Chapter 8 – Immortal and Mortal, Forever Apart

Chapter 8 – Immortal and Mortal, Forever Apart

High above, another celestial vision manifested!

A colossal sword, forged through a thousand rounds of tempering, had been left abandoned in the shadows. For a millennium, no one had paid it any heed.

With the passage of years, its blade had lost its luster, its edge had lost its sharpness, and its entire body was mottled with rust!

Yet a surge of fury and defiance suddenly erupted!

The corrosion of rust grew ever more severe, yet the sword’s divine power and majesty grew in equal measure with each passing day!

“Foundation Establishment cultivator Daoxuanzi, who walked the path of cultivation for two hundred and one years, achieved Dao Foundation through the extraordinary artifact 【Rusted Sword Daoxuan】. In the immortal-barren land, he fought others to the death, and ultimately perished at the hands of Foundation Establishment cultivator Kou Hong.”

“Now, with body dead and dao extinguished, his Dao returns to the heavens!”

The resplendent scene illuminated thousands of li of sky like fireworks.

“Daoxuanzi…” Kou Hong raised his head to gaze at that magnificent spectacle, seemingly struck completely dumb, murmuring ceaselessly to himself.

Every soldier present also lifted their eyes to the sky, staring in a daze.

“This old man is Li Fan. Greetings, Immortal Master.”

Just then, an elder with hair and beard all white, leaning on a walking stick, tottered his way to Kou Hong’s side.

Kou Hong paid him no attention. Li Fan was in no hurry either, standing to the side to wait while signaling the soldiers to be patient.

A long while passed. Only after the celestial vision in the sky had dissipated did Kou Hong finally turn his gaze to Li Fan.

“You’re the leader of the mortals here?” Kou Hong’s tone was stiff, clearly not well-disposed toward Li Fan. “That voice echoing from all directions earlier—that was you, wasn’t it?”

“A trivial trick, unworthy of the Immortal Master’s notice.” Li Fan cupped his hands, deflecting the matter entirely, and instead bowed deeply to the ground. “I humbly beg the Immortal Master’s mercy—please save the lives of the thousand-some souls of my people.”

“Mercy…” Kou Hong sneered at the word. “My battle with Daoxuanzi was a contest of skill, where life and death were left to fate. You, a mere mortal, actually dared to interfere in a fight between cultivators.”

He stared at Li Fan, the killing intent in his words plain for all to see. “Come to think of it, though Daoxuanzi and I fought to the death over the Core Formation technique, he was still my brother for over a hundred years. Now that you’ve struck him down with a sneak attack, shouldn’t I kill you to avenge him?”

Unbothered by Kou Hong’s aggression, Li Fan could only smile bitterly. “I was merely seeking a sliver of hope for survival! As I said before, had the Immortal Master fallen in defeat, my people would certainly not have escaped death.”

At this, Kou Hong’s expression softened slightly. He let out a faint sigh. “Well said—a sliver of hope. You’re not wrong. In such harsh times, who isn’t struggling desperately for that one sliver of hope?”

Seeing Kou Hong’s tone relent, Li Fan immediately pressed his advantage. “Previously, Daoxuanzi… the Immortal Master had promised me that if…”

Before he could finish, Kou Hong furrowed his brow and cut him off. “If it’s about that matter, I’m afraid you’re in for a disappointment. Daoxuanzi probably never intended to honor that promise in the first place.”

Li Fan froze for a moment. “What does the Immortal Master mean by that?”

Kou Hong said with a hint of mockery, “For a hundred years, Daoxuanzi always presented himself as upright and true to his word. Who would have thought that in reality, he acted without any bottom line—even deceiving mortals.”

He paused, glanced at Li Fan’s expression, then continued. “The Immortal-Severing Formation is extraordinarily dangerous. The two of us making it through had a fair element of luck. We ourselves would have to expend considerable effort to leave—how could we possibly bring mortals out?”

“What? You don’t know of a way to leave this place either?” Li Fan’s mind reeled with shock, his face turning extremely ugly. A hundred years of hope, personally denied by the cultivator before him—Li Fan’s composure nearly shattered.

Fortunately, Li Fan had been tempered through multiple lifetimes, and his will was resilient. He steadied himself and said to Kou Hong, “This is no place to talk. Immortal Master, please follow me.”

With that, he led Kou Hong through the ruins of Xuanjing for a while, arriving at an underground bunker.

When Kou Hong and Daoxuanzi had been fighting earlier, the city’s soldiers had hidden in bunkers like these. Scattered across Xuanjing, similar shelters numbered well over a hundred, large and small.

