Immortal Travel of Longevity

Time could never flow backward. The past was the past, and the present was the present.

Nothing could easily be changed. From beginning to end, the long river of time only ever flowed forward. Countless matters had become fixed in the unseen workings of fate, completely unalterable.

For the countless souls adrift in the long river of time, meeting a peaceful end was a blessing in itself.

It only brought suffering to those left behind.

"Don't cry, don't cry..."

Chen Changsheng gently patted her back, his heart swelling with boundless melancholy.

Tears could never solve this, just as wishes could never make it so.

The most helpless souls across the years were those who could not let go of their seven emotions and six desires.

That was likely why those who entered the Immortal Sects were required to sever their mortal ties. It was simply too bitter, too exhausting to carry.

Yet tears eventually ran dry. Once she exhausted herself from weeping and there were no tears left to shed, she finally rested.

She had grown weary of the mortal world.

Drained of strength, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Within her dream, face after face surfaced in her mind's eye.

She saw the Priest, Big Sister, Second Sister, the estate's butler, its pageboys, and its servants. She saw Sister Tong, alongside countless other faces, both familiar and distant.

She sank deep into her slumber, longing to never wake again.

At first, Chen Changsheng assumed she was merely exhausted and needed the rest.

Yet from this slumber, she never woke.

Only now did Chen Changsheng suddenly realize that the Xuanji beside him had only the faintest breath. She was completely sealed off from the outside world; no matter how he called for her, she could not be woken.

"Xuanji?"

"Xuanji?"

Chen Changsheng gently shook her hand, but she gave no reaction at all.

In a daze, Chen Changsheng understood.

A long sigh slipped from his lips, heavy with helplessness.

Everything was better in dreams...

If only this world were nothing more than a great dream.

Through wind and rain, the years shifted by.

Xuanji sat motionless in the chair. Chenghuang watched over the place, following Mister's instructions to care for this young woman who would not wake.

Chen Changsheng went nowhere else in those years. He faded away between heaven and earth at dusk, and returned to this world alongside the chirping cicadas of Huaixu.

He would sit on that long bench, gazing at the clouds and moon of the Mortal World, or lose himself in a great dream to pass the dull, monotonous time.

In the blink of an eye, several decades slipped by.

Xuanji never woke. Her breathing grew ever fainter, yet a subtle smile gradually blossomed on her face. It was clear that everything unfolding within her dream perfectly aligned with her heart's desires.

It brought her far more joy and peace than the actual world ever could.

Big Sister and Second Sister were there, living in harmony, safe and well. In that place, the bitter vexations of time did not exist. Everyone would simply be there, forever.

Chen Changsheng reached out and gently smoothed the sleeping woman's hair, shaking his head with a heavy sigh.

"Was having just This Chen not enough?"

Chen Changsheng was powerless to change anything, nor could he tell right from wrong. Was Xuanji truly wrong to sink into a dream like this? Who could say for certain?

He did nothing. Rather than have her endure a life of suffering in this mortal dust, it was better to let her rest in that great dream, free from worldly troubles. At the very least, her pain would fade away with the passage of time.

Her physical body continued to age, her hair gradually turning white as she grew old with the years.

After Spiritual Energy dissipated, the Lifespan of cultivators dwindled accordingly. At most, they might outlive an ordinary mortal by a decade or so.

Chen Changsheng took all of this in, a quiet thought lingering in his mind.

Why shouldn't he drift off to sleep as well?

A great dream... how wonderful that would be.

...

Recently, more news had reached him. The ghost soldiers of the Underworld and the cultivators of the Literary Dao were fighting a world-shattering war across the Cultivation World.

Within the Cultivation World, several factions of the immortal path were destroyed. The Underworld lost nearly a hundred thousand ghost soldiers, while the Literary Dao was decimated in this struggle, with not even one in ten surviving.

Even Kong Ru, the Supreme Saint of the Literary Dao, was ultimately defeated. The vast qi destiny of the Literary Dao was thoroughly plundered by the Underworld.

Now, the qi destiny of the world was split in two.

Half rested within the belly of Taotie, and the other half was firmly in the hands of the Underworld.

Watching these changes unfold, the inner demon secretly shook his head. "What can the Underworld actually accomplish? The grand momentum is already set. Who could possibly change it?"

His gaze eventually settled on Jiu Fengchun.

Curled up tightly, Jiu Fengchun had grown somewhat maddened over these long years. He could not even recognize the person standing right in front of him.

It wasn't far off now. That day... it wasn't far off...

...

Within the Underworld.

The Demon Sovereign had heard plenty of news. After learning of the shifts in the great tribulation, he retrieved the long-dusty Demon Sword from Manyue.

It was his former weapon, and an old friend.

Seeing him like this, Manyue asked, "You plan to go yourself?"

"Naturally."

A vicious glint flashed in the Demon Sovereign's eyes as he said, "I am only waiting for the right moment. I will settle all scores, both new and old, once and for all!"

Manyue gently shook her head. She could not comprehend how this man's mind worked—so relentlessly hellbent on seeking his own death. It was baffling.

Many things were happening, but very few of those matters ever reached Chen Changsheng's ears.

Eventually, he slowly stopped paying attention to the changes in this world altogether.

Time would provide an answer.

Yet, long before that answer could arrive, the breathing of Xuanji, who still sat in the chair beside him, grew weaker and weaker.

She too had reached the very end of her life.

Chen Changsheng lost all desire to sleep, keeping a constant vigil over her. In truth, there were many times when he hoped that Xuanji might wake one day—that perhaps she would realize the illusion of that dream and return to reality.

But she never did.

She never even opened her eyes. The smile lingering at the corners of her eyes never faded, from beginning to end.

Just how deeply disappointed with this world did one have to be to make such a choice?

Chen Changsheng did not know how to answer. He himself was someone who wanted to follow in her footsteps.

Perhaps, he too wanted to find an answer through Xuanji.

Was it better to slip into a great dream, or to accept this agonizing mortal world?

He continued to wait.

Dying away after dusk, only to return three years later amidst the song of the cicadas.

This year, Chen Changsheng returned to Liuyun Temple once more.

Xuanji was still sitting in that chair, only compared to before...

She was no longer breathing.

Chenghuang stood to the side. Upon seeing Chen Changsheng, it offered a bow.

"Mister..."

Chen Changsheng stepped forward, coming to a stop in front of Xuanji.

This physical body had already grown stiff, yet despite this, a smile still lingered on her lips.

"Did she ever wake?"

Chenghuang shook its head and said, "She never woke. I tried to extend her life and preserve her Lifespan, but..."

Ultimately, it could not change this outcome.

Chen Changsheng stood frozen for a long time after hearing this.

It wasn't until late afternoon, as dusk approached, that he quietly snapped back to his senses.

"Alas..."

With a heavy sigh, he dug a small grave in the Back Mountain and buried Xuanji there.

As the mound of dirt piled up, all those countless matters became the past, vanishing entirely from sight.

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