I Shall Be Everlasting In the World of Immortals 428

## Chapter 423: Three Fourth-Order Arts, Beast King’s Countermeasure

Three years later.

Lu Chang’an was 419 years old, having returned to Da Qing for seven years.

Due to the geographical separation, the majority of the cultivators in the Dao Guard Alliance were unaware of the news of the Thousand Mechanism Sect’s Nascent Soul Elder’s demise.

Neither the Dao Guard Alliance nor the Beast King Valley had much interest in the Far East Wasteland where the two sects were located, and they lacked attention.

The two sects were opposed to each other, with numerous factions and frequent Xian cultivation wars. Every era saw Nascent Soul Zhen Jun fall. Even if other regions knew the news, they wouldn’t care much, or they would speculate about which expert in water-based cultivation methods had passed away.

…

This day, Chang Qing Peak’s Daoist Ground.

In the secret room, Lu Chang’an finished his daily Chang Qing Gong cultivation.

“Compared to the rapid progress of the ‘Thousand Mechanism Divine Derivation Scripture,’ the Chang Qing Gong has no subsequent cultivation methods, its cultivation efficiency is indeed too low.”

Lu Chang’an slowly finished his cultivation, sighing in his heart.

When he was in the Great Abyss and Cloud霞宗, he had the help of the Nascent Soul-stage Zi Xia Xianzi, which could make up for it somewhat.

The low cultivation efficiency took up a lot of Lu Chang’an’s time each day, leaving him with little time for refining puppets and drawing talismans.

This was also due to Lu Chang’an’s physical cultivation being stuck at the Quasi-Fourth Order stage, unable to break through the bottleneck, so he didn’t spend much time on it.

Lu Chang’an’s lifespan was long, so it was fine for the cultivation efficiency to be low. But the key was that he wouldn’t be able to advance to the middle stage of Nascent Soul in the future.

Fortunately, it was still quite a long way to reach the peak of the early stage of Nascent Soul, and he had ample time to plan for the subsequent cultivation methods.

In the past three years, the ‘Thousand Mechanism Divine Derivation Scripture’ cultivation had progressed rapidly.

Previous puppet inheritance and puppet control secrets mainly came from the Thousand Mechanism Sect, belonging to the same lineage.

Therefore, the initial transition was smooth, seamlessly connecting to the fourth layer of the ‘Thousand Mechanism Divine Derivation Scripture,’ the Jie Dan level.

Even so, Lu Chang’an’s progress was beyond reason, far surpassing Wei Kui Shi, the puppet-refining genius.

And Wei Kui Shi was faster than Teng Elder.

In terms of puppet-refining aptitude alone, Lu Chang’an might not be as good as Wei Kui Shi, but his divine soul talent was much stronger.

In actual cultivation, Lu Chang’an had two major advantages:

First, he directly obtained experience and insights from Teng Elder’s memories, saving him a lot of detours.

Second, due to his reincarnation in the previous life, his divine soul was stronger, enhancing the cultivation effect of the ‘Thousand Mechanism Divine Derivation Scripture’ and extending the cultivation time.

Divine soul secret techniques caused significant damage to the mind after each cultivation session, and the recovery speed was much slower than that of spiritual power.

Lu Chang’an, through his reincarnation from the previous life, could break this bottleneck, achieving significant improvements in both effect and time.

Even in his second reincarnation, there was a boosting effect, perhaps related to the reincarnation characteristics within.

After cultivating to the fourth layer of the ‘Thousand Mechanism Divine Derivation Scripture,’ Lu Chang’an’s divine consciousness had increased by almost half.

It might seem like a small amount, but compared to the divine soul foundation of Nascent Soul cultivators, this improvement was already considered remarkable.

The cultivation speed wasn’t as exaggerated from the fourth layer onwards, as the initial foundation had been largely transformed. But it was still enough to make the elders of the Thousand Mechanism Sect envious.

The most difficult part was the seventh layer and above, corresponding to the Nascent Soul level. Teng Elder had been stuck there for nearly a hundred years.

Lu Chang’an speculated that he would likely find it easier to break through the bottleneck.

Besides his outstanding divine soul talent, after his fourth reincarnation, Lu Chang’an’s divine soul was comparable to the peak of the middle stage of Nascent Soul, strong and forceful, making it easier to break through the bottleneck.

Moreover, when he cultivated to the peak of the sixth layer, his divine consciousness would still have room for minor improvement.

…

After finishing his daily cultivation.

Lu Chang’an took out a transmission jade pendant that shimmered with spiritual patterns and received a message from Zhang Tianfeng.

Without hesitation, he went to Tianfeng Mountain’s Daoist Ground.

In the main hall, the two sat facing each other, but the topic was not about the Dao Guard Alliance.

