Chapter 988

“Huh…”

On Solitary Pine Mountain, the snowstorm had ceased.

He Pingsheng stood beneath that enormous pine tree, suddenly feeling out of place in this world.

His disciple Luo Bingyao had already ascended; the Nirvana Emperor Domain had already been taken over by Bing Xuan.

He Pingsheng had no desire to go there.

The only place he could stay was this Solitary Pine Mountain.

A strange emotion stirred within him, bringing a touch of sadness.

Yet, within an instant, He Pingsheng—having cultivated for four thousand eight hundred years—regained inner calm.

Wasn’t this normal for a Dao cultivator?

Solitude is the norm for cultivators—and for life itself!

Isn’t Solitary Pine Mountain the ideal place for a Dao cultivator?

“Kid, you can speak now,” the voice of Jin Ku echoed plainly within him: “You’re about to ascend to the Immortal Realm too; our connection is nearly at an end!”

“Tell me—what are we going to do?”

“You can’t just shove me into the Immortal Realm in a basin, can you?”

He Pingsheng shook his head: “That’s obviously impossible…”

“But old man, let me ask you something.”

“Do you think, with this basin of mine, I’ll be able to survive in the Immortal Realm?”

“Nonsense!” Jin Ku’s tone dripped with mockery: “Don’t think I’m being disrespectful, but even a pig—hahaha—could reach the end of the Immortal Realm!”

"Of course, provided that your fortune is sufficient!"

He Pingsheng asked again: “What do you think? How much further can you advance once you reach the Immortal Realm?”

This question left Jin Ku silent.

After nearly half a stick of incense passed, the old man let out a deep sigh: “To be honest, I’m not optimistic myself. If I can advance one or two major realms, that’s probably my limit.”

“I might even be stuck as a Earth Immortal for life.”

He Pingsheng said: “Just as I expected…”

“Old man, what do you think of my treatment of Huo Ming and Feng Wu?”

Jin Ku immediately jumped up: “What? I get it—you’re hinting you want me to become your servant?”

“You’re telling me you treat your servants well?”

He Pingsheng said: “I won’t force you.”

Jin Ku said: “I won’t agree to it.”

He Pingsheng said: “Don’t get worked up yet—listen to me out. If after hearing this, you still refuse to hand over the Heavenly Dao Slave Seal, I’ll let you be.”

Seeing Jin Ku said nothing further, He Pingsheng continued: “Before you hand me the Heavenly Dao Slave Seal, I will swear an oath to the Heavenly Dao: from now on, though you become my servant, I will never issue any command to you. And the moment you hand over the seal, we will immediately part ways—perhaps we’ll never see each other again.”

“My reason for asking you to hand over the Heavenly Dao Slave Seal is simply to ensure my secret doesn’t leak.”

“There’s no other intention.”

“You know my combat strength—I’ll become a Human Immortal the moment I ascend.”

“Once I’m a Human Immortal, I’ll possess the combat power of an Earth Immortal. At that point, you’ll be useless to me.”

“Enslaving you serves no purpose.”

“That’s the first point.”

Jin Ku said: “I’ll consider this suggestion. Go on.”

He Pingsheng said: “Good. Second point—is there something you’ve never considered?”

“Once I become a Human Immortal—or even an Earth Immortal—”

“With the strength of my spiritual sense, even if you detonate yourself within my mind sea, I might not die.”

“In other words, if one day I acquire something like a [Substitute Doll], what would you do about our relationship—if you were me?”

Having finished, He Pingsheng fell silent.

A silence settled between them again.

Jin Ku knew his options were few.

Either he detonated now, and they both died.

Or he waited until after the ascension, when He Pingsheng’s spiritual sense grew stronger, and then He Pingsheng would erase him.

After all, Jin Ku wasn’t foolish—he understood the importance of the Treasure Basin’s secret.

But if he became He Pingsheng’s servant, their karmic fortunes would be linked, a master-servant rule would be established under Heavenly Dao’s restraint, and he would lose all ability to reveal that He Pingsheng possessed the Treasure Basin.

For Jin Ku, the optimal choice right now was precisely the servant method He Pingsheng had just proposed.

“Fine!” Jin Ku said: “Go study those Immortal Scripts first. I’ll think it over—I’ll make my decision when you ascend.”

“Good!” He Pingsheng nodded, then pulled out the grain-of-light Cui Jue had given him.

He did not immediately merge the grain-of-light into his spiritual soul.

Who knew if there were traps inside?

First, he extended a thread of his spiritual sense into the grain-of-light.

He examined it thoroughly, ensuring within his capacity that this thread of spiritual sense posed no danger, before beginning the fusion.

Soon, a stream of information flowed into He Pingsheng’s mind sea.

This stream contained nothing else—only Immortal Scripts, their pronunciations, and some explanatory notes.

Compared to Dao cultivation, this information was minimal.

He Pingsheng absorbed every detail within half a stick of incense.

In other words, in less than half a stick of incense, He Pingsheng could speak the Immortal Realm’s language and understand its written characters.

Now, reading the Immortal Realm’s scriptures presented no obstacle whatsoever.

He Pingsheng’s first action was to retrieve the Immortal Art he had copied from the [Transformation Immortal Stele].

Now, with his spiritual sense scanning it, he could finally understand it.

As Hong Luo Nu had said, this was the method to transform True Spirit Qi into Immortal Spirit Qi.

But Cui Jue was right too—it was common trash!

Hmm…

Fortunately, over the past two thousand seven hundred years, He Pingsheng had already strengthened all these jade slips.

Each one had been preserved as an original, then strengthened into a copy.

He pulled out one of the strengthened jade slips.

Name: True Origin Gathering Immortal Art

Rank: Immortal Heaven Grade!

Function: Once perfected, this art transforms the cultivator’s True Origin Qi into Immortal Origin Qi.

What followed was simple!

He Pingsheng began to comprehend this Immortal Art.

After all, no matter what, this was the first step toward cultivation in the Immortal Realm.

Only by converting True Origin Qi into Immortal Origin Qi could he proceed to refine Immortal Treasures, cultivate Immortal Arts, and command Immortal Realm laws.

First, comprehend it.

The method was simple—he mastered the transformation technique in less than a month.

But he did not rush to convert his own Qi into Immortal Origin Qi.

Next, He Pingsheng maximized his spiritual sense and sifted through over a thousand jade slips inscribed with Immortal texts, searching for a way to breach the boundary between the Spirit Realm and the mortal world.

No matter what, he still needed to take a look at the Small Spirit World.