Aspiring to the Immortal Path - Chapter 531

Chapter 531: The Lord of Reincarnation

“Put me down, you old turtle!”

Xi Canhen couldn’t move or fight while being carried around by Cang Qingfeng, so he could only howl and shout. In truth, he was trying to start a conversation.

Sure enough, Cang Qingfeng patted him and said, “Don’t be anxious now. We’re about to arrive.”

“Where are you taking me? This place is a fragment of the Court of Myriad Domains. Don’t just go running around if you don’t know the way! If you take the wrong path and trigger a trap, it’ll all be over.”

Cang Qingfeng chuckled. “‘Don’t know the way’? Absurd. This old man was once a frequent honored guest of the Court of Myriad Domains. How could I not know the way?”

“‘A frequent guest of the Myriad Court’?” Xi Canhen intentionally put on a shocked expression as he looked at Cang Qingfeng, and then looked him over before bursting into laughter. “Hey, you think I don’t know anything about your background? Pretending to be a ten-thousand-year senior, ridiculous!”

“You know my background?”

“Of course. Do you think that I wouldn’t do some research after you left your name on the books?” Xi Canhen said, and he proceeded to reveal everything he knew about Cang Qingfeng’s background.

Once he was done, Xi Canhen said, “What do you think? Did I say anything wrong, traitor of the Basking Moon Sect, Cang Qingfeng?”

“Hmph, you know nothing.” Cang Qingfeng smirked. “Through reincarnation, one can persist for ten thousand years. This old man’s methods are not something you can understand.”

“Just keep boasting.” Xi Canhen pursed his lips and acted like he didn’t believe him.

Cang Qingfeng laughed in anger. “Good, good, good, you brat. If that’s the case, this old man will tell you. This old man truly is Cang Qingfeng, but I’m not a native of this domain. Back when the Court of Myriad Domains was shattered, this old man searched all of the Great Stellar Chiliocosm for a certain treasure. This old man spent ten thousand years searching, traveling through countless worlds, until more than a thousand years ago, when I finally found that the fragment carrying the Jade Fairy Palace fell here. I was originally going to leave after taking the fragment, but…”

1400 years ago, as he was crossing the void, he felt like the Myriad Court fragment was all but in his hands.

But before he could reach the Rosecloud Domain, he encountered a natural disaster. Unable to resist it, he was forced to reincarnate. Fortunately, he had been extremely close to the Rosecloud Domain at the time, so he reincarnated there.

Although he held the title of Lord of Reincarnation, he could not control Reincarnation to the extent where he could live forever. But so long as his will persisted, he could live for ten thousand years without a problem. Thus, “death” for him just meant being reborn. He kept all his memories, so even if he didn’t have some renowned master, he could cultivate all on his own.

Of course, while he could decide what happened to his memories, he couldn’t decide his strength or talent. He had to train back up all his strength, and cultivation also required resources.

For this reason, after reincarnating in Rosecloud, he took up the name of Cang Qingfeng and entered Basking Moon Academy.

Because he was the Lord of Reincarnation, with every reincarnation, he needed to hide his power in preparation for his rise. This was the meaning behind his name of Cang Qingfeng (Hidden Green Spear), and it was one of the reasons it was one of his most frequently-used names.

After being reborn, Cang Qingfeng quickly revealed his “peerless aptitude”, learning everything very quickly and making extraordinary progress. But in this process, the Basking Moon Sect started to suspect him.

After entering the Basking Moon Sect, Cang Qingfeng began to learn the secret arts of the Basking Moon Sect and also began to cultivate his own arts. Some of these were lost secrets from High Antiquity, and some were arts that humans couldn’t even learn…

That unexpected incident happened at that time. He had not expected the Basking Moon Sect to be so cautious as to discover that he was cultivating his personal secret arts.

At that time, the Basking Moon Sect had been in power for four hundred years.

For an Immortal sect, four hundred years was still a precarious moment, as it had yet to build up enough of a foundation, so it was cautious in all aspects.

Cang Qingfeng being secretive and cultivating on his own had breached a taboo of the Basking Moon Sect. Unable to interrogate Cang Qingfeng, the Basking Moon Sect had no choice but to believe that he was a spy of some other sect.

