I Shall Be Everlasting In the World of Immortals

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Several months later.

A strange rumor spread through the central region of the Great Qing.

Sixty years ago, Jade Water Fairy of the Bishan Sect suffered damage to her foundational Dao body and was disfigured by the destructive lightning force of the Thunderwood Stake. The delay in treatment rendered even the Medicine King helpless to fully restore her beauty or permanently heal her Dao body.

But recently, a mysterious individual appeared at her sect. It's said he not only restored her heavenly beauty, but also completely repaired her Dao foundation.

Could it be that a cultivator exists in Great Qing whose medical skills surpass even the Medicine King? The matter remains unverified, causing widespread disbelief or skeptical speculation among cultivators.

Some high-level elders of the Xuan Sect even suspected, could it be that after a full sixty-year cycle, the enigmatic Cyanwood True Monarch had secretly returned?

…

Seven Stars Temple.

Clad in dark Daoist robes and holding a horsetail whisk, Master Mi sat atop the Star-Gazing Platform.

He gazed at the night sky, attempting to divine the heavenly will.

The strange news from the Bishan Sect made him uneasy.

Could Cyanwood True Monarch have truly returned?

Other than him, who else had both the skill and motive to heal that Junior Sister Tian?

Master Mi had long made a divination, Cyanwood True Monarch would not return within the century. Against Lan Changqing, he had no chance of turning the tables.

Driven by curiosity, Mi tried to divine the origin of the mysterious healer.

He assumed that someone with such a saintly heart in medical Dao wouldn't react too harshly to someone probing his fate.

With the aid of the Seven-Star Disk and the Star-Gazing Platform's array, his divination ability rose significantly, reaching well into mid-fourth-rank territory.

Then, suddenly.

In the mists of fate, he caught a glimpse of a massive shadow lurking behind the veil, accompanied by a wave of rot and ominous decay.

"Not good—!"

Startled, Master Mi instantly withdrew his divining power.

Boom!

That rotting, malevolent aura followed the trail of causality, forming an invisible heavenly backlash that struck violently at his core spirit.

Crack!

The temple's sacred artifact, the Seven-Star Disk, cracked with a sharp noise and its glow dimmed instantly.

"It's him…"

Mi's face turned pale. Bitter and stunned, blood seeped from his eyes. He looked like a ghost corpse.

"Master!"

"Temple Master!"

His sudden condition shocked several Daoists of the Seven Stars Temple.

Each of these Daoists was at least a third-rank diviner, regarded as esteemed sages beyond these temple walls.

Seeing their master's clouded, lifeless gaze, they were horrified.

Before long, Mi began to make arrangements for his death.

"In the event of my passing, you must…"

His old, strained voice trembled through the cold air.

Within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Master Mi passed away.

Even in his final moments, he refused to disclose the source of what he'd seen.

…

While the tale of the Bishan Sect's mysterious healer still circulated only among minor cultivators in the central region, a long-robed elder with his hair bound by a simple bamboo hairpin stepped into the eastern territories of Great Qing.

His robe was plain, his bearing clean and composed. Time had weathered away all vanity, leaving only the calm grace of a scholar-sage. His eyes held the quiet power of insight, able to see through the essence of the world.

"So fast… A fourth-rank diviner with sharp intuition and surrounded by heavenly artifacts…"

Yan Donglai murmured to himself in admiration.

He was well-acquainted with every major cross-province teleportation array, spatial fissure, and hidden spatial node across the Heaven Honoured continent.

Even by those standards, his arrival speed was astonishing, likely beyond what any modern Nascent Soul Great Cultivator could achieve.

Yet, before he even arrived, that boy had already run.

Too fast. Too decisive.

Previously, Yan Donglai hadn't realized that Cyanwood True Monarch's corpse had fallen into Lan Chang'an's hands.

Cyanwood himself had assumed Lan had a powerful fourth-rank diviner backing him, leading to a critical misjudgment.

