Chapter 1676: A Pair of Teacher and Disciple (Part Two)

“Gr-Gr-Great Ascension?”

Li Yan’s heart jolted violently. To him, those at the Body Integration realm were already beings he could only look up to, to say nothing of the old monsters of the Tribulation Transcendence realm. To hear that the Great Ascension realm—the very pinnacle of existence—was involved left him utterly shaken. Such beings were truly heaven-defying.

However, Dong Fuyi gave him no time to ponder, continuing his explanation.

“…You still don’t fully understand the truth regarding the cultivators who came that day. Since we don’t have to worry about depleting my Divine Will this time, I will explain the situation to you in detail…”

Dong Fuyi paused his questioning of Li Yan’s personal affairs and began to recount the circumstances of the Five Immortals Sect within the Immortal Spirit Realm. Most importantly, he mentioned a sect known as the Yin-Yang Primordial Chaos Sect.

This was information he hadn’t revealed during their last brief encounter, and it was something Li Yan absolutely had to know. This sect was the mortal enemy of the Five Immortals Sect.

While there were countless lineages and paths in the world, why did the Yin-Yang Primordial Chaos Sect harbor such deep-seated hatred for the Five Immortals Sect? Why didn’t they target the sects that practiced the Four Directions, the Five Elements, the Six Harmonies, or the Eight Trigrams?

The fundamental reason was that while the Five Immortals Sect also cultivated the Laws of the Five Elements, they did not follow the conventional path. They paved a new way.

They cultivated based on the specific strength and sequence of the Five Elements within Miscellaneous Spirit Roots. Initially, the Five Immortals Sect kept a low profile, developing in the shadows and accumulating strength in secret.

However, when they finally stepped into the light of the world, the cultivators of this lineage suppressed the Yin-Yang Primordial Chaos Sect, which was then the most prominent power in the Immortal Spirit Realm.

While other lineages were strong, none could match the momentum of the Yin-Yang Primordial Chaos Sect during that era—until the Five Immortals Sect appeared. Consequently, the Yin-Yang Primordial Chaos Sect began to suppress them. They claimed that the disciples who lost to the Five Immortals Sect were merely ordinary disciples, and they dispatched sect experts to crush this new threat.

The result, however, was even more shocking. When they intercepted a cultivator from the Five Immortals Sect, the power displayed by the latter left the world speechless. That cultivator was only at the Late-stage Void Refinement realm, yet he managed to slay a Body Integration patriarch of the Yin-Yang Primordial Chaos Sect.

This was no longer a minor skirmish between Golden Core or Nascent Soul disciples; a Body Integration powerhouse had fallen.

Deep-seated enmity was forged. When the Five Immortals Sect first revealed itself, they had no intention of hiding; their disciples traveled the world for experience as soon as they reached the Golden Core stage. As they journeyed, many sects discovered that the cultivators of the Five Immortals Sect were terrifying. Almost every single one possessed the ability to kill opponents across major cultivation realms.

Furthermore, under the secret instigation of the Yin-Yang Primordial Chaos Sect, rumors spread that the inheritance techniques of the Five Immortals Sect were actually True Immortal Arts from the True Immortal Realm.

This brought a devastating blow to the newly emerged Five Immortals Sect. What kind of existence was the True Immortal Realm? It was a place for true immortals who lived as long as the sun and moon.

At the same time, this tragedy was partially due to the Five Immortals Sect’s own hubris. They had remained silent for so long that they wished to bask in the glory of their sect’s prominence.

The waves of joint attacks grew stronger and more frequent, resulting in heavy losses for the Five Immortals Sect. The disciples they had painstakingly gathered over the years were almost entirely wiped out.

During this period, some attempted to seize the Five Immortals Sect’s techniques through soul-searching. However, every disciple permitted to leave for experience had a portion of their Sea of Consciousness sealed by an elder. That sealed area contained the core techniques. Eighty to ninety percent of Five Immortals Sect disciples chose self-detonation when faced with certain death, leaving no trace or bone behind.

Moreover, the sect’s disciples were few to begin with, and those captured alive for soul-searching were even rarer. Even if a few fell into enemy hands and the seals were broken, the captors found that they couldn’t produce any results by practicing the techniques they found. They naturally assumed these were fake techniques left as traps by the Five Immortals Sect. After all, how could a “True Immortal Art” be so seemingly useless?

Those who had obtained the genuine techniques felt they had been played for fools. In the end, they kept silent about it to avoid the embarrassment of being tricked. Thus, the genuine techniques that had initially leaked out simply vanished from common knowledge.

A sect that had only recently emerged soon faded into obscurity. Yet, the Yin-Yang Primordial Chaos Sect would not rest until every last cultivator of the Five Immortals Sect was eradicated. Similarly, the Five Immortals Sect knew that the Yin-Yang Primordial Chaos Sect was the primary driver behind the search and slaughter of their disciples.

Generations of blood-feuds were born. The two sides killed more and more of each other’s members. The Five Immortals Sect had even managed to slay a total of six Grand Elders of the Tribulation Transcendence realm from the enemy’s side.

On their own side, the losses were equally staggering, with Body Integration and Tribulation Transcendence experts falling in battle. The hatred between the two parties had reached a point where it could never be reconciled.

