Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 504: We Three

The Imperial Preceptor was perplexed. The temporary pocket space where he fought the Everlasting Immortal had been constructed by him. Aside from himself—the master of this space—no one should have been able to open an exit and escape.

Yet now, without his permission, the Everlasting Immortal had dragged him out of the space.

Is this the power of his Incipient Dao Fruit?

At the moment, this seems like the only plausible explanation.

The Black-White Venerable Lord was stupefied. He couldn’t help but think the person who had just appeared resembled the Imperial Preceptor. However, the bloody nose and battered face before him bore hardly any semblance to the Imperial Preceptor in his memory.

As soon as the Everlasting Immortal saw Lu Yang, the Everlasting Immortal Fairy, and Yun Zhi, a wave of uncanny familiarity washed over him, and his very soul throbbed with pain in response.

However, he quickly remembered that he was now one of their own. The Imperial Preceptor was the one who was supposed to get pummeled.

“First-In-Command, Second-In-Command! You’ve finally come to save me!” Tears streamed down the Everlasting Immortal’s face.

These past ten days had genuinely been brutal for him. He was on his own and blew himself up repeatedly to blast the Imperial Preceptor. His Everlasting Incipient Dao Fruit had withered, and his soul had dimmed. Recovery would not be easy.

Logically speaking, so long as the creed leader and the others had noticed his disappearance and called his title and true name before the statue, he could have escaped the temporary space.

Yet he waited for ten days without hearing them call out to him.

He surmised that if the Imperial Preceptor could make him forget about the Imperial Preceptor’s existence, he could also have made the creed leader and the others forget about himself.

“Look at how disgraceful you are. Ten days, and you still couldn’t win?” The Everlasting Immortal Fairy eyed the bawling Everlasting Immortal with disdain, halting him when he was three steps away from her.

With a casual flick of her fingers, the Everlasting Immortal Fairy revived the third-in-command’s dimmed soul as if granting it new life. In an instant, it was fully restored. Even the withered Everlasting Incipient Dao Fruit swelled with renewed vigor.

“Go back and train properly,” she chided. “My Dao Fruit shouldn’t be this useless. All you know is self-detonation.” With her ample experience in self-detonation, it only took a single glance at the Imperial Preceptor’s pitiful state for her to deduce that this was the aftermath of the Everlasting Immortal’s repeated self-detonations.

“Yes!”

“That’s more like it. Alright, go hide in the back now.”

The Everlasting Immortal scurried behind his first-in-command and second-in-command.

“Brother, what crime did you commit to get beaten this badly?” the Everlasting Immortal asked curiously, his face full of gossip. He was now brimming with infinite energy.

The Black-White Venerable Lord, “...”

The Imperial Preceptor’s hawk-like eyes sharpened as he heard the Everlasting Immortal refer to the Everlasting Immortal Fairy and Lu Yang as “first-in-command” and “second-in-command.”

Does that mean the so-called Everlasting Lineage consists of three people, with him ranked third?

And our target, Lu Yang, is ranked second?

He felt that the Everlasting Lineage’s waters ran terrifyingly deep. This is no place to linger. I must flee quickly.

If even the third-in-command is this hard to deal with, with the first-in-command and second-in-command here, what hope of surviving do I have if a real fight breaks out?

Acting decisively, he immediately activated the Karma Incipient Dao Fruit, erasing his existence. With so many people around, they wouldn’t dare self-detonate recklessly and harm innocent bystanders!

His lips curled into a faint smirk as he boldly strode past the Everlasting Immortal Fairy. Even if our plan at the Dao-Seeking Sect had failed, as long as Shifu and I live, Great Yu can still be restored!

Smack! As the Everlasting Immortal Fairy watched the Imperial Preceptor walk right past her, grinning like a madman as though she was beneath his notice, she instinctively raised her hand and slapped him.

The Imperial Preceptor twirled halfway through the air before crashing headfirst to the ground with a thud.

“The Imperial Preceptor is an idiot?” the Everlasting Immortal Fairy mused aloud. People usually don’t flee like this either.

Is this all he has to offer? The Imperial Preceptor that the Great Yu cultivators had praised as peerless in intellect?