“The Demon Dao war in the Seven Nation Alliance has erupted again. Lu doesn’t find it surprising. But the fact that the ‘冥泉宗,’ the leader of the six Demon Dao sects, is providing support, shows their determination to conquer this tough bone.”

Lu Chang’an pondered with a thoughtful expression, gazing towards the direction of the Seven Nation Alliance.

Several years ago, he had returned from the territory of the Seven Nation Alliance.

The spatial array node of the Listening Sea Pavilion was also located within the Seven Nation Alliance.

“If the Seven Nation Alliance is completely conquered, even if the Beast King Valley doesn’t intervene, the Dao Guard Alliance might become apprehensive internally, and their fighting spirit will be greatly diminished.”

Zhang Tianfeng looked worried.

The fact that the 冥泉宗 could support the Blood Spirit Sect and the Illusory Demon Palace meant that it was theoretically possible for them to also assist the Beast King Valley. The difference was that the Beast King Valley’s strategy was basically complete, and they controlled the situation.

Once the Seven Nation Alliance was conquered, the Dao Guard Alliance would have a shrinking survival space. At that time, the Blood Spirit Sect and the Illusory Demon Palace would also be able to free their hands and put enormous pressure on the Dao Guard Alliance from the side.

“Currently, the information received indicates that the Demon Dao Six Sects have reached a consensus on the distribution of benefits in their rear territory occupied in the Eastern Region, and they have basically finished the restructuring.”

Zhang Tianfeng’s face was grave. He paused and said, “Fortunately, the 冥泉宗 manages a large territory and can’t fully free its hands. The support for the Seven Nation Alliance is currently two Nascent Soul Zhen Jun, over a dozen Jie Dan True Immortals, and some high-level skill practitioners, at least on the surface.”

“Let’s hope the Seven Nation Alliance can hold on, at least not completely collapse.”

Lu Chang’an gazed into the distance and murmured.

In fact, the Seven Nation Alliance had been struggling for a hundred years.

Fortunately,

“Greenwood True 君” emerged unexpectedly, suddenly appearing in the Seven Nation Alliance, killing a Demon Dao Nascent Soul and changing the situation in the region.

Otherwise, the Seven Nation Alliance would likely have lost a large portion of its territory, without the breathing room it had in these years.

“By the way, Lu Zhen Jun. The materials for the Quasi-Fourth Order puppet we agreed on a few years ago have been secretly prepared.”

Zhang Tianfeng took out a storage pouch.

“Good.”

Lu Chang’an checked the materials and confirmed they were correct.

Previously, Zhang Tianfeng had helped refine and modify magical artifacts, and Lu Chang’an had owed him materials, so he gave him a quota in compensation.

Zhang Tianfeng reminded him that the creation of this puppet should be kept confidential.

The future situation in Da Qing’s Eastern Region was unclear. A Quasi-Fourth Order puppet could enhance the sect’s foundation and strategic reserves, and it might be crucial in dealing with crises and minimizing losses in critical times.

…

A few months later.

Lu Chang’an created a Quasi-Fourth Order puppet that met Zhang Tianfeng’s needs.

This time, Lu Chang’an worked alone, and Wei Kui Shi didn’t participate in the guidance at all.

Perhaps due to cultivating the ‘Thousand Mechanism Divine Derivation Scripture,’ Lu Chang’an felt confident and skilled. The Quasi-Fourth Order puppet he created was of higher quality than expected.

“Lu Dao You’s puppet-refining art has basically reached the Fourth Order level.”

Wei Kui Shi commented objectively.

As a Fourth Order puppet master, he couldn’t find any obvious flaws in the final product.

To hone his puppet-refining skills, Lu Chang’an used the suitable treasure materials he had obtained in the past few years to enhance the Exotic Spiritual Peacock puppet, filling the gaps in the puppet army formation.

The original puppet army formation was almost complete.

If it hadn’t been for the killing of Shen Lao Xie and Teng Elder, two Nascent Soul old monsters, the progress wouldn’t have been this fast.

Puppets are actually consumables.

If a battle was lost, puppets would often be severely damaged, their quality downgraded, and they could even be completely destroyed.

For example, Teng Elder had previously self-detonated eight puppets. In the sealing demon battle, Lu Chang’an had ultimately won by a narrow margin, and half of his puppet army formation had been destroyed.

Even in a fierce battle of equal strength, puppets would suffer some wear and tear and require materials for repair.

Unless there was a very high chance of winning, and the resources obtained from the spoils of war were greater than the losses, puppets could be continuously upgraded.

But just one disastrous defeat, one major crisis, and all previous efforts could be wasted.

Therefore, even the Thousand Mechanism Sect wouldn’t be able to accumulate infinitely many Fourth Order puppets, especially those with unique inheritance.

