Eternal Life from the Golden Needle Technique

Chapter 561: Chapter 84: Harvest

She didn’t know what had just happened,

but since an expert on the level of one of the Yuqing Seven Sons had arrived,

to continue staying here

was practically a death wish!

Having clawed her way up to become a Saintess Candidate amidst the endless crises of the Celestial Demon Sect, the girl in the black skirt was no fool. Sizing up the situation was a fundamental skill for survival in any Demon Sect.

”That man who just attacked... was that Shen Changchuan, the number one of the younger generation in the Tian Nan Domain’s Immortal Cultivation Realm?” the Celestial Demon Sect Saintess Candidate suddenly asked.

Although she had never met Shen Changchuan, she had seen his image once while gathering intelligence on the prodigies of the Tian Nan Domain’s Immortal Cultivation Realm and other Outer Realms, so he looked vaguely familiar.

But his speed during the fight had been so fast that she hadn’t been able to place him at the time.

Only now, as her mind grew deathly calm, did she quickly connect the face to the name in her memory.

”Yes, it was that brat!”

”I don’t know how, but that little bastard’s strength is increasing at a terrifying rate.”

”But it doesn’t matter, Saintess. Where there’s life, there’s hope. We just need to lay low for a while, and then we can come back and kill him!”

The person who had attacked Shen Changchuan was, of course, the Guardian of the Celestial Demon Sect’s Saintess Candidate—the old woman who was always by her side.

At this, the old woman’s voice grew tense.

She was terrified that the Saintess, with her unyielding pride, would insist on a showdown with Shen Changchuan. If that happened, they were finished!

One of the Yuqing Seven Sons was not an opponent that an ordinary cultivator at the Divine Travel Peak Realm like herself could hope to face.

”Don’t worry, Aunt Song. I’m not so foolish that I can’t read the situation.”

”He got lucky today. One day, I will repay this humiliation tenfold!”

The Celestial Demon Sect Saintess gazed toward Shen Changchuan in the distance. A light flared in her pupils, and her vision pierced through the dozen-odd miles of space, allowing her to see his face with perfect clarity.

She stared fixedly at him, as if to burn his face into her memory.

This was the first time she had ever suffered such a devastating defeat.

To escape with her life, she had not only abandoned her Storage Bracelet but had also lost an arm and a leg.

And the one responsible for her defeat

was a cultivator at the mere Soul Emergence Eighth Layer Middle Stage!

For a girl as proud and arrogant as she, this was an unprecedented, immense humiliation!

She had always been the one to fight above her level, defeating enemies with Cultivation Realms a stage higher than her own.

How could she have been defeated by a mere brat at the Soul Emergence Eighth Layer Middle Stage?!

This was, for her, an absolute and unparalleled failure!

That was right.

Soul Emergence Eighth Layer Middle Stage!

Shen Changchuan had already exited the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu’s Overclocking State, and the aura of his Cultivation Realm had returned to normal.

His aura now only showed the level of the Soul Emergence Eighth Layer Middle Stage!

The girl in black instantly understood.

’The power he showed before, that was close to the Soul Emergence Ninth Layer, must have been a temporary boost from a Secret Technique!’

’His true Realm is only the Soul Emergence Eighth Layer Middle Stage!’

This made her expression turn even fouler.

’My cultivation is at the Soul Emergence Ninth Layer Peak, more than a full Realm above his. And I had the power of the Ancient Sky-Controlling Bracelet...’

’Yet I was so easily defeated by an opponent who’s only at the Eighth Layer Middle Stage!’

How could her immense pride possibly withstand such a blow?

Anyone in her position

would find it unbearable!

Her eyes remained locked on the man named Shen Changchuan in the distant void, engraving his face deep into her memory.

’One day, I will take back everything I’ve lost!’

As she burned his face into her mind, the girl in the black skirt silently repeated this vow to herself.

Only then did she turn to Aunt Song.

”Aunt Song, let’s go!”

”Yes! Forgive my impertinence, Saintess!”

Before her voice had even faded,

Aunt Song waved her hand, and a pitch-black fissure tore open in the space before them.

She grabbed the Saintess’s arm and leaped, and the two of them vanished into the darkness in an instant.

Though it takes time to describe,

all of this transpired in the span of a few breaths.

By the time the colossal hand descended from the heavens, the old woman and the young girl were long gone, leaving no trace behind.

And the moment the two figures vanished,

the colossal hand that covered the sky suddenly froze in place.

Then,

the immense Magical Power filling the air dissipated like a cloud of smoke!

Even the gale of Magical Power that had been sweeping across the land from their earlier clash vanished completely!

At the same time,

a figure wreathed in a transcendent Immortal Aura and radiating a terrifying presence appeared in mid-air.

He stared at the spot where the old woman and the girl had vanished,

his expression grim and unreadable.

Whatever he was thinking,

he said nothing,

and in the next instant, his figure vanished as well.

”Whew... The pressure was immense!”

Not far away,

after the magical storm subsided, Shen Changchuan steadied himself and let out a long sigh of relief.

As the terrifying pressure finally lifted, he was filled with the profound relief of having survived a calamity.

’Thank goodness,’

’he arrived in time.’

’If it had dragged on any longer,’

’I would have had to face an enemy at the Divine Travel Peak Realm head-on. I would have died for sure!’

That moment just now

was, without a doubt, one of the most dangerous he had faced in the decades since he had been transported to this world.

The last time he’d faced a danger of this magnitude

was when he confronted the patriarch of the Corpse Refining Sect in the Nanyue Territory.

”Divine Travel Realm...”

Repeatedly facing dangers against which he was utterly powerless had begun to change something within Shen Changchuan.

’Strength. Only with enough strength can I truly have control over my own destiny!’

’I must reach the Divine Travel Realm!’

At that moment,

Shen Changchuan’s gaze was more resolute than it had ever been.

The Path of Immortal Cultivation,

he realized, was by its very nature a path of conflict. It wasn’t something you could simply choose to avoid.

’Take today, for instance.’

’I never wanted to fight that Celestial Demon Sect Saintess Candidate. I have no need to show off or act tough in front of others.’

’But what she wanted’

’was the lives of all the prodigies from every domain, to use as stepping stones for her own advancement in the Celestial Demon Sect!’

’If I didn’t fight,’

’was I supposed to just offer my neck to be slaughtered?’

’Even if you don’t want to fight, even if you don’t want to make a move, reality and other people will force your hand!’

’Conflict and slaughter on the Path of Immortal Cultivation’

’are inevitable!’

’And to survive on this path, you must have overwhelming strength!’

He would climb to greater heights,

even to the very peak of this world,

until

every choice in his life was his to make,

until he achieved true freedom!

Having gone through this trial by fire,

Shen Changchuan’s resolve became firmer than ever before.

His Dao Heart, too, had been tempered into unyielding steel.

”You must be Shen Changchuan, the number one of the Tian Nan Domain’s younger generation? A pleasure to meet you. I am Luo Jiuzhang of the Divine Calculation Sect!”

Just then,

a figure landed beside Shen Changchuan. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he followed Shen Changchuan’s gaze toward the spot where the old woman and young girl from the Celestial Demon Sect had vanished.

”Good thing we ran into Mr. Ming on the way. The backup arrived in time, wouldn’t you say?”