Immortal Travel of Longevity

That sudden clap of thunder startled even Yan Ruchu, who was warming himself in the Imperial Study.

He hurriedly summoned an attending eunuch to ask what had happened.

"To answer Your Majesty, the sky suddenly darkened just now, and a bolt of thunder struck down!"

"Thunder?"

"Indeed. Judging by the direction, it seemed to strike the Caishi Market."

Yan Ruchu froze for a moment, then ordered, "Go find out exactly what happened."

The eunuch quickly agreed and hurried off to investigate.

That was the exact moment the thunder tribulation fell.

Mo Yuan had arrived at the scene just in time.

Mo Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and chose not to disturb Mister.

Over at a nearby tea stall.

Ji Xingsheng had watched the thunder tribulation strike right before his eyes.

The hand holding his teacup trembled until the cup slipped.

Crack.

The teacup shattered.

Only then did Ji Xingsheng snap out of his daze.

"The methods of an Immortal..."

He had long heard that cultivators of Daoshan were bolstered by Thunder Art, but only after seeing it with his own eyes did he understand what Thunder Art truly was.

It was terrifying! Yet it opened his eyes to a whole new world!

Seeing the sky suddenly clear, Lord Xu checked with Mister Chen before leading his men over to investigate.

Chen Changsheng warned them, "Just look. Don't touch."

"Right, of course."

Lord Xu and his constables stared at the massive bat on the ground, their legs instantly turning to jelly.

They had never seen a bat this large!

Another demon!

Fortunately, it was dead.

Otherwise, they would never have dared to approach.

Only when Chen Changsheng stepped forward and swept his hand, clearing away the bat demon's corpse, did peace return to the area.

Lord Xu asked, "Mister Chen, shall we continue?"

Chen Changsheng replied, "It isn't time yet, so we continue."

By now, everyone finally understood how those two officials had gone mad earlier.

They had simply encountered demons.

...

News of the sudden thunderclap quickly spread throughout Shangjing City.

The sight had simply been too terrifying.

Some said the heavens had cast down lightning to purge unclean things, while others claimed an Immortal had taken action. Still others spread rumors that the heavens disapproved of His Majesty holding this Investiture of Immortals Assembly, sending down Thunder Art as a warning. Frankly, this last rumor was just a tactic employed by officials in the Imperial Court, but it clearly had little effect.

As for the truth, opinions were varied and contradictory among the common folk.

But the events that followed grew increasingly bizarre.

After that bolt of thunder, the corpses of numerous wild beasts suddenly appeared in inns and ruined temples across the city. Without exception, all had died bleeding from their seven orifices, and some even died with their eyes wide open. It was a gruesome sight.

This gave the innkeepers and waiters quite a fright.

Tales of this eerie phenomenon soon began to spread.

Combined with the previous speculation, the masses arrived at a single conclusion.

"The heavens definitely sent down thunder to annihilate evil spirits!"

The crowd then spoke of the people who had gone missing in Shangjing City in recent days, and a wave of righteous anger immediately swept through them.

"I was wondering why so many people have been dropping dead or disappearing lately. It must have been the work of evil spirits!"

"Good riddance!"

Everyone clapped in delight, giving thanks to the heavens.

This event was even recorded by the court historians.

The incense at temples all over the city burned a bit brighter that day, and Shangjing City became significantly more peaceful.

Daoist Wuwei listened to the chatter of the city folk.

Recalling that thunder tribulation, lingering fear still clutched his heart.

"How ruthless..."

Daoist Wuwei was filled with absolute admiration. A single thunder tribulation had practically scoured all the wicked demons and evil spirits from Shangjing City.

Even those that avoided a direct hit had their demonic and evil souls shattered by the roar of the thunder. Such a method of drawing down heavenly lightning was truly awe-inspiring.

After experiencing all this, Lord Xu treated Mister Chen with even greater reverence.

He served him tea and water without hesitation, his tone turning somewhat fawning as he endlessly praised Mister Chen's extraordinary Dao Cultivation.

Chen Changsheng did not care much about this.

He had only been bored, deciding to see what the demons and cultivators of the Mortal World were like these days.

Nowadays, the Mortal World enjoyed flourishing qi destiny, and its Spiritual Energy thrived in turn. This had forged quite a few powerful cultivators and demons, their levels far beyond what Chen Changsheng had encountered during his past travels.

Take Yan Zi, for example. He was an entity that had assumed human form and could rival a Deity Transformation cultivator; he already had few equals left in the Mortal World.

And that bat demon was even more formidable, capable of matching a Dongxu cultivator.

The changes over these past years were significant indeed.

Yet Chen Changsheng thought back to what Yan Ruchu had said earlier in Cloud-Above Manor.

'In the unseen workings of fate, there is heaven's will.'

Demons in the Mortal World rose to power on the surge of Spiritual Energy, throwing order into chaos. Though there were City God proper deities to maintain balance, what about the areas outside the towns? What about the deep mountains and wilderness?

Put that way, was the Investiture of Immortals Assembly truly just because Yan Ruchu wanted to leave an opportunity for Xianle?

All of this was far too coincidental.

Chen Changsheng believed these events were not wind from an empty cave.

Something had to be influencing it all. Perhaps it really was just as Yan Ruchu said—this was heaven's will.

The rules of the Mortal World needed reinforcement, and this was where the true meaning of the Investiture of Immortals Assembly lay: using demons to suppress demons, managing monsters and evil spirits through Investiture Scrolls. It was the most fitting solution.

Chen Changsheng tilted his head up for a glance. Heaven and earth were still very clear on this.

But this also meant that Chen Changsheng was in a bit more danger himself.

The chaos in the world wasn't wind from an empty cave either; something was undeniably wrong between heaven and earth. Relatively speaking, it wasn't that the Heavenly Dao had stopped caring, but rather that it had to divert its remaining strength elsewhere.

But now that the Heavenly Dao was paying attention to this Investiture of Immortals Assembly, it suggested that whatever issue it had been dealing with was likely nearing a resolution.

Chen Changsheng had to hurry as well.

Once this Investiture of Immortals Assembly concluded, the Underworld should be fully perfected by Miss Manyue, and the waters of the Yellow Springs could finally be channeled into the Underworld.

Just as he was pondering this, an argument broke out outside.

"Let me in!"

"Why can't I go in?"

He looked over to see constables blocking a youth from entering.

Chen Changsheng glanced at Lord Xu and asked, "Lord Xu, would you mind taking a look?"

Lord Xu agreed and soon brought the youth over.

The youth wore a pair of torn straw sandals and ragged clothes. His hair was a filthy, matted mess flecked with mud, making him look just like a beggar.

Chen Changsheng asked, "Little brother, are you also here to participate in the Investiture of Immortals Assembly?"

The youth sniffled and blurted out, "I want to see Your Majesty!"

Lord Xu was taken aback by this. "You Little Beggar, such shameless boasting! Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven. How could someone like you demand to see him?"

Chen Changsheng asked, "Why do you want to see Your Majesty?"

The youth replied, "I have something to give him, and I have something to ask him."

Chen Changsheng nodded. "What thing?"

The youth pulled open his ragged shirt, revealing a stitched Pouch inside. It was sewn completely shut. "It's sewn tight," he said. "I can't take it out."

"It's three copper coins. I was entrusted by an old monk, who told me I must deliver them to Your Majesty."

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