In the short term, Lu Chang’an didn’t have enough Fourth Order treasure materials to create a brand new Fourth Order puppet.

The enhancement of the Exotic Spiritual Peacock to the Fourth Order, the upgrades and modifications of the ‘钉头箭’ (Ding Tou Jian) and ‘黑天翼’ (Hei Tian Yi), had consumed too many precious materials.

Besides, too many puppets would exceed Lu Chang’an’s control limit.

In battle, both puppets and magical artifacts would consume the cultivator’s divine consciousness. More wasn’t always better.

Wei Kui Shi, as the puppet spirit controlling a True Fourth Order puppet, was a special case and could help Lu Chang’an reduce some of the divine consciousness burden.

But the puppet army formation and the Exotic Spiritual Peacock still imposed a certain divine consciousness burden.

The current puppet configuration was close to the limit. More would be detrimental to its performance.

Lu Chang’an’s future path was to strengthen puppet quality, not pursue quantity.

…

Apart from puppet-refining art, another of Lu Chang’an’s Fourth Order arts was also on the verge of reaching the Fourth Order level.

Over the decades since his ascension to Nascent Soul, Lu Chang’an had accumulated many Fourth Order talisman embryo materials.

Some came from妖兽魔物 (妖兽魔物: demonic beasts), some from Fourth Order 灵木 (灵木: spiritual trees). They were obtained through both acquisition and trade, with the former accounting for a higher proportion.

This was an opportunity for practice that other talisman masters could only dream of.

With his Fourth Reincarnation possession, Lu Chang’an’s divine consciousness was powerful. In recent years, the Fourth Order talismans he had drawn had reached the quality and success rate standards of a Fourth Order talisman master.

Once the ‘Thousand Mechanism Divine Derivation Scripture’ advanced two more layers, Lu Chang’an’s divine consciousness control would be more refined, and his talisman art would be able to firmly stand at the Fourth Order level.

Unfortunately, Lu Chang’an hadn’t obtained any inheritance of Fourth Order and above talismans.

However, talismans and treasure talismans share some similarities in their origins.

Talismans made from Fourth Order spiritual tree embryos could also be nurtured with spiritual essence using the previous methods of the Chang Qing Gong, but the improvement in quality and power was very slow.

It was possible to nurture them into refined items of the same level, but it was difficult to upgrade their level.

Unless the talisman embryo, the spiritual tree itself, was a Fourth Order middle-grade material, the difficulty of refining a Fourth Order low-grade talisman would be lower.

Lu Chang’an speculated that talismans and treasure talismans at the Fourth Order level and beyond would gradually converge into one system, with their arts becoming increasingly intertwined.

Due to the scarcity of Fourth Order talismans, each one was equivalent to a transmissible treasure, similar to the characteristics of treasure talismans.

Lu Chang’an had also obtained very few from the Nascent Soul old monsters he had killed.

…

Half a year later.

Lu Chang’an used a Fourth Order middle-grade 天杉木 (天杉木: heavenly cedarwood) to make talisman embryos and refined several Fourth Order low-grade talismans, which he would nurture slowly in the future.

At this moment, he could be considered to possess three Fourth Order arts.

Even among Nascent Soul True Jun, this was an incredible feat, something even Nascent Soul great cultivators would find difficult to achieve.

Due to the low efficiency of the Chang Qing Gong cultivation, Lu Chang’an didn’t have much time to consolidate and refine his arts.

Puppet-refining and talisman-drawing arts had only just reached the Fourth Order level.

Especially talisman arts, gave Lu Chang’an a feeling of having barely broken through, reaching a seemingly insurmountable limit, unable to advance further.

“The time is ripe, Xia Xianzi should have finished her preparations.”

Lu Chang’an planned to go to Feng 国 (Feng Guo: Feng Country) in the coming days.

He had a complete set of Jie Ying opportunity, which was of little use to himself.

In his hundreds of years of Xian cultivation life, most of the people he had deep ties with, his former friends and juniors, had either passed away or, limited by their aptitude and lifespan, had lost the potential to go further.

Except for Xia Wen Yue, Lu Chang’an didn’t have a better choice.

For the sake of the public good, if the Dao Guard Alliance could have one more Nascent Soul cultivator, it would be beneficial to the overall situation.

…

On the eve of Lu Chang’an’s planned departure, Feng 国 (Feng Guo: Feng Country) sent a shocking piece of bad news.

It was a tragedy.

For Lu Chang’an, it was unfavorable news.

“Chu Tian Feng’s direct disciple, ‘Si Tu Lan,’ was assassinated while attending an auction.”

“According to rumors, Si Tu Lan had resolved his inner conflict and had been secretly preparing for Jie Ying in recent years. He was betrayed by an insider who revealed his whereabouts and itinerary.”

