Longevity: Sweeping Across the World as an Eunuch

Chapter 48: Chapter 47: Immortal Footprint

"Sigh."

Su Chen let out a sigh.

He drank the tea in his cup and admitted his identity.

"How did you recognize me?"

"Master Su, you are like a teacher and a father to me."

"When we first met in the Library Pavilion, Master Su delivered my meals as a Black-robed Eunuch. That air of yours—three parts languid, four parts casual—seemed familiar."

"After that day at the Palace Gate, I looked into the Imperial Palace records. I found that some Hidden Guards and Imperial Guards had died. Upon investigation, I discovered they were all tragically killed after robbing the pharmacy of one hundred taels of silver. The only thing missing from their belongings was that one hundred taels..."

"Also, I interrogated a eunuch who said he went to the pharmacy one night for medicine but couldn’t find you. And that same night, someone in the Library Pavilion stunned the world with a single sword strike that conjured wind and snow..."

"Master Su, you’ve left too many clues behind. I’ve already erased them all for you. Whether you want to be Xu Ge of the pharmacy or the Black-robed Eunuch of the Library Pavilion, it’s all fine..."

"My godfather used to watch over you in secret. Now, let it be my turn—let Han do it."

Xu Han said with a faint smile.

In a daze,

the figure in the Big Red Python Robe seemed to overlap with the one who once wore a Purple Robe.

"Why?"

Su Chen looked deeply at Xu Han.

"What?"

Xu Han was confused.

"You’ve cultivated the complete Heaven-Devouring Demon Technique, haven’t you?"

"With your aptitude, Third Grade should have been your limit."

"But to secure your position as Chief Eunuch, you must be stronger than Third Grade—at least Second Grade! In reality, you’re already First Grade. Burning your lifespan to become a True Essence Minor Grandmaster... was it worth it?"

"Or perhaps, what are you scheming to achieve that requires such a great sacrifice...?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"You’re going to die."

Su Chen fell silent.

In his eyes, Xu Han, who should have had at least sixty years left to live, now had a lifespan flickering like a candle in the wind. He was just like Zhang Gui back then, with only ten years of life remaining.

No!

’Perhaps even less.’

Xu Han would continue to burn his lifespan, shortening his life even further. He hadn’t yet reached the limit of First Grade. Only a Peak First Grade expert, capable of borrowing the power of heaven and earth, could be considered a true Junior Grandmaster.

"Why on earth are you doing this?"

His Longevity True Qi couldn’t replenish the Innate Lifespan consumed by the Heaven-Devouring Demon Technique.

It was like this back then.

And it is still like this now.

Su Chen didn’t want to bury another old friend.

"Master Su!"

Xu Han took a deep breath. His eyes, his heart, and his entire being seemed to be burning with a fire—the fire of ambition.

"My answer is the same as it was back then."

"I am rootless and have no home!"

"I want glory! I want power! I want to stand at the summit and be the one who tramples everyone else underfoot! Even if it’s the Emperor, what is there that I cannot do?"

"So what if I only have five years, or three years, of glory? I will have seen a landscape I could never have touched in a hundred years of mediocrity. Death would be a worthy price."

Xu Han left.

After kowtowing to Su Chen, he was gone.

Who knew what he had experienced all those years he was exiled to the frontier as a Military Supervisor. The ambition and desire in his heart had spread like wildfire.

Before he left,

he left a key.

And a crystal.

The key was for the Library Pavilion.

According to Xu Han, since the master of the Library Pavilion had appeared, it was time for the pavilion to be returned to its rightful owner. He had already relocated the eunuchs from the Library Pavilion elsewhere...

As for the purple Glazed Crystal,

Xu Han said that Zhang Gui had asked him to pass it on.

「Back then.」

Before Zhang Gui orchestrated the world-shaking incident at the Tianwu Tower, he had sought out Xu Han, spoken some cryptic words, and asked him to pass on this purple Glazed Crystal.

He had studied it for ten years without figuring it out.

"Of course you couldn’t figure it out."

’This Glazed Crystal isn’t a natural formation. It’s an idea for man-made colored glass that I suggested to Zhang Gui. I can’t believe the guy actually managed to fire it...’

With the purple Glazed Crystal in hand, Su Chen smashed it on the ground.

In an instant,

a yellowed letter was revealed.

"By the time you see this letter, I might have already turned the world upside down."

"Of course,"

"it’s also possible... that I failed..."

