I Shall Be Everlasting In the World of Immortals

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In the swamp valley, under the cover of a third-rank concealment formation, a stone gate creaked open, revealing the silhouette of a man in black robes.

“The concealment formation is intact.”

Lan Chang'an scanned the surroundings, observing the poisonous swamp, the vast mountains, and the eerie silence.

Occasionally, a terrifying beast’s roar echoed from the misty depths of the mountains.

On his way back to the surface, Lan Chang'an had already extended his spiritual sense to probe the area, confirming that there was nothing unusual for the surrounding few li.

Before leaving, he checked the storage pouches on his person, making sure that the restrictions were still in place.

He reinforced the isolation seals on the storage pouch containing the greatest prize of this trip—the Xuanmu Vine.

Over the past few days, Lan Chang'an had pondered over it and suspected that Tinghai Pavilion’s refuge back then might have been related to this vine.

That was why he was being so cautious.

Half a day ago, he had placed several layers of isolation seals on the porcelain vat that held the Xuanmu Vine and the Five Element Earth.

During this process, when his hand had brushed against the small, withered gourd on the vine, the Nine Seal Stele in his mind had trembled slightly, emitting a faint grayish-white light. It was the same precursor that had occurred when he absorbed the Hundred Abodes Soul Gu.

Lan Chang'an instinctively restrained himself and quickly withdrew his hand, causing the Nine Seal Stele to settle down.

It was clear to him now that the Xuanmu Vine contained a certain quality that the Nine Seal Stele could absorb.

Perhaps, like the split Gu from the Hundred Abodes Soul Gu, it could accelerate the unlocking of the stele’s Fourth Life.

This discovery delighted and surprised Lan Chang'an.

It gave him even more reason to nurture the withered Xuanmu Vine.

Even if the vine’s cultivation didn’t meet his expectations, it could at least serve as some kind of "nourishment" for the Nine Seal Stele.

At present, the vine’s life force was too weak, and Lan Chang'an estimated that it wouldn’t speed up the unlocking of the Fourth Life by much.

“When I return to Little Turtle Peak, I can use the Shadowstone to create an isolating layer.”

Lan Chang'an made a mental note.

The Xuanmu Vine had been stored in the ancient ruin for so long without being tracked down by the enemies of Tinghai Pavilion, so he didn’t worry too much about being hunted because of it.

His primary concern was preventing high-level cultivators from accidentally discovering it.

Finally, Lan Chang'an activated his Evergreen Technique, allowing a subtle wave of energy to cloak his entire body, greatly diminishing his presence.

Whoosh!

His figure turned into a shadow, leaping out of the third-rank concealment formation and flying low through the Black Fog Mountain Range.

Despite his current strength, Lan Chang'an still didn’t dare to fly openly through the skies of the Black Fog Mountain Range.

...

A month later.

Lan Chang'an returned to Wuqi Mountain.

Before entering Little Turtle Peak, he swept his spiritual sense over the area and was slightly surprised by what he sensed.

In just a few months, the gatekeeper Qi Feng and his maid Lan Rou had developed an unusually close relationship.

However, Lan Chang'an didn’t care much about this.

His plan to flee the country didn’t involve taking his adoptive father’s descendants with him.

Lan Chang'an called the two over and asked a few simple questions.

During the few months he’d been away, the sect had issued a batch of talisman-drawing tasks, for which Lan Chang'an had prepared six months’ worth of stock.

During that time, Qi Feng and Lan Rou had handled the tasks without any issues.

“The sect has increased the number of missions again.”

From this, Lan Chang'an inferred that the pressure on the frontlines had intensified.

Although Wuqi Mountain was far from the frontlines, the region was starting to show signs of chaos.

Afterward, Lan Chang'an reviewed a few letters, confirming his suspicions.

On the frontlines, the sects of the Liang Kingdom were at a disadvantage, struggling under significant pressure.

The only good news was that they had the home-field advantage, and there had been no catastrophic defeats.

