Chapter 165: The Cultivator from Ninety Thousand Years Ago

Ying Country, Spring and Autumn Pavilion.

Ying Country was a nation surrounded by the sea on three sides, dotted with numerous islands. The Spring and Autumn Pavilion stood upon a solitary island mountain within its borders.

The aged master of the Spring and Autumn Pavilion, his hair as white as snow, lay reclining on a wooden lounge chair by the seaside, basking in the sun.

Suddenly, half the sky darkened as the head of the Primordial Profound Heavenly Demon thrust out from beneath the cloud layer. Standing right atop the demon's head was Qin Xuanxi, clad in the Profound Abyss Ninefold Nether Gown and wearing the Purple Fiend Mask.

The old pavilion master immediately sprang up from his lounge chair, raised his head, and shouted toward the clouds, "I wonder why the illustrious Profound Abyss Demonic Venerable has graced our humble Spring and Autumn Pavilion with her presence?"

Qin Xuanxi replied, "Presumably, the old pavilion master has perused the vast collection of texts within the Spring and Autumn Pavilion. Therefore, I have deliberately come here today to consult you on a matter."

"Please feel free to ask directly, Demonic Venerable. This old man shall share everything he knows without reservation," the old pavilion master said with a smile.

"I wonder if the old pavilion master has ever heard of the 'Boundless One'?" Qin Xuanxi asked.

The expression of the old pavilion master suddenly turned solemn. "Please, Demonic Venerable, enter the pavilion so we may discuss this in detail."

Following that, Qin Xuanxi walked into the Spring and Autumn Pavilion alongside the old pavilion master.

Inside, figures clad in plain robes could occasionally be seen sweeping the corridors and tending to the bookshelves.

The old pavilion master led Qin Xuanxi into a small tea room within the pavilion and personally poured her a cup of tea.

However, Qin Xuanxi did not touch the tea and once again questioned the old pavilion master about the Boundless One.

After taking a sip of the tea he had brewed himself, the old pavilion master slowly began, "This old man never expected that the Demonic Venerable would also have heard of the existence known as the 'Boundless One'.

"People nowadays say that the Xuanwin Continent has a cultivation history of seventy thousand years, but that is inaccurate.

"It is simply that the written records left behind from seventy thousand years ago are exceedingly scarce, so most people have no idea what transpired in this world back then, nor what figures once walked the earth.

"The Boundless One was a cultivator born more than ninety thousand years ago, and in a sense, he might still be alive to this day."

A look of astonishment appeared on Qin Xuanxi's face. "He has actually lived for over ninety thousand years? How did he manage that?"

The lifespan of a cultivator was far longer than that of ordinary mortals, and the higher one's cultivation realm, the longer one could live. However, cultivators were not immortals after all; their lifespans remained finite.

Even if one reached the Supreme Primordial Profound Nether Realm, the maximum lifespan attainable was only a little over thirty thousand years.

"The Boundless One was the very first cultivator on the Xuanwin Continent to attain the Supreme Primordial Profound Nether Realm," the old pavilion master said. "Yet the Supreme Primordial Profound Nether Realm is merely the first of the three pinnacle realms.

"It was also from within the Primordial Profound Desolate Realm that the Boundless One learned there were two even higher realms beyond the Supreme Primordial Profound Nether Realm.

"It is a pity that when his lifespan was nearing its end, his cultivation still could not break through once more. Unwilling to accept his fate and yearning to live longer, he fused his primordial spirit with a demonic tree named 'Boundless'. Relying on the body of the demonic tree, he managed to survive down to the present day, and it is precisely for this reason that later generations refer to him as the Boundless One."

The old pavilion master took another sip of tea as he spoke.

"Of course, everything mentioned above are merely legends. Whether the Boundless One is still alive today, and whether his primordial spirit remains within that demonic tree, this old man does not know."

Qin Xuanxi asked, "Where can one find this Boundless Demonic Tree?"

The old pavilion master replied, "I have heard that it only grows within the Netherworld Interstice."

The Netherworld Interstice? Qin Xuanxi furrowed her brow slightly. There were three thousand minor worlds within the Netherworld Interstice; searching for anything within them would be a formidable task indeed.

