Chapter 25: The Six Immortals of the Previous Generation

Gao Wu, Liu Yifei, and Zhou Zhiruo secretly visited Dr. Sun Simiao’s Jisheng Hall under the cover of night, hoping to uncover the history of the Nether Cult and find clues related to the Nether Token they each possessed.

One Emperor, three Kings, six Immortals, and seventy-two halls! It was clear just how massive the Nether Cult had been in its heyday. The six Immortals who walked the pugilistic world were all masters at the Innate stage. The Iron-Gall King and the Blood-Thirsty King, who had once appeared in the world, were even experts at the Qimen stage. If they were that powerful, what of the True Martial Emperor, the leader of the Nether Cult himself? How could such a formidable organization have been wiped out overnight?

Dr. Sun continued slowly, “The Celestial Immortal, Lin Chaoying—ranked third on the Beauty List and thirteenth on the Earthly List—captivated countless young heroes back in her day. Even Wang Chongyang, the leader of the Quanzhen Sect, pursued her bitterly to no avail.” Sun Simiao’s eyes shimmered with admiration; it was evident that he had been a devoted admirer of Lin Chaoying in his youth.

Gao Wu and his companions, however, exchanged awkward glances. This was absurd; Little Dragon Maiden’s grandmistress was the previous Celestial Immortal, yet Liu Yifei, who possessed all of the Little Dragon Maiden’s martial arts, was the current one. Gao Wu realized then that Dr. Sun must have met Lin Chaoying in the past. Since Liu Yifei’s techniques originated from the same school, it was no wonder the doctor had no doubts about her identity. It wasn’t just the Nether Token; the token could be forged, but the martial arts could not.

Sun Simiao shook his head with deep regret. “What a pity! The Earthly Immortal, Huang Shang, was said to be a humble scholar of the Great Zhou who achieved sudden enlightenment through his study of Daoist scriptures; his martial arts were unfathomable. The Human Immortal, Xiaoyaozi—haha, he was the dream lover of countless young maidens, a man of free spirit with friends everywhere. As for the Shadow Immortal, anyone who saw his face ended up dead; he killed far too many people for the True Martial Emperor. The Yin Immortal, Yin Ji, possessed countless faces, yet no one knew her true form. The Yang Immortal was a monk, though his favorite pastime was drinking. He once challenged countless heroes of the world to drinking bouts and never met his match, famously declaring: ‘I ask the heroes of the world, who can drink as heartily as this humble monk?’”

Dr. Sun, sitting on the edge of the bed, had spoken until his throat was parched, unable to resist licking the spilled tea from his face. Suddenly, Liu Yifei looked toward Zhou Zhiruo at the door and asked, “Hey, which Immortal are you?”

Sun Simiao’s tongue froze against his lips. What had he just heard? Was there another Immortal in this room? In all his years, he had never even seen two Immortals at once, and now they were both in his quarters.

“The Yin Immortal!”

“Do you have anything else to ask?”

“No,” Zhou Zhiruo replied coldly, as if she were deeply alienated from the world, projecting intense hostility.

“Do not let word of our appearance leak out,” Liu Yifei said, her tone equally cold, though she leaned more toward indifference.

“Rest assured, Celestial Immortal, I shall keep my lips sealed tight.”

Two days passed, and Gao Wu finally felt the agitation caused by contemplating the Dragon Abyss Map subside. With the map’s aid, he had reached the peak of the Martial Movement stage, with faint signs of a breakthrough. “I never expected to improve so quickly! The ‘great mushroom’ within my body has finished coalescing. The next step is to draw external energy into the body and begin the true path of cultivation.”

Upon reaching the Qi-Induction stage, a martial artist draws energy from the outside world that matches their internal attribute, refining it into the *Qi* that fuels their power, deepening their connection with nature and moving toward the Innate stage of Heaven-Man Unity. Gao Wu wanted to reach the Qi-Induction stage as quickly as possible so he could summon another heroine. Having already summoned Zhou Zhiruo, he no longer held back; he would summon the next one the moment he broke through. He had to summon them eventually, so he might as well do it early to let them adapt to this world. Besides, hadn’t Manager Tong of the Wanbao Pavilion said that relying solely on Liu Yifei’s Innate-stage power wouldn’t be enough to destroy the Xuanming Cult? Very well, he would summon two more!

For the past two days, Liu Yifei and Zhou Zhiruo had occasionally studied the Dragon Abyss Map Gao Wu had drawn. Rumor had it that the map contained the method to transcend the Innate stage and reach the Qimen stage. Since both women had reached the peak of the Innate stage, the map was their only current path to further progress. *Dragon’s Roar in the Nine Heavens* might offer a chance at breaking through, but after practicing it, Liu Yifei realized it was a lineage-based martial art; once one reached the Innate stage, only those with specific bloodlines could continue to cultivate it to reach the Qimen stage. It seemed reaching the Qimen stage was no easy feat, which explained why such masters were so rare.

The trio had also pinpointed the location of the Xuanming Cult: Ghost Gate Mountain. However, the mountain was vast and filled with numerous demonic sects. Searching it with only three people would be looking for trouble.

With nothing pressing to do, Ji Ruxue arrived that day and invited Liu Yifei to go on a spring outing outside the city. Gao Wu suspected the girl had ulterior motives, until she fidgeted and whispered, “Please, Master Gao, help me invite Master Li!”

Gao Wu realized then that spring was in the air, and so was love.

The group gathered once more, though the lineup had changed. Shangguan Que was still imprisoned, and it was uncertain if he would be released. Li Xingyun brought a young girl with him; she was dressed in green and looked adorable, though her brow was furrowed with worry.

“Everyone, this is my junior sister, Lu Linxuan. Sigh…” Li Xingyun sighed, smiling bitterly. “Her father is the Heavenly Loss Star, Lu Youjie. He previously followed Li Ye in plotting against us and was imprisoned by the Grand Marshal. We grew up studying martial arts together and are very close, but I cannot save Uncle Lu! This…”

Li Xingyun had been quite troubled by Lu Linxuan’s persistence lately. She said little, simply following him everywhere with tearful eyes.

“Hey, Li Xingyun, if you ask me, as the future Duke of Tang, it shouldn’t be hard to get the Grand Marshal to release someone, right?” Zhang Zifan flicked his flowing white hair, striking a pose he thought was dashing.

“Sister, is Zhang-lang trying to flirt with other girls?”

“Humph, I’ll give Zhang-lang some face while we’re out, but I’ll deal with him when we get back!” Qingguo said, though her words showed no consideration for his face at all.

“Hey, don’t go too far, you two!” Zhang Zifan put his hands on his hips, acting as if he wouldn’t be pushed around.

Qingguo, however, didn’t coddle him at all; she pounced and gave him a thrashing, with Qingcheng joining in to help. After the chaos, Zhang Zifan was left with a face full of bumps. “Oh, my miserable life! Who will save me?” Even after the beating, he remained incorrigible, his eyes darting toward Zhou Zhiruo and Lu Linxuan. Unfortunately, one was indifferent to such trivialities, and the other was so gloomy she wouldn't even glance at him.

The carriage Li Xingyun had prepared was quite nice, but the separation of men and women made it dull. The three men in one carriage stared at each other in boredom, while the other carriage was filled with the chatter and laughter of the women, occasionally punctuated by Qingguo’s boisterous guffaws.

Meanwhile, in an abandoned courtyard not far outside Kaifeng, the red-haired Ghost King stood up to his full height. “Finally, I am out!”