But the moment Yan Donglai stepped foot in eastern Great Qing, he knew the truth:

Lan Changqing's aura of human destiny had completely vanished from this land, he had fled to a faraway, unknown realm.

Yan Donglai did not stop. Instead, his interest grew.

That boy had once impersonated him. Through the threads of fate, he had now caused Yan Donglai himself to misstep.

It had been many years since he'd met such an amusing junior.

He passed through the demonic battlefield of the Eastern Territory, the Seven Kingdoms Alliance, and the Black Fog Mountain Range—

Not a single cultivator sensed his presence.

The war of expansion waged by the Six Demonic Sects held no interest for him. He merely glanced at the depths of the Black Fog Mountain Range.

At last, when he reached Jin Yun Valley in the Liang Kingdom, Yan Donglai gave a soft "Hmm?" and finally came to a halt.

...

Jin Yun Valley, Forbidden Grounds, Rear Mountain.

In the artifact refinement chamber, Zhang Tianfeng was tempering a piece of meteorite, extracting its heavenly essence.

After a long time, he summoned the remnant spiritual treasure that had accompanied him for years, a dull black metal rod.

With a hopeful expression, Zhang Tianfeng prepared to fuse the extracted essence into the rod.

Suddenly, the rod in his hand gave a faint tremble.

"Senior Artifact Spirit?"

Zhang Tianfeng did not dare ignore it.

What makes a spiritual treasure a true treasure is its sentience. Any reaction could mean an omen—or a warning.

"Tie… boy…"

The voice of the artifact spirit echoed from within the metal rod, hesitant.

Above, standing atop the ceiling, was Yan Donglai, hands clasped behind his back. A single thin panel separated him from Zhang Tianfeng.

Unaware, Zhang Tianfeng remained puzzled.

"Primal Chaos Golden Rod… Old Ouyang…"

Staring at the broken metal staff, Yan Donglai's expression grew complicated, tinged with nostalgic reverence.

"Ouyang, old friend… After countless ages, to witness your masterwork as a fifth-rank artifact refiner once more…"

This legendary Great Cultivator grew lost in thought, slipping into a moment of memory.

A rare warmth surfaced on his face.

Old Ouyang, his dearest friend. A master artifact refiner of a bygone era, ten thousand years past.

Yan Donglai admitted that, in the beginning, he'd approached the grumpy, ill-tempered old man simply to steal his unique forging methods.

He himself had mediocre talent, unable to match the peerless craftsmen of his time.

Old Ouyang's moment of inspiration in a single night often surpassed what Yan achieved in a hundred years.

All he could do was rely on perseverance and time to carve his legend.

After centuries of silent learning, he finally earned Old Ouyang's recognition.

They became inseparable friends, like-minded, open-hearted, with nothing left unsaid.

Back then, he was known by the Daoist title Evergreen.

While Old Ouyang lived, he offered him priceless guidance in artifact refinement, helping Yan soar in skill.

Yet Ouyang always kept his true forging legacy hidden, unwilling to pass it to outsiders.

Yan Donglai never forced the issue.

He waited.

When Old Ouyang's life neared its end, his lifespan exhausted, his disciples turned against one another in bitter struggle for inheritance, Yan alone remained at his side, burying him with his own hands.

As his final gift, Ouyang left him a wine gourd, not even a spiritual artifact.

Later, Yan discovered the gourd held a hidden message.

"Old friend Evergreen, centuries have passed. Do you think I didn't know what you sought? Whether your feelings were genuine or false, you tolerated my temper for half a lifetime. That alone… was enough for Old Ouyang to call you a true friend."

The gourd contained not just his final words, but Old Ouyang's unique forging legacy, along with all his life's insights and comprehension.

He gave it to no disciple, no blood heir, only to one outsider.

Yan Donglai's long-held wish was fulfilled. His heart stirred for a long, long time.

