Cultivating Immortality in Two Realms

Chapter 281 The Truth

The world depicted by the plagiarist is all in "Cultivating Immortality in Two Realms".

The Kingdom of Wu.

Imperial Palace.

The rebellion of the Four Ministries is but a minor, insignificant problem.

The palace remained secluded and unaffected in the slightest.

Li Lu walked through the familiar Heavenly Street without glancing once more at the brightly lit front hall.

Although his younger brother was still inside, convening the court officials to discuss war, he had known since his youth that the affairs of the Wu Kingdom were never decided by the emperor and his ministers...

Li Lu walked through the Imperial Garden where he often played hide-and-seek in his childhood and pushed open the door to a small courtyard.

A wave of scorching heat hit me. In the courtyard was a clear pond, next to which stood a shack with iron bars hanging from it.

Under the shed was an anvil, and next to it was a swordsmith with bare arms, bulging muscles, and dragon tattoos on his arms.

This person is none other than the royal swordsman, [Lou Jin], a great swordsman in the late stage of the Purple Mansion realm—the swordsman Li Que!

"Ancestor..."

Li Lu bowed, and when he looked up again, his eyes shone like stars: "I have won the sword competition, but...where is she?"

Ding ding!

Ding ding!

Everything was silent, except for the occasional sound of blacksmithing.

After a long while, Li Que put down the iron hammer in his hand and submerged the sword in the pond to quench it: "Who is she?"

"Tu Lan, my childhood sweetheart..."

Li Lu straightened his back as well, and his sword, "Great Xia Dragon Sparrow," hummed softly.

But Li Que only glanced at it, and then all was silent again...

"The invasion from the north is urgent... they are all pressuring this old man. You now possess sufficient potential for a breakthrough in your Purple Mansion, yet instead of thinking about how to cultivate in seclusion, you come to ask a young lady?"

Li Que looked at Li Lu, but met the other's gaze.

Calm and still, like a still well... it carries a certain enlightenment.

"Fine...then I'll tell you. The 'Three Yin Harmony Qi Jade Seed Divine Awakening Scripture' that girl cultivated back then...was a fragment I deliberately gave her. You ventured into the martial world alone with your sword, facing a near-death experience, your foundation almost destroyed. Why were you able to escape unscathed?...Naturally, it was because of her. We cultivators have our own spiritual senses. Did you not sense anything back then?"

Li Que put down the hammer and said calmly.

"It's my fault...it's my fault that Lan'er is in trouble."

Li Lu knelt on the ground, his eyes filled with pain and regret.

"Lu'er...you have truly disappointed me. I originally thought this experience would shape you and allow you to cultivate the [Kangjin] Dao foundation 'Regretful Heart'...but I never expected that you would ultimately choose the path of 'mutual killing'."

"Does he/she feel remorse?"

Li Lu suddenly looked up.

"When a dragon soars too high in the sky, its fullness cannot last, and thus regret arises... This 'regret' is considered quite profound among the [Kangjin] supernatural powers... Given your state of mind back then, if you had cultivated this foundation, you would have progressed a thousand miles in a day, and wouldn't have needed to endure three years of hardship in the countryside..."

Li Que said calmly, "But you chose 'Mutual Killing.' Although this divine power belongs to [Lou Metal], it can affect the entire Metal element, which is quite mysterious. All four Metal elements can cultivate it... If you use this divine power as a foundation, after you have mastered the four divine powers, you may be able to use 'Mutual Killing' to allow [Kang Metal] to influence [Lou Metal] and occupy the guest position..."

"Back then, I was disheartened and had a vague sense that something was wrong. My family mainly cultivated [Loujin], and we even had an ancestor who was a sword wielder at the late stage of the Purple Mansion realm. Why was I cultivating [Kangjin]? Then, through a series of coincidences, I obtained the [Kangjin] technique and spiritual artifact called 'Mutual Killing,' and so I cultivated this path... Is there something wrong with the 'Mutual Killing' supernatural power?"

Li Lu, after all, had reached the pinnacle of Dao Foundation and had some vague understanding of it.

