I Shall Be Everlasting In the World of Immortals 421

## Chapter 417: Thousand Mechanisms Derive the Divine, Meeting the Celestial Master Again

The Mistress of the Proud Moon Palace couldn’t imagine that the [Black Heaven Wing], after modification and enhancement, could unleash such powerful force in Lu Changan’s hands.

Therefore, she proposed this seemingly harmless solution to Lu Changan, one that could also ease the tensions between the two camps.

Words were not exchanged cordially, and Lu Changan quickly bid farewell and left.

On the clouds, Lu Changan looked back at the gate of the Proud Moon Palace, and couldn’t help but begin to calculate with his fingers.

As a legacy force with a long history, each Nascent Soul sect possesses celestial objects, interfering with external divination to protect their secrets.

Lu Changan’s divination target was the Golden Moon True Monarch, facing considerable resistance and celestial interference.

Because Xia Xianzi had a future tribulation, and the inclinations of this Proud Moon Palace mistress were suspicious, Lu Changan targeted his divination.

“There is a certain causal relationship.”

After a moment, Lu Changan’s divination reached a preliminary conclusion.

Xia Wenyue, as a innate celestial body, a late-stage Jie Dan cultivator, under the normal order of the cultivation world, there were very few beings who could bring her tribulations.

Her master, the Golden Moon True Monarch, was the elder who could influence her destiny.

Lu Changan’s causality was also one of them.

As for the Proud Moon Palace Mistress herself, the divination conclusions were inaccurate, with significant celestial interference.

Lu Changan only confirmed that she was pro-peace, and did not want to fight to the death with the Beast King Valley. In the future, if the situation could not be reversed, the Proud Moon Palace could accept joining the demonic path, leaving a way out.

But this did not confirm that the Golden Moon True Monarch had already colluded with the Beast King Valley and was a surrenderist.

For over two hundred years, the No-Interference Gate had infiltrated and secretly contacted countless forces.

As Lu Changan knew, the Imperial Beast Zhou Family, the Snow Plum Mountain Li Family, and the No-Interference Gate had all sent people to contact them in the past.

The Righteous Path Alliance, having suffered from internal traitors, had been rigorously investigating the No-Interference Gate’s spies, even establishing specialized institutions.

If the Golden Moon True Monarch was a staunch surrenderist, there were countless opportunities for defection during the previous demonic wars.

Until the very last step, no Nascent Soul sect was willing to lose their sovereignty, become a vassal of the demonic path, and be at their mercy.

A normal Nascent Soul sect, dominating a region, how glorious it was.

Not to mention, there were risks to betrayal.

Individual defection to the demonic path was easy, but wanting to bring a vast sect with a legacy and force to defect together was a major event, difficult to achieve.

The Righteous Path Alliance’s Chu Tianfeng, Liang Shaotian, and other pro-war factions were not pushovers.

Including those fallen True Monarchs who had lost their homes due to demonic attacks, their blood feuds with the Beast King Valley were impossible to reconcile.

…

Lu Changan did not immediately return to Liang Guo, instead he suppressed his cultivation, disguised himself as a Jia Dan True Monarch with an identity in a remote corner.

Several days later, he arrived at a commercial immortal city near the Beast King Valley’s territory.

This immortal city was located in the buffer zone between the two camps and belonged to the territory of the original Feng Guo.

“A neutral trading ground, cultivators from both sides can freely trade.”

After registration and verification, Lu Changan entered the commercial immortal city.

Among the stall owners and merchants, there were cultivators from the Beast King Valley camp and cultivators from the Righteous Path Alliance.

They were mainly dominated by commercial forces, often with the backing of immortal families and sects.

Those high-end shops had many high-level resources available to Righteous Path Alliance cultivators, including beast taming inheritance, cultivation methods, and divine powers.

There were rumors that the city’s top commercial houses had ties to the six major demonic sects, even selling some spirit objects and opportunities related to Jie Ying, but ordinary cultivators couldn’t access them.

After observation, Lu Changan reached a basic conclusion: the high-end goods and resources were mainly controlled by the Beast King Valley, with higher selling prices and profits.

The cultivation methods, beast taming inheritance, and divine powers from the six major demonic sects had reasonable prices.

This was a cultural export in a sense.

The Righteous Path Alliance’s local specialties were suppressed in price because they could only be sold to the Beast King Valley.

Cultivation resources sold by the demonic path from the outside world, on the other hand, had premium pricing.

The least affected were finished products of cultivation arts, such as talismans, pills, and magic treasures, primarily valued by quality.

