CHAPTER 359: CHAPTER 329: THIS CHILD, IN THE FUTURE, MUST BECOME A PRIMORDIAL SPIRIT!

"Don’t believe me?"

Seeing Qi Xiu’s astonished and bewildered expression, Dongfang Qing chuckled lightly. With a casual flick of his wrist, he plucked two strands of Qi Xiu’s hair.

The slender strands were mostly white from the root up.

"This is..."

Watching Dongfang Qing hold the white hairs, Qi Xiu’s expression inevitably turned solemn.

He possessed an Innate Mixed Yuan Holy Body and a robust physique. He was barely over fifty years old; how could he possibly have white hair?

There indeed is a problem with my body.

"I’ve heard from the younger generation of the Zhao Family that you consumed the Longevity Seed?"

"Mhm."

"That explains it. The Longevity Seed was a Divine Object personally cultivated by Zhao Gengyun. This item can forcefully prolong the life of those without fate and can also temporarily bring those with fate into an Undying state.

However, the heavens maintain a balance of gains and losses. Using such a heaven-defying Divine Object inevitably comes with a price.

That Longevity Seed has already depleted your life source.

If your constitution weren’t special, you probably would have perished much earlier. Enduring up until now is already quite lucky.

I estimate that in, at most, ten days, your physical body will wither and die."

Dongfang Qing lightly placed two fingers on Qi Xiu’s wrist, quickly discerning that Qi Xiu was already halfway through the gates of death.

"There are only two paths left for you now.

The first path is to simply abandon your physical body. I can teach you the Corpse Dissolution Skill, and you can purely cultivate your soul, taking the path of the Yang God. However, without a physical body, achieving the Primordial Spirit Great Path in the future will incur an additional tribulation. And the second path... is this."

With a flip of his palm, Dongfang Qing suddenly revealed a fist-sized, purple-gold Treasure Bead radiating divine light in his hand. Its smooth surface was faintly inscribed with six ancient seal characters:

"Nine Deaths Immortal Heavenly Skill."

"Nine Deaths Immortal Heavenly Skill?" Qi Xiu looked surprised. The scene where Gao Tianxiong, the Dianchuan Military Governor, had successfully resurrected using this miraculous technique was still vivid in his mind.

How could this manual appear in the Sect Master’s hands?

Could it be that after spending two months at the County Yamen, this was his achievement?

Feeling Qi Xiu’s astonished gaze, Dongfang Qing smiled and shook the Spiritual Pearl in his hand, which contained "Nine Deaths Immortal Heavenly Skill."

Gao Tianxiong, in his bid for resurrection, had allied with Zhu Shanhe and Li Huangliang. He used the entire Dianchuan Province as his stage, treating its countless lives as pawns, and concocted a grand plan spanning a hundred years.

Their Sect Aristocracy had naturally been drawn into this scheme, shouldering many of Gao Tianxiong’s burdens and exerting considerable effort on his behalf.

Now that Gao Tianxiong had successfully resurrected and regained control of Dianchuan Province, it was naturally time to settle their previous accounts.

Gao Tianxiong himself knew well that he had wronged the entire Dianchuan Province. So, when a group of powerful figures came knocking for an explanation, he didn’t hesitate to present "Nine Deaths Immortal Heavenly Skill."

This barely managed to appease the furious powerhouses, who were brimming with resentment and had come demanding accountability.

"Does the Sect Master intend for me to also die and be reborn, like the Dianchuan Military Governor?"

"You’re overthinking it."

Standing up, Dongfang Qing waved his sleeve, and an ancient, esoteric Array Map slowly materialized in the void.

It was the very same Great Formation Gao Tianxiong had previously used to sacrifice all the Demonic Evil Cultivators in Dianchuan Province.

"The prerequisite for practicing ’Nine Deaths Immortal Heavenly Skill’ is a Cultivation at the Primordial Spirit Realm.

If you wish to cultivate it, you’ll likely need another eight hundred to a thousand years.

However, your situation differs from Gao Tianxiong’s.

He suffered from a chronic ailment that had reached a critical stage; his body and soul were almost completely eroded. Only death and rebirth could grant him another life.

You are different. You’ve only depleted your physical body’s life source; your soul is largely unharmed.

Replenishing your depleted life source by utilizing this Heaven-Seizing and Earth-Plundering Ten Directions Array should suffice.

However, after this ordeal, your Innate Mixed Yuan Holy Body, I’m afraid, will be no more."

Having explained the second path, Dongfang Qing turned slightly, observing out of the corner of his eye this junior Sect Member who so often created miracles.

He saw Qi Xiu first furrow his brow, then nod thoughtfully before saying, "If it can’t be preserved, then so be it. It’s better than losing my life."

"You rascal..."

Seeing Qi Xiu adjust his mindset so quickly, without the dramatic reaction—the panic, helplessness, or despair—he had anticipated, Dongfang Qing felt a contradictory mix of disappointment and relief.

"I’m just teasing you.

Your performance in the Ten Thousand Caves Mountain not only secured a sliver of hope for our Dianchuan Province but also protected the descendants of those old antiques.

Those descendants are their most cherished treasures.

Now, several of those powerful figures have spoken. They will personally intervene this time.

Not only will they heal you, but they will also help you reach an even higher level."

As he spoke, Dongfang Qing waved his sleeve, summoning a Qingyun. It enveloped Qi Xiu, and they soared towards the distant horizon.

This was a bamboo forest standing tall amidst a dense sea of clouds.

In the tranquil, golden bamboo sea, each stalk seemed bathed in the golden glow of dawn, shining with a sacred light.

They soared into the clouds, swaying with the wind, like giant golden harps playing nature’s symphony.

Light flowed ceaselessly among them, at times as bright as the scorching sun, at times as soft as moonlight, endowing this bamboo sea with endless Life Force and Spirit Essence.

A crystal-clear stream meandered through the bamboo sea. Its babbling waters produced melodious sounds, like the nectar of the Immortal Realm—pure and refreshing, cleansing the dust of the world.

Under the sunlight, each droplet sparkled with fantastical colors, reflecting the swaying bamboo shadows and adding to the ambiance of this Immortal Realm.

On a flat clearing by the stream, Zhao Gengyun squatted on a smooth rock, holding a handful of Hua Sheng. He tossed Hua Sheng into his mouth while asking several other figures beside him.