This was a misunderstanding, but Cang Qingfeng could not explain himself.

He couldn’t explain where the secret arts he cultivated came from, and with some people inciting things from the shadows out of jealousy, Cang Qingfeng was ultimately forced to flee the sect and wander the world. The Basking Moon Sect sent people to pursue him several times, but who was Cang Qingfeng? He had already been through countless reincarnations, accumulating an immense trove of experience and numerous techniques. The Basking Moon Sect exhausted its manpower and tried all kinds of tricks, yet it still could not do anything to him. On the contrary, the people who chased him ended up having the tables turned on them, causing the Basking Moon Sect to lose many good people, even geniuses of the sect like Xuan Jiuxiao, Ling Chongyue, and Shen Wujie.

That Shen Wujie was one of the people who had sought to frame him, thinking to get rid of a rival. In the end, he hadn’t been able to escape Cang Qingfeng’s heaven-shocking sword.

Cang Qingfeng hid nothing from Xi Canhen, recounting everything that had happened in the past and leaving Xi Canhen gobsmacked. He had tried to start a conversation on Tang Jie’s orders, but he had never imagined that this old man didn’t consider any of his history a big deal, directly saying everything. This saved Xi Canhen a lot of time and effort, but all the twists and turns had left him stunned.

This old man was a true venerable senior who outranked even the Titans of the six major sects in that regard.

Cang Qingfeng chuckled. “What do you think? Dumbfounded, right? Think of how this old man has traveled the Great Stellar Chiliocosm for thousands of years. You think there’s a place I haven’t been to before? An incident I haven’t experienced? In terms of longevity and imperishability, even the White Tiger that controls time and space and the Azure Dragon that controls fate cannot compare to me. This old man knows everything in the world, all of its secret arts. As for pills, talismans, formations, and tools, this old man is a master in all of them.”

After a long daze, Xi Canhen finally squeezed out, “But you’ve never reached the peak, right?”

Cang Qingfeng immediately stopped.

Xi Canhen raised his head and looked at Cang Qingfeng. “You possess countless skills from all your reincarnations, and with the title of Lord of Reincarnation, you are looked up to by all the Myriad Domains. Even the Court of Myriad Domains treated you as an honored guest. But have you ever once reached the peak?”

Cang Qingfeng’s body trembled.

Xi Canhen continued, “A person who enters the Immortal Platform Realm can ignore the Domain Astral Winds and freely roam the Myriad Domains. But when you were crossing the void, you couldn’t even deal with some spatial turbulence, and you were forced to reincarnate. So the Violet Palace Realm is probably the highest you’ve ever reached, right?”

Cang Qingfeng nastily scowled. Xi Canhen’s words had prodded right at the most painful point in his heart!

Xi Canhen continued, “Actually, you yourself knew of this problem, which was why you were searching around for an opportunity that would let you break free of these shackles. Although I don’t know what you’re looking for, I’m guessing that this thing that you searched the entire universe for must be something that can increase your strength, break your shackles, and allow you to reach Immortal Platform…”

Actually, it was Tang Jie who told him all this, but Xi Canhen spoke with such confidence that it seemed like he had thought it all up on his own.

“Shut your mouth!” Cang Qingfeng roared, anger flashing on his face. “What do you understand? I control Reincarnation, so I will never die. So long as I live, I will have a chance to reach the peak. Once I get what I need this time and refine it into the Evercycle Rising Dragon Pill, I can break my shackles and clear the obstacles from my Immortal path! At that time, even the Lord of the Heavens and the Hegemon of the Myriad Domains will be prostrating before me!”

“You should enter Violet Palace first.” Xi Canhen smirked.

It wasn’t Tang Jie who taught him these words.

Xi Canhen was basically certain now that this man was at the Soul Transformation Tier.

When that Titan of the Basking Moon Sect intervened, he had killed Cang Qingfeng with a single palm. When Cang Qingfeng reincarnated, he knew that the six major sects were too cautious, so he chose to not join any sect and cultivate as a wandering cultivator. After several hundred years, he entered the Soul Transformation Tier once more, but Violet Palace was difficult. Even though he had reached the Violet Palace Realm many times before, he still needed to be careful.