They had drunk together, laughed together, and even once roamed the famed pleasure houses of the Central State, commenting on the charms of courtesan immortals…

Somewhere along the way, he had forgotten his original motive.

For years afterward, for decades, centuries, millennia, whenever he thought of Old Ouyang, he would go to his grave, pour a jar of his favorite strong wine, and sit in silence.

He secretly supported many of Ouyang's descendants.

Among them, he selected one with exceptional talent, returned the inheritance, and even added his own insights.

Alas, none of Old Ouyang's descendants ever surpassed the fourth rank. None could break through to the fifth.

Talent was part of it.

But the bigger issue was this: fifth-rank materials were nearly extinct.

Without the materials, how could one ever practice?

The few remaining fifth-rank ingredients in the human realm were hoarded by ancient sanctums and sects.

More years passed.

Thousands of years.

He met many more fellow cultivators but never again a friend with whom he could share his heart so freely.

"Old Ouyang…"

Distant memories surged. Yan Donglai sighed deeply.

A trace of sorrow shimmered in his eyes, foreign to this world, lonely beyond words.

A Nascent Soul Great Cultivator… no longer of this era.

Perhaps that young man, Lan Changqing, whom he had never met might one day understand him, through history's silent pages.

…

"Senior…"

At last, Zhang Tianfeng noticed the elder standing above the ceiling, raising his head in fear and awe.

He trembled inside.

To infiltrate Jin Yun Valley's forbidden ground unnoticed, bypassing all defense, not even a late-stage Nascent Soul expert could manage such a feat.

"You're refining the spiritual treasure all wrong. Too crude!"

Yan Donglai's tone turned sharp, like that of a stern teacher.

He raised a hand—

Whoosh!

The metal rod in front of Zhang Tianfeng leapt from his hands, flying into Yan's grasp.

"What's your real name, little friend?"

With the rod in hand, Yan conjured a five-colored flame in his palm. A complex, ancient forging mantra danced through the fire, wrapping around the battered treasure.

"My birth name is Zhang Tieshan," the young man replied respectfully.

"Zhang Tieshan?"

Yan repeated it softly, placing slight emphasis on the word "Tie"(Iron).

"What is your relation to Lan Changqing?"

"Lan Changqing is a close friend of this junior."

Zhang Tianfeng did not hide it. He had a guess who this man might be.

"How close?"

The artifact refining mantra in Yan's hand grew more intricate, Zhang was awestruck.

"…Very close."

Zhang gritted his teeth, refusing to distance himself.

He knew, there was no hiding this kind of information from someone like this.

To his surprise, Yan Donglai showed no hostility. In fact, a trace of admiration flickered in his eyes.

"All done."

Moments later, Yan casually tossed the refined rod back.

"Thank you, senior."

Zhang caught it with both hands, letting out a sigh of relief.

The metal rod was now shorter, its surface glimmered with finer patterns, its impurities removed, its quality improved.

Even more astonishing, the artifact spirit had passed on new information:

Along with instructions on further reforging and repair methods, there was now a matching technique, Treasure Resonance Scripture.

With this scripture, even those of low cultivation could better control the spiritual treasure and use it to sense the locations of other lost fragments.

Zhang Tianfeng was overjoyed. He raised his head, about to express his gratitude once more. But Yan Donglai… had already vanished.

...

"Ouyang Tie… Zhang Tieshan…"

"No wonder the most spiritually attuned fragment of this spiritual treasure ended up in the hands of a once mere mortal blacksmith."

Yan Donglai appeared high above the clouds. After a brief divination, his expression subtly shifted.

As it turned out, before embarking on his path of cultivation, Old Ouyang had also borne the character "Tie" (Iron) in his name.

Zhang Tieshan must be a reincarnation of Old Ouyang many generations later, a blacksmith by origin, with outstanding talent in artifact refinement.

To inherit a sliver of that talent across cycles of reincarnation, and to once again encounter the Primal Chaos Golden Rod, it could only be explained by karmic fate.