"Speaking of which, if it weren’t for that blade of grass, I never would have made it back from Nanyang Commandery alive. Luckily, because you gave it to me, I didn’t just toss that Dogtail Grass blade away. I wore it close to my body, and it saved my life!"

"I’ve never been able to figure you out. You don’t seek power or covet wealth, just hole up in the Library Pavilion all day with nothing to do. And yet, you must be hiding some incredible abilities..."

"But never mind."

"None of that has anything to do with me."

"It’s just that, if I’m already dead by the time you’re reading this, you must be extremely cautious. This world isn’t as simple as it seems..."

"Grandmasters are already the stuff of legend, but there is a path beyond the Grandmaster realm. While being pursued by the Xuanyang Sect, I fell off a cliff. Unexpectedly, at the bottom of the cliff, there was a gathering of Immortals. It was shrouded in mist and clouds that blotted out the sun and sealed the mountain, and it only opens once every ten years."

"The Heaven-Devouring Demon Technique—such a demonic art, worthy of being called a First-Grade Marvelous Technique, a Grandmaster’s ultimate skill—was nothing more than goods laid out on a stall at that Immortal market. I traded seventy percent of the grass blade’s power for it..."

"If you ever have a need, you can go there. The location is ten li deep within Cloud Concealment Mountain..."

"I won’t say more."

"The night grows late."

"Whether I succeed or fail, tomorrow I go to my death. The two major sects, the Three Sects, and more than half of the First-Grade Junior Grandmasters from the Nine Commanderies of the realm are all here! Who knows, by the time you read this, maybe the Emperor will have changed, haha. My lifespan is running out. If I don’t make this gamble now, I’ll never get another chance..."

"If there’s another chance, I must have one last drink of White Confucian Wine with you before I die..."

—Your friend, Zhang Gui, his final words

Su Chen was silent for a long moment.

He was not only mourning the loss of his friend, but also staring at the words in the letter... ’A gathering of Immortals?’

’There’s a path beyond Grandmaster... could it be cultivation to become an Immortal?’

The Sword Fate Technique Page, an art transmitted through a dream.

Su Chen had obtained one sword with three variations from it.

Emperor Jianwu’s true body was sealed within a Black Coffin, yet he used a Secret Skill to sire a child without a mother, achieving rebirth through a borrowed womb. Such a method was worthy of a Demon Fiend, beyond any ordinary cultivation Secret Skill. It was simply inhuman.

’Could there really be Immortals in this world?’

As if remembering something,

Su Chen took out a Copper Ring that looked like a Storage Ring and a crimson Fire Pearl from his robes. Inside the pearl, a small black snake seemed to be coiled up, fast asleep.

The former had come from the Eldest Prince’s ribcage, while the latter was the Holy Sect’s Secret Treasure that the agents of the Black Abyss had infiltrated the Imperial Palace for, one after another, determined to retrieve it.

’Let’s give it a try...’

Su Chen cut his finger and let a drop of blood fall onto the crimson Fire Pearl.

There was no reaction.

The blood slid off the Treasure Pearl.

’Looks like I was overthinking things.’

Su Chen mocked himself inwardly.

Then, he prepared to put the items away.

But as he was putting away the Treasure Pearl and the Storage Ring, the blood from his wound happened to touch the Copper Ring.

In an instant.

BUZZ!

A roar echoed in Su Chen’s mind.

The next moment,

a small space, five feet square, appeared in his vision.

’It really is a Storage Ring...’

Not only was it a Storage Ring, but inside this ring, which had been sealed for fifteen years or perhaps even longer, there was something hidden. It was an object as black as ink jade, shaped like a Beast Egg.

It was only the size of his palm, like a piece of translucent black jade, but it was suffused with Death Qi. When he took it out and placed it in his hand, it was much heavier than he expected. If Su Chen hadn’t been a Body Cultivator who had already reached the Second Grade Realm, he might not have been able to lift it.

’A thousand pounds heavy?’

’No.’

’It’s closer to ten thousand pounds.’

Sealed for fifteen years, maybe even longer—even if it were the Beast Egg of some Great Demon Fiend, it should be long dead by now.

’This is a dead egg...’

’Still, getting a Storage Ring is a pleasant surprise.’

Su Chen was about to discard the Beast Egg in his hand.

Wait.

A strange look appeared in Su Chen’s eyes.

He caressed the patterns on the Beast Egg, and his Second-Grade Internal Organ Strength erupted. With his foundation, he could easily snap a Divine Weapon forged from Outer Heaven Meteorite Iron.

