novelraw Chapter 1048: How Could There Be a Path to Immortality in This World? (56) — Impermanence
Chapter 1048: How Could There Be a Path to Immortality in This World? (56) — Impermanence
After the hand reached out, it struggled to break through the surrounding soil. Daoist Baijie quickly stepped forward and used Daoist techniques to loosen the dirt beneath the old tree!
A young Daoist emerged swiftly from the pit, greedily gasping for air.
The young Daoist looked around quickly. “Senior Baijie… what… what exactly happened? Why was I buried underground? Where is that Vermilion Bird clan demon?!”
Daoist Baijie was stunned. “You... you don’t know?”
The young Daoist shook his head. “That Vermilion Bird clan demon charged at me suddenly, but then… I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I found myself buried underground—and saw you, President.”
Daoist Baijie frowned.
He recognized this young man. At the beginning, there had been some conflict after discovering the young man's master’s body, as well as the corpse of a Vermilion Bird clan demon. Both sides had fought until Baijie and the Vermilion Bird priest Qu Xinghe struck and knocked everyone unconscious. Could it be… this young man survived because he had fainted?
“President… what… what are those?” The young Daoist’s voice trembled as he pointed at the earthen graves behind Daoist Baijie.
“They are…” Daoist Baijie said bitterly, “your seniors and comrades. They’ve all perished.”
“What?!” The young Daoist’s face went pale.Boom—!
Suddenly, a red flash shot out from the forest. In that instant, Daoist Baijie’s expression shifted. He grabbed the young Daoist’s arm and narrowly dodged the attack.
【Target detected.】
A cold, robotic voice rang out.
Daoist Baijie’s face changed dramatically. A figure darted through the shadows of the trees and appeared before him and the young Daoist.
It was that thing.
“W-What is that?!” the young Daoist cried out in terror.
“That’s the killer of all those buried Daoists and Demons,” Daoist Baijie said with a deep breath. “And this is just one of them. There are many more... Kid, when the chance comes, run.”
Gaia’s gaze locked onto Daoist Baijie. Slowly, it raised the gun-barrel-like weapons on its arms.
Deadly beams shot out again, splitting and curving unpredictably with immense power and agility.
Daoist Baijie summoned an octagonal bronze mirror to block the beams one by one. But the shockwaves from the blasts were so powerful that the young Daoist was sent flying!
Gaia raised its other arm—this time, both guns fired simultaneously!
Daoist Baijie cursed inwardly. He ignored the young man and hurled the bronze mirror toward him. It intercepted the blasts just in time.
BOOM! BOOM!!
The energy blasts turned the area into a field of destruction.
Amidst the dense barrage, golden light shone from Daoist Baijie’s hands—he charged into the storm of beams, slapping the light aside!
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
The beams twisted upon impact with his palms and veered off course!
He endured the entire volley head-on.
“President!” the young Daoist cried in awe and relief.
Baijie glanced at him—then frowned.
The kid hadn’t been targeted at all.
Why?
Then he realized—the young man had never touched anything in this place. From the start, he had been knocked unconscious and hadn’t participated in any of the gathering.
With Baijie’s razor-sharp memory, he recalled clearly: there had never been a puppet guardian like Gaia near this boy.
“What’s your name?” Baijie asked, still watching Gaia warily.
“Jiang… Jiang Zuo!”
“Jiang Zuo. You lucky brat… Maybe you’ll survive,” Baijie said, then shoved his palm forward.
A powerful blast of air launched Jiang Zuo out of the clearing into the forest.
Gaia didn’t react at all. It didn’t even glance at him.
“As I thought,” Baijie breathed—Jiang Zuo was not Gaia’s target.
Then…
Baijie locked eyes with Gaia and said slowly, “It’s time to settle the Daoist Association’s debt.”
Gaia didn’t move. Its violet eyes flickered rapidly.
Baijie began a strange breathing rhythm, his chest heaving—then, suddenly, his body began to expand rapidly!
Not in a grotesque way—his muscles surged, bursting through his robe, transforming him from a shriveled old man into a powerfully built warrior!
Golden lights flashed across his body. A strange halo formed above his head.
Nine dragons carved into his armor spewed Samadhi True Flames, transforming into nine fiery dragons circling him!
He held two ancient swords: one engraved with Slay Immortals, the other with Yin-Yang(雌雄).
(Note: 雌雄 means "female and male" but, Yin-Yang sounds better lol)
Two mirrors hovered at his sides—one black, one white.
【Threat level increased. Output mode adjusted… EXTERMINATION.】
Gaia’s violet eyes flickered again. It raised both cannons—thicker, more destructive beams fired out!
Baijie shouted, “Yin-Yang Mirror!!”
The black mirror spun in front of him and absorbed the incoming blasts!
He then slashed with the sword in his left hand. The white mirror launched forward—splitting into two, then four, eight, and finally sixty-four mirror images surrounding Gaia!
From the black mirror, the absorbed beams shot into two of the white mirror images.
The white mirrors reflected and refracted the beams, bouncing them between each other.
BOOM—!!
The beams finally struck Gaia!
Dust exploded everywhere—but Baijie didn’t let down his guard.
He gripped both swords tightly, eyes sharp.
