Chapter 409

Late at night, black clouds cross the sky.

The moon looks at the human world indifferently, like a fox's eye.

In the desolate mountains, the night wind blows through disheveled hair. The youth's eyes contain the vicissitudes of time; he looks toward the direction of Zhenwu Mountain, his pupils reflecting inexplicable emotions.

"Calamity waves rise everywhere in the human world... The red dust is a purgatory; even with Pure Yang Limitless, it is difficult to stay out of it, and one must still respond to the calamity."

Mr. Nian let out a sigh.

For a practitioner, one should not take supernatural powers and techniques as the greatest; the road is long, and they are but side paths.

Comprehending the Dao, merging with nature, peeking at the mechanism of the operation of heaven and earth, and perceiving the wonder of the changes in fate—that is the true Great Dao.

Now, Mr. Nian seems to have touched this level of realm; his body exudes an aura that is mysterious and profound.

Ever since he escaped from the desolate mountain, left the Jue Miao Temple, and avoided this great calamity, he has become completely different.

At this moment, Jiang Yunxian looks at Mr. Nian, looking at this Wu Wei Sect Deputy Sect Leader who appears to be a youth but is mysterious and unfathomable, and an strange feeling rises in her heart.

She feels as if she is looking up at another kind of existence, no longer in the same dimension as her.

"You..."

Jiang Yunxian's beautiful brows knit slightly, and a look of surprise and suspicion appears on her beautiful face.

"Are you about to take that step?"

Such a question is earth-shattering; that step is something many practitioners have dreamed of for a long time. Throughout history, those who could peek at that step are even fewer.

In the world today, those qualified to be asked such a question are even rarer than phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

"What I saw tonight, I suddenly had an epiphany." Mr. Nian is noncommittal, only murmuring softly.

His voice dissolves into the wind, falling into the mountains, and his mysterious aura becomes even more unfathomable.

"What was that just now?" Jiang Yunxian ponders for a moment, and the topic suddenly shifts.

"Three Corpses!" Mr. Nian suddenly says.

"Three Corpses?" Jiang Yunxian's gaze condenses into a line, her pupils reflecting a trace of surprise and suspicion.

The Three Corpses Illuminating Fate is mysterious and unfathomable; although its reputation is great, those who have truly seen it can be counted on one's fingers, let alone knowing the mysteries and secrets within.

"The Three-Corpse Daoist!?"

"You can also understand it that way," Mr. Nian says indifferently.

"How is that possible? Isn't he..." Jiang Yunxian says in a deep voice.

"Do you know the Nine Supreme Inner Alchemy Methods?" Mr. Nian suddenly says.

"The Nine Supreme Methods are the kings of the eternal alchemy scriptures, containing the secret of immortality," Jiang Yunxian says in a deep voice.

"Correct, the Nine Supreme Methods concern immortality..."

Mr. Nian nods and says: "Practitioners spend their whole lives struggling to pursue it, but even with Pure Yang Limitless, one cannot achieve immortality."

"The Nine Inner Alchemy Methods contain the secret of immortality, but who has truly seen them?"

"Tell me, throughout history, has anyone truly practiced the Nine Inner Alchemy Methods? Or, after they practiced them, did they truly achieve immortality? And where did those people go?"

Mr. Nian throws out a series of questions, causing Jiang Yunxian to fall into silence and thought.

"Perhaps, they truly became immortals," Mr. Nian sighs.

"Becoming an immortal..."

Jiang Yunxian is somewhat dazed.

Becoming an immortal—this term seems somewhat ethereal even for practitioners.

The higher the realm, the more one will doubt this world and that high-and-mighty existence.

Are there really immortals in this world?

"Beyond the thirty-three heavens, there are immortals above the nine clouds. Immortals are originally made by mortals; I only fear that mortals lack firm will!"

Mr. Nian murmurs softly; his voice is like the wind in the mountains whispering and telling a story.

"Whether there are really immortals in this world, I don't know, but perhaps there really is immortality."

"The Nine Methods contain the secret of immortality."

Jiang Yunxian lifts her bright eyes, looking at Mr. Nian's back; she can feel the firmness and belief in his words.

"Jia lives, Gui dies..." Mr. Nian suddenly says.

"Li Cunsi practices Jia lives, Gui dies; his father was once a member of the Coffin-Carrying Society. Did he not tell you the secret of the Nine Methods?"

"Secret? What secret?" Jiang Yunxian cannot help but ask.

She only knows that Li Cunsi's father was named Li Jiugong; when she married over, this father-in-law was already gone.

