Chapter 281: Establishing the Immortal Dynasty
Yu Feng had only ever heard about Second Senior Brother from Senior Sister Wu Lian—he’d never met him in person.
Today was the first time.
Second Senior Brother gave off an inherently sinister vibe. He didn’t seem to hide the fact that he was a treacherous man—he even seemed proud of it.
“You actually reached the Soul Formation Stage?” Senior Sister Wu Lian was stunned that Second Senior Brother had achieved this level.
He had fled the sect over a decade ago, rising from the late Golden Core Stage to the Soul Formation Stage. The Devouring Technique must have played a critical role. Who knew how many people he had killed and devoured to boost his cultivation?
If Daoist Tongchen hadn’t been injured and unable to break through, he likely would’ve also been out killing by now.
“If possible, I’d much prefer you call me Second Junior Brother,” Ma Pingfan landed with a smile on his face.
“Too bad. As far as I’m concerned, Xiao Feng is my only junior brother,” Wu Lian sneered.
“So this is Master’s new disciple?” Ma Pingfan looked Yu Feng over with a mocking smirk. “Just reached the Golden Core Stage. So ordinary. Master must’ve really hit rock bottom.”
“And where is Master? I’ve come all this way—I really must thank the old man for passing the Devouring Technique to me.” Ma Pingfan’s so-called thanks were clearly meant to disgust Daoist Tongchen.
Look, you taught me the Devouring Technique, yet you’re still stuck at the Nascent Soul Stage while I’m already Soul Formation.
“There.” Wu Lian pointed to a pile of crushed flesh—the remains of Daoist Tongchen, shattered by Yu Feng’s spiritual energy chains.
“Also, Xiao Feng isn’t Master’s new disciple. He’s the fourth disciple Master accepted.”
Ma Pingfan had left the sect before Daoist Tongchen took in the third disciple.
“What happened?” Ma Pingfan was a bit surprised. He could tell a brutal battle had occurred, but not the details.
Yu Feng explained, “Fifth Senior Brother was a mole sent by Lord Heishan. He poisoned Third and Fourth Senior Brothers. Lord Heishan and Monk Jingguang joined forces to attack the sect. Master died along with them.”
Wu Lian hadn’t expected Yu Feng to say this, but she quickly understood—Xiao Feng didn’t want to expose his true strength.
After everything that happened last night, Wu Lian had grown significantly, both in cultivation and mindset. She now understood that the world was full of deceit and schemes—she had to learn to keep her cards close.
That was exactly what Yu Feng had hoped for. He wanted her strength and mindset to match. Otherwise, he could’ve given her the Innate Creation Art years ago—why wait until last night?
Ma Pingfan smiled and insincerely said, “What a pity.”
Then his expression changed, and he casually waved his hand, sending Yu Feng flying. Yu Feng crashed into three trees before coming to a stop.
“When I’m speaking to Wu Lian, who gave you permission to interrupt?”
“Xiao Feng!” Wu Lian rushed over to help Yu Feng up, glaring at Ma Pingfan.
“What exactly are you here for?”
“I already told you—The Heavenly Lord is founding an Immortal Dynasty. All cultivators must become citizens of the dynasty. Anyone who disobeys will be executed,” Ma Pingfan smiled. “Otherwise, do you think I wouldn’t have killed this little junior brother?”
“Every cultivator is a citizen of the Immortal Dynasty—a valuable resource. Killing them is a waste.”
“As the coordinator, my job is to help the Heavenly Lord locate cultivators, gather them, and bring them back to the dynasty.”
Yu Feng sighed inwardly. Truly a disaster from the heavens. Without strength, your life can be toyed with at will. Senior Jiang said the Nine Provinces World wasn’t like this—how enviable.
“And who is this Heavenly Lord supposed to be?”
“From your limited knowledge, I’m sure you think the Tongu Continent has only two Soul Formation-stage powerhouses,” Ma Pingfan looked at them like bumpkin relatives.
