[Special Event — Capturing an Immortal]
[When the incident in Grandhaven Prefecture broke out, the Red Dust Immortal sensed something was wrong.
He dispatched the Six Masters of the Martial Academy to draw the fire of the Three Prefectures' cultivators, fleeing in an instant.
He originally intended to find a place within the Three Prefectures to continue absorbing the power of the mortal realm, but on his way, he encountered Ancestor Lan, who was carrying a bundle and sipping tea.]
Looking at the Red Dust Immortal and Ancestor Lan entering the hall, a smile finally appeared on Li Wei's face.
Ancestor Lan wasn't a particularly reliable person, but he was ultimately the strongest expert in the Southern Frontier; he had to be relied upon in critical moments.
The majority of the Three Prefectures' cultivators were here and had failed to capture the Fox Saint and Banshu Qingping. Fortunately, Ancestor Lan had finally made his move.
The Red Dust Immortal stood in the center of the hall.
Feeling the gazes of the Southern Frontier's experts, he couldn't help but feel his scalp tingle.
"Don't stare at me like that. Immortals eat humans, and humans eat pigs and dogs; there's not much difference. The day pigs and dogs grasp wisdom and power, you'll behave too."
"..." The crowd was stunned.
The Red Dust Immortal continued,
"Furthermore, there are 'good' immortals among immortals. You view immortals as enemies simply because they feed on you and possess power greater than yours.
But having spent a long time in the mortal realm, I have also seen people taming beasts instead of killing them, for mutual benefit. It's nothing more than these beasts not eating humans.
Just like myself—I feed on the vast seas, mountains, and fields of the mortal realm, recording them within my Immortal Dao, which causes no harm to humans."
"The distinction between good and evil in the mortal world is nothing more than a distinction of interests. It has been this way since ancient times."
That was indeed true.
The crowd nodded slightly. However, instances of raised vicious beasts suddenly turning on humans were not uncommon, so they kept their guard up in their hearts.
Still, they understood that at least for now, with Ancestor Lan suppressing the Red Dust Immortal, the benefits outweighed the disadvantages.
The Red Dust Immortal took a deep breath, glancing around at the crowd, and said in a grave voice,
"You and I both understand reason. The wheels of history roll forward, and I have witnessed many things.
Grandhaven Prefecture has been destroyed, and its people are forever recorded within my Dao.
I guard the mortal realm, and the mortal realm provides for me. Given the current situation, it seems I won't be leaving."
"Perhaps we can work together and see if we can deal with the Blood Moon."
Xuanyuan Liqun's face lit up with joy, but recalling the terrifying things the immortal infant had said—that there was a Great Golden Immortal within the Blood Moon—his expression darkened. "How do we deal with it?"
Looking at the expectant gazes, the Red Dust Immortal exhaled a long breath.
"I witnessed the era when living beings rebelled against the immortals. Within my immortal methods, ancient inheritances are recorded."
"Are you all ready to enter a new era?"
As the Red Dust Immortal's voice fell, ancient and unadorned scrolls floated into the air one after another.
These scrolls exuded a primordial aura, containing the history of ancient races, as well as the common sense summarized generation after generation—the inheritance on how to fight against immortals!
...
Amidst the shattered ruins.
For the very first time, Li Wei stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Ancestor Lan.
Looming before them was the Blood Moon.
Within its crimson glow writhed shadowy silhouettes—maddened, twisted, and pushed to the absolute extreme.
The watchdog had once sought to assimilate the Banshu family into its kin; now, it was evident that after enduring countless years beneath the Blood Moon, every soul trapped inside had already suffered that grotesque fate.
According to the Red Dust Immortal, these kin were entirely beyond salvation. Both their flesh and souls had been irreversibly corrupted by immortal methods.
This was simply another method of raising livestock—a lesson the immortals had learned after being cast down from their divine altars.
Just as all living beings cultivated to grow stronger, the immortals, too, had been evolving amidst the relentless, rolling tides of the mortal realm's passing eras.
The immortals had shed their former arrogance and blind contempt.
