Chapter 293: Heavenly Source Old Ancestor

That vast and pure immortal Dao law penetrated the River Gathering Spirit Array without hindrance.

There was no earth-shattering sound.

It was extremely overbearing, directly disregarding the three-thousand-year pattern seal that the conglomerates prided themselves on.

This fluctuation was too high-level, so high that even the highest-grade monitoring probes recorded only a segment of meaningless gibberish.

The depths of the universe, the core of the asteroid belt.

Inside a meteorite over a hundred miles in diameter, long since completely hollowed out, countless coarse threads, like greedy leeches, dug deep into a withered flesh body.

Nutrient fluid and preservative were alternately injected, maintaining the faintest spark of life in this corpse.

Tian Yuan Lao Zu

One of the true masters behind the four great conglomerates, and the only one among the four who survived from the ancient "Purify World Agreement" three thousand years ago, a true immortal of the old era.

Three thousand years ago, seeing the new era's great age begin, in order to continue the immortal Dao, he had no choice but to follow that group, eventually becoming this neither-human nor-ghost appearance.

Having survived to this day, his origin has long been exhausted.

By siphoning the meager vitality of lowly mortals, he barely clings to his last breath.

He waits.

Waiting for the new immortal Dao to be reborn in the Heavenly Pivot Source Realm.

Now, he has caught a whiff of it.

The immortal Dao law that penetrated the Great Array is too pure.

So pure that it made his decaying remnant body, on the verge of death, feel a long-lost shudder.

"New immortal..." Tian Yuan Lao Zu's withered lips moved; his vocal cords had long since atrophied, so he could only vibrate his divine sense within the meteorite.

He was very excited.

Eleventh City, that is his jurisdiction.

Although this fluctuation is pure, in his view the total amount is not large.

Judging from it, at most it's someone who has just touched the threshold of the immortal Dao, possibly even just a newcomer who accidentally obtained an ancient relic.

If he were to report it directly, the three other old monsters would surely swarm over like sharks smelling blood and slay this new immortal Dao.

No.

He would never allow this to happen!

Tian Yuan Lao Zu closed his eyes.

He used his highest authority to directly cut off the abnormal alarm that Eleventh City was sending to headquarters.

Thus.

In the short term, only he would know what happened in Eleventh City.

As for the future……

The new immortal Dao has already developed.

What does he have to fear from those three true immortal old ancestors?

"First, nurture it."

He split off a strand of extremely concealed true immortal divine sense, detached from the Great Array, and fell into the dark corner of Eleventh City, wanting first to see what this new immortal Dao has actually done in Eleventh City, so that he might……make preparations.

……

Heavenly Pivot Eleven City, underground black market.

The revelry of spiritual energy revival lasted a full three days and still hasn't stopped.

Under the nourishment of supreme spirit veins, this land once soaked in acid rain and machine oil has become a holy land of cultivation.

Iron Slaughter stood on the high point of the air-raid shelter, looking down. His aura became increasingly restrained.

With ample spiritual energy supply, plus the dominance of the Reverse Spirit Art, his cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds.

Those originally remaining mechanical prosthetics were gradually squeezed out by the newly grown flesh.

He knew very well who gave him all this.

The young man sitting in the secret room drinking tea, with his casual offering of leftovers, would be enough to overturn this world's three-thousand-year iron law.

Some rejoice, naturally others worry.

On the edge of the black market, a low-quality tavern called "Scrap Iron".

The environment is filthy and chaotic.

The air is filled with the pungent smell of cheap synthetic alcohol mixed with low-quality tobacco.

Aqi sat in the corner booth, with a dozen or so empty bottles in front of him.

He wasn't wearing that expensive synthetic-fiber suit; instead he wore a dingy gray coat, his whole person exuding decadence and gloom.

Fourth Realm.

He endured three days of hardship, begged the white-clad immortal for three full days, was made to train like livestock by that white-clad immortal, and only then was he allowed to break through.

But at this very moment, he is only a mere Fourth Realm.

At the bar, several vagrants who once fought him over scrap copper and iron in the junkyard were loudly boasting about how they broke through to the Third Realm last night.

"The Ancient Immortal Sect is truly benevolent! I just casually inhaled two breaths yesterday and my meridians opened!"

"No way! I heard that the sect leader Aqi is now also Fourth Realm. Hey, if I train a couple more days, I might end up on equal footing with the sect leader!"

The whole room burst into laughter.

Aqi gripped the glass cup, his fingers exerting force, and the cup was pinched with fine cracks.

He has beaten five fifth-realm gang ruffians by jumping levels, and can even resist sixth-realm mechanical transformers head-on; the immortal told him this is called solidifying the foundation, making him invincible among peers.

But Aqi wouldn't listen.

He only saw that those who once didn't dare even glance at him, the worthless, now look at him with no reverence, only contempt that says "you're nothing special either."

On what basis?

I am the first to have met an immortal, and I am the sect master of the Ancient Immortal Sect.

The immortal scattered that heaven-reaching fortune among the city's beggars, yet deliberately suppressed my realm, preventing me from breaking through.

What kind of blessing is this?

This is outright suppression!

They fear I'll become too strong and slip out of their control!

"Another bottle." Aqi slapped a chip onto the table.

The bartender walked over, glanced at the chip, then at Aqi, his eyes holding three parts sympathy and seven parts mockery. 'Sect Master, you've had too much; this liquor is strong, it harms the meridians.'

"I told you to get the wine!" Aqi sprang to his feet, releasing fourth-realm spiritual power, sending the bartender stumbling back two steps.

The tavern fell silent for a moment.

Soon after, several contemptuous glances swept over. A burly man at the fifth realm rose, brushing dust from his clothes.

"Aqi, go back to your air-raid shelter if you want to show off. This is a place for drinking. What can your measly cultivation scare?"

The burly man didn't move, but those words were sharper than a blade.

Aqi stood rooted, his chest heaving violently.

He wanted to rush over and twist that man's head off, knowing he had the strength to do so.

But he knew better: he now represented the Ancient Immortal Sect, and if he caused trouble, Tietu would surely report it to that white-clad immortal.

By then, what awaited him would again be that lofty, disdainful gaze, as if looking at trash.

Aqi kicked over the table, turned, and stormed out of the tavern into the acid rain outside.

The rain struck his face, but it could not quench the jealousy burning in his heart.

He wandered aimlessly through the black market's alleys, his mind filled with Tietu's inscrutable silhouette and Gu Yuan's eternally calm face.

"I am not resigned..."

Aqi slammed his fist into the nearby metal wall, blood mixing with rain as it streamed down: "I am not resigned!"

"If you are not resigned, why endure such humiliation?"

A hoarse, ethereal voice, filled with endless vicissitudes, suddenly echoed deep in Aqi's mind without warning.

Aqi stiffened all over.

He was all too familiar with this manner of appearance.

A month ago, that white-clad immortal had spoken to him in exactly the same way inside his head.

But he was certain this was absolutely not the voice of that white-clad immortal.

"Who?"

Aqi lowered his voice, warily scanning his surroundings.

"I am the incarnation of the heavenly Dao of this realm, and also an ancient immortal venerable."

That voice carried a sigh of sympathy for the heavens and pity for humanity,

"Child, I have watched you for a long time. You ought to soar the nine heavens, yet those with malicious intent have forcibly pressed you down into this mire."