Cang Qingfeng was speechless from anger, but he needed Xi Canhen to undo the seal on the Immeasurable Sword, so he could only keep carrying him along.

They had already walked out of the blazing corridor, arriving before a small exit. If one looked outside, one would see a large and spacious hall.

There was no idol venerated in this hall, only a large cauldron.

An eternal blue flame blazed under the cauldron.

Cang Qingfeng’s eyes were fixed on that large cauldron, and his face was glowing with excitement. “The Myriad Immortals Cauldron… I’ve finally found you.”

From the sound of it, he had been searching for more than ten thousand years for this cauldron. Xi Canhen looked curiously at it and blurted out, “It’s all black and dull. It doesn’t seem like there’s anything special about it.”

It was true that this large cauldron didn’t have any sort of aura. It appeared to be no different from an ordinary bronze cauldron.

Cang Qingfeng slapped him on the head and barked, “What do you know!? This cauldron is a divine item, a supreme Dao armament. Its treasure light is internalized, so how could ordinary people see through it? If it weren’t for that Deicide Flame under the cauldron, I wouldn’t have been sure, either.”

“‘Deicide Flame’? That’s the legendary Deicide Flame?” Xi Canhen was alarmed.

The Deicide Flame was a legendary flame said to immolate gods and Immortals on the slightest contact.

Xi Canhen thought that it was just a legend, but apparently, it actually existed.

That blue flame burned without any fuel, quietly floating in the air, and Xi Canhen suspected that Cang Qingfeng might be mistaken. But a moment later, Cang Qingfeng took out some Startrace Metal and threw it in.

The Startrace Metal flew into the blue fire, and there was a simple hiss as it disappeared.

Even the Jade Shattering Finger might not have been able to punch through Startrace Metal, but the fire had burned it to nothing.

Xi Canhen gasped while Cang Qingfeng chuckled. “What do you think?”

“What a frightening flame. You’re basically dead if the flame touches you.”

“Correct. Only the Myriad Immortals Cauldron can resist this fire. The Myriad Immortals Cauldron, the Deicide Flame, and the Nine Heavens Luan Grass… with these, I can refine the Evercycle Rising Dragon Pill and break my shackles, attaining a True Body!” Cang Qingfeng’s tone clearly grew excited.

Cang Qingfeng had searched for thousands of years for this moment, and now that the item was right before him, how could he not be excited?

“Then go and get them.” Xi Canhen looked at him in confusion.

“No rush, no rush.” Cang Qingfeng chuckled. “If these things were that easy to obtain, why would I have gone through all this trouble?”

Cang Qingfeng took out the Immeasurable Sword and threw it out. The Immeasurable Sword let out a beam of sword energy which struck a brick in the center of the floor. A moment later, there was a howl within the hall, and lightning shot out and blasted the hall.

Fortunately, it didn’t reach the area where Cang Qingfeng and Xi Canhen were. After a few moments, the storm dissipated, and the hall fell quiet.

Cang Qingfeng clicked his tongue in praise. “Other than the numerous traps, this hall also has 18 guardian puppets, none of which are easy to deal with. When this old man was fortunate enough to visit here once, I came to know the power of these traps. I didn’t think that they would still have preserved their power after ten thousand years. Fortunately, this old man knew that the front door of this hall is just a fake, and the real way in is the one I showed you. If you try to come in through the front door, you’ll have to use your life to pave the way.”

“I see. And after that?” Xi Canhen asked.

Unexpectedly, Cang Qingfeng replied, “I don’t know.”

“Huh? You don’t know?” Xi Canhen was stunned.

Cang Qingfeng rolled his eyes. “This place was an important location of the Myriad Court, and even a member of the Court of Myriad Domains might not know of it. How could this old man know what happens next?”

“Then what do we do now?”

“Naturally, we have other people do the scouting for us. Why do you think this old man concocted a plan and insisted on coming in with you? To get through this hall, I need some people to take the front for me.” Cang Qingfeng’s voice turned sinister. “Moreover, the Immeasurable Sword has yet to reach full power. The sword is the key to taking the treasure, and it needs enough blood and energy for that.”