By comparison, I’m clearly the smarter one.

“He’s probably an idiot.” Lu Yang agreed solemnly. Anyone who had concocted a plan like infiltrating the Dao-Seeking Sect couldn’t have had a high IQ.

The Imperial Preceptor lay sprawled on the ground, dumbfounded. How is this possible? I’d even activated my Karma Incipient Dao Fruit. How could anyone still detect me?

Unless...

An immortal?!” His eyes widened as the gravity of the situation finally struck him. The Everlasting Lineage’s first-in-command is an immortal?!

What kind of joke is this? Since when has any immortal throughout history borne the title of “Everlasting?”

“Soul-Breaking Needle!” He drew his last remaining Soul-Breaking Needle—the weapon that had once sundered the Everlasting Immortal’s soul!

Aiming at the Everlasting Immortal, he shot the needle with blinding speed, its tip imbued with the attribute of “oblivion.”

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy casually caught the needle between two fingers and examined it curiously. “What’s this thing? Oh, an immortal treasure that can split souls. Ah, it has a pretty ingenious design. Let me test its power.”

She tried pricking herself.

The needle shattered.

She remained unharmed.

“Ahhh? That’s it?” The Everlasting Immortal Fairy pouted. This plaything might work on a half-immortal, but it’s useless against an immortal with a powerful soul like me.

The Imperial Preceptor’s blood ran cold at the sight. My proudest Soul-Breaking Needle couldn’t even hold her back! Even Shifu, the first imperial preceptor, refused to take a hit from these needles!

He closed his eyes slowly, wrestling inwardly. When they snapped open again, his gaze was deranged. “Immortal, don’t think capturing me means you’ve won. Today, I’ll show you why a ten-thousand-year half-immortal isn’t to be trifled with. Even if it costs my life, I’ll rip away a piece of your soul!

“I offer my life as sacrifice to Great Yu!”

Blood poured from his orifices as he sacrificed his lifespan for a temporary surge of power. This was also a feature of his Karma Incipient Dao Fruit—karma demanded equivalent exchange.

A half-immortal’s lifespan spanned at least a hundred thousand years. As his lifespan slipped away rapidly, he felt the day of his end drawing closer, yet his body grew stronger. If he fought the Everlasting Immortal now, he was confident he could survive the self-detonation and capture his opponent alive. Unfortunately, there was no turning back; this move was irreversible. After the surge in power, he would only have a few years left to live.

Space shook, and spirit qi scattered. It felt like his soul was pricked by needles as an inexplicable fear took root in his heart.

The Everlasting Immortal and the Black-White Venerable Lord paled, their hearts pounding. They could sense a fatal threat from this move.

“You all forced my hand. Behold my ultimate move...”

Crash! Seeing the Imperial Preceptor charge up, Yun Zhi kicked him squarely to the ground.

The buildup naturally dissipated into nothingness and went down the drain.

The sacrificed lifespan was also absorbed by heaven and earth, never to be returned.

“How is this possible?! This move can’t be interrupted!” the Imperial Preceptor shrieked in disbelief. Throughout this mission to the Dao-Seeking Sect, none of my decisions worked out, and now even my suicide move has been interrupted!

Lu Yang sighed, walking to the Imperial Preceptor and pointing at him. “Just surrender obediently. With the three of us here, even the Heaven Mandate Immortal would admit defeat, let alone you.”

The Imperial Preceptor inhaled deeply and shot Lu Yang a death stare. Since escape is impossible, and battle is impossible, I’ll drag you to die with me!

He activated another function of the Karma Incipient Dao Fruit—Curse.

“I, Jin Buqun, hereby swear: You shall endure the Eight Sufferings—birth, aging, sickness, death, unfulfilled desires, encounters with hatred, partings from loved ones, and the five clinging-aggregates.[1] You shall face the Seven Calamities—fire, water, Rakshasa, blades and staffs, ghosts, shackles, and vengeful enemies. In life, your cultivation will stagnate; in death, your soul will disintegrate!”

1. This is one of the Eight Sufferings in Buddhism. Clinging is a source of suffering, and five aspects result in this. The five aggregates are: form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. ☜