I Shall Be Everlasting In the World of Immortals

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The actions of the Earth Burrowing Rat caught the attention of the gathered cultivators. However, the two Fake Dan Immortals paid it little heed.

Every corner of this path had been thoroughly investigated by them multiple times, yielding little of value, with few omissions.

Scritch~

The Earth Burrowing Rat lifted its paw and lightly scratched the half-crumbled wall, producing a sound that sent shivers down the spine.

A faint crack appeared on the ancient wall.

The hardness of the wall surpassed that of ordinary magical weapons.

Upon seeing this, Tan Immortal's eyes gleamed with a hint of mockery.

“The materials used in the ancient structures of this ruin are relatively hard, but they aren't high-grade. They're simply low-grade ores that were refined and compressed through spells,” Hu Immortal explained, slightly annoyed.

Lan Chang'an had already discerned as much.

The materials of the buildings here, including the floor, were just purely tough but lacked the spiritual essence needed for refining weapons or secondary use.

“I trust the Earth Burrowing Rat’s sense of smell,” Lan Chang'an said with a faint smile as he walked to the half-crumbled wall.

In reality, the Earth Burrowing Rat’s actions were guided by Lan Chang'an’s subtle commands.

Lan Chang'an retrieved a pickaxe-shaped magical weapon, infused it with mana, and began striking at the wall.

The Earth Burrowing Rat, seeing this, also raised its paw and started pounding on the wall.

Bang bang!

A rhythmic knocking and patting echoed as the wall slowly began to crumble and crack.

The expressions of the five cultivators varied from strange to disdainful.

Until…

At a certain point, Lan Chang'an’s pickaxe struck a spot on the wall that caused his hand to go numb from the recoil.

The same happened to the Earth Burrowing Rat.

Both man and beast avoided that small section of the wall.

"Huh?"

Hu Immortal's expression shifted, and he sent his spiritual sense to carefully probe the area. Finally, he discovered something unusual.

Upon closer inspection, he determined that this particular section of the wall was far tougher, impervious even to the attacks of a late-second-rank demonic beast.

Additionally, this section of the wall seemed to partially block spiritual sense, making it easy to overlook.

Lan Chang'an and the Earth Burrowing Rat quickened their pace, stripping away the surrounding wall.

Soon, a grayish-white stone slab, about the size of a washbasin, fell into Lan Chang'an’s hands.

Part of the gray-white stone revealed a faint dark metallic sheen.

“What kind of material is this? It even blocked my spiritual sense?” Tan Immortal narrowed his eyes, staring at the stone in Lan Chang'an’s hand.

“This is Shadowstone! It can obscure spiritual energy and block spiritual sense—an excellent material for crafting stealth and shadow-related magic treasures.”

The long-haired Lady Wei scanned the stone with her spiritual sense and exclaimed in surprise, her eyes gleaming.

"Shadowstone?"

“At the very least, this stone is third-rank. Considering how it repeatedly concealed itself from us, it’s likely a superior-grade third-rank material, suitable for crafting mid-grade magical treasures.”

Tan Immortal and Hu Immortal exchanged glances, their eyes flashing with desire.

“Little Friend Lan, we’re not entirely sure whether this is truly Shadowstone. Let me examine it,” Tan Immortal said, raising his hand.

“There’s no need for verification. It’s definitely Shadowstone. Lady Wei’s keen insight speaks for itself,” Lan Chang'an replied with a smile.

“Bring it to this Immortal for a look,” Tan Immortal demanded, his face darkening.

“Haha! It seems that this stone was destined to find its way to me,” Lan Chang'an said as he stored the Shadowstone, ignoring the oppressive Fake Dan spiritual pressure emanating from Tan Immortal.

Hu Immortal held Tan Immortal's arm, giving him a meaningful look.

“Don't act rashly. While Shadowstone is rare, it doesn’t hold the same appeal for us Fake Dan cultivators as it does for a True Dan cultivator.”

Hearing this transmitted through spiritual sound, Tan Immortal suppressed his dissatisfaction.

Fake Dan cultivators could barely utilize the lowest-ranked magical treasures, and even then, they couldn’t wield them to their full potential.

In the world of cultivation, magical treasures, like magical weapons, were commonly categorized into low, mid, superior, and top grades.

They were primarily used by Core Formation cultivators and most Nascent Soul stage cultivators.

Low-grade magical treasures were most often used by early-stage Core Formation and Fake Dan cultivators.

Mid-grade magical treasures were generally wielded by mid- to late-stage Core Formation cultivators.

