Immortal

Daoist Buyu was a cultivator of unwavering Dao heart. In order to meet Patriarch Hanhai, he lingered in the Dao Seeking Sect for a full three days. Unfortunately, Daoist Buyu's sincerity failed to move Daoist Lord Hanhai, who never once showed his face. Left with no alternative, Daoist Buyu had to abandon the notion. After spending three days instructing Lu Yang, he drifted away. Respectful of his master and honoring the Dao, Lu Yang waved farewell to Daoist Buyu at the mountain gate. Once Daoist Buyu was a short distance past the gate, the Body Integration cultivators who had been lying in wait outside for days saw that the moment had arrived. They swarmed forward all at once, determined to execute that old scoundrel Buyu on the spot. The scene was utter chaos. Lu Yang was still young and could not bear scenes of tragic parting. Fighting back tears, he turned silently around, choosing not to witness what followed. Upon returning to Tianmen Peak, Lu Yang was reunited with Eldest Senior Sister after three days apart. "Eldest Senior Sister, is your interrogation finished?" "It is finished. My stance remains the same: matters regarding the Xinhuo Dynasty are extremely dangerous. Do not meddle." Eldest Senior Sister paused in thought. Deciding that this might not carry enough weight, she added, "Do you remember the Flower of Time's Demise in the Herb Garden?" Lu Yang nodded. Naturally, he remembered. As a Little Medicine King, the Flower of Time's Demise was an exquisitely beautiful blossom. Legend held that only when the world met its end and living beings suffered devastation would it bloom in its most splendid form, freezing even time itself. "Previously, I always found it strange. According to historical records, no major event could be called an end of the world and devastation of all living beings, yet when our sect ancestors discovered the Flower of Time's Demise, it was already in full bloom." "At first, I assumed the legend was inaccurate." "Only just now, when I went to the Herb Garden and asked the Flower of Time's Demise a few questions, was I finally certain that it bloomed at the precise moment the Xinhuo Dynasty fell." "Naturally, it does not know this itself." "Do you understand now? The only being capable of bringing about the world's end and the devastation of living beings is an immortal—an evil immortal at that. That is not an entity you can afford to provoke." Lu Yang nodded like a chick pecking at grain. With a physique as fragile as his, he certainly had no intention of sticking his nose into the Xinhuo Dynasty's business. "By the way, Eldest Senior Sister, I remember you mentioned a long time ago that there are no immortals in the world. What did you mean by that?" Lu Yang asked suddenly. It was something Eldest Senior Sister had casually said during his first year at the Dao Seeking Sect, before he had reached Foundation Establishment, while cultivating on Tianmen Peak. Between the Five Ancient Celestials, Emperor Qian, Emperor Yu, and the Imperial Preceptor, there were quite a few immortals around. How could there be no immortals in the world? "When I say 'immortal,' I do not mean cultivators who have condensed a Dao fruit." "Senior Fairy should be able to understand this point." "An immortal is ageless and deathless, unborn and undying, free from limits on lifespan, wandering unfettered between heaven and earth, unbound by any rule. This comes from the *Sayings of the Sage*, and it was the earliest definition of an 'immortal'—one that appeared even earlier than Immortal Jiuchong and the rest." The Immortal Fairy popped out of Lu Yang's body to offer her own testimony. "Girl Yun is quite right. That was the earliest definition of an immortal. Later, as we gradually deduced the 'rudimentary Dao fruit' and the 'Dao fruit,' we began referring to cultivators who condensed a Dao fruit as immortals." Lu Yang nodded instinctively, only to suddenly realize something strange in the Immortal Fairy's words. "So that's how it was... Wait, Fairy, did you just say, 'we deduced the rudimentary Dao fruit and the Dao fruit'?" "Of course. The rudimentary Dao fruit was something our Five Ancient Celestials cooked up." "You remember Immortal Suiyue's true form is the Jianmu tree, right? His strength was equivalent to the Tribulation Transcendence stage." "Why do you think he was at the Tribulation Transcendence stage when I was at Qi Refinement, still at Tribulation Transcendence when I was at Nascent Soul, and still at Tribulation Transcendence when I reached Tribulation Transcendence? Do you think he just didn't feel like gaining a rudimentary Dao fruit?" Lu Yang vaguely sensed an earth-shattering possibility, but he played along with the Immortal Fairy's train of thought and asked, "Why?" The Immortal Fairy gave a mischievous chuckle. "Because on his own, he couldn't deduce the rudimentary Dao fruit! Only when the rest of us reached the Tribulation Transcendence stage and the five of us joined forces were we able to deduce the rudimentary Dao fruit!"