Yet that alone was not enough to move Yan Donglai.

Zhang Tieshan's dearest friend in this lifetime… also bore the Dao title "Evergreen"!

How strikingly similar to the bond Yan himself once shared with Old Ouyang ten thousand years ago.

"Evergreen True Monarch… Could this be destiny itself?"

Yan Donglai pondered deeply.

Combined with his earlier divinations, he became ever more convinced: Evergreen True Monarch's potential and fortune far surpassed that of True Monarch Cyanwood.

Now, with even more pieces of the puzzle, he attempted to probe deeper into Lan Changqing's fate.

The result was an unprecedented resistance. His fate contained endless possibilities, an indeterminate destiny.

Amazed and expectant, Yan Donglai flew to the skies above Feng Kingdom and the Proud Moon Palace.

From afar, he gazed upon Xia Wenyue, as graceful and serene as an ice lotus fairy.

"Such an innate Dao body… Her ancestors must have birthed great cultivators of ice-based divine arts."

Appreciation for beauty flickered in Yan Donglai's eyes, yet his gaze remained pure, admiring from afar without a trace of disrespect. With elegant composure, he soon rode the winds and departed.

...

Half a day later.

Yan Donglai arrived at the final stop of his Eastern Region journey, the heart of the boundless desert, in the kingdom of Fengyuan.

Casting a glance toward the direction of the Ice and Snow Sacred Mountain, Yan Donglai seemed lost in thought.

That place was a blessed land because, long ago, a battle between Nascent Soul cultivators had permanently altered the geography.

"River Source Oasis… Xuan Yin Pavilion…"

Following the traces once left behind by the Core Formation-stage Lan Chang'an, he arrived at the outskirts of the Pavilion's territory.

But rather than heading to the main sect, Yan visited a subordinate site, a place called Xuan Yin Hall. There, he paid handsomely to listen to a female Fake Dan cultivator play an ancient melody.

"Fairy, this ancient tune 'Rainbow Garments and Feathered Dance' was exquisitely performed. Yet there are a few passages that differ significantly from the score I know…"

With genuine admiration, Yan Donglai gently offered correction.

The female zitherist, humble in her art, was astounded by his insight and earnestly sought his guidance.

Through their discussion, she was deeply moved by his profound knowledge and refined demeanor.

Though he was clearly older, his scholarly grace left a deep impression, causing her heart to stir.

In the end, Yan Donglai did not respond to her subtle invitation for a "midnight music session." Instead, he left behind several long-lost ancient scores as payment and once again drifted away like the wind.

Soaring out of the vast desert, Yan Donglai wore a warm, gentle smile.

"Xu Xuan… Lan Chang'an… At last, I've caught a glimpse of the fox's tail!"

"This young man lacks the proper wood-element spiritual root or Dao body, and yet can cultivate the Evergreen Technique, just as I suspected."

From this journey through the Eastern Region, Yan Donglai had finally secured a crucial clue!

...

Far away, in the coastal region of the Great Yuan of Heaven Honoured Continent.

In the forbidden zone Central Region, deep within the ancient battlefield, the Ten Thousand Demons Valley.

In a pitch-dark cavern, space trembled faintly as spatial ripples began to appear.

Buzz!

Upon an ancient altar-like formation, a twisted, deep-blue portal emerged, surrounded by runes of water and space elements.

Lan Chang'an materialized atop the formation, landing steadily, no longer the bedraggled figure of old.

He instinctively reached up and felt his hair, still perfectly intact.

Thanks to ample preparation and experience, this spatial traversal had only left some minor damage to his robes, a far cry from the last time, when the resulting bald head had greatly diminished his charm.

"Master."

"Fellow Daoist Lan."

Lord Earthrock and Puppet Master Wei, who had arrived earlier, waited beside the formation.

Lan Chang'an nodded and began surveying the dim cavern that housed the main teleportation array of the Tinghai Pavilion.

Between the two locations, the array had a primary and secondary end, the primary was here in the Great Yuan.