Therefore, this superior-grade third-rank Shadowstone, though valuable and rare, was more useful for trading with a True Dan cultivator than for their own personal use.

“Well, let him hold onto it for now.”

Tan Immortal quickly came to terms with the situation.

For the two Fake Dan cultivators, their greatest hope within the ancient ruins was to find an opportunity to break through from the Fake Dan stage. Such opportunities were exceedingly rare in the current cultivation world and often required the assistance of a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

However, in the ancient world of cultivation, opportunities for Fake Dan cultivators to advance were relatively easier to obtain than today.

...

“Little Friend Lan, it’s your fortune to have found this Shadowstone. I won’t pursue it further. But any treasures we find while working together to break the formations will be divided based on cultivation level and contribution.”

Hu Immortal stepped forward, reminding Lan Chang'an.

“Thank you, Hu Immortal, for your magnanimity.”

Lan Chang'an cupped his hands respectfully.

He had been prepared for Tan Immortal to forcefully seize the Shadowstone.

If that had happened, Lan Chang'an wouldn’t have minded handing it over temporarily.

After all, the Shadowstone wouldn’t be of much use to him until he reached the Core Formation Realm.

That said, he did have a personal interest in crafting stealth-related magic weapons, such as the Invisible Needle or Shadow Split Sword, both of which were suitable for his style.

In his previous life, when Lan Chang'an reached late-stage Core Formation, he had spent a considerable sum to acquire a piece of Shadowstone. Although it was also superior-grade third-rank, it was smaller than this one.

Because he had worked with Shadowstone before, he was familiar with its properties. That’s why, upon scanning the wall with his spiritual sense earlier, he had sensed something off.

According to the records of the cultivation world, the highest-rank Shadowstone could reach fifth rank and was known as Shadowstone Essence, a material rumored to be used in crafting legendary spiritual treasures.

...

"Go search the area."

After witnessing Lan Chang'an's discovery, Tan Immortal and Hu Immortal ordered the other three Foundation Establishment cultivators to scour the nearby ruins.

“This section of the ancient buildings was once home to a blacksmithing workshop.”

“Perhaps the Shadowstone Lan Chang'an found was hidden away by a blacksmith working here.”

The two Immortals were full of theories.

But in the end, nothing significant was found—just a few scraps of metal in the underground ruins, worthless leftovers from past refining efforts.

“Little Friend Lan, could it be that your Earth Burrowing Rat has some bloodline from a Treasure-Seeking Rat?” Hu Immortal smiled as he examined the Earth Burrowing Rat, his eyes betraying a hint of envy.

The Shadowstone had been so well hidden that it had escaped the spiritual senses of even Immortals, yet the Earth Burrowing Rat had managed to locate it.

The Earth Burrowing Rat shivered and scurried off into a corner of the ruins, ignoring Hu Immortal.

“Perhaps it was just luck,” Lan Chang'an said casually.

In truth, the Earth Burrowing Rat had only acted on his commands. Without those instructions, it would have been impossible for the creature to find the Shadowstone.

If Lan Chang'an had discovered the stone on his own, it would have aroused suspicion from the two Immortals, leading them to be more cautious and distrustful of him.

...

For the remainder of their exploration, Lan Chang'an and Fairy Shi continued their slow, methodical inspection.

Tan Immortal and Hu Immortal, surprisingly, no longer rushed them.

Every time the Earth Burrowing Rat extended its paw to examine something, it drew the attention of the entire group.

But the rest of the journey revealed nothing of significance.

At last, the group reached the end of the previously explored path.

They came to a stop in front of a bridge.

On the far side of the bridge, there were faint ripples of formation light and hidden restrictions.

The ruins beyond were shrouded in mist, appearing like a mirage.

Lan Chang'an could feel a faint sense of danger emanating from the area.

“Fairy Shi, did you encounter this bridge during your last exploration?” Hu Immortal asked.

“That’s strange! I didn’t cross this bridge last time. I found a garden instead, where we noticed an obvious flaw in the formation. It took us a long time, but we managed to pass through.”

Fairy Shi studied the bridge with some confusion.

“That’s normal. Formations above the fourth rank often defy logic and can easily manipulate the surrounding landscape. Some legendary formations can even distort space itself.”

Hu Immortal nodded thoughtfully.

“Little Friend Lan, send one of your puppets to explore that area,” Hu Immortal instructed.

“Understood.”

Lan Chang'an had prepared some expendable puppets specifically for testing the formations in these ruins.

Given his past life’s experience, Lan Chang'an knew that using puppets to probe formations wasn’t foolproof.

Certain formations and restrictions wouldn’t be triggered by puppets, but if a cultivator stepped into it, they would die.

