36: Defying Heaven and Slaying Immortals

[Year 16,]

[You summoned your courage and quietly sneaked back to Longyang Town.]

[In the courtyard, Qin Yu was sitting on a stone stool, lost in thought. Her fingertips unconsciously rubbed the teacup, but her gaze drifted into the distance.]

[You sat opposite her and lowered your voice: "Do you know... that there are Cultivators in this world?"]

[Her finger suddenly stopped, and she slowly raised her eyes. Those eyes, which always held a hint of a smile, were now deep and unfathomable.]

[You took a deep breath: "A few years ago, I fought with a Cultivator."]

["You, a mere Xiantian Realm..." Her eyes suddenly lit up. "Wait, you've broken through to the Heavenly Human Realm?"]

[You nodded, secretly praising the System's camouflage ability for being truly impressive.]

["Strange..." She looked you over curiously. "The True Qi in your Dantian is clearly still in the misty state of the Xiantian Realm. How can you have the strength of the Heavenly Human Realm?"]

["You can tell?" Your throat tightened. "Are you... a Cultivator?"]

[Qin Yu was silent for a moment, then suddenly turned her palm upward. With a "chi" sound, a wisp of blue flame ignited out of thin air, reflecting her picturesque features but making your whole body go cold.]

["I have already reached Foundation Establishment Perfection." She turned her hand to extinguish the flame. "All these years, I've been waiting for an opportunity."]

[You grabbed her wrist: "When did this start? Who taught you?"]

["No one taught me." She looked at the night sky. "Since I can remember, fragmented memories have appeared in my mind... Cultivation Techniques and formulas, Alchemy, talisman making..."]

[She suddenly frowned. "Lately, I've been dreaming of a White Jade Immortal Palace, where someone calls me 'Seventh Young Miss'."]

["Then... can you teach me?" you asked expectantly.]

["No." She shook her head. "This Cultivation Technique has a Restriction. I can neither write it down nor speak it; one can only comprehend it on their own."]

["Alright..." You sighed helplessly, not expecting the threshold for cultivation to be so high.]

[Now you finally understood why she would suddenly disappear, and why she occasionally showed a weathered look that didn't match her age...]

["Golden Core Condensing Pill," she suddenly said. "Without it, I will never be able to form a Golden Core."]

["So you're leaving?" Your voice was a bit raspy.]

[She reached out and brushed the fallen petals from your shoulder: "Brother, I must find out—who exactly forced these memories into me."]

[Looking at her back, you suddenly remembered how she used to chase after you as a child, shouting, "Stinky big brother, don't run!"]

[Year 19,]

[You returned to the Yan Imperial Capital and went straight to the side hall of the Anti-Cultivator Alliance.]

[The hall was heavily guarded, with only Zhang Renjing and a few Alchemists refining obstacle breaking pills and realm breaking pills day and night.]

[You handed all the Materials you obtained to Zhang Renjing, asking him to refine a batch of heaven-plundering pills.]

[This was one of the plans you had set long ago—you had to Cultivate a large number of Great Grandmasters and Heavenly Human Realm experts.]

[You knew very well: to contend with Cultivators, one must at least have the strength of a Great Grandmaster to be qualified.]

[Xiao Tianci and the others had not yet returned; they were likely still executing their plans in various places.]

[You also began to Cultivate in quiet seclusion.]

[Year 22, the Body Manifests Myriad Forms was practiced by you to Major Achievement.]

[Year 32, this Cultivation Technique, Body Manifests Myriad Forms, finally reached Perfection.]

[Year 35, after using two bottles of spiritual vein essence, you successfully broke through to the Heavenly Human Realm Middle Stage!]

[Year 45, the Tianhuang Continent was unusually quiet.]

[In the last twenty years, the hundred or so Dynasties had been at peace, and the years of warfare had vanished, as if an invisible hand were controlling everything.]

