Dare I Ask Heaven, How Does One Become an Immortal?

After sealing off the sand cave, Qin Sang let out a long breath. First feigning weakness to lower their guard, then doubling back while they gave chase, catching them off guard with the secret talisman and the Yin-Yang Compass to close the distance in an instant, and striking down the strongest among them in one blow. The move had seemed exceedingly risky. In truth, the worst possible outcome was merely that the scar-faced man had been prepared and managed to block his surprise attack. Relying on the Nine Dragons Heavenly Chariot Talisman, he could still have shaken them off at any moment and flown away, never trapped in a hopeless, fatal corner. Without using either a talisman treasure or the Ten Directions Yanluo Banner, he had slain a formidable enemy and captured two alive. Reviewing the battle just now, Qin Sang was quite satisfied with his own performance. After a brief period of meditating to recover his breath, Qin Sang pointed a finger, conjured a ball of freezing water out of thin air, and splashed it onto Yu Daiyue's face. Yu Daiyue woke from his unconscious state. After a moment of bewilderment, his eyes turned calm as he met Qin Sang's gaze, neither begging for mercy nor uttering a word. Qin Sang could tell that Yu Daiyue was bent on dying. Yu Daiyue would certainly be killed, but Qin Sang was curious about why Yu Daiyue harbored murderous intent toward him. His fingers tapped repeatedly into the air, releasing restrictions shaped like sound waves that drifted toward Yu Daiyue and sank into him. Yu Daiyue furrowed his brow tightly. His spiritual power was depleted and his sea of qi sealed; possessing no strength to resist, he could only let Qin Sang manipulate him at will. Restriction after restriction sank in, yet Yu Daiyue felt no change occurring within himself, and he gradually grew impatient. "Kill me!" Yu Daiyue spoke for the first time, only to urge Qin Sang to kill him, his voice uncommonly hoarse. Qin Sang turned a deaf ear, his fingers dancing even faster. At last, the final restriction of the Soul-Snatching Incantation took shape. Qin Sang's finger was swift as lightning, jabbing with extreme speed toward the space between Yu Daiyue's brows. The restriction shimmered with light and sank into his body. Yu Daiyue's body shuddered. A look of struggle surged in his eyes, but then his gaze abruptly turned hollow, staring blankly ahead. The Soul-Snatching Incantation had taken effect. Qin Sang had obtained this incantation from the relics of Dique, and this was his first time using it after mastering it. He could see that Yu Daiyue was determined to die and would not answer any questions, so he might as well use him to test the incantation's efficacy. "Senior Brother Yu, is there a grudge between us?" Qin Sang cut straight to the chase, voicing his greatest doubt. "No grudge." Yu Daiyue shook his head from side to side, his tone flat and his answer prompt. "Then why," Qin Sang squatted down, "why kill me?" "Because you are a piece of trash!" Yu Daiyue's expression suddenly became horrifyingly twisted. His eyes turned bloodshot, blood oozing at the corners as he glared fixedly at Qin Sang. Blue veins bulged along his neck as he let out a hysterical roar. "A piece of trash! "A piece of trash with only a five-element spiritual root! "A piece of trash plucked and replenished by others, his foundation damaged! "Medicine dregs! "Why you?! "Why did you break through before me?! "Do you know what I went through all these years? "Huh?! "Because of you, I couldn't even become a human cauldron! "Because of Li Zai, I was punished by that old bastard Feng Ming and nearly expelled from the sect! "I had nowhere to turn! To break through, I braved death in the Ancient Immortal Battlefield for twenty years! "Twenty years! Countless times I ventured into the most perilous secret realms, walking the edge of life and death! "I tried dozens of times, hundreds of times, thousands of times! "Every single time, I failed! "All my efforts—completely useless! "That damned bottleneck still looms untouchable! "It is laughing at me! "Damn Heaven is laughing at me too! "Everyone is laughing at me! "And what about you?! "If you hadn't sold your body, you could never have reached Foundation Establishment! "While I was risking my life out here, you cowered in the Tianjing Secret Realm for twenty years, yet your strength actually surpassed mine! "And now, you've broken through again! "Why was it you?! "Why... wasn't it me?! "Why... why... why..." Having vented the fury pent up against the injustice of the heavens, Yu Daiyue's voice grew weaker and weaker. Yet he stubbornly, as if weeping tears of blood, demanded over and over in his hoarse rasp: "Why was it you?" Qin Sang quietly met the gaze of the maddened Yu Daiyue. Unexpectedly, being cursed to his face as a piece of trash did not anger him; even his hatred at being ambushed vanished without a trace, leaving behind only an endless sorrow. "So back at the ancient cultivator's abandoned abode, when you insisted on inviting me to explore together, you had already harbored murderous intent toward me. Five years ago, when you invited me to return to the abode to harvest the Earth Fire Coiling Tung, that was a trap as well." After Yu Daiyue finished venting, Qin Sang sneered, "Why make yourself sound so wronged? Because my talent is inferior to yours, you believed my breakthrough was due to some miraculous encounter and wanted to seize it, didn't you? What did you mean earlier when you told me to hand over the treasures I got from Heavenly Corpse Cave?" "Without a miraculous encounter, how could you have surpassed me? How could you have broken through before me?!" Yu Daiyue's tone was brimming with conviction. "At Heavenly Corpse Cave, you must have obtained Heavenly Corpse Sect relics in the core restricted area! Otherwise, you couldn't possibly cultivate so quickly!" Qin Sang frowned and scolded, "Absolute nonsense! The core restricted area of Heavenly Corpse Cave was a ruin. I went in with you back then and searched it together with you; it was impossible to pocket anything in secret... Wait..." Qin Sang suddenly recalled that before entering the core restricted area of Heavenly Corpse Cave, he had pushed open the heavy darksteel doors first, and only then had Yu Daiyue appeared. When Yu Daiyue arrived, what he must have seen was the doors already open and Qin Sang standing before them! Qin Sang came to a sudden realization. Although he indeed hadn't entered yet back then, would anyone who saw that scene not have harbored suspicions? No wonder... Trapped before a bottleneck, Yu Daiyue had already become obsessed, losing himself to inner demons. Whenever Yu Daiyue remembered that scene and thought about how Qin Sang had overtaken him, it must have plunged into his heart like a thorn. Deeper and deeper, more and more painful, until madness took hold. Qin Sang fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Back then, did the thought of killing me and seizing the treasure ever cross your mind?" "No." Yu Daiyue shook his head from side to side. Before long, a ripple passed through Yu Daiyue's eyes. The Soul-Snatching Incantation lost its effect. The incantation could not erase his memories; he remembered everything that had just occurred. Before Yu Daiyue could speak, Qin Sang let out a soft sigh, addressing him one last time: "Senior Brother Yu." "I'll give you a quick death." With that, Qin Sang hovered his palm over Yu Daiyue's forehead. Spiritual power surged forth, shattering Yu Daiyue's soul. Then a streak of intense flame fell upon Yu Daiyue, burning him to ashes. Let it simply be that Yu Daiyue went missing in the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, just like countless fellow cultivators struggling along the path of immortality, who quietly perished for all manner of reasons. From that moment on, the last traces of Yu Daiyue vanished from the world. Yu Daiyue was far from the first life taken by Qin Sang's hands. He no longer felt the slightest stir in his heart when taking a life. Yet, having personally slain an enemy who had ambushed him, Qin Sang felt no sense of relief or triumph—only a stifling weight in his chest. He looked up. The thick layer of sand blocked his view, hiding the clear azure sky, but it could not block his thoughts. Dare I ask Heaven, how does one become an immortal?