Boom!

An orange flame of unknown origin ignited on the puppet, quickly spreading and consuming it.

The puppet, as tough as a second-rank demonic beast, was reduced to ash in an instant.

“Little Friend Lan, send another puppet.”

Lan Chang'an complied.

And thus began the long, tedious process of breaking through the formation.

The ancient formations within the ruins would retaliate if brute force was used, potentially causing a backlash and creating unpredictable outcomes.

Even the Fake Dan Immortals couldn’t afford to risk such dangers.

Lan Chang'an estimated that only a late-stage Core Formation expert would have a chance at forcibly breaking the formations.

It would only be safer if it was a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

Crack!

The second puppet was sliced to pieces by a few arcs of light that appeared out of nowhere.

“Lan, since you're a puppet master, you can sense the state of your puppets. Try to relay any useful information as they explore further.”

Hu Immortal instructed.

...

Two months later.

Lan Chang'an had lost more than twenty expendable puppets.

The group had managed to cross about half of the bridge.

In the most recent attempts, the puppets had almost reached the end of the bridge.

“Fairy Shi, your strategy this time was brilliant! Breaking formations isn’t always about direct confrontation. Often, you need to be clever, perhaps even retreat to advance, to deceive the formation’s detection.”

Hu Immortal stroked his beard with satisfaction, his face glowing with contentment.

With Fairy Shi’s help, his progress in breaking through the formations had significantly accelerated.

Of course, this was only possible because Fairy Shi’s formation mastery was nearly on par with Hu Immortal’s, allowing their collaboration to produce greater results.

At the same time, Lan Chang'an’s puppet mastery had provided valuable assistance in their efforts to break the formations.

Tan Immortal nodded secretly in approval. The addition of Lan Chang'an and Fairy Shi had indeed been helpful.

The remaining half of the bridge took only another month to break through.

Buzz!

At the end of the bridge, a white light fissure, about a meter long, appeared.

This was the result of three months of effort.

Fairy Shi felt a mix of joy and anxiety. She couldn’t deny that this time, they had progressed far more than she and Qi Immortal had decades ago.

Back then, Qi Immortal had spent years trying to break the formations, only to reach the core of the ruins by the time of his death.

Lan Chang'an controlled a humanoid puppet, sending it through the white light fissure to the other side of the bridge. The puppet walked a dozen steps, encountering no issues.

The puppet served only as a preliminary test.

“You, go in and scout the way!”

Tan Immortal’s tone turned cold as he pointed to the graying old man in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

The old man gave a bitter smile and was the first to step forward, passing through the fissure and into the ancient formation’s interior.

Nothing untoward happened.

The remaining six cultivators followed suit, passing through the fissure to the other side of the bridge.

Tan Immortal, the strongest among them, took the rear.

Once everyone had crossed, the white light fissure began to close, soon shrinking to a point where it could no longer accommodate an adult human.

Since they had only exploited a flaw in the formation, the core of the formation had not been destroyed.

Now, the previously fog-shrouded ruins came into clear view.

The ancient buildings before them were majestic and towering, with exquisitely detailed carvings, and had been relatively well-preserved.

From the architecture, most of the structures appeared to be residential mansions, along with commercial and administrative buildings.

Near the center stood a six-sided palace pavilion. Hovering above it were two rings of light, at the center of which was a blue crystal sphere, radiating a powerful spiritual glow.

“Fellow Daoist Lan,” Fairy Shi whispered, glancing meaningfully at him.

Lan Chang'an immediately understood. That location was likely where Qi Immortal had fallen into the formation’s trap and met his end.

“That six-sided palace pavilion is the eye of the formation within the ruins. Judging from its architectural style, it likely dates back to the original ancient civilization that built these ruins. Later, it was modified by a more recent Nascent Soul sect to serve as a sanctuary.”

Hu Immortal's sharp gaze quickly identified the palace pavilion as the key to the ruins.

He had a guess in his heart, based on the layout of the formation and the buildings, the pavilion seemed like a prime candidate for a treasury or storage vault.

...

On their way to the pavilion, they passed through several ancient buildings, all of which were empty.

Of course, it wasn’t a total loss.

In certain rooms and corners, they found miscellaneous items that had been abandoned long ago. Most were so weathered by time that they held little value.

Lady Wei picked up a set of chess pieces in a courtyard. After cleaning off the dust, she found them to be completely intact.

The chessboard didn’t seem to be a magical treasure but rather some kind of strange artifact.

Lan Chang'an, meanwhile, noticed something unusual on the top floor of a pavilion.