"Li Jiugong, back then he and Zhang Tiansheng and that group of people founded the Coffin-Carrying Society, searched the world, and exhausted the mysteries of the Nine Methods, and they really did find clues," Mr. Nian sighs.

Clearly, he understands the organization 【Coffin-Carrying Society】 very deeply.

"What are you referring to?" Jiang Yunxian asks.

"Immortality... immortality..."

"Anyone who practices the Nine Methods, even after death, will leave behind an immortal substance..."

"Existing with the world without perishing, enduring through long calamities without decaying."

"Immortal substance?" Jiang Yunxian says in a deep voice.

"That talisman tonight was refined using the 'Calamity' left behind by a practitioner of the 【Ten Thousand Evils Calamity Phase】," Mr. Nian sighs.

"It's a pity, with Zhang Tiansheng's ability, he only refined three such talismans."

Refining such talismans requires extremely high standards, and the cost is also very high; one does not know how much manpower and material resources must be exhausted, and the most critical part is the "Calamity" left behind after the death of a practitioner of the 【Ten Thousand Evils Calamity Phase】.

Back then, the Coffin-Carrying Society mobilized a large amount of manpower, and one does not know how many mountains were moved and how many graves were dug before they found only three.

In the current era, wanting to mobilize that kind of manpower and material resources is already very, very difficult.

"Besides this, there is the 'Life Root' left behind after the demise of a practitioner of 【Jia lives, Gui dies】. Back then, the Coffin-Carrying Society used this to refine a type of candle called the 【Rebirth Candle】, which can bring the dead back to life and allow the soul to be reborn in the world."

What Mr. Nian said was a secret that even Jiang Yunxian had never touched upon.

After all, that was only known to the core founding members within the 【Coffin-Carrying Society】.

"The Coffin-Carrying Society... in sixty years, the most stunning talents in this world were probably all included within it," Mr. Nian sighs.

Such an organization exceeded imagination, transcending everything; it had never existed before, and it will never exist again.

A flash in the pan, yet it had a far-reaching influence, perceiving the truth of cultivation in the world, containing huge mysteries and secrets.

"Why do you think Zhang Lingzong wanted to hide on Mount Ailao?" Mr. Nian laughs lightly.

"Besides that place being known as a terminus of heaven and earth, capable of avoiding disaster and hiding from calamity, the most important thing... is that it was once the place where a Great Accomplishment Divine Demon Sacred Fetus feathered and ascended."

"Could it be..." Jiang Yunxian's heart stirred.

"He is searching for the immortal substance left behind by the Divine Demon Sacred Fetus," Mr. Nian says indifferently.

"Divine Divination Zhang Tiansheng, this person is very interesting..."

"Back then, he took away most of the achievements of the 【Coffin-Carrying Society】."

"You mean..."

"He left behind a treasure vault, perhaps more than one," Mr. Nian lowers his voice and says.

"So, these years, some people wanted to cut the weeds and dig up the roots of the Southern Zhang, but they were able to linger on until now."

"Divine Divination left a life-saving talisman for the incense of the Southern Zhang."

The legacy left by Zhang Tiansheng can only be found by people of the Southern Zhang.

Speaking of this, the corners of Mr. Nian's mouth lift slightly, revealing a faint, almost non-existent smile.

"In this world, where are there so many demons and evil paths? To put it plainly, it's just their internal fighting."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yunxian remains silent, pondering Mr. Nian's words just now; the amount of information in these words is truly too great.

"How do you know so clearly about the affairs of the 【Coffin-Carrying Society】?" Jiang Yunxian suddenly says.

In the mountain wind, Mr. Nian's black hair sways; he slowly turns to the side and looks deeply at Jiang Yunxian. Under the faint moonlight, those eyes are incomparably deep.

"Among the Nine Methods, besides the Ninth Method that has never appeared in the world, only the 【Three Corpses Illuminating Fate】 is the most special."

Mr. Nian does not answer Jiang Yunxian's question and suddenly says.

"What is special about it?" Jiang Yunxian asks subconsciously.

"The immortal substance it left behind... is alive!"

Mr. Nian's words exude mystery and oppression, whispering like a sob, drowned in the faint mountain wind.

Jiang Yunxian's eyes suddenly condense.

"Could it be just now..."

"It should have also witnessed the great calamity of the Daoist sects eighty years ago and known what happened on Long Hu Mountain."

Mr. Nian's voice becomes deep and hoarse, and a trace of a different kind of brilliance flashes in his eyes.

At this moment, Jiang Yunxian's heart is like waves overturning, shaking incessantly.