Chapter 144: Long Life, Eternal Sight, Attaining the Dao, Becoming Immortal

The earliest form of address?

"... Please, Grand Councilor, instruct me."

The Grand Councilor did not answer immediately; after a faint smile, he drifted toward the direction of the spiritual mountain.

The middle-aged He Dao immediately followed.

Soon, the Grand Councilor's voice reached his ears.

"What do you believe is the ultimate pursuit of cultivators?"

"To strengthen the Righteous Alliance!" the middle-aged He Dao answered without hesitation, his voice firm and resolute.

Yet, this answer received no reply.

The Grand Councilor turned back, casting him a peculiar glance, then gently said: "What I mean is, what is the personal pursuit of a cultivator?"

The personal pursuit of a cultivator?

"To... repel the external enemies?"

After becoming He Dao, he learned more.

For instance, beyond the starry void, the surviving Cang Clan, whose eyes hungered for vengeance, never ceased seeking to crush the Human Race and reclaim the Central Continent.

"And?"

"And... to live longer?"

No matter how you phrase it, greater longevity is the driving force that sustains cultivators as they forge through thorns and brambles in pursuit of the Dao. "Correct. Repelling external enemies, living longer—in other words, greater power, a Higher Realm." The Grand Councilor's tone grew increasingly ethereal. "But what we seek, in the end, is merely eight characters."

The middle-aged He Dao listened intently.

"Long life, eternal sight, attaining the Dao, becoming Immortal."

These eight characters, known to all and familiar to every ear, now struck the middle-aged He Dao—who had just witnessed the Blade Sovereign's splendor—as if a bright lamp, guiding him through the final veil of confusion.

"..." After a long silence, the middle-aged He Dao's voice trembled slightly: "So, the pinnacle beings of the Tai Xuan Realm are..."

"Immortals!"

The Grand Councilor looked up at the spiritual mountain shrouded in clouds. "The Qidaxian Sect of the Tai Xuan Realm, the nine Hehuan Laozu of the Xian Sect—all are True Immortals!"

The people of this age know the Xian Sect as the Xian Sect, yet they do not know why it is called the Xian Sect.

The middle-aged He Dao remained silent; for one who had just ascended to He Dao, this truth exceeded his understanding.

The Grand Councilor said nothing more; the two arrived before the spiritual mountain.

"Greetings, Elder Dao Sovereign."

"Without piercing the Immortal Gate, how can you speak of venerable Ancestor?"

Amid a sigh heavy with endless antiquity, the final layer of mist parted.

There sat a burly giant atop the mountain peak, his thick neck corded with muscles like coiled great serpents, his spine straight as a pillar holding up the heavens.

A long blade rested upon his knees, his eyes sharply divided between black and white, his features carved like steel—hard, unyielding.

"Call me Gu Mo."

Gu Mo, founder of the Great Desert Blade Gate.

"Elder, you are the foremost master of the Dao of the Blade in the Tai Xuan Realm. The title 'Dao Sovereign' is fully deserved," the Grand Councilor said seriously.

Gu Mo glanced at him indifferently: "Do as you please."

How others address him is their affair; he himself knows the truth.

Then, Gu Mo's gaze passed over the Grand Councilor, calmly fixing on the middle-aged He Dao behind him.

"You are the Alliance's newly elevated He Dao?"

The middle-aged He Dao felt the same peerless, soul-splitting blade-light flash before his eyes again; his speech grew halting: "Y-yes."

Gu Mo frowned.

This newly elevated He Dao of the Alliance was even weaker than he had imagined.

Yet he still withdrew his gaze.

Whatever. He is still He Dao.

"Yuan... found him yet?"

The last time someone entered this Secret Realm was to bring news of Yuan's disappearance.

Had Yuan not warned him beforehand, he would have left this Secret Realm to search for Yuan's trail.

"No. We scoured the entire continent but found no trace of the First Grand Councilor."

"..." As expected.

Yuan had left.

Gu Mo closed his eyes. After a long while, he reopened them, his expression faintly forlorn, then slowly said: "Stop searching."

Huh?!

The Grand Councilor was startled—knowing how fiercely the Dao Sovereign had once insisted on this matter.

But he wisely said nothing more.

"Yes!"

Once this news spread, the Alliance would likely face another period of turmoil.

He needed a way to minimize its impact on the Alliance.

As he pondered this, Gu Mo's voice sounded again.

"By the way, how is the front line of the Starry Void battlefield? Heavy casualties?"

This time, his tone was genuinely concerned.

"..." The Grand Councilor faltered.

The Starry Void front line...

"Reporting to Senior Blade Sovereign, after the First Council President disappeared, the vast majority of personnel within the Alliance withdrew from the Starry Sky Frontline battlefield in order to search for traces of the First Council President." the middle-aged Path-Unification cultivator said respectfully.

The air……

No! The entire Secret Realm seemed to freeze at this moment.

The Council President lowered his head, unable to stop cursing furiously in his heart.

Damn you!

When you should be talking, you don't talk, but now when you shouldn't be talking, you're suddenly eager! "Raise your head. Look at me."

The voice was not heavy, but the entire Secret Realm dimmed at this moment.

The sky changed abruptly; the originally azure-blue sky was swiftly devoured by dark clouds, leaving only a leaden-grey oppression, with faint low rumbles drifting in, like the low growl before an ancient behemoth awakened.

The Council President stiffly raised his head, only to find Gu Mo staring fixedly at him, the raging fury in his eyes making his heart tremble.

"Which is more important, which is less — can you not tell the difference!!!"

Boom!

Lightning tore through the thick clouds, slicing through the darkness in an instant, illuminating everything between heaven and earth; a deafening thunder crashed explosively, as if heaven and earth themselves were collapsing at this moment, and the Secret Realm echoed with this earth-shattering roar.

Gu Mo's resolute face was lit by Lei Guang, the dark wind howling, his black hair whipping wildly, making him look like a God of Slaughter stepping out of an ancient myth.

…………

Upper level of the Gao Ta, inside the Treasure Vault.

Xu Xing toyed with the green jade in his hand, about to answer that line 'Bashan Chu Shui, that desolate land,' when he suddenly paused.

A wild, domineering aura blazed forth, the fury contained within expanding outward without concealment, the oppressive atmosphere shrouding the entire undersea city of the Supreme Council.

The higher one's cultivation, the more oppressive it felt!

"Fellow Daoist Gu Mo?" Xu Xing said, somewhat surprised.

Gu Mo was the younger brother of that dazzling, peerless ancestor of the Blade Dao from the primordial era.

Although he had not yet crossed that threshold, he was someone who had come from that same era, so naturally he could be addressed as 'Fellow Daoist.'

Moreover, it had been many years since they last met; looking at his current state, he had already touched upon that faint boundary.

Truly worthy of congratulations.

"Time to go."

The next moment, Xu Xing's figure gradually faded, then vanished from inside the Treasure Vault of the Council President's Gao Ta.

This was an internal matter of his Alliance; Xu Xing had no intention of meddling.

As for the reason Fellow Daoist Gu Mo was so furious, he could roughly guess.

Just like his elder brother, Gu Mo had a fiery temperament and was open and forthright by nature.

After the Human Race's great defeat of the Cang Race, he had gone to the Star Domain Frontline battlefield, stationed there for several thousand years, and earned outstanding military merit.

During that period, he had even swung his blade at the Ancestor of the Cang Race several times; the bold ferocity of his Blade Dao was even a notch above his elder brother's! First update, please subscribe!!

(End of chapter)