The Dao of Reincarnation (224-225) (Patreon)

Chapter 224: The Undying Nether Emperor (Part 5)

Su Chen awoke. Over the past three years, he had plundered every obtainable spiritual item in the depths of the mountain range. He had left nothing behind—first-grade, second-grade, or third-grade.

As for fourth-grade treasures…He had discovered two, but both were already claimed by the two overlords who ruled the inner mountain range. Those two overlords were fourth-grade demon beasts, equivalent to human Spirit Sea realm experts. A Spirit Sea realm cultivator stood at the level of the Green Mist Sect's sect master.

Su Chen could not afford to provoke them for now… but he soon would be able. His cultivation had already reached the peak of Spirit Gathering. He had accumulated enough energy for his first nirvana.

Once completed, not only would his cultivation advance further, but his bloodline and talent would also improve, granting him faster cultivation and greater innate combat strength. However, he could not undergo nirvana yet. The process required a long period of time.

"Strange. Why is there such a commotion in the outer region?"

Su Chen flew into the sky and saw both demon beasts and human cultivators. Humans were hunting demons, and demons were hunting humans. No wonder he had noticed fewer demon beasts in the inner region lately. They had all migrated outward. The sudden surge of demon beasts in the outer area had naturally drawn the human sects to launch a joint extermination.

Su Chen had no intention of getting involved in this conflict. But just as he was about to leave, he caught sight of a familiar figure in a dire situation. Chen Tianyi was being chased.

"If I survive this, I will repay today's grudge tenfold—no, a hundredfold!"

Chen Tianyi was covered in blood. He had been pursued from the outer region all the way into the inner region.

Only one person was chasing him. Yet that single pursuer was far beyond his ability to resist.

"Chen Tianyi, hand over your fortuitous encounter and I may spare your life," said the man behind him. He moved as lightly as a swallow and as fiercely as a tiger or leopard. His aura was vastly stronger than Chen Tianyi's. Greed filled his eyes as he stared at the fleeing figure ahead.

The number one genius of the Green Mist Sect—Chen Tianhu!

Although they shared the same surname and a distant blood relation, Chen Tianhu was determined to kill Chen Tianyi. To do so without leaving traces, he had hidden his true cultivation until they entered the mountain range and began hunting demon beasts. Only then did he reveal his full strength.

Chen Tianyi had been nothing more than a worthless, idle disciple of the Chen family. In just a few short years, he had risen dramatically and now stood shoulder to shoulder with him. Who would believe he had no special opportunities?

Chen Tianhu did not believe it. He had coveted Chen Tianyi's fortune for a long time and had finally found the perfect chance.

Sensing Chen Tianhu closing in, Chen Tianyi shouted, "Chen Tianhu, you're robbing a fellow disciple of his opportunity and trying to kill him! Aren't you afraid the sect master and elders will punish you?"

Chen Tianhu laughed coldly. "Punish me? I am the sect master's son and the number one genius of the Green Mist Sect. If I kill you here, no one will ever know. I only need to say you died in a demon beast's mouth. Who would investigate? Who would waste time and energy on a dead man? Fortuitous encounters are not meant for people like you. In the cultivation world, only the ruthless can survive!"

Chen Tianyi's heart trembled violently, his mind going blank. Chen Tianhu's words pierced him like a sharp sword. He had been too naïve, believing that displaying talent would earn him the sect's nurturing. In truth, his rapid rise had already been noticed, and others had simply been waiting for an opportunity.

Despair washed over him. He was only at the eighth layer of Spirit Gathering. How could he escape the grasp of a Spirit Vein realm expert? The only reason he had lasted this long was by constantly visualizing the crow's movements in his mind, which allowed him to erupt with unprecedented speed. But his energy was finite. He could not compare to a true Spirit Vein realm powerhouse.

"Am I… really going to die here?"

Chen Tianyi closed his eyes. Hot blood splashed across his cheek. Yet he still seemed conscious?

Lying on the ground, Chen Tianyi groggily opened his eyes. He saw a bisected corpse with a black figure standing atop it.

It was that crow!

"Brother Crow… is that you?"

Chen Tianyi looked at Chen Tianhu's corpse, then at the crow, feeling as if he were in a dream. The crow had become even more majestic. Perched on the corpse, it looked down upon the world with disdain. He could hardly believe it.

Su Chen glanced at Chen Tianyi, then flew away without a word. The cultivation method he had demonstrated years ago was more than enough for this foolish kid to use for the rest of his life.