However, the demonic path came from the prosperous Central Domain, where cultivation civilization was advanced, artisans had a higher overall level, were more competitive, and had cost advantages.

“The gap in cultivation civilization, coupled with geographical blockade, the Righteous Path Alliance is being plundered economically, and their cultural inheritance is being invaded…”

Lu Changan experienced it firsthand and understood why the Righteous Path Alliance had so many pro-peace factions.

Through trade, the demonic path demonstrated their superiority, offering the opportunity and hope of advancing to higher levels, which truly surpassed the backward Righteous Path Alliance.

With this growing gap, if they dragged it on for another hundred years, how could the Righteous Path Alliance fight? By then, I fear they would all be fence-sitters and surrenderists.

Lu Changan admired the Beast King Valley’s leadership for devising this strategy.

It was rumored that this strategic concept came from the Great Elder of the Beast King Valley.

Lu Changan wouldn’t doubt that the demonic leader was a similar time traveler.

The cultivation world’s civilization heritage had existed for countless thousands of years, accumulating knowledge and experience beyond imagination. They couldn’t underestimate the world’s intelligence, especially those Nascent Soul elders.

“The Beast King Valley is directly affecting the business interests of the neutral force, the ‘Moon Gazing Immortal City’.”

Lu Changan thought of the Moon Gazing Immortal City where he had Jie Dan back then.

Lu Changan, Zhang Tieshan, and Zhu Yuting had all Jie Dan there.

The Moon Gazing Immortal City was transcendentally neutral, with a mysterious background, possessing a fourth-order spirit vein, trading with the surrounding countries of the Righteous Path Alliance, and catering to mid-to-high level cultivators.

This immortal city was located between Liang Guo, Feng Guo, and Heng Guo. Now, the routes to the Righteous Path Alliance’s several countries were controlled by the Beast King Valley, making it very risky to reach them.

Lu Changan’s current level of understanding revealed that the Moon Gazing Immortal City was affiliated with the mysterious merchant alliance in the Great Qing Central Domain, possibly with a background in the ten major Xuanmen sects.

The six major demonic sects wouldn’t attack this neutral immortal city, provoking conflict between the Righteous Path and demonic paths, but they wouldn’t support it either.

…

On his way back to Liang Guo, Lu Changan thought about the Listening Sea Pavilion’s transmission spatial channel he controlled.

Theoretically, he could be a trader between the two regions, buying low and selling high.

The price difference for regional specialties, depending on the location, could be several times higher.

But the actual implementation was not so ideal.

First, there was the issue of risk: frequent trips, purchasing large quantities of goods, and traveling back and forth between the two regions could easily attract attention from those with malicious intent.

Second, each trip was not without cost, generating a load impact and causing damage to the spatial formation.

Repairing and maintaining the spatial formation required many spatial spirit materials, and the difficulty was also significant.

Therefore, without absolute strength, such trading between regions was only suitable for small quantities of rare or top-level cultivation resources, primarily for personal use.

Trading partners were limited to individual trusted high-level cultivators; or hiding their identity, dispersing small amounts of sales across different regions of Great Qing.

“When my cultivation and divine powers reach the peak of their limitations, and I have nowhere else to go, I can consider this.”

Lu Changan wasn’t in a hurry, he would do the right thing at the right time.

…

Two years later.

Golden Cloud Valley, Heavenly Maple Dojo.

Supreme Elder’s Artifact Refining Hall.

“Lu Daoist, the three spike-head arrows have successfully improved in rank. If you hadn’t nurtured and cultivated the main shaft’s soul-nourishing wood to a top-level fourth-order, Zhang wouldn’t have been able to succeed.”

Zhang Tianfeng’s face was slightly fatigued, the golden-red flames in his palm dissipated, revealing three [Spike-Head Arrows].

Compared to before the upgrade, the [Spike-Head Arrows] didn’t change much overall, with shafts like arrows and heads like nails, much smaller than ordinary magic treasures.

The shaft was a dark green, the aura was deeper and more subtle; the nail head had a dull metallic luster.

“Not bad, Zhang Daoist, your artifact refining talent is astounding, truly the number one artifact refiner in the Righteous Path Alliance.”

Lu Changan touched the newly added refining array patterns on the [Spike-Head Arrows], showing a slight smile, praising him generously.

In fact, Zhang Tieshan’s refinement upgrade this time had some flaws.

But the three [Spike-Head Arrows] all met the threshold of top-level magic treasures, meeting Lu Changan’s expectations.