However, the heartland of the Liang Kingdom was now facing infiltration by enemy cultivators from neighboring nations.

Spies from the Feng Kingdom had infiltrated the rear, gathering intelligence, sabotaging supplies, and attempting to turn local cultivation forces against their own country.

Sects were conducting strict inspections, raiding major marketplaces, cultivation families, and individual cultivator territories, creating widespread panic.

Wartime order couldn’t be compared to peacetime.

Many medium and small cultivation factions, even if not guilty, found themselves forced to offer bribes to avoid trouble.

Those few factions caught "collaborating with the enemy" all loudly protested their innocence, but none were spared.

How many were actually guilty, Lan Chang'an couldn’t say.

Fortunately, Wuqi Mountain was strong, and Lan Chang'an’s connections with the elders of Jin Yun Valley spared him from much of the trouble.

...

In the secret room of his cave mansion on Little Turtle Peak, Lan Chang'an began sorting through the spoils from the ancient ruin.

During his time in the ruin, he had only screened out suspicious items, but now he was taking the time to catalog everything.

“Xuanmu Vine, its grade might surpass the Nascent Soul True Monarch level, though its exact use is unknown. I’ll have to look up more ancient texts in the future.”

“One vat and two jars of Five Element Soil.”

“A jade slip containing formation inheritance close to fourth-rank. This kind of inheritance is a rare and precious resource, even for cultivation families with thousands of years of history.”

“Two low-grade magic treasures. Tan Immortal’s ruler is a high-quality item of this grade, enough for use by early True Dan cultivators.”

“One superior-grade third-rank demon core, its demonic power has severely deteriorated but remains a rare and valuable material.”

“One large chunk of superior-grade third-rank Shadowstone, capable of concealing spiritual energy and blocking spiritual sense, perfect for crafting stealth and shadow-based magical treasures.”

“A deteriorated third-rank poison, effective even against Fake Dan Immortals.”

“Two large vats of Spiritual Spring Water.”

“Formation inheritance notes from Hu Immortal.”

“Six or seven pieces of third-rank and quasi-third-rank materials.”

“Twenty to thirty thousand spirit stones—unfortunately, Tan Immortal’s storage pouch was destroyed...”

Lan Chang'an only bothered to count the spoils of superior-grade second-rank and above.

Common second-rank pills, materials, even supreme-grade magical weapons, and other miscellaneous items held little attraction for him now.

“Hm? This is... a special demon core that can be used as a primary material for a Foundation Establishment Pill?”

As he carefully inventoried the spoils, Lan Chang'an made a new discovery.

Among the spoils were two mid-to-superior-grade second-rank demon cores, one of which came from a demon beast with an earth-grade bloodline.

Back in the day, Lan Chang'an had risked his life entering the Black Fog Mountain Range with Zhao Siyao to obtain a special demon core for the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Now, after killing two Fake Dan Immortals, he had casually obtained two of them.

Among the many spoils, this didn’t seem particularly remarkable, and to Lan Chang'an, it no longer held the same allure as it once did.

There were several other similar items, such as superior-grade second-rank beast pelts.

...

After tallying the spoils, Lan Chang'an retrieved the large vat filled with Five Element Soil.

The withered gourd vine planted in the soil showed no changes in its life force, but at least it hadn’t deteriorated further.

During his return, Lan Chang'an had watered the vine with spiritual spring water or nourished it with Evergreen mana every day.

He had confirmed that the Evergreen mana was as effective, if not more so, than the spiritual spring water from the small ruin space.

This was one of the key reasons he had successfully transplanted the vine.

However, Lan Chang'an couldn’t be expected to maintain the constant care of nurturing treasure talismans or the vine every single day.

For the vine to grow better, it couldn’t be left in a storage pouch indefinitely—it needed to take root in actual soil.

To this end, Lan Chang'an decided to have the Profound Water Turtle assist him.

