Chapter 80: Chapter 68: An Immortal Breaks Free

Among them, Su Chen saw a familiar face: a First Grade Sect Leader with withered white hair, so thin he was nothing but skin and bones. Leaning on a cane, he hardly looked human.

Or rather, the former Sect Leader.

In the Late Jianwu era, the Black Abyss had produced a new Sect Leader and a new Saint, one after the other. Both were Peak experts who had achieved True Intent Perfection—terrifyingly strong.

Clearly.

After Liang’s Destruction.

The world was nearly unified.

The Evil Immortal in the Sacred Land had grown anxious.

"Are you really the Saint?"

"Why did you appear briefly in the Tenth Year of Jianwu, only to vanish? Eight years have passed, so how have you become a Peak First Grade expert..."

someone demanded.

SPLAT!

He exploded into a bloody mist.

"I don’t need to explain my actions."

Su Chen retracted his finger, his expression cold.

"One-Finger Meteor!"

"That is the Saint’s signature technique! No one else knows it. He *is* the Black Lotus Saint!"

someone cried out, dropping to the ground in a deep bow.

These were all former subordinates of the Black Lotus Saint.

The Saint had vanished without a trace.

When Great Liang fell, the Sect Leader, who had been rescued amidst the chaos, became the sole authority, and they had been absorbed into his faction.

Now,

the Saint had returned.

And now, hearing that the Saint—a Peak First Grade expert—had single-handedly swept through Heaven-Ascension Tower, they longed to return to his command.

There were not many of them.

They accounted for less than a third of the people present, with the strongest among them being merely a Second Grade Demon General.

"His methods really are like the Saint’s,"

the others murmured.

Just then,

the withered, white-haired Sect Leader limped forward.

"You want to challenge me?"

"Old Ghost Zhang, with the state your body is in, are you even able to use the Eighteen Golden Body anymore?"

Su Chen sneered.

It was as if he truly were the Black Lotus Saint.

But unexpectedly,

the white-haired Sect Leader dropped to the ground in a deep bow.

"Welcome back, Saint!"

And with that,

all doubt was erased.

Inside the shop, a dense crowd dropped to their knees.

After a long while,

the others dispersed.

The white-haired Sect Leader, leaning on his cane, led Su Chen with a limp to a secret chamber in the basement of the shop, saying the two of them needed to discuss matters privately.

The moment the chamber door closed, the white-haired Sect Leader’s demeanor shifted entirely, and a sneer spread across his face.

"You are not the Black Lotus."

"Oh?" Su Chen was unconcerned.

’He’s just a crippled First Grade. He wasn’t my match in his prime, and now he’s even less of a threat. I could kill him whenever I please.’

"The Great Yu Dynasty lasted five hundred years, the Zhou and Liang three hundred. The Black Abyss existed even before the Great Yu—it has a thousand-year legacy. For generations, its Sect Leaders and Saints have been locked in a life-or-death struggle."

"Back then,"

"the Black Lotus was exceptionally gifted. On the sacrificial altar, he devoured the talented blood of a hundred other youths and was even on the verge of becoming a Grandmaster..."

"Heh. But I sabotaged him. I used a Demon Poison Gu to eat away at his internal Profound Gate. Forget reaching the Peak—he could never even have reached First Grade."

"And another thing: if the Black Lotus really was a First Grade expert, the first person he would kill would be me!"

"But you didn’t kill me."

Inside the chamber, the white-haired Sect Leader sneered incessantly.

In the Great Liang Celestial Prison, he had lost a hand and was left with a crippled leg, his martial power cut in half. He probably couldn’t even defeat a Second Grade expert now.

But,

facing this "Black Lotus" with his Peak-level combat power, he remained exceptionally composed. He clearly had an ace up his sleeve.

"The Great Zhou has devoured Great Liang, and the Flame Emperor is wildly ambitious. He intends to unify the world and cause the land’s fortune to erupt."

"The Black Abyss has also been spurred into action. The Old Ancestor paid a tremendous price to create two new Peak experts, and our congregation has expanded by more than tenfold."

"I heard that after you left, the Sin Dragon in Heaven-Ascension Tower perished. How about this? Once I’ve killed the new generation’s Saint and Sect Leader, we can rule the Holy Sect together, with me as the leader."

The white-haired Sect Leader beamed, but his hand was already slipping inside his robes.

His words were elegant,

but in truth,

he was planning to make Su Chen his dog.

"Not interested."

Su Chen, meanwhile, was browsing the books on a shelf in the chamber. He was surprised to find that they were all ancient texts, filled with records of strange and wondrous events.

For example, one told of a centenarian who transformed into a snake upon death and slithered away.

Another described a Yellow-skinned Demon Immortal who would block roads late at night, asking travelers whether it was an immortal or a demon.

There were even Immortal Technique Manuals.

The Spring Breeze and Rain Technique, the Complete Collection of Celestial Talismans, the Palm Thunder Skill, and more...

There was even a Cultivation Skill like the one the Great Zhou Royal Family had obtained from the Great Yu, though it was unfortunately incomplete...

’This is interesting.’

’A shame.’

’You need a Spiritual Root to understand and practice them, and maybe only one in a million people is born with one.’

The writing in the manuals was exceptionally esoteric. Although composed of normal-looking words, staring at them for too long made one dizzy and unable to recall a single thing.

For those without a Spiritual Root, an Immortal Skill was useless even if it was right in their hands.

"So you’ve chosen the hard way instead of the easy way."

"Since you refused my offer, you won’t be leaving this place tonight."

Seeing Su Chen completely ignore him, instead nonchalantly reading a book, the white-haired Sect Leader felt deeply humiliated and flew into a rage.

He attacked.

BOOM!

He produced a Token.

"So what if you’re a Peak expert?"

"Immortal Techniques transcend the limits of Mortal Cultivation."

"Though I am crippled, with this Immortal Treasure, I can command power beyond the Peak level..."

In an instant,

a rotten stench filled the chamber as three black-robed figures lunged toward Su Chen. One was hard as iron, another swift as a tiger, and the last brandished a greatsword.

"It all happened so fast, I only had time to dig up and refine three sets of Peak-level skeletal remains from the Imperial Mausoleum. But killing you will be as easy as turning over my palm."

"If this Corpse Refining technique wasn’t so appallingly heretical, why would I have ever bothered cooperating with a fake Saint like you?"

"Hahaha! Just die here for me!"

The white-haired Sect Leader cackled, his eyes filled with malice.

He had obtained it in his youth, long before joining the Black Abyss. He had stumbled into a hidden Workshop in the mountains, an experience that felt like a fleeting dream.

It was only recently, however, that he had figured out how to use the Token. It could refine the corpses of the dead, restoring the combat power they once possessed in life.

The Sect Leader’s breathing grew heavy.

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