Saving Chen Tianyi this time was merely a momentary impulse born from old affection. He needed to find a quiet place to begin his nirvana.

Chen Tianyi watched the departing figure, then struggled to his feet with a bitter smile. "Brother Crow's strength… has grown even stronger."

Chen Tianhu, who now lay dead on the ground, had been the Green Mist Sect's top genius—a Spirit Vein realm expert with the potential to reach Spirit Sea or even Spirit Soul realm in the future.

Yet he had died just like that. Unfortunately, Brother Crow clearly did not want much interaction with him.

Chen Tianyi still had many things he wanted to say, but in the end, they all turned into a soft sigh. After all, he was human, and Brother Crow was a demon.

...

After rescuing Chen Tianyi, Su Chen paid him no further attention. It was time for him to undergo nirvana. This first nirvana would bring his first true transformation.

Su Chen found a suitable location, set up a formation to conceal himself, and began his first nirvana.

Winter passed and spring arrived. Summers turned to winters.

In the blink of an eye, ten years had gone by.

Su Chen's body had slowly undergone transformation and was now approaching the final step. Meanwhile, after leaving the demon mountain range, Chen Tianyi had changed tremendously.

With Chen Tianhu dead, Chen Tianyi replaced him as the Green Mist Sect's number one genius. Although the sect master was furious and grief-stricken over his son's death, he did not make things difficult for Chen Tianyi.

Perhaps Chen Tianhu had been right. The cultivation world was cruel. When weighing benefits and losses, even one's own children were not that important.

Over these ten years, the image of the crow in Chen Tianyi's mind grew clearer and clearer. He felt his cultivation speed increasing faster than ever. After so long, how could he not realize that the crow carried a great secret?

Chen Tianyi frequently returned to the mountain range, hoping to find that crow again. Unfortunately, ten years passed and he saw countless crows, yet never again encountered the one he called Brother Crow.

Forty years old was the prime age for a man to strive. The Green Mist Sect had arranged a marriage alliance for him with a disciple from another major sect. He needed to bring the betrothal gifts and visit in person.

"I should leave behind some descendants first, then focus on my ambitions," Chen Tianyi thought. He had heard that the woman from the allied sect was said to be exceptionally beautiful.

Chapter 225: The Undying Nether Emperor (Part 6)

Chen Tianyi regretted everything deeply. Once again, he experienced the deception and cruelty of the cultivation world. He had traveled thousands of miles to the Sunset Cloud Sect with generous gifts to meet his betrothal partner and finalize the marriage alliance.

In the end, the Sunset Cloud Sect Master told him that the woman standing beside the so-called peerless beauty—the one who looked like a flower. But Chen Tianyi never imagined that it was a Rafflesia.

Chen Tianyi wanted to leave immediately. Unfortunately, under the watchful eyes of the entire Sunset Cloud Sect, he had no choice but to accept the marriage. He had no other option. If he dared to break the engagement, he might not leave the Sunset Cloud Sect alive today.

The sect had a Spirit Soul realm expert guarding it, an entire major realm above the Green Mist Sect. Breaking the marriage would be a direct slap to their face. Even if the sect master killed him, the Green Mist Sect would have nothing to say.

Chen Tianyi could only accept the marriage contract with tears in his eyes. However, the situation soon took a turn. A beast tide erupted in the mountain range near the Sunset Cloud Sect. A demon beast had broken through to the Demon King realm and began slaughtering the surrounding forces to consolidate its cultivation. The Sunset Cloud Sect was caught in the chaos as hordes of demon beasts followed the Demon King in a bloody feast.

The entire sect rose to resist the invasion. Blood flowed like rivers. Countless mortals died, and even many of the sect's cultivators perished in waves.

Chen Tianyi witnessed the brutal scene. He watched the elder who had arranged this disastrous marriage get swallowed whole by a powerful demon beast during battle.

The Sunset Cloud Sect Master fought desperately to protect his disciples, battling two Spirit Soul realm demon beasts at once. He severely wounded both before dying from exhaustion. His final wish was that his daughter could live safely and happily.

Chen Tianyi tearfully agreed. As the Sunset Cloud Sect teetered on the brink of destruction, a streak of black light flashed like a comet and slaughtered the two heavily injured Spirit Soul realm demon beasts.