"Within the realm of Jinde, traps lurk everywhere. Even a place like the Wuyue Sword Pavilion, with a Golden Core True Monarch in charge, only focuses on [Niujin] and [Kangjin] while abandoning [Loujin] in its proper place. There is a reason for this... In my reading of the imperial family history, all the Purple Mansion Sword Immortals who mastered the 'Mutual Killing' divine power did not meet a good end... Even those great sword immortals who did not practice this divine power but focused solely on sword duels and relied on the sword cultivators of the world for sustenance, many of whom have disappeared without a trace..."

"Is the patriarch still pressuring me today?"

Li Lu slowly stood up.

"Because someone higher up... is pressuring me."

Li Que said, "I have already mastered the 'Sharp Edge Chapter,' 'Golden Thread Robe,' and 'General Marquis'... Now that these three divine abilities are all perfected, I wish to cultivate the fourth. And just then, the Northern Zhou are marching south, and countless high-ranking cultivators in the Void are waiting... If I cannot advance, the entire Wu royal family will be reduced to dust! Lu'er, don't blame me..."

"I see……"

A slight smile appeared on Li Lu's lips as he knelt down with equanimity: "So it was all my fault after all. If I had achieved 'Regret' back then... perhaps I wouldn't be putting the Ancestor in such a difficult position today. It seems the Ancestor truly does harbor regret..."

"Yes, I also wanted to wait for you to grow into a Purple Mansion Sword Immortal... but unfortunately, it will take at least ten more years, and it will be too late."

Li Que sighed softly, "I have no choice but to take your Dao foundation to cultivate supernatural powers... and achieve the Four Laws!"

The Wu Kingdom royal family possesses a secret technique that allows a Purple Mansion True Person to extract the Dao foundation of cultivators from their own direct bloodline to quickly acquire supernatural powers!

The speed at which a True Person of the Purple Mansion cultivates supernatural powers is naturally incomparable to the breakthrough of the Dao Foundation, and there are no inner demons or tribulations involved.

This method of stripping is particularly simple and brutal; if aided by a spiritual object from the Purple Mansion, it can be accomplished almost instantly.

The higher the life force, cultivation level, and aura of the person being plundered, the better the effect!

A seed like Li Lu, a Purple Mansion seed, could almost enable Li Que to quickly achieve supernatural powers in a short period of time, thus becoming a Four-Faced Great Sword Immortal!

Between the Purple Palaces, each difference of a single supernatural power is like an insurmountable chasm!

"If there is 'remorse'... the Ancestor swallowed me, and felt remorse in his heart, which aligns with the imagery of supernatural powers. Once he refines the supernatural power, he might not only reach the initial stage of the Four Methods, but could even achieve perfect supernatural power upon completion, reaching the peak of the Purple Mansion realm... If there are any problems with the path of [Lou Jin], the Ancestor might still be able to rely on 'remorse' in the future to try to refine [Kang Jin] when he proves his gold-level cultivation?"

Li Lu smiled with relief.

"Your wisdom and understanding far surpass my expectations..."

Li Que fell silent: "In ancient times, there were countless seekers of gold, and those who sought to follow and conform were as numerous as carp crossing a river. Yet they only knew that they had exhausted their own path. Very few in the world knew of this method of 'lubricating movement'... You were able to comprehend the lubricating effects of [Lou Gold] and [Kang Gold] based on just a few words from me... If you survive, you will have a chance to reach the pinnacle of your purple palace and attain the gold realm in the future..."

"Lan'er is dead, and my heart is ashen... Moreover, I cannot fail to repay the bond of blood and the debt of gratitude for passing on the teachings. I beg you, Ancestor, to take action."

Li Lu released his hand, and the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow let out a mournful cry before landing beside Li Que.

This Nine-Turn Flying Sword was never his.

The sword wielded by the so-called "sword wielder" is the "Great Xia Dragon Sparrow"!

……

In the vast emptiness, gloom and haze pervaded everything.

"Fellow Daoist, please wait!"

With a gentle shout, Fang Qing's words became law, and a figure shrouded in mist in the void actually stopped in his tracks.

"【Lou Jin】Purple Mansion? Why are you chasing me, fellow Daoist? I'm just a wandering cultivator from overseas..."

The figure paused only briefly before breaking free from the mystical influence and stepping into the real world.

In the vastness of the universe, a difference of a hair's breadth can lead to an error of a thousand miles!

If Fang Qing fails to catch up, they might be separated by hundreds or thousands of miles in the present world...

