the hall, and from the mist emerged ninety-nine Scenery Command cultivators. Each was dressed differently, yet all possessed an ethereal, transcendent bearing. At first glance, every one of them resembled an eminent recluse who had emerged from seclusion. The appearance of so many reclusive masters made everyone's jaws drop to the floor. The cultivators held aloft congratulatory gifts of diverse kinds—mostly Daoist robes, hats, boots, and the like, all of prime quality and custom-tailored to Xuanyue's exact measurements. This gift was grand indeed. After presenting their gifts, each assumed a practiced pose and proclaimed in unison: "We wish the Old Immortal fortune as boundless as the eastern sea, and longevity matching the heavens!" Ninety-nine Scenery Commands cheering in unison—the sound not only reverberated throughout the entire mountain gates of the Palace of Grand Beginning, but carried three thousand li outward. The congratulatory cultivators and the immortals in the sky cringed internally at the sheer cheesiness of it all, gaining a whole new appreciation for Wei Yuan. This fellow's skin was truly thicker than a fortress wall! Xuanyue's smile stiffened with a touch of awkwardness, but beneath that awkwardness, an uncanny sense of clarity welled up within his Dao heart. Watching ninety-nine Scenery Commands exert every ounce of effort just to please him, how could his Dao heart not feel clear and open? Xuanyue chuckled. "Fellow Daoists, your thoughtfulness touches me." Normally, things would have concluded here, but Wei Yuan's mind stirred. Taking a step forward, he announced, "I have one more supreme treasure to offer in celebration of the Patriarch!" Instantly, curiosity was piqued among countless souls above and below, eager to see what kind of item even Wei Yuan would call a supreme treasure. Wei Yuan produced a precious casket. The casket itself appeared unremarkable, yet the moment it met everyone's gaze, dense mists welled forth. Vapor coiled upward, revealing a range of continuous verdant mountains looming within the fog. Accompanied by the babbling of streams, the sound of human voices and celestial music drifted from the waterside, lingering endlessly around the rafters. Ordinary cultivators might not recognize it, but the immortals were utterly shocked. This was a spectacle unique to supreme karmic luck treasures, capable of establishing karma and triggering resonances with the divine senses of high-level cultivators. Wei Yuan did not keep them in suspense, stating plainly, "This is the first set of karmic luck lifespan-extending precious medicine crafted by Qingming. Sealed within this box is a total of one hundred and eighty years of lifespan!" Several immortals in the sky who were merely watching the spectacle jumped to their feet! What kind of joke was this—a lifespan-extending precious medicine? Originally, Xuanyue had two hundred years, and everyone had pinched their noses and resolved to endure it. Now it had doubled in an instant! How could they endure this? Furthermore, all the immortals caught the unspoken implication: if there was a first set, there would be a second, a third, and endless sets to follow! If he gained several more centuries, even if the immortals debased themselves like cowering grandsons, they still wouldn't be able to outlast him! Sure enough, Xuanyue's eyes gleamed. Wasting no courtesies on his disciple, he snatched it and tucked it into his robes. "Good boy!" Wei Yuan watched with satisfaction as Xuanyue's fervor for the two boys instantly cooled. Since his lifespan was no longer so short, Xuanyue could take his time considering how best to settle them. In truth, both the Pure Land and the Academy had deployed an open scheme. While the two children appeared free of karmic entanglements, they had grown up in the Pure Land and the Academy and would inevitably retain affection for them. In the future, once they became pillars of the sect, they would naturally feel an affinity toward their origins. It did not mean they would betray the Palace of Grand Beginning, but it provided an avenue for future reconciliation between the sects. Wei Yuan's move caught everyone off guard. Yanshi and Zhu Yan were well aware that Xuanyue lacked lifespan. However, lifespan-extending medicines suitable for immortals were exceedingly rare to begin with; whenever any faction obtained one, they never kept it in reserve, swallowing it straight away. No matter how much wealth a