However,

a breath of time passed.

the time it takes to drink a cup of tea passed.

the time it takes for an incense stick to burn...

’"I’m getting serious now."’

Su Chen exhaled a puff of Zhuo Qi.

His breath was like a sword.

BOOM!

A single burst of Sword Qi, enough to kill a Second Grade expert, struck the Beast Egg but didn’t leave the slightest mark.

’It really is...’

Having read every Ancient Book in the Library Pavilion, he recognized the origin of this Beast Egg.

It was a turtle egg.

An Ancient Book recorded it.

There was a turtle ten zhang tall. When pleased, it would spit water that became a torrential, sky-blotting rain. When angered, it would be wreathed in black flames like an emissary from Hell, destroying cities and nations. Even a Grandmaster who had not reached the Innate realm would be devoured in a single bite. It was an Upper-Rank existence among Great Demon Fiends.

The Double-faced Profound Turtle!

Also known as the Black Flame Turtle, or the Holy Water Turtle.

An Upper-Rank Great Demon Fiend, equivalent to a legendary Innate Grandmaster. An Upper-Rank Great Demon Fiend, equivalent to a legendary Innate Grandmaster.

’An egg of an Upper-Rank Great Demon Fiend...’

Su Chen clicked his tongue in astonishment.

’No wonder it was stored separately in a Storage Ring.’

’It’s worth it.’

An Upper-Rank Great Demon Fiend.

Once it was raised,

even the Grand Ancestor of Liang would have to kowtow before it.

The entire Great Liang would tremble. The three major sects, the four great teachings, and the Nine Great Families would be nothing but smoke, all turning to black ash before it.

’Let’s give it a try...’

An idea sprouted in Su Chen’s mind.

In an instant,

surging Longevity Qi, like a rushing river, poured into the egg.

Thirty percent of his Longevity Qi.

Fifty percent of his Longevity Qi.

This egg was like a bottomless pit, devouring his Longevity True Qi.

’Fifty percent gone.’

Su Chen was about to cut his losses.

Once his Longevity True Qi was depleted, its recovery speed would be halved. Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, he rarely consumed his Longevity True Qi.

BUZZ!

The egg’s aura changed.

It had been a dead egg, but now a faint trace of life—weaker even than a candle in the wind—emerged, thirsting for Longevity True Qi.

It was begging Su Chen.

Even with its muddled consciousness, it yearned to live.

’It actually reversed death and came back to life...’

No.

’Perhaps it didn’t reverse death.’

’Reversing death is too heaven-defying a feat.’

’Perhaps.’

’Even after fifteen years, the egg had always retained a sliver of muddled consciousness, holding on desperately as it fell into a deep slumber.’

Now,

the arrival of the Longevity Qi had bolstered its Vitality.

It was waking up.

’"Continue."’

Soon,

seventy percent of his Longevity Qi was gone.

A full seventy strands—enough to create two Thousand-year-old Ginseng Kings.

The Beast Egg finally shed half of its Death Qi and gained a faint spark of life.

But Su Chen stopped supplying his Longevity Qi.

He couldn’t possibly exhaust all of his Longevity Qi at once.

"We’ll take it slow."

"I have plenty of time, anyway."

"If I feed it a strand of Longevity True Qi every three to five days, I’ll be able to raise it eventually."

「One month later.」

In the pharmacy,

a small, egg-sized turtle the color of black jade had appeared at Su Chen’s feet. It nuzzled his fingers affectionately while nibbling on its broken shell on the ground.

It was so weak.

So weak that an ordinary eunuch could crush it with a single stomp.

And yet, it was so strong.

So strong that once it matured, both Great Liang and Great Zhou would have to grovel at its feet.

"Where’s the Upper-Rank Great Demon Fiend I was promised?"

Then Su Chen remembered.

The Double-faced Profound Turtle was indeed an Upper-Rank Great Demon Fiend, but it molted once every ten years. It would take fifty years to reach First Grade, one hundred years to become a Great Demon Fiend, and two hundred years before it had a chance of becoming an Upper-Rank Great Demon Fiend.

It was one of the rare Demon Fiends whose Innate Lifespan exceeded two hundred years.

’I wonder if I can use rapid maturation on this Black Flame Turtle, like I would with a Treasure Medicine, and turn it directly into an Upper-Rank Great Demon Fiend...’

Su Chen stared at the Little Turtle, a mischievous glint in his eye.

The Little Turtle inexplicably shivered. It looked around, but aside from the very kind Human Race big brother, there were no bad guys to be seen.

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