If this happens several times, even a mid-stage Purple Mansion cultivator chasing an early-stage Purple Mansion cultivator will become like a headless fly.

This is why the Purple Mansion True Man is so difficult to kill, and it is also the root cause of the Purple Mansion's dominance in the world today.

Fang Qing also merged with his sword and chased after the void, only to find that he had unknowingly chased them to the sea.

A figure shrouded in mist was already more than ten miles away.

With a wave of his hand, the other party seemed about to break through the void and escape into it.

Even if the opponent is a Wood elementalist and I am a Metal elementalist... I can subdue him, but if I'm focused solely on escaping, I can only watch helplessly...

"Fortunately, I've already figured it out."

Fang Qing's divine sense transmitted a message that boomed in the mysterious Purple Mansion's ear: "True Master Sanmu, if you run again... I'll spread the word that you are the leader of the Four Extinctions Sect!"

Boom!

Upon hearing this, the figure trembled, then raised his hand and released a purple pearl.

Wherever the radiance passed, even the secrets of the heavens seemed to become more confused...

"Come with me."

The figure raised a hand and stepped into the void once more.

Fang Qing remained fearless and followed them into the void.

The void was dark, and a purple pearl floated in the air, illuminating one side.

The figure remained silent for a moment before the mist dissipated, revealing an old man—the Purple Mansion Master Sanmu of the Chuli Sect.

"The real person is very good at hiding their true abilities."

Fang Qing sighed, inwardly scoffing, "What nonsense about useless scattered wood granting immortality... I knew this wretched place couldn't possibly render a Purple Mansion True Person truly useless..."

"Fellow Daoist, you are truly a hidden talent. I cultivate the [Fighting Wood] supernatural power 'Camphor Willow God,' also known as the 'Ear Reporting God,' which is skilled at hearing the world, discerning fortune and misfortune, and knowing good and bad luck... I never knew when a [Lou Jin] Purple Mansion like yours appeared?"

The meaning behind Sanmu Zhenren's words was quite profound.

"As expected, it's a supernatural ability related to divination and fortune-telling. No wonder it was so well hidden. It's just a pity it ran into me."

Fang Qing nodded to himself: 'Isn't this a cruel twist of fate? Within the Canghai Sect, the Scattered Wood Immortal spoke up for me, and the Purple Mansion cultivation technique I obtained through a transaction ultimately led to my own exposure?'

"I am but an unknown rogue cultivator from overseas."

He laughed and replied, "I came to see you today only because I am interested in the ancient secrets of the Four Extinctions Sect. I have no other requests..."

Ever since the divination revealed that the "Four Min Sect Masters" was none other than the Scattered Wood Immortal, Fang Qing's courage immediately grew considerably.

Although the opponent is well-hidden, their strength is truly limited to only one supernatural power!

Moreover, it's a useless wooden supernatural power. I am now a [Loujin] Purple Mansion Sword Immortal. If we really fight, and if the Scattered Wood Immortal doesn't run away, he might actually be killed!

"What would you like to ask, fellow Daoist?"

Sanmu Zhenren's expression softened slightly.

"Regarding [the year's duty], and also [Lou Jin]... 'mutual killing' and so on..."

Fang Qing frankly stated that as a [Loujin] sword immortal, it was normal to be curious about these things.

"It turns out it was all the same thing."

A mysterious smile crept across Sanmu Zhenren's lips: "I am willing to tell you, but do you, fellow Daoist, truly dare to listen? This secret concerns many Golden Core True Monarchs... If it becomes known, I fear there will be no peace in the future."

"Hmph, you're only at the early stage of the Purple Mansion realm and you're still alive and well, do you think I'm afraid of you?"

Fang Qing inwardly scoffed, but outwardly said arrogantly, "I'm all ears."

"Very well, fellow Daoist, do you know that everything is of the four elements? The four supernatural powers of the Purple Mansion seek gold, and the four golden positions of the Golden Core seek the [Yearly Duty]?"

The True Man of Sanmu said.

"I have arrested members of the Four Ministries and heard their doctrines."

Fang Qing nodded.

"This is not fabrication, but a primordial secret I truly heard after excavating ancient ruins and using my supernatural powers..."

Master Sanmu sighed, "In the ancient times, three or four [Yearly Stewards] determined the course of the world, and no True Lord of antiquity could alter that... How could such powerful [Yearly Stewards] truly perish?"