From then on, he would continuously nurture them with the Everlasting Green Infant Fire, allowing their quality to slowly improve over long periods.

“Lu Daoist is exaggerating, I didn’t achieve the ideal outcome this time.”

Zhang Tieshan had actually exerted his full effort, his artifact refining skills were still a bit short of refining top-level magic treasures.

Fortunately, the [Spike-Head Arrows] were originally forged by him, and Lu Changan had invested seven or eight years of lifespan to nurture the shaft to a top-level fourth-order.

This was only a refinement upgrade, not a completely new creation, so the difficulty was reduced.

During the artifact refining process, Zhang Tieshan had the guidance of the spirit weapon, making him stronger than a general fourth-order artifact refining grandmaster.

The spirit weapon he possessed was a fragment of a spirit treasure, with materials leaning towards gold and iron ores. The first owner of the spirit treasure happened to be a fifth-order artifact refiner, allowing the spirit weapon to teach him artifact refining knowledge.

“Those two spike-head materials that were on credit, Lu will help Golden Cloud Valley forge a quasi-fourth-order puppet in the future.”

Lu Changan promised.

Zhang Tieshan had stored many gold and iron-type magic treasure materials, saving Lu Changan some time.

“Zhang will be looking forward to it.”

Zhang Tianfeng’s eyes were filled with anticipation, suspecting that Lu Changan might already possess a fourth-order puppet.

…

Back at the Long Green Peak Dojo.

Lu Changan followed the tunnel into the underground palace.

Under the cover of formation restrictions, he simply tested one spike-head arrow.

In addition to the soul-killing power, the sharpness and penetration of the nail head had increased by several tenths.

However, the consumption of mana and divine consciousness also increased significantly.

As a small magic treasure, the [Spike-Head Arrow] was not suitable for direct confrontation in a battle.

This was the drawback of saving materials. The amount of materials used for the three spike-head arrows was only enough for one normal top-level magic treasure.

Therefore, Lu Changan had traded for the [Dragonwood Staff] with thick materials from Purple Mist Fairy back then, which was good for direct confrontation.

“The rank and power of the [Spike-Head Arrow] have improved, combined with the [Black Heaven Wing], my divine power has significantly progressed compared to the Seven True Monarchs battle and the sealing of the demon.”

Lu Changan was filled with confidence, and felt confident in his standing in the cultivation world of Great Qing.

When the Twin Dragons of the Central Domain had first risen to fame, his spirit peacock had not yet been upgraded to fourth-order.

Even the Earth Rock Monarch had obtained a set of magic treasure armor, allowing him to contend with veteran early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.

Previously, Lu Changan could withstand mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators in a positional war, but he couldn’t defeat them, his threat was limited.

Now, with enhanced attack and mobility, Lu Changan was confident he could defeat many mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.

This level of strength might not be able to change the overall situation in the Eastern Domain, but it was enough to influence, even control, the situation in a particular region.

Lu Changan’s magic treasure collection far surpassed that of an ordinary Nascent Soul True Monarch, enabling him to handle all kinds of situations.

The highest quality were the [Black Wind Cloak], the [Spike-Head Arrow], and the [Black Heaven Wing].

There were also less-used magic treasures, such as the Fire Separating Gourd, and the Sea Banner magic treasure left behind by the Sea Halting True Monarch.

“Now that I’m back in Great Qing, this treasure can also be used in specific environments.”

Lu Changan raised his hand and took out a sea banner magic treasure, shaped like the [Sea and Heaven Sacred Banner].

As mana was infused, the sea banner was enveloped in a surging water spirit radiance.

This sea banner magic treasure was crafted by the Sea Halting True Monarch based on his inheritance, slightly inferior in quality to the [Sea and Heaven Sacred Banner], but with lower mana consumption, making it more suitable for early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.

Back then, when fighting the Sea Halting True Monarch, he had fallen in cultivation and was not at his peak, so he didn’t fully utilize the treasure’s true power.

Previously in the Great Abyss, Lu Changan was worried about revealing the characteristics of the sea banner magic treasure, which would be known by the Sixteen Sects of Sea Suppression, so he had kept it sealed.

…

“The demonic war in the Righteous Path Alliance won’t restart and erupt in the short term. During this period of peace, I can go to Feng Yuan Guo.”

With his magic treasures greatly enhanced, Lu Changan planned to visit Feng Yuan Guo.

When he left Great Qing, he owed the Celestial Master a favor.

Lu Changan also had some ties there, such as the Xuan Yin Pavilion’s Neon Moon Fairy, the descendant of the Li Huo Upper One, and the reincarnation of Guan Qiaozhi, Yun Ling.

