Shocking the Nine Heavens With My Sword
Chapter 449 - 433: What Exactly is Immortal Fate (2/3)

Chapter 449: Chapter 433: What Exactly is Immortal Fate (2/3)

At last, Zhou Heng had found the Old Swindler!

Without any time for rest, Zhou Heng immediately set off for Yangming City. According to information from Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, someone identical to the Old Swindler Zhou Heng had described had been seen there not long ago.

Yangming City was located in Yinglian Country and was a Dynasty, quite far from Lanling City. However, for someone at the Divine Infant Realm, especially with Zhou Heng’s terrifying level of spiritual power, distance was trivial.

Merely seven days later, Zhou Heng arrived at the ancient city. He released his Divine Intent, which instantly enveloped the entire city. He quickly located his target, then with a few leaps and bounds, found himself on a long street.

"This big brother here, I see a murderous aura with darkness in your brow, fearing a blood light disaster is imminent!" a familiar and sleazy voice pronounced. An emaciated old man was standing in front of a middle-aged man, his face showing a great shock as if the other was about to die right in front of him.

"You old killer, every time you see me, you say I’m going to face a disaster, I’m always hit with misfortune because of you! Just yesterday when I was hunting outside the city, a rolling stone crushed me, nearly costing me a leg!" the middle-aged man said angrily, rolling up his sleeves.

"It’s not my fault, this is divine will! Divine will!" the thin old man hurriedly said, his mouth splitting into a grin, revealing a row of yellow gleaming teeth, which added to his sleaziness.

"I’ll beat you to death, you old killer!" The middle-aged man swung his fists to strike, chasing the thin old man through the streets.

Zhou Heng couldn’t help but shake his head. The Old Swindler clearly possessed strong abilities and might even be an Immortal, yet he always showed himself as a scoundrel, a swindler. His actions were truly baffling.

Could this be the so-called playful involvement in the dusty world?

Zhou Heng immediately dismissed his curiosity. He didn’t have time to wait for the Old Swindler to finish playing his tiresome game. He swiftly leaped forward and picked up the middle-aged man. Although the man was of the Land Cleaving cultivation level, he had no chance of resisting Zhou Heng.

Fortunately, Zhou Heng had no intention of harming him. He casually placed the man aside, turned to the Old Swindler, and saluted with clasped fists, saying, "Senior!"

Senior?

The middle-aged man was in extreme shock, as high-tier martial artists don’t need a reason to kill, much like crushing an ant, casually. When he heard that Zhou Heng, a powerful figure before whom he’d had no chance to resist, was actually addressing the thin old man as a senior, he suddenly felt darkness before his eyes and his body went limp, fainting.

- Even Zhou Heng has to address him as a senior, how formidable must this thin old man be? Was he seeking his own death by attacking him earlier?

Zhou Heng naturally didn’t spare another glance at the man, and looked smilingly at the Old Swindler.

He knew well that the old fellow was an Immortal, or perhaps a reincarnation of one, or somehow intricately linked to one, yet facing his scoundrel-like demeanor, he could only muster calling him senior, with no respect behind it.

"So it’s you, youngster!" The Old Swindler clearly wasn’t as forgetful as Kong Aokun. He glanced at Zhou Heng and expressed surprise, "Your cultivation has progressed quickly. Based purely on aptitude, you could almost compare with the scions of the great families from the Upper Three Domains!"

"The Upper Three Domains?" Zhou Heng looked puzzled.

"You don’t need to know about this now. Focus on your cultivation, break through to the Divinity Transformation Realm soon. Once you break through the void and become an Immortal, a new world will naturally open for you!" The Old Swindler this time didn’t hide his connection with the Immortal Realm, and spoke quite straightforwardly.

"May I ask, Senior, are you an Immortal?" Zhou Heng added a term of respect, though feeling nauseous inside.

"I am an Immortal, yet not an Immortal!" the Old Swindler said mysteriously.

Zhou Heng understood, for he had previously heard about the matters of the Immortals from Gu Yan. The Old Swindler used to be an Immortal, but after reaching the end of his lifespan, he survived by transferring his Divine Soul into different bodies, living a second life, though he had not yet regained the Immortal Realm.

If he couldn’t reach the Immortal Realm, his Divine Soul wouldn’t be strong enough to transfer to other bodies, ending his life naturally.

"Senior, do you know what that Immortal Fate which has been battled over since the Ancient Times actually is?" he asked.

The Old Swindler’s expression changed, the air of a scoundrel around him disappearing completely, as if he became a different person entirely, exhibiting an aura of sanctity. This made Zhou Heng involuntarily shudder, feeling the urge to vomit.

This old fellow was better suited to being a sleazy charlatan; otherwise, he was even more disgusting!

"Immortal Fate, Immortal Fate!" the Old Swindler murmured to himself, his eyebrows flickering with immense excitement.

"Senior, Senior—" Zhou Heng called a few times, but seeing that the Old Swindler still looked haunted, he shouted, "Old Swindler!"

"Tch, I am an Immortal with an aura of wisdom, foreseeing the future, reflecting on the past, an all-knowing great Immortal. How dare you, youngster, disrespect your elder?" The Old Swindler snapped back to reality with that shout.

Just like the Black Donkey, born shameless, never happy without being scolded!

"The main point! The main point! Immortal Fate!" Zhou Heng reminded.