As a water- and wood-attribute creature, its innate ability to manipulate clouds and rain far surpassed that of most spiritual plant caretakers of the same cultivation level.

Typically, when the Profound Water Turtle watered the mountain, it held back its full power.

After a few days of experimenting, Lan Chang'an found that if the Profound Water Turtle used its innate cloud rain spell at full force for just one hour each day, it could replicate the effect of the spiritual spring water.

Increasing the dose further yielded no additional benefits.

Lan Chang'an nodded to himself. This task could occasionally be delegated to the Profound Water Turtle.

The turtle was more than happy to oblige. The withered gourd vine seemed to have an instinctive attraction to it.

Each time after nourishing the vine, the Profound Water Turtle appeared to be in a state of bliss.

At one point, Lan Chang'an even suspected that the turtle was benefiting from the process.

However, after careful observation, he found no evidence of any change.

“Oh well...”

Unable to figure it out, Lan Chang'an decided to stop worrying about it.

For the next couple of months, he assigned the task to the Profound Water Turtle.

In the meantime, Lan Chang'an focused on refining and processing some Shadowstone to create a new layer of concealing material.

As a puppet master, the process of refining materials was not difficult for him.

Though, with his Foundation Establishment-level spiritual fire, refining superior-grade third-rank Shadowstone was still quite taxing and time-consuming.

Fortunately, with his long-lasting spiritual power from the Evergreen Technique, he had the stamina for it.

After nearly two months, Lan Chang'an had crafted a half-inch thick sheet of metal leather using the Shadowstone as the primary material, along with some special beast hide.

This metal leather had a dull, unassuming appearance.

By attaching it to a storage pouch or lining the walls of a secret room, it could block spiritual sense scans from True Dan Immortal.

As for Nascent Soul True Monarchs, it probably wouldn’t work against them, but the Liang Kingdom only had one such powerhouse in its entire cultivation world.

Lan Chang'an wouldn’t even have the opportunity to meet someone of that level, let alone be targeted by one.

And even if he did encounter a Nascent Soul True Monarch, as long as they didn’t focus their attention on him, he should be fine.

Being a reincarnated cultivator with many secrets, Lan Chang'an had always avoided interacting with cultivators of that caliber, even in his previous life at the Core Formation Realm.

Back then, despite coming into contact with a Nascent Soul True Monarch, the secret of the Nine Seal Stele had remained undiscovered.

This time around, things were more complicated. The Evergreen Technique, an ancient cultivation art, had an unusual origin and might be noticed by a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

Therefore, when choosing a nation to form his core in, Lan Chang'an preferred one without a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

If he ended up forming a Gray Dan, it wouldn’t matter much.

But if he managed to form a True Dan, especially if the quality of the dan was good, he might attract the attention of a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

With this in mind, the Jing Kingdom seemed the most suitable option among the surrounding cultivation nations.

Jing Kingdom was a trade-oriented nation, known for its neutrality over the centuries. There was said to be a special reason behind this stability.

...

One day.

Two months after returning to Wuqi Mountain, Lan Chang'an began harvesting the high-grade, long-aged medicinal herbs he had planted on the mountain.

When he had first settled on Little Turtle Peak, Lan Chang'an had planted a batch of herbs and spiritual trees, many of which required long years to mature to their highest value.

Of course, he couldn’t be too obvious about it.

He only transplanted the most valuable, long-aged plants.

He left behind the lower-value and ordinary spiritual trees and herbs on Little Turtle Peak.

Even the portion he transplanted would be considered a fortune large enough to make a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator envious.

With the help of the Earth Burrowing Rat, a third-rank earth-elemental demon beast, Lan Chang'an finished the entire transplantation in just one day.

The quasi-third-rank mountain-protecting formation had already been disassembled. He left behind only some parts of the outer formation, which functioned at the level of a mid-grade second-rank formation.

To any cultivators from the outside, unless they were second-rank formation masters, it would be impossible to notice any differences.

...

Everything was ready.