Lan had already destroyed the secondary array back in the Great Qing side, then used formation flags to seal the main one here.

If their luck was poor and the space node on the Great Qing side was discovered, it would take an enormous amount of spatial treasures to attempt repairs.

Even if they managed to reconstruct the formation, this main array had already been shut down, the other end would be useless.

Confirming that nothing was amiss, Lan Chang'an, Lord Earthrock, and Profound Water Monarch began meditation to purge the foreign energies clinging to them.

Different lands nurture different people, having spent too long in the Great Qing, they now bore its aura. To reintegrate with this land, they needed time to acclimate.

...

It would take two to three months to fully purge the foreign energies and reintegrate.

During this time, Lan Chang'an used divination to check for any hidden threats he might have left behind when departing the Great Yuan years ago.

Back then, Xiang Dalong and Jing Wufeng, known as the "Twin Dragons of the Central Region," had made quite a name for themselves. Naturally, they had made enemies.

Especially after the infamous Seven True Monarchs Battle, which had shocked the entire Central Region.

Before long, Lan Chang'an sensed the threads of karmic entanglement lingering in the void.

"Persistent as ever…"

His face darkened, he had divined a potential threat.

The source was True Monarch Netherwater, and the sect she hailed from, Black Sea Sect, was one of the Sixteen Sea-Suppressing Sects.

True Monarch Netherwater was a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. During the Seven True Monarchs Battle, Lan had conspired to target her alongside Jing Wufeng, and they'd succeeded in seriously wounding her.

Jing Wufeng had unleashed the pseudo-spiritual treasure Sky-Cleaving Axe, destroying her physical form.

Lan Chang'an's Barbed Arrow had injured her very soul.

Unfortunately, at the time, his cultivation and divine abilities were not yet fully developed, allowing her to escape with her Nascent Soul.

"After reconstructing her body and regaining her strength, Netherwater must've learned her lesson. Realizing she couldn't uncover Tinghai Pavilion's secrets alone, she informed Black Sea Sect's top Nascent Soul cultivator who was at the peak of the middle stage."

Lan's divination revealed that after his return to Great Qing, Netherwater had gathered Nascent Soul cultivators from the Black Sea Sect and launched several secret expeditions to the Central Region.

They even enlisted skilled trackers to search for spatial formation clues.

Thankfully, the location of the array was well hidden, protected by the ancient concealment formations left behind by the once Deity Transformation sect, Tinghai Pavilion. Even after decades of searching, they had found nothing.

Now, a century later, both of the Twin Dragons had vanished, forgotten by most cultivators.

Black Sea Sect's other Nascent Soul elders had lost interest long ago.

But Netherwater had never let go.

For her, this wasn't just about the secrets of Tinghai Pavilion, it was a blood feud and a grudge over stolen treasures.

She was certain Jing Wufeng or Xiang Dalong were outsiders who had first appeared in the Central Region's forbidden zone.

"If I show up in the Central Region again, Netherwater will surely focus all her attention on me."

A cold gleam flashed in Lan Chang'an's eyes.

Back then, as a fresh Nascent Soul cultivator, he had lacked weapons, techniques, and puppets, Netherwater had been a real threat.

Now, he didn't need Jing Wufeng, he was confident in teaching her a harsh lesson himself.

Still, killing a mid-stage Nascent Soul elite outright was no easy task. He had no absolute certainty.

And considering her previous defeat, she would never act alone the next time.

"Compared to Yan Donglai, this threat is hardly worth mentioning."

Lan Chang'an shook his head with a wry smile.

Black Sea Sect was a mid-tier power among the Sixteen Sects, not as good as Beast King Valley, and there was no Nascent Soul Great Cultivators.

Unless absolutely necessary, Lan had no desire to provoke them.

His real purpose in returning to the Great Yuan was to reach the peak of the early Nascent Soul stage and then journey to nearby Great Kun.