Though the bunker was buried deep underground, electric lights illuminated it as bright as day. Ventilation ducts connected to the outside kept the air from feeling stuffy.

Kou Hong examined the lights on the ceiling with considerable interest and praised, “No wonder Daoxuanzi sought to cooperate with you mortals. To be able to harness and control the power of lightning—it seems that over these thousands of years, you mortals in the immortal-barren land have truly developed quite impressively. And those hidden weapons from before were rather formidable as well.”

Then he shook his head. “A pity, though. These devices are only useful in a place where the Great Dao is incomplete. Once outside, under the suppression of the Great Dao’s laws, none of these things would serve any purpose.”

“Come to think of it, when exactly did Daoxuanzi find you and arrange for you to ambush me? The timing doesn’t add up. Could he have secretly cultivated a clone technique?” Something suddenly occurred to Kou Hong, and he asked abruptly.

Li Fan kept his composure and was about to answer when Kou Hong suddenly lost interest, waving his hand dismissively. “Forget it, why bother dwelling on such things? Once body and Dao are both extinguished, everything becomes meaningless.” With that, he sat down directly in a chair, his expression rather dispirited. He had clearly been hit hard by Daoxuanzi’s death.

“Better that he doesn’t ask. The more I say, the harder it would be to avoid inconsistencies,” Li Fan thought to himself.

Then, wearing an expression of anxious uncertainty, he asked Kou Hong, “What the Immortal Master said earlier—that it’s impossible to bring mortals out of this immortal-barren land—is that truly so?”

Kou Hong scoffed. “You’re nothing but a mere mortal. What reason would I have to deceive you? Perhaps a Core Formation cultivator could protect a mortal through the Immortal-Severing Formation, but with only Foundation Establishment cultivation, it’s absolutely impossible!”

“Of course, if you don’t mind arriving on the other side as a few scattered chunks, I’d be willing to give it a try.”

Ignoring Kou Hong’s unfunny joke, Li Fan pressed on, unwilling to give up. “Is there truly no hope for us mortals to ever leave this world?”

Kou Hong thought for a moment but still shook his head. “To leave the immortal-barren land, one must pass through the Immortal-Severing Formation. With a mere mortal body, there is absolutely no possibility of making it through. Any attempt would be nothing more than seeking death. Besides, you’re already at the age where one foot is in the grave. Why are you still so fixated on leaving this place? Isn’t being an emperor of your own little domain good enough?”

Kou Hong wore an expression of complete indifference.

“It matters little if this old man dies, but I’d like to at least leave some hope for my descendants.” Li Fan refused to give up and asked again, “If my descendants could cultivate to the Foundation Establishment realm like the Immortal Master, wouldn’t they then be able to leave?”

At this, Kou Hong burst into loud laughter. “Setting aside the fact that this place has not a shred of spiritual energy, making cultivation utterly impossible—the very divide between immortal and mortal is an insurmountable wall. The mortals of this land are drenched in miasma from head to toe. How could they possibly walk the path of immortal cultivation?”

Kou Hong sneered. “I’d advise you to abandon that notion entirely. For your kind of mortals, the only way to cultivate would be to first go to the outside world to reshape your bodies and wash away the miasma. Otherwise, even if the path to immortality were laid right before your eyes, you could see it but never touch it.”

After several questions met with such absolute certainty, Li Fan seemed to finally give up.

“Immortal and mortal, forever apart… immortal and mortal, forever apart…” Li Fan murmured to himself, somewhat lost and despondent. “So there truly is no way?”

“There truly isn’t.” Seeing Li Fan’s spirits crushed to their lowest point, Kou Hong’s mood inexplicably brightened.

“There truly isn’t,” he repeated.

“As the Immortal Master says—immortal and mortal, forever apart.” Li Fan heaved a long sigh.

“Ah, yes yes yes.” Kou Hong nodded repeatedly.

Li Fan, as though shattered by this cruel reality, looked somewhat dazed as he took his leave.

The instant he stepped out of the bunker, the heavy door slammed shut behind him.

Kou Hong’s expression changed, an ominous premonition surging through his heart.

But it was too late.

Rolling white fog laden with Mortal Taint came pouring from vents throughout the room.

“Ahhh!”

Kou Hong let out a blood-curdling scream before being swallowed by the dense fog.

Outside the bunker, Li Fan’s eyes glinted with a dark, quiet light as he spoke slowly, “Since immortal and mortal are forever at odds…”

“Then as a mere mortal, how could I possibly trust everything you say?”