The next morning, Lan Chang'an sought out Qi Feng for a private conversation.

“Grandpa Lan, how long will you be gone this time?”

Qi Feng was somewhat surprised.

Given that the Liang Kingdom was embroiled in a cultivation war, the outside world was in turmoil, and Wuqi Mountain was one of the few sanctuaries left.

Furthermore, Lan Chang'an had harvested all the valuable herbs from the mountain overnight.

It was hard not to make certain assumptions.

“I’m going out to pursue a chance for Core Formation. I may return in six months, or it could take longer. It’s hard to say...”

Lan Chang'an explained that he had harvested the herbs in order to gather resources to plan for Core Formation and purchase a magical treasure prototype.

Whether or not the outside world believed him, he didn’t care.

“I’ve left a letter in the study. If I don’t return within six months, or if you encounter any trouble, open it.”

Lan Chang'an’s tone was serious as he gave his instructions.

“Yes, Grandpa Lan.”

Qi Feng hesitated, unsure of what else to say.

At that moment, he felt as though Grandpa Lan were "making arrangements for the future," and it left him with a complicated feeling.

As a loose cultivator who had wandered the world for years, he had finally found a peaceful place to cultivate, under the care of a senior.

Now, it seemed as though all of that was about to be taken away.

“Don’t worry. Little Turtle Peak is rented for another decade. Even if I don’t return soon, it won’t affect your cultivation.”

Seeing his unease, Lan Chang'an smiled faintly, offering some reassurance.

Hearing this, Qi Feng sighed with relief and hurriedly thanked him.

In addition to the letter, Lan Chang'an had also left behind a simple cultivation manual for his adoptive father’s descendant, along with the last Foundation Establishment Pill he had saved from years ago.

“Grandpa Lan...”

Qi Feng wanted to say something else.

Lan Chang'an waved his sleeve and gestured toward the lotus-filled pond.

...

Splash!

A massive dark-green turtle leaped out of the water, surging into the sky with waves of blue rippling beneath its feet.

The shadow of the large turtle made Qi Feng, who was at the ninth layer of Qi-Refining, feel a strong sense of oppression.

The serene and elegant figure of the white-robed man floated down onto the back of the Profound Water Turtle, standing with his hands behind his back as the turtle soared through the air, cutting through the waves like a figure from a legend.

Qi Feng and Lan Rou were left in a daze.

Chitter chitter!

The Earth Burrowing Rat rushed out from its burrow, leaping onto the back of the turtle just before it left.

Whoosh!

The Profound Water Turtle, nearly two zhang wide, propelled by blue light, carried one man and one beast as it left the peak that had been Lan Chang'an’s home for seventy years.

This commotion caught the attention of Ye Fei, from the nearby Little Pill Peak.

“Fellow Daoist Lan, where are you going, riding your turtle?”

Ye Fei was shocked.

He had often seen the Profound Water Turtle, a beast with an earth-grade bloodline, lounging on Little Turtle Peak like a mascot.

However, seeing Lan Chang'an actually riding it out on a journey was a first.

There was no question that something unusual was happening.

“Haha, I’m going to visit some friends and seek an opportunity for Core Formation. Fellow Daoist Ye, take care.”

Lan Chang'an chuckled, turning his head to cup his hands in salute.

He took one last look at the angular, sharp-featured, middle-aged Ye Fei.

“Take care, Fellow Daoist Lan.”

Ye Fei was momentarily stunned but returned the salute.

At this moment.

Many cultivators from Wuqi Mountain watched as the Profound Water Turtle rode the waves into the air, carrying the calm, composed figure of Lan Chang'an in white robes. He gradually disappeared into the fog of the mountain’s protective formation.

Suddenly, Ye Fei’s heart stirred, and his expression shifted.

“Turtles aren’t known for speed, but they excel in endurance and are perfect for long journeys, not to mention how comfortable they are to ride.”

“Is Fellow Daoist Lan... preparing for a long journey on his turtle!?”

(End of chapter)