[Year 55,]

[Inside the side hall of the Anti-Cultivation Alliance, an unprecedented two hundred people gathered.]

[These people included top experts from ninety-six countries, such as Chu Tianqi and Xiao Tianci.]

[Among them were twenty-two Heavenly Human Realm masters, including you, Chu Tianqi, Xiao Tianci, Duan Canghai, Xue Yuntao, Ye Hong, and others.]

[Duan Canghai was from the Great Yan Dynasty, and Ye Hong was from the Xuanwu Dynasty; both were Heavenly Human Realm Peak experts as famous as Chu Tianqi.]

[Originally, there weren't so many Heavenly Human Realm masters, but you concentrated spiritual vein essence and heaven-plundering pills to help those at Great Grandmaster Perfection complete their Breakthroughs.]

[The remaining two hundred or so people were all Great Grandmasters.]

[Similarly, with the concentrated supply of resources and the cessation of war between nations, the number of Great Grandmasters had doubled.]

[Even so, you only managed to gather over twenty Heavenly Human Realm experts and over two hundred Great Grandmasters.]

[Some people also chose to live in seclusion, while others explicitly refused to participate.]

["The Tianhuang Continent has been too quiet these few decades; I'm afraid the Cultivators have noticed long ago?" Ye Hong was the first to break the silence.]

["Hahaha," Duan Canghai laughed loudly, "Would you care about the small movements of ants?"]

["Brother Canghai is right; perhaps they simply don't care at all," Chu Tianqi agreed, stroking his beard.]

["No matter what, this time we must show the Cultivators the backbone of us Martial Artists!" Xue Yuntao's expression was solemn.]

["It's a pity the world is ignorant, still thinking the Cultivators are the saviors of the Yao Beast catastrophe!" you laughed.]

[Afterward, everyone began to exchange insights.]

[Many of them had faced Cultivators head-on before.]

[They each expressed their opinions, discussing the countermeasures for five years later.]

[When you described the characteristics of the Yao Beasts, everyone listened intently—you spoke so vividly, as if you had personally experienced it, which shocked them greatly.]

[Could it be... you've already lived for over a thousand years?]

[Year 60,]

[This day finally arrived.]

[Outside the Imperial Capital, your two hundred or so figures stood scattered on the city walls, looking up at the sky.]

["They're here," someone said hoarsely.]

[The clouds were suddenly torn apart, and a massive spirit boat that blotted out the sun emerged from the clouds, hovering above your heads.]

[A Cultivator appearing like a young boy stood at the bow, looking down at you with a smile, while the two thousand plus Cultivators behind him all had playful looks in their eyes.]

["This old man heard that you ants want to fight to the death?" The boy's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears.]

[As soon as he finished speaking, the Cultivators behind him burst into laughter—]

["Hahaha..."]

["Look at these country bumpkins!"]

["This little Secret Realm is really interesting."]

["Mere Martial Artists want to defy heaven and slay Immortals?"]

["Did you bring a shadow recording stone? Hurry up and record this to show everyone back home!"]

["Look at that old man with the saber; his legs are shaking!"]

[The Cultivators laughed and mocked, completely disregarding you.]

["Ants? Bah!" The young Great Grandmaster Zhao Tieshan stepped forward, his battle-axe pointing directly at the spirit boat: "You so-called Immortals do the work of beasts, not even as good as pigs or dogs!"]

[The boy didn't even lift an eyelid, only giving him a faint glance.]

[In an instant—]

["Ah!"]

[Zhao Tieshan suddenly clutched his head and screamed, bleeding from his seven orifices. He collapsed with a thud, dying on the spot.]

[You heard the sound of someone's teeth chattering.]

[The way Cultivators killed was even more terrifying than the rumors.]

[Many people gasped in cold air.]

[They had only heard that Cultivators' methods were eerie.]

[But who would have thought that a mere glance could kill a Great Grandmaster instantly.]

[Such strength was simply terrifying to the extreme.]