precious medicine could fetch, nothing was as tangible as allowing one's ancestral immortal to live a few decades longer. Moreover, Xuanyue's mind-manifested world was entirely filled with lightning slurry, which would drastically undermine the efficacy of ordinary lifespan medicines. But what Wei Yuan presented was a treasure of karmic luck, which perfectly countered the tribulation of thunder. Once their shock subsided, another realization dawned upon the immortals: this lifespan-extending medicine of Wei Yuan's had seemingly never existed before. And when he deliberately emphasized the words "first set," was it meant solely for Xuanyue's ears? No, it was spoken for all the immortals to hear. In a flash, the immortals understood Wei Yuan's implied message: *I have a new version of lifespan-extending medicine here, capable of extending life by thousands of years. You all figure out where you stand.* This was truly troublesome... While the younger immortals could still exchange divine senses, several veteran immortals suddenly fell dead silent. Anything they said at this moment could easily betray their inner thoughts, so they chose to say nothing at all. Seeing that his aim had been achieved, Wei Yuan quit while he was ahead and stepped back to Zhang Sheng's side. After a brief deliberation, Xuanyue summoned Fenhai. "Zhang Sheng and Wei Yuan are busy, and it's not yet time for them to take disciples. You have plenty of experience guiding disciples, so these two children are entrusted to you from now on. However, in terms of generation, they shall be counted among the newest generation." Over these years, Sky Azure Hall had continually taken in several batches of disciples. The newest generation was three generations junior to Wei Yuan. Only then did Wei Yuan recall that, by mortal standards, he should have been long buried in the earth. Measured by the standards of immortals, however, he was still a mere fledgling. With all the ceremonial rites completed, Xuanyue formally assumed the position of Vice Palace Master, subsequently handing over the mantle of Hall Master of Sky Azure Hall to Zhang Sheng. By order of seniority, it should have gone to Fenhai, but unfortunately, he was still at least a century of bitter cultivation away from Scenery Command. In those earlier years, traveling everywhere to boil water as hired labor had ultimately set his cultivation back. Just as the ceremony was drawing to a close, an incomparably domineering aura appeared on the horizon, hurtling toward them at incredible speed. It crashed down just outside the mountain gates of the Palace of Grand Beginning like a falling meteor, shaking the entire grounds. An elderly Mountain Folk giant, several fathoms tall with skin furrowed like ravines, strode into the Palace of Grand Beginning, reaching the celebration hall in mere strides. Feng Hanzhou's face turned icy cold as he barked, "Do you take our human race to have no immortals?" The exceedingly ancient Mountain Folk giant chuckled. "I don't have much lifespan left anyway. If you want to make a move, go right ahead—I'll just self-detonate right here." Just as Feng Hanzhou was about to flare up, Bai Kaishui tugged at his sleeve. "Junior Brother, contain your temper and hear what he has to say." The elderly Mountain Folk chuckled raspily. "Palace Master Bai is sensible after all. Not like those reckless hotheads—can't fight for their lives, yet possess the foulest tempers." Murderous intent flashed in Feng Hanzhou's eyes, but as this was Xuanyue's grand ceremony and the host had not spoken, he could not act. Xuanyue spoke unhurriedly: "If you Mountain Folk think we can't fight, why didn't you send someone young? Hanging 'self-detonation' on your lips like that—why not just blow yourself up right now? This old Daoist might even respect you as a man." The Mountain Folk immortal's weathered face flushed red. "Trading barbs is meaningless. I have come to deliver a message." "Speak." The Mountain Folk immortal said, "The fifth highest peak of the Domain of Earth and Mountains, the great Qilizayi, heard that a lightning cultivator has recently attained immortality. He is deeply intrigued and has specifically invited you to spar in lightning arts. Of course, the Fifth High Peak will not bully a child: neither side will use cave heavens, sparring purely with lightning arts and immortal physiques. He asks: do you dare?" Xuanyue's eyebrows shot up as he replied coldly, "Why wouldn't I dare?"