Much like the Red Dust Immortal and the watchdog, by embracing new avenues of survival over the eons, they were bound to become even more terrifying than they had been during their golden age—a reality that was actively unfolding.
This was destined to be an era far more harrowing than any that had come before.
"So, Senior Ancestor Lan, do you still intend to run away?"
The blood-scented wind howling beneath the Blood Moon ruffled the old man's robes, making the bundle slung across Ancestor Lan's back jingle.
This eccentric elder, a man perpetually prepared to flee at the first sign of danger, furrowed his weathered brows.
"If you cannot win, fleeing is unequivocally the correct path.
I intend to leave those exact words for the rest of you: when victory is impossible, you must run without a shred of hesitation. But as for me..."
"I will not survive this."
Li Wei's expression instantly went rigid.
Yet, Ancestor Lan spoke with a casual detachment, as if merely gossiping about mundane, worldly affairs.
"The Empress possesses a truly blackened heart. She is perfectly aware that the immortals are resurfacing, yet she pays it absolutely no heed.
If I do not die here today, then regardless of whether it is the Human Race, the Wu Tribe, the Demon Race, or any other lineage—without a sufficient number of Body Integration realm cultivators, the mortal realm can never possibly stand against the immortals."
"When the world rightfully belonged to living beings, the heavy burden of suppressing its mighty figures fell upon my shoulders.
With the restoration of the immortals, my duty has finally reached its end.
This is my mission as the Dao Ancestor's successor. My life has never truly belonged to me in the first place."
A prolonged, heavy silence stretched between the two men.
Eventually, Ancestor Lan broke the quiet,
"The world is always like this: calamities arise, calamities are subdued, and there is an endless cycle of new calamities waiting to be resolved.
The cultivators of our era—of every era, in fact—are endlessly striving for survival and progression, seeking to establish a perfect set of rules that will allow our descendants to thrive in peace."
"I have played my part for the mortal realm. The tribulations of the future must be left in your hands to conquer."
Li Wei pondered this for a quiet moment. "My heart isn't quite that grand. I only care that my own descendants prosper for eternity."
Ancestor Lan subtly sensed the presence of the Li Clan's Old Ancestor, whose figure was shrouded in a dense, abyssal black mist that even his piercing gaze could not see through.
The descendants of the Li Clan and their enigmatic Old Ancestor were bound by an indelible tether of blood.
Raising a wispy eyebrow, the old man replied, "People are forever driven by their goals, but those goals are not always chosen by oneself. There are some things that can never be escaped."
With that, Ancestor Lan turned his back, his aged figure slowly receding into the distance toward the vast expanse of the Southern Frontier.
His voice drifted back, echoing ethereally in Li Wei's ears.
"Go. I shall return to await my death, and you should return to guide your descendants in adapting to this unforgiving new era."
"May the Human Race be eternal!"
Li Wei watched the vanishing silhouette of the old man ahead, lowered his gaze, and muttered,
"Eternal my ass. If everyone were like Wenren Xianyi, this whole race would have fucking rotted into shit long ago, dammit."
Taking a sudden step forward, he instantly bridged the distance, appearing right in front of Ancestor Lan.
Seeing the old man's lingering somber expression, Li Wei let out a cold, mocking sneer.
"An old geezer who grabs his bundle to run away is truly showing his age. Even at the Mahayana realm, you still can't outrun me."
With a wave of his hand, he instantly tore open a spatial gate and vanished from sight.
Ancestor Lan's eyes widened in sheer, indignant fury. "You black-hided bastard, you bully this old man too much!"
In the blink of an eye, across the vast skies of the Southern Frontier, spatial gates began flashing in rapid succession.
A towering Mahayana aura chased relentlessly after the spatial ripples like a blazing streak of light, plunging deep toward the heartland of the Southern Frontier.
Leaving the desolate ruins of Grandhaven Prefecture far behind, the boisterous, bickering laughter of the old and the young echoed through the cloudy expanse.
As the bloody sun sank into the west, tomorrow would inevitably bring the morning dawn once more—and with it, the future would remain.
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