Going to Feng Yuan Guo, the two regions wouldn’t be far apart, which would be a good opportunity for the Puppet Master Wei to avenge himself and fulfill their past agreement.

Lu Changan summoned Puppet Master Wei and discussed details with him about the itinerary.

“Lu True Monarch truly keeps his word.”

Puppet Master Wei’s tone was excited, and in his puppet eyes, gratitude was evident.

To express his gratitude, Puppet Master Wei revealed a secret about a Thousand Mechanism Sect opportunity to Lu Changan:

“The inheritance of the Thousand Mechanism Sect originated in the Central State of the Heavenly Heng Continent. The sect has a secret method called the ‘Thousand Mechanisms Derive the Divine Art,’ which is the ultimate skill of the puppet refining sacred land.”

“The ‘Thousand Mechanisms Derive the Divine Art’ can increase the success rate of puppet forging, making puppet manipulation more exquisite. Even more astonishing is that this secret technique can significantly refine and enhance the cultivator’s divine consciousness strength.”

After listening to Puppet Master Wei’s description, Lu Changan was deeply moved.

Just being able to significantly refine and enhance the cultivator’s divine consciousness strength made it a top-level divine consciousness secret technique in the cultivation world.

The puppet inheritance Lu Changan currently possessed was relatively diverse, a combination of past accumulations, obtained from Nascent Soul memories, and taught by Puppet Master Wei.

Puppet Master Wei’s puppet inheritance also included high-level puppet control secret techniques, making the divine consciousness more condensed and precise in its control.

Compared to the ‘Thousand Mechanisms Derive the Divine Art,’ it was inferior by more than one level, although they were from the same lineage, it was a castrated, peripheral version.

Although Puppet Master Wei’s puppet talent was astounding, he had not achieved Nascent Soul in the past, and had just forged a fourth-order puppet when he was betrayed by his fellow disciples who had been aided and colluded with, who then also defiled and killed his wife and children.

At that time, Puppet Master Wei had not yet entered the core of the Thousand Mechanism Sect’s higher echelon, so he didn’t have access to the ‘Thousand Mechanisms Derive the Divine Art,’ but he had long yearned for it.

“Old Wei, don’t worry! If I’m fortunate enough to obtain the ‘Thousand Mechanisms Derive the Divine Art,’ I’ll study and share it with you then.”

Lu Changan smiled contentedly and patted Puppet Master Wei on the shoulder.

Because he had kept his promise and sincerely helped with revenge, Lu Changan gained Puppet Master Wei’s gratitude and trust, allowing him to “collude” with this outsider to acquire the supreme secret technique of the Thousand Mechanism Sect.

Of course, Puppet Master Wei might not be entirely selfless, the ‘Thousand Mechanisms Derive the Divine Art’ was quite attractive to him, a puppet refining prodigy, and he definitely wanted to study it.

…

The next day, Lu Changan went to the sect hall and met with the current sect leader, Huo Zhen.

Huo Zhen was Zhang Tianfeng’s direct disciple, a mid-stage Jie Dan cultivator, and Lu Changan had met him at Zhang Tianfeng’s dojo previously.

“Lu True Monarch, this jade slip records the relevant information about the Nightless City.”

Huo Zongzhu, as a junior, showed deference and respect, handing over a jade slip.

“Good, thank you.”

Lu Changan took the jade slip and scanned the information with his divine consciousness.

As the sect’s great benefactor, Lu Changan didn’t need to do everything personally, he could leave it to his juniors.

“The former Nightless Town, under the management of the Nightless True Monarch, ‘Jiang Yechen,’ was expanded to the ‘Nightless Immortal City,’ which is now the sacred land of scattered cultivators in the Liang Guo cultivation world, and it has also absorbed refugees who fled from other countries during the demonic war.”

“During the demonic war eighty years ago, Jiang Yechen was fortunate enough to obtain an opportunity to break through to late-stage Jie Dan, firmly securing his position as the top scattered cultivator in the Liang Guo cultivation world.”

Lu Changan was slightly surprised to learn that Jiang Yechen had been able to advance further.

The boy’s aptitude was indeed excellent, but his background forces were insufficient, Lu Changan originally thought he would be trapped at mid-stage Jie Dan for his entire life, like Huang Long Zhenren.

“Shi Xiaochuan, a Zhen Dan cultivator, has inherited the formation inheritance of the former formation grandmaster, Shi Manrong, surpassing his teacher. He is now the chief formation grandmaster of the Nightless Immortal City, in charge of the city’s formations.”