***

Xuanqing Palace.

The two immortal venerables from the Misty Sect, Immortal Venerable Changhua and Immortal Venerable Tianshuang, had stayed at Xuanqing Palace for a full month and were only leaving today.

Of course, the senior sister and junior brother had wanted to leave more than half a month ago, but they had been forcibly detained until now by Meng Xingmo, the master of Xuanqing Palace, using all sorts of excuses.

Yet a month had passed, and Xuanqing Palace remained peaceful without any enemy attacks. Meng Xingmo could no longer find an excuse to forcibly keep these two distinguished guests.

Meanwhile, Song Yan remained within Xuanqing Palace, quietly sweeping the floors day after day for a month.

Behind the east gate of the Martial Arts Hall lay a bamboo grove, and within the grove stood two adjacent small wooden cabins.

One was inhabited by Sun Yingxia, while the other served as the living quarters within Xuanqing Palace for Song Yan, the "temporary worker" hired by Sun Yingxia.

Word had it that Sun Yingxia had committed a grave offense in the past and was heavily punished by the previous master of Xuanqing Palace, demoted to a menial laborer condemned to remain at Xuanqing Palace for all eternity to clean the Martial Arts Hall and the Library Pavilion.

Over the years, however, Sun Yingxia had always relied on bribery or deception to trick others into doing her sweeping chores, while she spent her days hiding in her room reading pulp fiction, sleeping soundly, and frequently slipping down the mountain to amuse herself. The current sect master, Meng Xingmo, turned a blind eye to all of this.

Naturally, Sun Yingxia did not let Song Yan work for free; she paid her a monthly wage and provided her with board and lodging.

Zhang Zixuan would also visit Song Yan from time to time, bringing delicious treats and occasionally even helping Song Yan sweep the floors.

At this moment, Song Yan was holding a brush, writing a letter to her older brother:

[Brother, everything is fine with me at Xuanqing Palace. The senior sisters and senior brothers treat me very well, and Master Zixuan dotes on me dearly.]

She had agreed with Zhang Zixuan to temporarily keep the truth from Song Yang, deceiving him into believing she had become an official disciple of Xuanqing Palace and had taken Zhang Zixuan as her master, lest he worry about her.

[Today, Master Zixuan finally began teaching me the cultivation mental art of Xuanqing Palace.]

[These mental formulas are extremely abstruse and very difficult to memorize. I will write down just a few lines for you, Brother: 'Let the method flow naturally into the heart valley, following the seven circuits of heaven to seal the Zen aperture...' ]

Of course, Zhang Zixuan would never dare to secretly teach Song Yan the exclusive cultivation art of Xuanqing Palace, for if it were discovered, both she and Song Yan would face severe punishment.

The only reason Song Yan knew these two lines of the formula was that she had overheard them from the mouths of Xuanqing Palace disciples while sweeping the floors.

Now, writing these lines to Song Yan served solely to convince him that she had truly become a disciple of Xuanqing Palace and had begun her cultivation journey there.

Having finished the letter, Song Yan temporarily placed it in the drawer of her desk, intending to ask Sister Zixuan to take it down the mountain and deliver it to her brother whenever she next came to visit.

***

Meanwhile, in Yan City.

"Boom!" With a deafening crash,

a massive demonic beast plummeted from mid-air, slamming into the ground of the East Market and scaring the local street vendors out of their wits.

At that moment, not far away, the voice of the gaming system rang out in Song Yan's mind:

"Ding! Congratulations to the player for slaying the high-tier demonic beast [Nine-Headed Winged Serpent]. Experience points increased by two million."

This month, this was already the fourth demonic beast to pass through Yan City and meet its demise at his hands, serving as fodder for his leveling up.

It was likely because a trace of the aura belonging to the Demonic Ancestor Mi Ce still lingered here that these high-tier demonic beasts had been attracted.

As it happened, early this morning, Song Yan had triggered a serendipitous encounter quest.

The quest required him to accumulate over 1.5 million experience points within a single day, and the reward was a Guardian Summoning Voucher.

Clearly, this serendipitous quest had now been easily completed.