Both True Lord Qian Chong and Dong Fuyi himself had fallen into traps set by their enemies while searching for successors in the lower realms. Dong Fuyi had nearly perished in a bizarre lightning region, while True Lord Qian Chong was also cornered. It was only because their captors wanted to claim the glory of capturing Qian Chong alive and had failed to report the situation to the upper realm immediately that he survived.

Furthermore, if Dong Fuyi hadn’t escaped his predicament, not only would True Lord Qian Chong have fallen, but Pei Buchong might have also died in the North Ice Continent. After all, his cultivation was still too low.

The one who had come to the Malevolent Spirit Sect this time was another Body Integration cultivator from the Yin-Yang Primordial Chaos Sect stationed in the lower realm, a man named Yu Zishu. He had followed the clue of the Miscellaneous Spirit Root and finally traced it back to Li Yan…

Dong Fuyi’s words confirmed Li Yan’s fears: this catastrophe was indeed brought about by him, and the Malevolent Spirit Sect had suffered an undeserved calamity. Fortunately, no powerhouses of the sect had perished; otherwise, Li Yan would have truly felt an unbearable guilt.

“Master, how should we resolve this? I had some suspicions before, but I couldn’t devise a plan,” Li Yan said. Though he now knew the cause, he was back to the problem he had faced earlier.

According to Dong Fuyi, the situation was even more troublesome. The Yin-Yang Primordial Chaos Sect had dispatched two Body Integration experts to the mortal realm specifically to eradicate the Five Immortals Sect. Even powerhouses like his master and martial uncle had nearly died at their hands; there was no way the lower-realm Malevolent Spirit Sect could handle this.

‘He guessed that this battle was related to him?’ Dong Fuyi thought. He was surprised that Li Yan had found relevant clues in just two days.

“Do you wish to save the Malevolent Spirit Sect?”

“Although I only used their resources to cultivate, this sect truly showed me great kindness in nurturing me. I hope Master can understand this!”

The master and disciple spoke in a quick exchange.

Hearing this, Dong Fuyi’s eyes flickered. Having found Li Yan, his original plan was to simply take Li Yan and his family away immediately. That way, even if the Yin-Yang Primordial Chaos Sect found clues, they would never find their targets. Let the enemies toss and turn as much as they liked.

However, seeing that Li Yan wished to save the Malevolent Spirit Sect, Dong Fuyi fell into deep thought. He didn’t want to brush aside his disciple’s wishes. This was the first time the boy had asked for a favor, and they didn’t have much of a prior emotional bond to fall back on.

After considering it, he reached a decision. “There is a way, though it is somewhat troublesome.”

Li Yan was overjoyed. “Please, Master, enlighten me!”

“I have already slain that Yu Zishu. Last time, in order to rescue your Martial Uncle Qian Chong quickly, I let Xiao Yunzong—the one stationed in the North Ice Continent—escape. This time, I finally caught up to Yu Zishu. After a bit of effort, I managed to capture and soul-search him.

Xiao Yunzong, who is still in the lower realm, is unaware of Yu Zishu’s actions this time. Since I injured him last time, he has remained in the North Ice Continent to heal. Furthermore, neither he nor Yu Zishu dared to report the fact that they had trapped Qian Chong to the upper realm, fearing the severe punishment for letting him escape.

Thus, Yu Zishu wanted to claim this merit alone to offset his previous failure and avoid punishment. After coming to the Forsaken Continent, he had been constantly searching for intelligence. He used coercion and bribery to make Spirit Transformation and Nascent Soul cultivators from smaller realms serve him.

He was finally able to find the Desolate Moon Continent because he obtained some news about you. After all, you successfully reached the Nascent Soul realm. Cultivators above the Golden Core stage are all within their sight; you were no exception.

They came this time intending to capture and soul-search you to confirm whether you are truly a disciple of the Five Immortals Sect. Xiao Yunzong, far away in the North Ice Continent, knows nothing of this. Now that Yu Zishu has been soul-searched and slain by me, and the other six who came have been killed by you, the trail is cold. Although Yu Zishu had other subordinates he had subjugated, he didn’t share his plans with anyone outside his immediate team.

In other words, because Yu Zishu wanted to monopolize the credit, his actions regarding the Malevolent Spirit Sect and yourself were kept extremely secret. No one else is aware of them. Furthermore, through the soul-search, I learned that the information about you was leaked from within your own sect.

When I came to investigate with Martial Uncle Qian Chong last time, I found that the Malevolent Spirit Sect was quite secretive about your details, but a few people still knew. Therefore, if we kill those who know, or erase their memories, we can eliminate the future threat.”

Li Yan was first struck by the fact that his master had slain another Body Integration cultivator. That was truly a display of raw power. Even with the Spirit Transformation limit of the lower realm, Li Yan wouldn’t have been a match for Yu Zishu. If Dong Fuyi hadn’t appeared, Li Yan would likely have had to resort to his self-destructive tactics once more.

Looking at Dong Fuyi’s withered aura and the blood on his robes, Li Yan knew the man had been injured. Capturing an enemy alive was several times more difficult than simply killing them.

‘However, we are cultivators of the Five Immortals Sect. If I were at the Body Integration realm facing a peer from the Yin-Yang Primordial Chaos Sect, I should be able to achieve the same,’ Li Yan thought.

“Master, it is better to remove the memories,” Li Yan said.

“I knew you would choose the latter. As I said, this is quite troublesome!” Dong Fuyi waved his hand, looking as if he had expected this.