[735] The Three Octogenarian Elders

The Great Snow Mountain was simply called the Great Snow Mountain. Ever since ancient times, that had been its name. That was what Chen Asheng's grandfather had told him, and that was what he told others. Legend had it that three immortals resided deep within the Great Snow Mountain. No one knew their names, much less their origins. The reason such legends spread was that a hunter had once lost his way in the Great Snow Mountain. As everyone knew, losing one's bearings in the Great Snow Mountain with no way back was exceedingly deadly; in the vast majority of cases, it was a certain death sentence. Yet the hunter who became lost in the Great Snow Mountain encountered immortal fortune. Supposedly, he came across three immortals inside a stone cave. After devoutly kowtowing to them, he found himself back at the foot of the mountain in the blink of an eye, barely escaping with his life. Over the thousands of years that followed, similar legends emerged one after another. More and more villagers living near the Great Snow Mountain came to revere these three immortals, and so the three immortals were given a moniker. Because the three immortals all resembled the God of Longevity—with white hair, white beards, and an otherworldly, transcendent demeanor—they were eventually referred to as the Three Octogenarian Elders. Believers even carried tributes on their backs into the Great Snow Mountain, hoping to encounter immortal fortune. In the past, Chen Asheng had sneered at such people, dismissing them as delusional fools. Now, however, as he carried Su Wanniang step by step along the paths of the Great Snow Mountain, he was no different from them. The only difference was that what he sought was not immortal fortune, but an immortal medicine. An immortal medicine that could cure Su Wanniang's strange illness. ... The Three Octogenarian Elders. In truth, they were triplets. The eldest brother was named Chen Dahai, the second brother Chen Huohai, and the third brother Chen Xiaozhao. Their father had been an escort guard. Through their father's arrangements, the three had apprenticed under Eagle Claw Tie Xi. They trained in Eagle Claw for a full fifteen years before completing their apprenticeship, after which they followed in their father's footsteps and all became escort guards. Yet luck was not on their side. Trouble struck on their very first escort mission, when they inadvertently became entangled in the massive vortex of an imperial succession struggle and ended up hunted down by a certain prince. Fleeing all the way to the Great Snow Mountain, they finally leaped off a cliff in desperation to seek a slim sliver of survival. Who could have known that between life and death lay not only great terror, but also great opportunity? On the brink of death, the three unexpectedly entered a miraculous realm: the Three-Phase Mind Preservation Realm. This was in fact an inward-seeking method. Simply put, it meant tapping into strength from within one's own heart, seeking no external force, only internal power. It was somewhat similar to Yu Xian's current realm, though the Three Octogenarian Elders were slightly different, as they formed a cycle. The eldest brother could draw power from the second brother's spirit, the second brother could draw power from the third brother's spirit, and the third brother could draw power from the eldest brother's spirit, thereby establishing the Three-Phase Mind Preservation Realm. And so, the three, who should have died, cultivated selflessly amidst the ice and snow beneath the cliff. By the time they woke from their reverie, five hundred years had already passed. Remembering their parents and their enemies, they left the mountain to re-enter the martial world. Yet though the pugilistic world was still the pugilistic world, it was no longer their world; everything had changed, and the people of their past were gone. Their parents had long since passed away. That prince had failed in his bid for the throne ages ago, ultimately dying at the hands of another prince. In fact, that entire dynasty had fallen a century prior. And the ruler who lost the nation was the great-great-great-grandson of the prince who had successfully taken the throne... After learning all this, the three brothers suddenly felt that everything had lost its meaning. They returned to the Great Snow Mountain, carved out a stone cave, and from then on devoted themselves to cultivating inside it. Sun and moon rose and set, eras turning over. The three had no idea what level they had reached in their cultivation. Regardless, they just cultivated, cultivated, and cultivated; as long as progress could still be made, they would continue cultivating indefinitely. Occasionally, someone would wander into the depths of the Great Snow Mountain by mistake. They took no offense, treating it as a little diversion in their cultivation. Gradually, they discovered that their bodies felt lighter and lighter. With a wave of a hand, they could part the clouds and mists obscuring the sun and moon; with a mere thought, they could transport a lost wanderer to safety. In fact, they never used their full strength anymore, because whatever they wished to do, a single thought was enough to accomplish it. Yet they had long since become free of worldly desires, wishing only to explore the culmination of cultivation. Perhaps when they could no longer make any progress would be the time the three brothers finally left the Great Snow Mountain. As the three were cultivating, Chen Dahai slowly opened his eyes and spoke: "Someone is here." With their current realm, being disturbed was no longer an issue. Closing their eyes allowed them to enter the state of cultivation, and opening their eyes naturally brought them out. Everything was utterly effortless. Chen Huohai also opened his eyes and added, "A man and a woman. That woman's aura... I've never seen anything like it." "It doesn't seem like cultivation deviation, nor is it the effect of some demonic art. Rather, it resembles Heavenly Demon possession from mythological legends," Chen Xiaozhao said as he opened his eyes, analyzing carefully. Reflecting on their own circumstances, they had also wondered whether there were other immortals like them in the world. However, they had little interest in seeking out those immortals. After all, they had their own cultivation; unless there was truly nothing left to cultivate, they would not leave the mountain to search for other deities. Still, precisely because they were already akin to immortals—needing neither food nor drink, possessing boundless lifespans, and commanding vast divine abilities—the three had assumed that other immortals surely existed in the world. And where immortals existed, fiends naturally existed as well. Chen Huohai grew interested and said with a faint smile, "Why don't we go take a look? It'll broaden our horizons." "Still, it is better to be careful," Chen Huohai said with a frown. "After all, we have never encountered other immortal figures. Although the aura on that woman is weak, what if it's a trap?" Chen Xiaozhao thought for a moment and suggested, "Then let one go openly, one watch from the shadows, and one stay behind. That should ensure nothing goes wrong." "I agree!" Chen Dahai said with an immediate smile. Resigned, Chen Huohai rose and said, "Then let's go see what this is all about." As they spoke, he concealed his presence, while Chen Dahai took a step forward with a smile, instantly appearing in front of Chen Asheng, with the invisible Chen Huohai floating behind him. As for Chen Xiaozhao, he naturally remained behind in the stone cave; if anything happened to his two elder brothers, they would have to rely on him for rescue. "Old Immortal, please save my wife, Wanniang!" Chen Asheng was already freezing, exhausted to his absolute limit. Just when he thought he and his wife would die together on this snow-mountain path, an immortal of legend truly appeared. Without another word, he dropped to his knees before Chen Dahai and rasped out the plea. Having spoken, he lost consciousness. Chen Dahai stepped forward with a helpless sigh and tapped the space between Chen Asheng's brows, after which a look of surprise crossed his face. After the three brothers had disappeared, their father had grieved, but to carry on the family line, he took a concubine and fathered another son. This Chen Asheng was actually the descendant of that half-brother. "Looks like we have no choice but to step in now," Chen Dahai said, looking up at Chen Huohai with deep emotion. After all, this was their father's bloodline and proof of the continuation of the Chen family's lineage. The three of them were unlikely to ever marry or have children in this lifetime, so how could they allow their father's line to end?