Chapter 13: Dead from Talking Too Much

After confirming there was no movement, the figure in white finally left.

After she had gone for some time, Qin Changsheng, covered in blood, lay feigning death beneath the cliff. Only when he was certain the figure in white had departed did he slowly rise to his feet.

"A thousand-year tortoise, a ten-thousand-year immortal—truly a formidable foe..."

At the critical moment, he summoned the Longevity Stele to save himself. Although it hadn’t blocked the sword strike from the figure in white in time, it had managed to protect all his vital points.

That sword pierced through his shoulder, missing the bone but cutting through flesh and blood. Fortunately, the figure in white had refrained from using her cultivation power to avoid leaving traces.

Thus, when he fell, he did not die, and the sword strike did not finish him off.

The Longevity Stele pulsed with endless vitality, beginning to heal his body. His lifespan was already nearly exhausted from burning it to escape.

Ordinary practitioners in the Qi Refinement stage lived barely over a hundred years, just longer than mortals. Even those in the Foundation Establishment stage only had about two hundred years, Golden Core cultivators five hundred, and Nascent Soul practitioners a thousand. But a sword immortal like the figure in white, despite her ethereal appearance, was actually an ancient monster of ten thousand years.

"In another ten years, I’ll have to slumber again. Well, that’s perfect for laying low."

Now, Qin Changsheng’s hair had turned gray.

In truth, once he realized Nangong Ruoxi had used him as a human shield in a fatal trap, he had already prepared this path: to find a way to leave, change his name, or fall into slumber.

He hadn’t expected the commotion this time to be so great.

So great that it drew Wang Yuyan to rescue him.

The figure in white saw her disciple’s emotional turmoil and personally severed his attachments to prevent him from affecting Wang Yuyan’s path in the future.

This was something Qin Changsheng hadn’t foreseen—the figure in white had actually followed him since the first day of his escape.

His eyes had seen all.

The figure in white thought he was unaware, not knowing he had inadvertently opened his immortal eyes.

He pretended not to know. After learning her intentions, he began frantically burning his lifespan, aiming to flee but also to signal to her that he was dying.

Feigning weakness to deceive the enemy, to escape.

Because before the figure in white, he had no divine foresight. Unless he exposed the Longevity Stele, he could barely escape—and revealing such a treasure was tantamount to courting death.

In three days, the scene on the cliff unfolded: the figure in white forced him to leap off and struck again.

He activated the Longevity Stele, surviving the ordeal.

Thus, he lived.

But the matter was far from over...

The Loyal Mountain Sect’s pursuit of him continued.

When his vitality had sufficiently recovered, Qin Changsheng stored away the spirit sword that had erased all traces of his aura and hurriedly left the valley.

It turned out that beneath the cliff there wasn’t necessarily an immortal’s cave or an imprisoned empress.

There was only...

A pack of terrifying beasts.

***

It took Qin Changsheng three days to emerge from the thorny cliff below. To mask his aura, he whitened his hair and concealed his cultivation, appearing as an ordinary old man.

During those three days, he found an injured little fox.

He named it Little White.

Little White was an ordinary fox. Qin Changsheng probably felt that his own plight was similar—both had white hair and wounds—so he kept the small fox by his side. Moreover, he used his vitality to help heal the fox’s injury.

Once healed, the little fox seemed to sense the benefit and refused to leave Qin Changsheng’s side.

Together, the hunched old man and the fox limped out of the valley.

Just as they emerged, Qin Changsheng saw a flying sword whiz overhead.

Coincidentally, the person riding it was someone he recognized—Nangong Ruoxi.

However, Nangong Ruoxi merely scanned briefly with her divine sense, noting that Qin Changsheng was dressed like a hunter in the mountains. Holding a fox, she dismissed the possibility that this could be Qin Changsheng and flew away.

Watching her depart, Qin Changsheng slowly raised his head and lightly activated his immortal eyes.

He couldn’t help but chuckle, “My nominal Dao partner, always dressed so revealingly when she goes out, flying so high... and not afraid of being exposed.”

Now, Qin Changsheng was certain. His eyes were extraordinary—immortal eyes—that could be lightly triggered without causing noticeable disturbance or being detected.

After lamenting the beautiful scene as she flew away, Qin Changsheng hugged the obedient little fox and headed south.

Because both the Xuanyuan Sect and the Loyal Mountain Sect were to the northeast, he wanted to distance himself by traveling south.

After about an hour, another flying sword passed overhead.

This time, it was not an old acquaintance but a disciple of the Loyal Mountain Sect.

It was Ding Wei, Long Chen’s junior apprentice brother, who had once provoked Qin Changsheng at the Cultivators’ Assembly. Now, he appeared here again, landing before Qin Changsheng instead of flying away.

“Little White, look! An immortal has descended?”

Qin Changsheng feigned surprise.

“Could it be that the immortal sees I have a spirit root and wants to take me as a disciple?”

His expression was that of a simple rustic, no pretense needed. Hunched over, voice trembling with excitement, and the little fox widened its eyes, looking adorably naive.

Ding Wei scrutinized Qin Changsheng carefully, noticing no fluctuations of cultivation nor wounds—just an old man.

The little fox looked intimately attached to the old man, as if they had known each other for centuries, not some temporary companion.

“Fellow villager, have you seen a severely injured youth pass this way?”

Ding Wei asked with a relieved breath.

“Youth? No! Weren’t you here to recruit disciples?”

“No, we’re looking for someone.”

“The immortal can check my spirit root to see if I’m fit for cultivation. This old man has dreamed of soaring across rooftops since childhood, possessing the bearing of an Immortal Emperor—only lacking the chance to ascend,” Qin Changsheng volunteered.

“If you bring me into the immortal sect, once I become emperor, I shall grant you eternal life and immortality. How’s that?”

“Bearing of an Immortal Emperor??”

Ding Wei took two steps back, shaking his head in disbelief. “Old man, I have other things to do. If you want to cultivate, you can talk about it later.”

He maintained his distance.

“At least examine me!”

“Old man, if you truly had the bearing of an Immortal Emperor, a decrepit relic like you wouldn’t have gone unnoticed. Do you understand?”

Upon hearing this, Qin Changsheng’s face fell, as if age had aged him another five years. “I see... then forget it.”

He gathered the little fox and prepared to leave.

After about fifty paces, Ding Wei’s voice called from behind.

“Old man, wait!”

Qin Changsheng paused and slowly turned. “Are you going to recommend me?”

“No...”

“Then what?”

“I like your fox very much. Here is an elixir to prolong life. Give it to me.”

Ding Wei produced a pill and stepped forward.

“I don’t want your elixir. Little White is my only friend...” Qin Changsheng hugged the little fox tighter.

Ding Wei shook his head. “I’m telling you my decision, not asking for your opinion.”

The old man looked at Ding Wei in shock, his eyes growing cold, a trace of regret flashing across his face.

With that, the young Golden Core disciple lunged toward the little fox.

Just as he was about to seize the fox, the hunched old man drew a spirit sword from the space within his robes...

His speed was lightning fast, severing Ding Wei’s neck almost instantly.

Ding Wei had no time to react, his body continuing the motion to grab the fox as his head was cleanly cut off.

“I’m not asking for your opinion either—just informing you of your death...” Qin Changsheng said.

He then cast a flame technique on Ding Wei’s corpse and took his storage ring.

“Truly, death comes from too much talking...”