“After Si Tu Lan’s death, the Demon Dao ‘Wu Jian Men’ (无间门: No Interruption Sect) claimed responsibility for the incident.”

“The Beast King Valley declared that this was a retaliatory countermeasure against Chang Qing Zhen Jun for violating the peaceful trade agreement, killing Hei Yu Zhen Jun’s physical body, and refusing to cooperate in handing over the ‘Hei Tian Yi’ (黑天翼: Black Heaven Wing)!”

Upon receiving the intelligence, Lu Chang’an furrowed his brows and remained silent for a long time.

Several years ago, the Beast King Valley had threatened to take “countermeasures” during their negotiations.

At that time, Lu Chang’an had subconsciously not taken it too seriously, thinking it might just be empty threats.

As a Fourth Order divination master, he was unpredictable, had no spouse or children, and had nothing to fear from the Beast King Valley’s retaliatory strikes.

He had observed the fate of Zhao Tan Er, a junior close to him in the sect, using divination, and hadn’t seen any signs of calamity.

He never imagined that the Beast King Valley’s countermeasure revenge, planned for years, would ultimately fall upon the disciple of the Chu Alliance Leader.

It seemed to have nothing to do with Lu Chang’an personally, but in reality, it had a significant impact.

“Indeed, the Demon Dao is true to their word, they retaliate as promised. This move by the Beast King Valley is truly a three-in-one strategy.”

Lu Chang’an sighed inwardly, realizing the negative implications of the incident.

First, Si Tu Lan’s death killed off a potential Jie Ying candidate for the Dao Guard Alliance, once again shattering the expectation of three Nascent Soul in the Boundless Hall.

Second, the assassination of the Chu Alliance Leader’s direct disciple was a blow to the authority of the Dao Guard Alliance’s leader and the main war faction.

Lu Chang’an had killed Hei Yu Zhen Jun’s physical body, and hadn’t the Chu Alliance Leader rewarded him and supported him?

The Beast King Valley directly slapped the Chu Alliance Leader in the face by killing his disciple and retaliating, causing him great grief.

Third, it sowed discord between Lu Chang’an and the Dao Guard Alliance.

Using this incident as a countermeasure, it made the main peace faction in the Dao Guard Alliance dissatisfied with Lu Chang’an.

If Lu Chang’an had made concessions at the time, handing over the ‘Hei Tian Yi’ (黑天翼: Black Heaven Wing), it would have eased relations between the two factions.

Si Tu Lan’s death was implicated by Lu Chang’an. Many cultivators in the Boundless Hall inevitably developed animosity towards him.

Who could say if this incident would cause the Chu Alliance Leader to have second thoughts, to feel regret?

After all, Si Tu Lan had been a direct disciple highly valued by the Chu Alliance Leader, and their master-disciple relationship was deep.

Once Chu Tian Feng developed a rift with Lu Chang’an, this countermeasure by the Beast King Valley would be a complete victory!

If Chu Tian Feng was the strongest cultivator in the Dao Guard Alliance, then Lu Chang’an, with his Fourth Order spirit pet, would be the second strongest force in the Dao Guard Alliance.

“Si Tu Xiong, the true cause and effect of this matter don’t have much to do with Lu.”

“You can only blame yourself for being careless when going out, allowing your sect to be infiltrated and information leaked. You don’t have the ability to protect yourself in the face of Nascent Soul old monsters. Why even go out at all?”

Lu Chang’an shook his head. After making some calculations, he came to some conclusions.

The key was that he was preparing for Jie Ying, and the news leaked.

Lu Chang’an’s actions gave the Beast King Valley a legitimate reason to retaliate.

Actually, Si Tu Lan was older than Xia Wen Yue, and was no longer in the best stage for Jie Ying. He couldn’t be considered old, and his hope wasn’t entirely gone, but he wasn’t at his peak either.

If it hadn’t been for the information he had received from Xiao Ni Yue, Lu Chang’an wouldn’t have known that Si Tu Lan had possibly resolved his inner conflict and was still determined to prepare for Jie Ying.

Chu Tian Feng seemed willing to give his disciple a chance.

…

Soon after, Zhang Tianfeng visited Chang Qing Peak and discussed countermeasures with Lu Chang’an.

Zhang Tianfeng said seriously, “An unfortunate event has occurred in the Boundless Hall, and it has some connection to our sect. It would be best if Lu Zhen Jun went to Feng 国 (Feng Guo: Feng Country) to offer condolences to the deceased on behalf of the Golden Cloud Valley and handle the relationship with the Boundless Hall and Chu Alliance Leader.”

“Yes, Lu happens to be going to Feng 国 (Feng Guo: Feng Country) as well.”

Lu Chang’an nodded and agreed, setting off from Golden Cloud Valley that day.

(End of Chapter)

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