The remaining demon beasts were no match either. They were all wiped out. The black figure cracked open their skulls or abdomens, dug out their demon cores, and devoured them one after another. It was a bloody and ruthless sight. The figure stood atop the mountain of corpses and sea of blood like a monarch of the night.

When Chen Tianyi clearly saw the figure, his entire body trembled. The black figure had changed greatly, but Chen Tianyi still recognized it. It was the Brother Crow he had not seen for ten full years.

The crow was now towering and majestic. Its body was covered in black feathers that resembled a luxurious robe, engraved with mysterious, unknown runes.

That crow… had stepped into the third-grade demon beast realm and undergone a mutation!

After feasting to his heart's content, Su Chen glanced toward the crowd and spotted Chen Tianyi among them. He felt a trace of puzzlement.

"Does this foolish kid have some kind of great destiny?"

After successfully completing his nirvana in the Green Mist Mountain Range, Su Chen had slaughtered the two Spirit Sea realm demon beasts there to replenish his energy. Once he realized he had wiped out nearly all the higher-level demon beasts in the area, he decided to fly toward an even more dangerous mountain range. That journey had brought him near the Sunset Cloud Mountain Range.

He discovered that a Profound Connection realm Demon King had emerged in the Sunset Cloud Mountain Range, triggering a massive beast tide that swept toward human cities.

He was a bird.

Birds die for food.

Su Chen chose to wait for an opportunity, hoping to scavenge some benefits that could help trigger his second nirvana. His patience paid off. He found two heavily injured fifth-grade demon beasts. The pair never noticed him—or rather, they disdained to notice him. They did not believe a mere third-grade demon could pose any threat.

Unfortunately for them, they gave Su Chen the perfect chance. Without hesitation, he killed both fifth-grade demon beasts. With their demon cores, he would soon advance and become a fourth-grade demon beast.

Just as Su Chen was about to find a quiet place to digest his spoils of victory, his mind suddenly shook violently. An extreme wave of grief and fear washed over him.

It lasted only an instant. None of the other people present even sensed that fleeting moment.

Su Chen shot into the sky without a word, his gaze fixed on the distant horizon.

"A Great Emperor has fallen…"

He could not be mistaken. He had experienced this feeling before—the moment a lord of the universe perished, when all living beings across the myriad races shared in the grief.

"But this is supposed to be a flourishing cultivation era," Su Chen muttered.

According to his calculations, only two or three thousand years had passed since his death in his previous life. While he did not know who would ultimately become the new Great Emperor of this era, he had high expectations for several forbidden prodigies.

A Great Emperor stood unrivaled beneath the heavens. In his old age, perhaps a Supreme might attempt an assassination, but only two or three thousand years into the era? Su Chen found it hard to believe any Supreme would be willing to kill a Great Emperor in his prime.

Yet the feeling was unmistakable.

"This world… is growing restless."

Su Chen felt fortunate that he was in a remote region. Otherwise, he might have become nothing more than food for a Supreme, dying without even knowing how.

On the ground, the disciples of the Sunset Cloud Sect remained immersed in sorrow. They did not know that a Great Emperor had just fallen. The world would soon enter a long period of darkness.

However, the fall of a Great Emperor was not something he could concern himself with right now. What he needed was vast amounts of energy for his next nirvana.

Su Chen found a hidden location and began refining the demon cores he had just devoured. Even if a Supreme were to slap down with a single palm, all living beings in this star region would be annihilated with no chance of survival—including him.

In this vast universe, cultivation was supreme. The only thing he could do was raise his own strength as much as possible and avoid doing the impossible.

Su Chen's mindset remained open and pragmatic. He entered seclusion once more. Two years passed.

Perhaps because this star region was too remote—even the Supremes could not be bothered to visit—Su Chen successfully completed another nirvana. His cultivation advanced from the sixth layer of Spirit Vein straight into the Spirit Sea realm.

After this nirvana, his talent had improved significantly. While it still could not compare to divine beasts or imperial demon bloodlines, it was now on par with third- or fourth-grade demon bloodlines. Combined with his continuously perfected Nirvana Scripture—which was not far inferior to an Emperor Scripture—his future potential had grown immensely.

After breaking into the Spirit Sea realm, Su Chen resumed his hunt for stronger prey. With his current strength, he could not effortlessly kill Spirit Soul realm experts, but he could at least contend with them.

The Sunset Cloud Mountain Range would know no peace. In the previous battle, the Demon King of the range had been severely wounded, and countless powerful demon beasts had died. The remaining demons all became Su Chen's nourishment.