[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-watching-the-immortals-fall":3,"chapter-watching-the-immortals-fall-watching-the-immortals-fall-chapter-72":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},2259945,4410,"Chapter 72: The Legendary Infernal Fire","watching-the-immortals-fall-chapter-72",72,"\u003Cp>Where are those three people?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Caimei turned her head to look behind him and found no one else, nor any signs of struggle on his body; her expression froze slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I persuaded them with heartfelt words; they cried and swore they knew their mistake and would never dare again, even moved enough to hand me their money pouch.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji You smiled faintly, causing Yuan Chen to shiver.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Is this a gift after being moved? Or is this more like an inheritance…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Caimei didn’t grasp it, only thinking she’d seen a ghost; she fell silent, for she couldn’t fathom just how strong Ji You’s sword had been within the ruins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji You shoved the money pouch into his robe, then pulled out a jade gourd he’d found on the matron, activating it with spiritual light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the gourd were five blood-red zhuguo fruits, some spirit stones of varying quality, and between them two elixirs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The elixirs looked utterly plain, pitch-black and showed no signs of anything unusual.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But since they were medicine, Ji You carefully picked them up and held them out to Yuan Chen: “Take a look—what kind of elixirs are these? Are they valuable?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Chen picked up one pill, glanced at his sister, and whispered: “Brother-in-law, you’d better keep them yourself—they’re yang-boosting elixirs…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji You thought back to the trio’s setup and mused: So middle-aged men chasing romance are even more reckless than the young.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he didn’t really need this—he was already strong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji You carefully stowed the elixirs back into the gourd, tucked it between his belt, then led the two into the mine tunnel…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, in the endless night above Qiling Mountain, thousands of flying carriages rushed toward them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>News of immortals and noble youths from sects who had entered the mountain and broken through their realms continued to spread.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A cultivator from the Chen Clan stood atop a high peak, drinking celestial dew descending from the sky; now he radiated the aura of the Yingtian Realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And his age was even one year younger than the junior master of Lingjian Mountain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A direct disciple of the Shanhai Pavilion’s branch broke through two realms here, reaching Wujiang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This aura seemed directly poured into him, merging steadily into his spiritual essence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a daze, he felt as if he could reach out and touch the sky, gradually sensing his body’s immortality—overwhelmed with ecstatic joy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the moment the evil seed left the ruins, to the attacks orchestrated by those controlling the seeds, to the assault on Danzong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had traced their steps here, deducing that the ruins must conceal something strange.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But no one imagined they’d stumble upon such a vast celestial fortune.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The temptation was too great.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For thousands of years, countless cultivators had rushed to pursue the Dao, hoping to ascend to immortality, never knowing that Qingyun’s world concealed a place where one could awaken to the Dao in a single moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet some hesitated, lingering uncertainly before Qiling, unable to make up their minds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For only recently, the master of Lingjian Mountain had sent a message with eight characters: The mountain holds calamity; men turn into evil seeds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Someone must have accidentally entered the ruins, activated the hidden immortal legacy, and unleashed this evil plague.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Evil seeds with consciousness had appeared before in Shengjing; it’s said a young man from the Chen Clan was like this—his realm was profound, his body peerless. I suspect they all gained immortal fortune within the ruins.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And becoming an evil seed is the price of that immortal fortune.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But likewise, those who became evil seeds should retain the ability to control them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This may not be a disaster—just like you and me, who’ve long been stuck; sitting idle in the mountains is worse than risking everything.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Even if one becomes an evil seed, so what? Consciousness remains; when finally ascending to immortality, one can shed the mortal body and forge an immortal form—it won’t matter.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Moreover, if trained properly, evil seeds could serve as our noble clans’ combat force, allowing us to dominate a single province.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Immortal sects and noble clans each harbored their own calculations, weighing the gains and losses of this immortal fortune.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, Ji You and the two others had escaped from Hongshan Mine and reached the gentle slope above the mining grounds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether illusion or not, the moment Ji You stepped out, he felt the prickling sensation on his scalp suddenly ease.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked around and saw all the miners who had been trapped had escaped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So his guess was right—they’d already found another tunnel through the mountain wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji You exhaled in relief, but before he could speak, a sudden explosion erupted beside them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unprepared, Ji Hanfei felt a violent force strike his waist and was flung backward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This sudden event startled Yuan Chen and Yuan Caimei; they immediately scanned the surroundings but found no one—only shattered jade everywhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who attacked? I… I didn’t even see anything!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji You rose from the ground, staring at the scattered spirit stones and elixirs, frowning: “Not an attack—it was the storage gourd exploding. Don’t use something you can’t afford—why make such shoddy products?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet as he finished speaking, the zhuguo fruits between the spirit stones and elixirs began to wither, finally turning into piles of black ash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Chen’s eyes widened: “How could this happen?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji You was also stunned, then recalled the grotesque, twisted visions he’d seen during his spiritual sense’s flight through the ruins; after a long silence, he said: “Perhaps… the Dao rejects this.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What do you mean, the Dao rejects this?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Dao above our heads… seems unwilling to allow such things to exist.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Chen thought for a moment, then froze: “Oh no—I can’t feel my brain.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Caimei, hearing Ji You’s muttering, froze, then turned back toward the ruins, her pupils slowly contracting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She raised her right hand and silently recited a spell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amidst a dark glow, her slender hand grew translucent, then hardened into jade-like stone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the Xuan Jade Palm of Danzong—a technique used in alchemy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As she willed it, a string of flickering flames leapt from her palm—flames of a lurid black, like liquid black milk quivering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ye Huo…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Caimei stood frozen for a long while, thinking: So it’s true.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Danzong inherited its alchemical arts from the Honglu furnace, then spent centuries refining its elixir theories.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One such theory, though ancient, had never been verified.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to elixir laws, a celestial fire from the ancient age should exist—but they’d searched for centuries without finding it; since it remained undiscovered, the theory was deemed dead, abandoned by all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But just because it’s unfound now doesn’t mean it won’t be found later—so every alchemical system must be known.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Caimei lifted her head, gazing upward, and suddenly felt a chilling thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What rises from the mountains isn’t always immortal light—it could also be alchemical qi nearing boiling point.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alchemy and immortality are both branches of the Dao; thus, when supreme-grade elixirs emerge, celestial light surges, just as when someone ascends.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, it’s about to open its furnace…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1187,"2026-06-19T15:28:39.995Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","627ab181a460d1b5ee54669341234c4ca0d4ff039ae4a04dd8614b1a1d872c63","watching-the-immortals-fall-chapter-73","watching-the-immortals-fall-chapter-71",430,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwatching-the-immortals-fall-cover.jpg"]