Infinite Save: I Cultivate Immortality Through Reincarnation - Chapter 318: Things Change, People Do Not

Nine entered Fusheng City.

This meant that Mr. You had once collected the Dao Basis of nine Immortal Ascension Realm cultivators.

“So does that mean those Ascension Realm cultivators who didn’t reincarnate in this era failed to do so because their Dao Bases are inside Fusheng City?” Chen Yan asked.

“It has nothing to do with that.” Mr. You shook his head and said, “A Dao Basis contains great causality. For someone else to seize a Dao Basis, there are only two possibilities: one, the one who stole the Dao Basis has a cultivation level far above the Ascension Realm; two, the Dao Basis’s original owner had already had their soul utterly scattered.”

“Soul utterly scattered?” Chen Yan pressed on, “Why would that happen?”

“It’s hard to say. Everyone dies differently—falling to their death, dying of illness, choking on water… in short, it’s impossible to generalize.” Mr. You said.

Chen Yan’s gaze landed on the Yexing Dao Basis held in Mr. You’s hand.

A key.

For Fusheng City, a Dao Basis from the Ascension Realm was tantamount to an authorized key to enter.

“Time is tight.” Mr. You said, “Don’t waste any more time here. Ten years will pass far faster than you expect, and you never know when Jingchen will recover her memories. When that happens, there might be a chance, or there might be none… who can tell?”

Obtaining the key that leads to Fusheng City.

That was the only path Chen Yan knew of for now.

…

Two years later.

Chenping Continent, Southern Region.

Jin’an Country, Yunyang City.

A young cultivator in gray daoist robes walked slowly along the city streets, drawing many curious looks from mundane townsfolk.

Of course, when ordinary people saw an “Immortal Master,” they naturally kept their distance.

Chen Yan remembered clearly that the last time he set foot in Yunyang City was thirteen years ago.

As for the Heavenly Summit Mountain Cataclysm, that had happened seventeen years ago.

A decade or so, in the cultivation world, was nothing but the blink of an eye.

Even for many secular dynasties, a mere ten or so years might not bring huge changes.

But for mortals, a lifetime often only held a few such decades.

During these two years, Chen Yan had wandered throughout the Southern Region of Chenping Continent, searching for one of the six Dao Bases lost to the world: the Dao Basis of Realman Sun and Moon.

Based on the information Mr. You gave him back on Fusheng Island, it was highly likely that Realman Sun and Moon’s Dao Basis still remained somewhere in the world.

This Immortal Ascension great power, who had once presided over Star Heaven Sect for thirty-five thousand years, was active about 140,000 years ago. In the later period of his leadership, Star Heaven Sect was unquestionably the largest sect in the world aside from Heavenly Summit Mountain; in that era it even overshadowed Mirage Palace.

As for the complete rise of Lingxiao Temple, that was something that occurred after Heavenly Summit Mountain’s destruction.

From the intelligence Chen Yan had currently gathered, the odds of finding Realman Sun and Moon’s Dao Basis seemed slim.

He planned to stay in the Southern Region for about another half year; if nothing turned up, he would head to the Northwest Region.

Kongshan Sect’s territory.

Chen Yan knew full well that the Dao Basis of True Person Kongmiao Yan Yunhe still existed in the world.

Mr. You had said that, in the present era, Ascension Realm cultivators who still had not reincarnated meant only one thing:

those Ascension Realm cultivators had truly died, their Dao consumed, with no chance of reincarnation.

But why would Yan Yunhe, who had once reincarnated, end up doomed to complete death, while Jingchen would, after Qin Yue’s death, swiftly reincarnate again as Si Youyou?

Mr. You had not given a clear explanation for that.

Now, passing through Yunyang City again, Chen Yan wanted to take another look at this city he still felt somewhat familiar with.

Walking along the streets as if he knew the way, after the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn, he stood before the gate of a mansion.

The Xing Mansion.

Chen Yan looked up at its gate. It still looked grand, but the untrimmed creeping vines spilling over the walls made it clear the mansion’s fortunes hadn’t been great these years.

While Chen Yan was lost in thought, the mansion gate suddenly swung open from the inside and a richly dressed middle-aged man walked out. He had many crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes and a rather gaunt face, the look of someone who had long borne the burden of responsibility.

Very familiar.

Just by his eyes, Chen Yan recognized the middle-aged man who had emerged from the Xing Mansion.

Xing Zimo.

Back when Chen Yan had gone by the alias Yan Chen and lived in the Xing Mansion, he had gotten along well with this young master of the Xing family’s third branch.

By the count, Xing Zimo should still be under thirty now, but his appearance made him seem like a man in his forties.

Xing Zimo had clearly noticed the young Immortal Master in gray daoist robes standing before his family gate.

Naturally, he did not recognize who the young Immortal Master in front of his mansion was, because Chen Yan wore a human-skin mask.

Seeing the young Immortal Master, Xing Zimo was slightly startled, then stopped and cupped his fist toward Chen Yan in greeting, “May I ask, Immortal Master, what brings you here?”

It was a very standard martial greeting.

“Nothing much, just passing by by chance.” Chen Yan replied, “I vaguely remember coming to Yunyang City about fifteen or sixteen years ago. I passed by this Xing Mansion back then as well, but today’s Xing Mansion seems to be…”

Although Chen Yan did not finish his sentence, Xing Zimo grasped the meaning in his words.

He could only offer a wry smile, “Things are no longer what they were, Immortal Master.”

“Oh?” Chen Yan put on an expression of interest and looked toward Xing Zimo.

“Do you know Biqiu Sect?” Xing Zimo asked.

“Of course. It’s the largest cultivation sect in Jin’an Country.” Chen Yan answered.

“It’s long since not so.” Xing Zimo sighed, “About eleven or twelve years ago, when two of our Xing family disciples practiced in Biqiu Sect, our family enjoyed unrivaled prestige in Yunyang City… until Biqiu Sect was caught secretly mining Star Heaven Sect’s mineral rights. The entire sect’s disciples were punished with fifty years of labor by Star Heaven Sect, and everything changed.”

“So that happened.” Chen Yan said.

“Shortly after the event, the Xing Mansion’s standing in Yunyang City plummeted. As the saying goes, the higher you fly, the harder you fall… Our previous head, Xing Kai, fell ill when he learned of it and passed not long after,” Xing Zimo said.

Chen Yan remembered the old Master Xing from those days, seated in the main hall, with Steward Yin and him playing their respective stern and lenient parts.

“Now our Xing family is barely surviving as a martial clan, clinging on to past foundations just to avoid collapse…” Xing Zimo shook his head.

Chen Yan could see the inner collar of Xing Zimo’s otherwise splendid robe had yellowed.

They were only just maintaining appearances.