"Ah, Immortal Fate—" the Old Swindler’s eyes glazed over again, silent at the moment. Thankfully, he didn’t stay dazed for long and soon said, "Immortal Fate, of course, is the opportunity that allows one to become an Immortal!"

That’s stating the obvious!

Zhou Heng sighed, communicating with some people was indeed difficult!

"I could guess as much, but what exactly is it? A peerless technique? A supreme pill? Or something else?"

The Old Swindler pursed his lips and counter-asked, "Young benefactor, do you know how to become an immortal?"

Young benefactor? Was the Old Swindler planning to turn beggar now?

Zhou Heng couldn’t be bothered to argue and said, "After entering the Divinity Transformation Third Layer Heaven, deities undergo three tribulations, transforming nothingness into divinity, then they can break the void and become immortal!"

"Eh, you actually know?" The Old Swindler showed a hint of surprise. In his mind, the path to immortality, let alone in this era of declining martial path, was unclear and misunderstood by many even during the Ancient Times.

He hadn’t asked Zhou Heng expecting a real answer, it was simply meant to lead into the following discussion. Unexpectedly, Zhou Heng had actually responded correctly.

"Indeed, after a deity survives the three tribulations, they can become immortal. However, are these tribulations really that easy to survive?" The Old Swindler shook his head, his eyes revealing a trace of fear as if he was recalling his own experience of becoming immortal, still terrified in retrospect.

Zhou Heng knew all this because he had recently met Kong Aokun, who had shared these details. He hadn’t expected that showing off a little here would actually stun the Old Swindler.

"The three tribulations sever life and death, one step to heaven, one step to hell!" The Old Swindler sighed. "Surviving the three tribulations itself is very dangerous. Once the divine spirit falters, it can lead to the annihilation of all cultivation, and worse yet—"

"The spiritual energy of the entire world is becoming increasingly scarce!"

Zhou Heng was startled and said, "Isn’t there the Star Gate? If the spiritual energy here is insufficient, can’t they go to another continent?"

"Wrong, wrong, wrong, completely ridiculous!" The Old Swindler shook his head repeatedly. "The world I speak of doesn’t refer only to Xuanqian Star, but to the entire Mortal Realm!"

"Hmm?" Zhou Heng’s eyes widened, emitting two beams of divine light, dazzling and striking.

Slap slap slap, the people around immediately knelt down, completely unable to withstand even a slight release of his aura.

"A very, very long time ago... exactly how long, I do not know, but it definitely predates the so-called Ancient Times, even the Archaic Era! During that era, nature’s spiritual energy was abundant, and martial artists only needed to form their divine spirit. They didn’t even need to break through to the Divinity Transformation to be attracted by the immortals through realm gates!"

"Boy, do you know that a deity must endure three tribulations? Apart from the danger during the tribulations, after each tribulation, the deity attains tremendous growth, with their battle power potentially increasing tenfold, a hundredfold. This also requires the deity to absorb sufficient spiritual energy for growth!"

"Yet, the Mortal Realm’s spiritual energy became sparse after a sudden change, making it difficult for martial artists to gather enough spiritual energy to nourish their deities after surviving the tribulations. Many deities ’starve’ to death like this!"

"Moreover, a deity must survive three tribulations to transform nothingness into divinity, each tribulation harder than the last, and the spiritual energy required for nourishing increases exponentially each time... The spiritual energy of the Mortal Realm... is no longer sufficient to sustain it!"

"If Xuanqian Star had not experienced that turmoil seven or eighty thousand years ago, the level of spiritual energy at that time could barely manage the second tribulation. The third tribulation, probably the entire Mortal Realm wouldn’t suffice!"

"And the Immortal Realm also experienced a major catastrophe at the same time. Years of accumulation were destroyed in an instant, and the realm gates aren’t easily opened anymore. For people from the Mortal Realm wishing to become immortals, it’s as tough as scaling to heaven!"

A notion dawned in Zhou Heng’s mind, preceding even the Ancient Times, a grand turmoil in the Immortal Realm? He immediately thought of the piece of land cleaved from the Immortal Realm.

In the past, the original owner of the Black Sword battled with an unknown expert, and the residue from a sword qi cut off an entire piece of the Immortal Realm, which vanished into the void! Such a battle was akin to the cataclysmic fight between the Great Eternal Emperor and the masters of the Four Great Death Places, causing devastating destruction.

However, while the Great Eternal Emperor and his peers almost shattered Xuanqian Star, the original owner of the Black Sword nearly obliterated the Immortal Realm!

It was surely the battle between the original owner of the Black Sword and other experts that led to the great changes in the Immortal Realm, even affecting the Mortal Realm!

Thus, for people of the Mortal Realm, becoming an immortal had become exceedingly difficult.

Zhou Heng suddenly understood and said, "So, the so-called Immortal Fate, is it what allows a deity to absorb the spiritual energy needed to survive the three tribulations?"

"Not bad, not stupid!" The Old Swindler clapped his hands.

Zhou Heng clenched his teeth with hatred, the Old Swindler had talked at length but still hadn’t specified what the Immortal Fate exactly was. He spoke word by word, "Old Swindler, what exactly is it?"

"Do you really want to know?" The Old Swindler asked seriously.

"Of course!"

"Once you know, you will be mired in this muddy water, unable to extricate yourself!"

"...I seem to have been trapped in it for a long time already!"

"Alright, the so-called Immortal Fate, is... the Star Core!"(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to vote or recommend on QiDian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)