[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-watching-the-immortals-fall":3,"chapter-watching-the-immortals-fall-watching-the-immortals-fall-chapter-383":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Watching the Immortals Fall",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2260256,4410,"Chapter 383","watching-the-immortals-fall-chapter-383",383,"\u003Cp>From the Infusion Core, to Qiling, then to the Zheng family’s ancestor ascending to immortality, and finally to the Six Immortal Sects opening the relic, the entire chain appeared complete to the outside world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in reality, from the Danzong’s perspective, this seemingly complete chain may not be without flaws.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For if the Zheng family’s ancestor’s method of assimilating all life during his ascension originated from soul-searching Yuan Caiwei, what about before that?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji You said that before his death, Chu Xian told him that when they first used the relic’s divine fortune, they discovered that once they absorbed the relic’s fruit, they could no longer escape the relic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And after solving this problem by using infants as vessels, they found that even after breaking through to a higher realm, annihilation was still unavoidable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So they experimented on countless people, reduced dosages, repeatedly purified the human body through absorption—but the question remains: where did they even conceive of these horrifying methods?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Know that some things are easy to trace forward, but to discover them from the beginning requires long, painstaking exploration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How did they confirm human body responses? How did they choose better methods based on different reactions? These cannot be explained by a mere “accidental discovery.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Dan Yangzi heard Ji You recount this, he was astonished that they had encountered problems and solved them with incredible luck during their trials with the relic’s divine fortune, taking few detours and completing everything in just a few years—he had even marveled at the unfathomable nature of the Dao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only now did he realize the matter was not so simple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed, from a realistic standpoint, excluding luck, only Danzong could have completed an entire series of pharmaceutical experiments within a few years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because only Danzong’s alchemical techniques and Danlight could perceive how external substances acted within the human body, distinguishing beneficial effects from poison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Master, what exactly is going on…?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is a story from long ago.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Li gazed at the tablet placed at the highest position: “Have you ever heard of a man named Chu Yan?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dan Yangzi and Dan Xunzi exchanged glances: “The fifth-generation Chu family ancestor who was dissected posthumously by the Xuan Yuan Immortal Mansion to study the Seven Orifices Luminous Body?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s correct—but not posthumously. He was dissected alive.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Dissected alive? Could the Xuan Yuan Immortal Mansion really commit such an abomination against heaven and earth? Didn’t they fear heavenly retribution?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Li lifted his gaze at Dan Yangzi’s words: “Where was the retribution? Where is the Dao?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dan Yangzi fell silent instantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed, no matter how the situation changed, before the thousand-year clans joined forces in their evil deeds, the immortal sects wielding sacred artifacts still towered above all—where was the retribution?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But what does this have to do with our Danzong?” Dan Xunzi could not help but ask.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Li looked out at the night beyond the window: “What does the Xuan Yuan Immortal Mansion know about dissection? They were merely murderers. Even if they could cut open Chu Yan’s body, how could they possibly study his constitution?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dan Xunzi’s eyes trembled violently: “Are you saying… Chu Yan was dissected by us…?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“More precisely, it was my father, who was then the sect master, who performed the dissection. I was taken as a hostage at the time, and also present was Chu Yan’s son, Chu Yu…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Li’s thoughts seemed to instantly return to the night over a hundred years ago, his eyes clouded with blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was very young then, even younger than the Yuan Li of today. Our Danzong had only just emerged from a century of dark turmoil, and our vital energy had barely recovered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On a spring night, under a moonless, wind-swept sky, he and his father were brought back to the Xuan Yuan Immortal Mansion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He saw the Xuan Yuan sect master, as well as envoys from the Shanhai Pavilion, the Wen Dao Sect, and the Chen Clan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then they were taken into a chamber—a chamber deep beneath the Xuan Yuan Mountains.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On a stone bed lay a powerful cultivator, his entire meridian network pierced through, utterly powerless, staring with lifeless eyes as he gasped heavily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Li was still a child then, unaware of what was happening, but his short stature allowed his gaze to easily fall upon his father’s trembling hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides the man on the stone bed, besides his father and himself, he saw countless iron cages.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside those cages were people—tattered clothes, bodies covered in wounds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What struck Yuan Li most deeply was a man whose eyes glowed like a starving wolf, fixed unblinkingly on him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fixed unblinkingly as his father raised his tools, slicing open the cultivator on the stone bed, watching as blood sprayed everywhere, staining the stone crimson.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young Yuan Li was terrified, stumbling and falling to the floor of the chamber—until the man in the cage lifted him up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young Yuan Li tried to cover his eyes, but the man forcibly pried them open.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Look, this is what the lofty immortal sects are like.