Sure enough, from the cloud of dust, a figure shot out.
Gaia.
Her arms had transformed into razor-sharp blades.
She charged across the ground toward Daoist Baijie.
CLANG CLANG CLANG!!
The clash between the two created constant clanging like metal striking stone, their blinding speed seemingly surpassing the limits of human vision!
Facing this Gaia, Daoist Baijie wasn’t at a disadvantage — in fact, he was faintly gaining the upper hand.
But Baijie knew he couldn’t drag this out… because this thing wasn’t the only one!
His mana surged like the sea, and immense power roared from within him, becoming tangible — golden flames erupted from his body!
Above his head, the strange dome abruptly fired nine blasts, shooting into the sky from all directions. The nine fire dragons merged into one massive flame dragon, then roared downward.
Gaia looked up, purple eyes flashing, crossing the blades on her arms above her head in defense.
Boom—!
The surrounding forest within dozens of meters was incinerated instantly by the fire dragon's impact — like a tactical missile strike!
When the smoke cleared, the ground had become a deep crater.
At the center, Gaia’s right arm had vanished, her left limp. Her glowing purple eyes flickered erratically.
Just then — a flash of cold light streaked past. Gaia’s head was cleanly severed — by Daoist Baijie!
Her severed head rolled into the pit, and her body collapsed to the ground.
Baijie exhaled deeply and checked his mana… less than 40% remained.
The decapitated head lay there, purple eyes still glowing as it stared at Baijie, sending a chill down his spine.
Moments later, both the head and body turned to ash and vanished.
But Baijie’s expression darkened — he clearly sensed something… from behind.
Slowly turning, he looked up above the crater — one figure… two… six in total, all rising into the air.
Six more Gaias!
“Really now… no respect for their elders at all…”
Baijie gripped his swords and soared into the air, slashing at one of the Gaias!
Not far away...
Amid the shockwaves and magical explosions, Flameflow opened his eyes — half of his body was buried in dirt.
A strange situation, but he quickly got up, recalling what happened before he fainted.
“Moli…” Flameflow fell to his knees, clutching the dirt in pain. Suddenly, he noticed many Demon clan corpses around him — some Vermilion Bird, some White Tiger, Azure Dragon, Black Tortoise… even some Daoist World cultivators.
He didn’t know what happened — only that terrifying mana waves still echoed from afar.
Who was fighting over there…?
Even from this distance, the pressure was overwhelming. Only a few in the Daoist World had such power — Daoist Baijie? Hanyang?
Anguish filled him. Flameflow slammed his fist into the ground.
“Moli… Moli…” he screamed to the sky, “Daoist World… I’ll drag you all to hell with me!!!”
But…
He had the Ice-Sealed Meridians — a death sentence for the Vermilion Bird race. The cold within him slowly extinguished his inner fire. Once gone, his life would end.
“I can’t die…”
Flameflow gritted his teeth, eyes bloodshot. He looked toward the Demon corpses — including fellow Vermilion Birds.
“I can’t die…”
He threw himself at one still-warm body. His trembling hand plunged into its chest — and pulled out a fresh heart.
“I can’t die!!!”
He devoured it.
Blood sprayed. Flameflow swallowed the heart whole. A scorching heat surged within him, suppressing the cold affliction.
Like a starving beast, he began devouring the corpses — one after another.
Their bodies still held powerful essence. His kin replenished his flame, others boosted his life force.
Eventually, all the corpses were consumed.
“Still not enough…” His eyes were now bloodshot, sanity on the brink. He felt a pull — a source of heat nearby.
Instinctively, he followed it to a certain spot in the forest.
“Heartfire Earth Ganoderma!”
(Note: Can anyone remember what translation I used for this in earlier chapters? I can't find it in my notes. If not, no worries. Let's go with this one.)
Before him was the very spirit herb that had caused Moli’s death. Without hesitation, he ripped it from the ground and swallowed it whole.
A fiery storm raged inside him, threatening to tear him apart.
【Prompt: Subscriber has consumed the Heartfire Earth Ganoderma.】
Suddenly, a voice spoke behind him. He turned to see a purple-haired, purple-eyed little girl quietly standing there.
【Notice: Subscriber must pay for consumed Heartfire Earth Ganoderma.】
But Flameflow could barely process her words. The violent energy in his body was overwhelming.
“Aaaaaahhhh!!!”
He collapsed, screaming, consciousness fading.
The girl’s eyes glowed with purple light.
【Transaction interrupted...】
【Scanning...】
【Energy turbulence detected... life signs declining...】
【Emergency protocol activated...】
【Transaction in progress — cannot terminate...】
【Recommendation: Stabilize subscriber to resume transaction.】
【Confirmed.】
She lifted Flameflow and pressed a finger to his forehead.
【Energy alignment...】
【Rescanning...】
【Abnormal genes detected... unstable structure... recommend removal...】
She placed a hand on his chest.
【Further scan: Subject contains Genetic Chain No. 28... 0.47% concentration... Mutation chain of No. 28 detected... 7.9% concentration...】
【Recommendation: Retain mutated gene chain for enhanced soul resilience.】
【Executing...】
Unseen to the world, terrifying changes were quietly taking place inside Flameflow's body.
( End of Chapter)