He leaned against the wall and looked down at the great hall. “Now, we wait for the others to come in so that they can exhaust themselves, and then we can catch them by surprise!”

―――――――――――――――

Whoosh!

Tang Jie (avatar) cut off a puppet beast’s head with his saber, and that fierce puppet beast that had been charging at him instantly collapsed into countless pieces.

A bright crystal rolled out of the puppet beast’s head, and Tang Jie picked it up and then happily put it away.

After killing Elders Gold and Silver, Tang Jie began to search the palace complex for any treasures.

Besides the golden warrior ghosts, there were also many puppet beasts in this palace.

The puppet technology of High Antiquity was clearly different from the present era. Rather than using the human form, they made puppet beasts of various shapes to serve as assistants. These puppet beasts didn’t have spirit formations like those of the present, but had some other mechanism, a special crystal core.

Tang Jie had carefully examined them, and he determined that these crystal cores were probably refined from fiend pellets, and they were no longer extant in the present. Whether it was for the refining method or the crystal itself, they were extremely valuable.

Thus, Tang Jie began to gather these crystal cores as if he was addicted.

But while gathering the crystal cores, Tang Jie was also doing something more important.

Laying down a formation.

Tang Jie’s route wasn’t random. Rather, at each spot, Tang Jie would make some arrangements. At times, he would be sprinkling white powder, and at other times, he would be sticking weird tree branches into the ground.

He wasn’t the only one doing this. Xu Miaoran had joined him.

Through Yiyi, Tang Jie was telling Xu Miaoran what was happening on his side while also telling them what to do next.

At another small building, Tang Jie had just finished putting down some formation lines when several people suddenly appeared.

Tang Jie wanted to hide—after learning from Xi Canhen that Cang Qingfeng wanted to use the people of Godhead Palace as cannon fodder, he had stopped killing them and done his best to avoid them.

But the people this time had sharp eyes. One of them immediately spotted him and shouted, “Brother Yingchen!”

Tang Jie turned and saw that it was Ao Chihu.

Behind him were He Changan, Master Xuan Zhong, and Nan Ningjiang.

These people were all together.

Tang Jie quickly realized that this probably wasn’t a coincidence.

It was no wonder he had not seen He Changan all this time. There was no reason for someone like King Canis to have emerged even later than Elders Gold and Silver. He had come out late because he had been finding his subordinates.

For He Changan, only when everyone was together was it to his advantage to move around. If everyone was running around on their own business, picking up treasure and then not reporting any of it, it would be He Changan who lost out. By moving together with everyone, he could see everything they collected and thus take most of it for himself.

This was why He Changan had first gathered everyone up.

And it seemed like he had gathered up quite a lot of people.

Upon spotting Tang Jie, Ao Chihu and the others rushed out. Ao Chihu blinked his eyes at Tang Jie and loudly said, “Brother Yingchen, it’s wonderful to see you! This palace is crawling with ghosts, so it’s best if we put our strengths together.”

Tang Jie understood what he meant and said, “I just came out from the garden, so I’m not too clear on the situation.”

On the side, Nan Ningjiang asked, “Right, Brother Qian, have you seen True Person Huang or Elders Gold and Silver?”

Tang Jie shrugged. “I didn’t see them. They might still be in the garden.”

Nan Ningjiang muttered, “Given their strength, they shouldn’t have been delayed too long.”

“They might not be willing to show themselves,” Master Xuan Zhong softly said.

He Changan had a reason for gathering everyone together, and the others had their reasons for avoiding this.

It was an open secret that no one was willing to talk about.

Hearing Master Xuan Zhong say this, He Changan grunted, “If they don’t want to come, then forget it. From the look of it, the small buildings in this area are all low-level buildings set up for servants, so they shouldn’t have anything good. But that central hall is very impressive, so it should be an important area. Since we’ve basically gathered up everyone, let’s go over and take a look together.”

“Yes!” Everyone bowed, and even Tang Jie was forced to assent.

Everyone set off toward the central great hall.