Chapter 381: Three Immortals, One Performance

His heart was uneasy, his heart was uneasy; after using a spell to dry his trousers, Wei Yuning still had to go with Zhi Hua.

The volcano on the planet Dikun has completely stopped erupting; the once smoke‑belching active volcano, after the last outpouring, has now utterly lost its vigor.

The magma pool in the valley has also solidified, and many new simple barracks have sprung up on it; the gigantic formation that once shrouded the whole valley has long since been restored to its original state.

General Wan's residence sits at the highest point of the new city, where the elite Heavenly Soldier Central Army and a batch of high‑rank cultivators are stationed, all of whom are senior masters above the Divided Spirit realm.

In a golden hall whose eaves curve and whose corners feature four dragons devouring a spine, Wei Yuning again met the commander of the Demon‑Eradication Army, Wan Jun.

After delivering Wei Yuning to the hall's doorway, Zhi Hua hurried away.

Wei Yuning stepped in slowly, silently appraising the cultivators beside Wan Jun.

There were three in total, all clad in wide robes with broad sleeves, exuding an extraordinary aura.

One had a face black as coal, sharp horns, a tall, sturdy build, amber‑brown pupils, and a cold, ruthless look; Wei Yuning needed no guess to know he was a Black Dragon of the True Dragon clan, and compared with the mixed‑blood Black Dragons of Beast King City, he showed even more beast‑tribe characteristics.

The other was even more unusual, nearly three meters tall, slender like a bamboo pole, exuding a thick blood aura that burned like a flame. Despite his odd stature, his looks were handsome; aside from a slightly elongated face, his most striking feature was an exceptionally beautiful pair of sword‑shaped eyebrows. Those knife‑carved brows added brilliance to his otherwise plain face, drawing outsiders' attention away from his aggressive aura toward his good looks.

Wei Yuning's heart pounded; this skinny bamboo pole seemed to be the Eight‑Arm Old Immortal, the Ancestor of Shenwu Gate, the unlucky Yun Long's forebear.

The third cultivator was the most ordinary, matching Wei Yuning's mental image of an immortal perfectly: a middle‑aged cultivator with kind eyes, holding a whisk, his Dao aura as solid as matter, faint rosy light shimmering, the only oddity being a teal hat he wore.

When Wei Yuning stepped before the three, the immortal with the green hat opened with praise: "This youngster's body is very transparent, his future boundless!"

Among cultivators, even with vast differences in realms, without direct sensory contact it is hard to gauge exact cultivation. Once past the Golden Core stage, even into the Nascent Soul stage, the spiritual resonance is deliberately restrained, so even mortal cultivators cannot discern it.

However, if the gap is vast, high‑rank cultivators can still infer most information about lower‑rank ones through various signs, after all they themselves ascended step by step from lower ranks.

"That's obvious; Wei Yuning is a genius at simultaneously cultivating flesh and spirit!" Wan Jun laughed.

An unnatural smile spread across Wei Yuning's face; he is a flesh cultivator, everyone knows that, but his spirit‑aware cultivator status is known only to those on the Immortal Shuttle. It seems someone within the Immortal Shuttle informed Wan Jun, though it's unclear whether it was Ji Qiu who said it, or Zhi Hua who obtained it from the dragon‑race maidens.

"General Wan, what brings you to summon me?" Wei Yuning said without averting his gaze, deliberately ignoring the three immortals.

Wan Jun laughed heartily: "Last time you told me you were a disciple of Shenwu Gate; I thought it sounded familiar. Later I remembered that the Eight‑Arm elder is also a Shenwu Gate cultivator, even one of its ancestors! I didn't expect the Immortal Realm to send the Eight‑Arm elder this time; come to think of it, you two have quite a fate together!"

Wei Yuning thought, "This unlucky fate can be left alone!"

Following Wan Jun's pointing finger, Wei Yuning saw the gentle smile of the Eight‑Arm Old Immortal. After a brief hesitation, he immediately clasped his hands and bowed deeply, respectfully saying, "Ancestor above, junior Wei Zhuang pays his respects, wishing the Ancestor 'immortal blessings forever, longevity equal to the heavens'!"

"Haha, fine, fine, stand up!" The Eight‑Arm Old Immortal remained still, lifted his long arm lightly, and gently helped Wei Yuning up. "You may be a later disciple of Shenwu Gate, but Shenwu Gate only has brothers, no seniors or juniors, so you cannot call me Ancestor; you should address me as Senior Brother according to sect customs. Within the sect my title was 'Yun Zhong Yao'; from now on you may call me 'Senior Brother Yao'!"

Wei Yuning used the moment to stand, bowed again, and said, "Senior Brother Yao!"

"Hmm, good! Junior Brother Wei, do you have a sect Dao name?" the Eight‑Arm Old Immortal asked.

"Senior Brother Yao, actually I don't. The sect established a small Shenwu Gate in Black Dragon City of the Black Water Nation; Senior Brother Yun He and others recruited disciples en masse, and within a short time there were over ten thousand brothers, leaving no time for such matters. Later the Beast World suffered an invasion by the Dark Clan; some elite disciples went to Blue Ice Island for secluded cultivation, while the ordinary disciples each went their own way. Because I happened to know a few Dao friends, seeing that the Beast World could not be stayed in, we fled with them before the teleportation array to the starry sky was sealed." Wei Yuning explained.

"Oh, I see. A Dao name is merely an external trifle! Moreover, it's good you escaped; you are the first Shenwu Gate cultivator in nearly a thousand years to become a Earth Immortal, already possessing the power to found a sect. Even if the Shenwu Gate branch in the Beast World never emerged, our Shenwu Gate would not lose its transmission!" The Eight‑Arm Old Immortal seemed to hold no blame for Wei Yuning's escape, his words even carried praise.

Wei Yuning breathed a quiet sigh of relief, tentatively asking, "Senior Brother Yao, is there truly no chance left for the Beast World?"

The Eight‑Arm Old Immortal smiled faintly, pointed to the green‑hat immortal beside him, and said, "I don't know either; you could ask this Great Golden Immortal of the Immortal Realm, the capable aide of the Blue Emperor, Lord Giant Tree!"

Lord Giant Tree, already kind‑eyed and benevolent, spoke as gently as a spring breeze: "Eight‑Arm junior, stop joking! The Blue Emperor is only one of the four great Immortal Kings of the Immortal Realm; he doesn't even know the ins and outs of this matter, let alone me, a lowly errand boy! Junior Wei, the Beast World is deeply entangled with the Divine Beast Realm; asking me is less useful than asking the Divine Beast's true master, Lord Dark Fire, haha!"

The Dark Fire that Giant Tree mentioned could only be that Black Dragon.

Dark Fire was originally half‑open-eyed there; when Giant Tree mentioned him, he rolled his slightly yellow sclera, shook his head, and said, "I haven't been in contact with the Divine Beast Realm for a long time! Moreover, I'm just an ordinary little dragon; I have nothing to do with those noble Divine Beast lords!" He then glanced at Wei Yuning and continued, "But this youngster seems to also carry my dragon bloodline; I sensed it, and it feels like the aura of my old friend, Jiang Yu Long. What's your relationship with him?"

The tone of the final question was rather unfriendly, suggesting his relationship with that Jiang Yu Long was not very good!