Kun Province bordered the Great Yuan, a crucial detail he had uncovered years ago.

In his past life, Kun Province was where he had first found the complete version of the Evergreen Technique.

Now, with his cultivation approaching the peak of early Nascent Soul, if he could recover that full technique…

Then the breakthrough to mid-Nascent Soul would not be far off.

...

Three months later.

In the Central Region of the Great Yuan, in the Great Yu Kingdom.

Above the Yunxia Sect, a streak of azure-green light pierced through the sky, accompanied by the overwhelming spiritual pressure of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

"Who is this True Monarch? I've never seen him before…"

The gatekeeper disciple was alarmed by the unfamiliar presence and immediately sent a transmission to raise the alert.

"Such a bearing… he doesn't match any known Nascent Soul cultivator of the Great Yu Kingdom."

Many disciples looked up, puzzled and awestruck by the stranger's aura.

Yunlan Peak.

An aged Foundation Establishment steward rubbed his eyes and said to a drunken purple-robed man beside him:

"Immortal Jiang, look! Is that not the former master of Yunlan Peak, True Monarch Xiang…"

The purple-robed cultivator, in the late stage of Core Formation, had disheveled hair and a slovenly appearance, resembling a destitute uncle. Yet the sharp features of his youth were faintly discernible.

"True Monarch Xiang? The Central Region's Twin Dragons vanished over a century ago. If they were still around, our Yunxia Sect wouldn't have fallen into such dire straits."

Jiang Haoyuan belched out a breath reeking of wine.

But upon sensing the Nascent Soul aura above the sect, he raised his head and his eyes widened.

A chill ran through Jiang Haoyuan's body, instantly sobering him up.

Above the clouds, that Nascent Soul cultivator stood with hands clasped behind his back, handsome, serene, with a trace of silver in his tied-back black hair. His smile carried a transcendental grace, a quiet dignity honed through the vicissitudes of time.

"Dalong, you've finally returned."

From the Zixia Peak came a soft, ethereal voice filled with wistful yearning.

A wisp of purple mist rose like a blooming lotus among the clouds, within which a dreamlike figure emerged, graceful, captivating with every movement.

The Purple Mist Fairy wore a phoenix hairpin atop her cloud-like coif, brows like brushstrokes, slender neck and fair skin, clad in a flowing violet dress that radiated elegance and peerless beauty.

"After a hundred years, Ziyan, you remain as lovely as ever,"

Lan Chang'an laughed heartily, now fully embracing the persona of Xiang Dalong, locking gazes with Jiang Ziyan's amethyst-like eyes.

He had to admit, the female True Monarch had preserved her beauty impeccably: skin like jade, face like porcelain, delicate enough to shatter with a breath.

A century had left no trace upon her face.

However, her cultivation remained much the same; she had yet to advance to mid-Nascent Soul stage.

Lan Chang'an had originally expected that, with her talent and age, she might have broken through by now. It seemed that the past hundred years had not been kind to Jiang Ziyan.

Still, as long as the Purple Mist Fairy remained with Yunxia Sect, his own cultivation efficiency would be well-supported.

After a few moments of cordial exchange, confirming this man was indeed Xiang Dalong, Fairy Ziyan gently lifted her sleeve and took his arm in front of everyone.

Like a heavenly couple, the two descended to the mountain gate.

"Do you know, Dalong, how I endured these hundred years?"

Her gaze was tinged with sorrow, yet her expression shifted seamlessly between charm and grievance, so much so that one couldn't help but feel protective.

Yunxia Sect had long been a sect of unorthodox ways. Lan Chang'an was used to such enchanting mannerisms.

"Oh? Why don't you tell me, Ziyan, how you survived all this time?"

Lan Chang'an asked with a teasing curiosity.

He wrapped an arm around her slender waist, inhaling the light and elegant fragrance clinging to her robes, and said heartily:

"If someone bullied you, I'll get justice for you!"

Dalong here means Great Dragon btw