“In truth, there are six Soul Formation experts and one at the Tribulation Stage. That Tribulation Stage cultivator is the Heavenly Lord.”
“Six?” Yu Feng recalled Jiang Li saying there were eight—so two were still hiding, unknown even to Ma Pingfan.
“Why does the Heavenly Lord want to found an Immortal Dynasty?”
Ma Pingfan didn’t mind showing off his knowledge to his former sectmates. “Three years ago, Ancestor of the Blood River and Old Master Poison battled in space, harming innocents and causing chaos. Out of mercy, the Heavenly Lord seeks to unify the cultivation world, establish an Immortal Dynasty, set clear rules, reduce conflict, and resolve strife.”
Yu Feng thought to himself, No wonder after tens of thousands of rebirths, I never heard of Second Senior Brother or this dynasty—the root cause was me.
Ma Pingfan wasn’t lying. He had no reason to deceive them about this.
But Jiang Li knew that wasn’t the Heavenly Lord’s real reason.
That Tribulation Stage powerhouse, known as the Heavenly Lord, feared that Soul Formation cultivators would fight to the death, hoping to break through their own death tribulations and enter the Tribulation Stage, thus threatening his rule.
So, he simply gathered anyone who might ascend and kept them under his watch.
Just like when Yu Yin broke through the Tribulation Stage—the key insight was this: Soul Formation cultivators must never learn the method to advance. If they think about it while facing their death tribulation, they might survive it and ascend, thereby realizing the trial’s true nature and losing the opportunity.
Also, the secret of ascending to the Tribulation Stage is a Heavenly Secret—it cannot be spoken.
To leak it is to sever the path of others, and Heavenly Thunder will strike down the one who spills it, turning them to ash. The Heavenly Lord had no desire to die that way.
Moreover, establishing the Immortal Dynasty would allow him to accumulate national fortune and empower himself. The boost was equivalent to having another Tribulation Stage cultivator’s strength.
This way, the Heavenly Lord would effectively possess the power of two Tribulation Stage beings—his reign unshakable.
Jiang Li had only told Yu Feng that the Heavenly Lord wanted to gather national fortune—he hadn’t mentioned the other reason.
“Let’s go. I’ll take you to the Immortal Dynasty,” Ma Pingfan waved, calling over a flying boat from the horizon, packed with cultivators.
These were Ma Pingfan’s trophies.
The more cultivators someone brought back, and the stronger they were, the more merit they earned. After the dynasty was established, the Heavenly Lord would reward contributions accordingly.
Yu Feng and Wu Lian boarded the vessel.
Ma Pingfan instructed the pilot to return to the Immortal Dynasty while he continued searching for more cultivators.
But just as he turned to leave, a loud crash erupted behind him. Startled, he looked back to see his flying boat had collided with another one and was now plummeting. If he didn’t act, everyone aboard would die.
Panic broke out aboard the vessels—only Yu Feng remained expressionless.
He was used to this.
Wu Lian saw her little junior brother’s calm face and thought it was his Avert Misfortune, Turn Danger to Safety technique working again. Believing they’d be fine, she calmed down too.
Ma Pingfan cursed and lifted the crashed vessel.
The other flying boat belonged to another Soul Formation cultivator, who also happened to be transporting cultivators to the dynasty.
Rather than being angry, the other cultivator even offered, “Ma Pingfan, I can help bring your people back.”
Ma Pingfan wasn’t fooled. There was no such thing as a kind soul in this business. The guy was eyeing the merit from his batch of cultivators.
Afraid his cargo would be snatched, Ma Pingfan had no choice but to carry the entire flying boat back himself.
He felt like he’d been cursed. Not a single peaceful moment on this trip.
Someone had nearly exploded the boat from a fire deviation during cultivation, another poison cultivator had broken a jar and almost killed everyone, and a drunken Soul Formation cultivator had flown into him, nearly crashing the whole vessel.
“What the h*** is going on?” Ma Pingfan felt like his luck had never been this bad.
In the end, though, everyone arrived at the Immortal Dynasty safe and sound—if only just.