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He still remembers the man’s words whispered into his ear—whenever he recalls them, his entire body shudders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the following half-year, he and his father remained in that chamber, and thus he spent countless nights and days with the man in the cage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What terrified him most was that even while imprisoned, the man would seek moments when no one was watching to cultivate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Until one day, his breakthrough aura drew the guards’ attention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The guards, their faces twisted with savagery, interrogated everyone about whether he had been cultivating—Yuan Li was seized and questioned too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, the man in the cage was gazing at him with utter despair, and for some reason, Yuan Li forced himself to shake his head, suppressing his fear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon after, many people arrived at the chamber, all excited, exclaiming how the Seven Orifices Luminous Body was miraculous—capable of ascending realms while seated, as if possessing a divine treasure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His father’s dissection continued, but the powerful cultivator on the stone slab no longer resembled his original form.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Later, the Spirit Sword Mountain and the Heavenly Book Academy seemed to have discovered something, sending envoys one after another, forcing the Xuan Yuan Immortal Mansion to release the main family’s heirs—but secretly, many remained imprisoned in the dungeons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The man in the cage… was Chu Yu?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a long silence, Yuan Li spoke: “My father came from the dark turmoil. He said seeing the Chu family was like seeing his own past. This event became his lifelong nightmare, haunting him until death.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dan Yangzi and Dan Xunzi remained silent for a long time, never imagining that the Chu family and Danzong, seemingly unconnected, had such a hidden link: “And then?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Later, the Chu family was permitted to rebuild their clan, but due to their weakness, they first submitted to the Heavenly Book Academy. Meanwhile, our Danzong continuously interacted with the Spirit Sword Mountain and the Heavenly Book Academy, arranging marriages to strengthen ourselves.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not long after, Chu Yu achieved cultivation and returned to Youzhou to establish his household. My father, burdened by guilt, secretly aided them endlessly, hoping they would grow strong quickly—but in truth, our two families had no real contact afterward.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When I succeeded as sect master, the world seemed much more peaceful; open killings had become rare. The Chu family grew rapidly, showing clear potential to become the foremost clan in the land.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But I knew the Chu family would not rest. I still remembered Chu Yu’s gaze—I knew he would seek revenge, against the immortal sects, against this world.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And so it came to pass: the Chu family began aligning with the Xuan Yuan Immortal Mansion, the very sect that slaughtered their kin.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The outside world believed it was because Youzhou was too close to the Xuan Yuan Immortal Mansion—that the Chu family had no choice. But I always felt they would do more. They would.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This thought haunted me for years—until a certain autumn day over a decade ago, when Chu Xiong suddenly visited Danzong, bringing a personal letter from Chu Yu. In it, he asked me many questions: how could they handle something the Dao refused to accept?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I did not answer him. I told him to come see me himself and tell me what he truly intended.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Perhaps because I never betrayed his trust as a child, he revealed his plan to me: he wanted to destroy the immortal sects. He hoped Danzong would join him. He said he would make Danzong never again fear the immortal sects.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dan Xunzi fell silent for a long time: “Did you agree?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Li nodded: “In truth, Danzong is not an immortal sect. We are merely another clan, like the Chu family, coveted by others.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then did you teach them to use infants as elixir vessels?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No. I merely told them that if they truly wished to carry something the Dao would not permit, they must find a vessel the Dao could not destroy. But I never realized that vessel was newborn life.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After speaking, Yuan Li turned to gaze at the three tablets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had been deceived. He never understood the full process.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He only knew Chu Yu’s heart was filled with rage, seeking revenge, and that he deeply believed this world should not contain such monstrous beings as immortal sects—but he never considered that in the endless days and nights of that chamber, he had long since lost his humanity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And then? How deeply did we become involved?” Dan Yangzi asked Yuan Li.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Later, Chu Xiong brought many inhuman, monstrous things and asked us to find solutions. We became deeply entangled.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Didn’t the sect master ever consider this would bring Danzong to utter ruin?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Li’s gaze turned icy: “Think of the night the immortal sects surrounded our mountain. What difference is there between fearing utter ruin and facing true utter ruin?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dan Xunzi met his gaze and spoke again: “What of Caiwei? If that’s the case, why did they need to capture Caiwei? Or was it your doing—intentionally, to distance ourselves from the Chu family by blaming it on the Zheng ancestor’s soul-searching?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Chu family did notify me—they wanted to use the Zheng ancestor’s incident to erase exposed traces and clear themselves. I was preparing accordingly. But it was not Caiwei. In truth, I still do not know who captured her. Even how Yuan Chen escaped Danshan and reached Qiling, I do not know.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Are you saying someone secretly aided Danzong—captured Caiwei to cover our tracks at Qiling, pinning everything on her soul-searching?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Li stared, then shook his head: “I don’t know. But Yuan Chen, as a direct disciple, nearly died at Qiling—and that convinced the Six Immortal Sects to never suspect us again.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dan Xunzi frowned: “Have you ever asked Yuan Chen?”\u003C\u002Fp>",1813,"2026-06-19T15:28:41.422Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","e9fdbba988b4651869bf371b5ca35d7536bd77fef2f1b4e295b8fcab4173fcf5","watching-the-immortals-fall-chapter-384","watching-the-immortals-fall-chapter-382",430,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwatching-the-immortals-fall-cover.jpg"]