Shi Xiaochuan’s achievements were within Lu Changan’s expectations.

This boy, with top-grade spiritual roots and excellent formation talent, received the full support and cultivation of Jiang Yechen and Shi Xianzi, two True Monarchs, making him a kind of immortal descendant.

Lu Changan had visited Nightless Town and gifted Shi Xianzi with a lifespan-extending pill, seeing young Shi Xiaochuan back then. His impression of the boy was good, he was quite obedient.

He hadn’t seen him since.

“This boy has been a junior of mine for three years since my return to Liang Guo, and he hasn’t come to visit, nor has he sent a greeting?”

Lu Changan felt resentful about this, he couldn’t possibly humble himself and personally go to Nightless Town to ask the boy to fulfill his favor.

“It seems that under Jiang Yechen’s subsequent teachings, this boy has a misunderstanding and prejudice against me.”

Lu Changan could easily deduce the reason.

Shi Xiaochuan was influenced by his adoptive father and had a bit of pride, refusing to come and rely on Lu Changan, even though he had a formal favor owed.

“The cultivation world is ever-changing, time flows long, I don’t believe you won’t have a day when you need my help.”

Lu Changan remained calm and dismissed the idea of going to Nightless Town in person.

He had made a promise, and if the other party didn’t come to fulfill it, he wouldn’t feel guilty.

As he understood, Nightless City was not as prosperous as one might imagine in the Liang Guo cultivation world.

Nightless City represented the interests of scattered cultivators and provided protection for refugees, which inevitably caused some conflict with Liang Guo’s mainstream sects, who had old interests.

The area around Nightless City was under the control of the Golden Sun Sect.

Because the Golden Sun Sect had deep foundations and had always maintained two Nascent Soul True Monarchs, it still controlled two-thirds of the territory and the right to speak in the Liang Guo cultivation world.

As Nightless City grew larger, it faced pressure from the Golden Sun Sect camp and was infiltrated by various commercial forces, attempting to divide its interests.

It was like a repetition of the early days of Huang Long Immortal City, after the Huang Long Mountain lineage was overthrown, many benefits were recovered by sects like Li Huo Gong.

However, due to the external crisis of the demonic invasion, the Righteous Path Alliance’s various restrictions forced the Golden Sun Sect camp to be more restrained, they couldn’t act openly.

…

Half a month later.

The border of Feng Yuan Guo.

A young, elegant scholar in a blue gown stepped on a blue遁光, traversing the endless quicksand chasm, arriving at the civilization ancient country in the center of the desert.

“After a hundred years, the harsh environment of Feng Yuan Guo is almost unchanged.”

The young scholar in blue, Xu Xuan, looked at the faint green oasis in the distance, appearing so small in the endless yellow sand and dust storms.

Stepping back onto this land, the familiar scenery before him seemed like yesterday.

Of course, there were also different feelings.

His deep, empty eyes saw through the invisible celestial network of destiny, woven and laid out for hundreds of years, deeply rooted, merging with the civilization’s fate of this desert country.

“The Celestial Master’s divination of destiny uses national fortune flow, merging with a civilization’s fate, prospering and declining together, with both advantages and disadvantages.”

Compared to back then, Lu Changan could perceive even more.

Whoosh!

A violent wind rose up in the desert in front, sand and soil gathered together. The originally scorching weather suddenly turned cold, forming snowflakes.

“Which True Monarch, uninvited, is visiting Feng Yuan Guo.”

A large area of sand and snow in the field of vision condensed into a statue of a Taoist priest in white robes standing with his hands behind his back, and a hollow, indifferent voice came from the statue.

The white-robed Taoist statue stood with his hands behind his back, even though it was an inanimate object, it seemed to blend into the entire desert, containing the endless majesty of nature.

“Haha, Celestial Master, in just a hundred years, you can’t recognize Xu?”

Lu Changan chuckled.

Boom!

As he stepped into the territory of Feng Yuan Guo, two strands of fourth-order divination celestial destiny powers collided, pulling on each other, causing the surrounding celestial threads of destiny to shatter.

The mysterious river of destiny in the netherworld rippled slightly, affecting the causality and destiny of countless ants and other creatures.

“It’s really you!”

From inside the white-robed Taoist statue, came the Celestial Master’s unsurprised voice.

But immediately after, the collision of celestial destiny powers roared, causing the Celestial Master’s consciousness to tremble, a voice of disbelief came out:

“You… You’ve also stepped into this realm…”

(End of chapter)

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