One of the rooms was still protected by a restriction that had yet to degrade, sustained by the remnants of the ancient formation.

Boom! Boom!

Lan Chang'an sent two puppets to probe the area. Before they could even touch the door, they were shredded into dust by an invisible force.

“Don’t waste your time. You can’t break that restriction,” Tan Immortal said sternly.

The two Immortals were more interested in the six-sided palace pavilion, guessing that it, being the core of the formation, held the most valuable opportunities.

The surrounding buildings were likely to contain only remnants of minor value, not worth the risk or effort.

Lan Chang'an agreed, for the time being, deciding to leave the area.

In fact, he had several high-quality Restriction-Breaking Talismans, including some treasure talismans.

These were among the reasons he felt confident enough to explore the ancient ruins.

Before long, the group of seven arrived at the foot of the six-sided palace pavilion, which stood over twenty to thirty zhang tall.

The surface of the pavilion glimmered with obvious formation ripples, exuding a powerful spiritual pressure that made even the two Immortals hesitate to approach.

“Six gates? The formation here seems to have six entrances? Could they each lead to a different path?”

From a distance of nearly ten zhang, Hu Immortal observed the pavilion closely, his gaze fixed on the bronze doors.

Above the six bronze doors were formation gates, visible only to those with formation expertise.

“Little Friend Lan.”

Hu Immortal glanced behind him.

He frowned slightly, realizing that Lan Chang'an was actually standing behind the crowd?

If not for the fact that the formation fissure had already sealed after the bridge had been crossed, leaving no retreat, the two Immortals would not have allowed such behavior.

“Understood.”

Lan Chang'an summoned another expendable puppet, this one the size of a small child, and sent it forward to the bronze door indicated by Hu Immortal.

The puppet touched the door.

In an instant!

A bolt of blue lightning shot out, leaving a charred patch of remains where the puppet had stood.

The two Immortals felt a chill in their hearts.

Even though the ancient formation had only retained a fraction of its original power, a single strike could still kill a True Core cultivator outright.

Lan Chang'an exchanged a puzzled glance with Fairy Shi.

How had Qi Immortal managed to temporarily open a formation gate back then?

Although Qi Immortal was also a formation master, his skills were far below those of Hu Immortal.

Fairy Shi shook her head slightly, equally mystified.

...

“This gate is the one.”

After much discussion with Fairy Shi, Hu Immortal selected one of the gates, where the formation’s power had weakened the most.

The gate was located just above one of the bronze doors.

Time passed slowly.

Occasionally, Lan Chang'an would manipulate a puppet to assist in probing the formation, while still finding time to cultivate daily.

Another month slipped by.

By this time, Lan Chang'an had exhausted his supply of expendable puppets.

The other cultivators had also damaged several of their backup magical weapons.

Through various methods of breaking the formation, the flaw in the formation gate expanded, and the formation’s power continued to weaken.

“It’s too slow! The other five formation gates are linked to this one, supplying it with power for recovery.”

Hu Immortal was dissatisfied.

With the cultivation world of the Liang Kingdom embroiled in war, the longer it took to break through the ruins, the greater the potential for unforeseen complications.

“Little Friend Lan, you’re a well-known talisman master in the Liang Kingdom. Do you have any high-quality Restriction-Breaking Talismans?”

Hu Immortal asked, his tone softening as he turned to negotiate with Lan Chang'an.

“Restriction-breaking talismans are incredibly difficult to craft and extremely rare. I only have a few second-rank mid- to superior-grade ones, and some purchased from the Immortal City.”

Lan Chang'an responded, sounding troubled.

“Very well, everyone, use whatever restriction-breaking talismans you have. Follow my timing to launch a coordinated attack.”

Hu Immortal quickly organized the group, ensuring that each person had something capable of breaking the formation.

Hu Immortal himself had a restriction-breaking orb, a superior tool for the task, more effective than talismans of the same grade.

Tan Immortal had a quasi-third-rank restriction-breaking talisman.

The other cultivators had at least second-rank superior-grade restriction-breaking talismans.

Boom! Boom!

The distorted beams of light from their restriction-breaking tools struck the formation gate one after another, growing stronger with each successive hit.

Above the bronze door, layers of white shadows rippled and trembled until, at last, they collapsed with a loud crack.

“It’s open!”

A powerful gust of wind surged forth, throwing the Foundation Establishment cultivators off balance.

The two Immortals stabilized themselves and looked ahead.

The bronze door, which was as stable as a mountain, had loosened, revealing a narrow gap that emitted a soft, pearl-like glow.

...

(End of chapter)