Eternal Tale

Beside the coast.

Chen Xun turned his back to them and walked away into the air without saying a word.

Black Bull’s eyes were vacant, his breath heavy, and his four legs were trembling. He still needed to take care of his third sister, and a vague sense of despair lingered in his heart.

As long as Chen Xun hadn’t told him, everything would be fine, everything would be fine... They had accumulated a lot of merit, the boundary would surely be safe!

Little Chi’s eyes were still trembling, his claws supporting Sister Crane, his lion-like face twisted beyond recognition.

He remained silent, refusing to believe the terrifying suspicion in his heart.

In the boundless sea, atop a reef.

Chen Xun sat cross-legged, his hands resting on his knees, his whole body trembling slightly.

He seemed to turn his back to the sea, as if no matter from which direction one looked, his face could not be seen.

A token of the Five Aggregates Sect floated in the air, along with two brand new land deeds, and many other beautiful things...”Small boundary... my homeland...”

A trembling voice was gradually drowned by the sound of the waves, ”Who... haha... they’re just a group of Divine Transformation cultivators, they haven’t offended anyone, nor do they have the power to offend...”

”Who could erase a small boundary in an instant, who... who.”

Chen Xun’s low voice echoed in the air, his body becoming hunched, ”The path, shouldn’t it be opened... did I do something wrong?”

He gradually fell silent, and at this moment, even the sea breeze had disappeared, leaving only the sound of majestic starfalls streaking across the night sky.

Chen Xun slowly raised his head, and in these burning fragments of starfall, he seemed to see everything familiar.

That small village, the ’Panning City’, the Jade Bamboo Range, the Tian Duan Plains...

He didn’t know why, but suddenly he remembered scenes from a long, long time ago.

”Bull, in our quest for longevity, we will inevitably encounter these things. Perhaps countless years later, even the Kingdom Qian will be invaded.”

”This world doesn’t revolve around us, and we’re not some saviors.”

...

The past scenes were vivid in his mind, Black Bull even feared that Old Sun’s grave would be dug up, and he was startled awake by a hard slap, told not to think wildly.

But, fate played a cruel joke, and it became a prophecy.

The waves crashed against Chen Xun’s body, mixed with the sea breeze, and he did not use mana to resist, becoming soaked and disheveled.

Chen Xun’s face was covered with sparkling droplets from the shattered waves, shining brightly under the reflection of the starfall...

Boom...

At this moment, a shocking change was occurring in the surrounding sea, terrifying arcs of lightning crackled across the sky, accompanied by a burst of thunder.

The sea roared, the wind howled, and the surging waves raged in all directions.

Chen Xun hunched his body, slightly lowering his head, as a terrifying and boundless aura quietly emanated from within him, the surrounding energy dissipating, spiritual qi resonating, and the giant waves trembling.

Strands of death energy suddenly emanated from the figure on the reef, dense black lines covering his body, seeming to move around.

The waves within a thousand miles suddenly became no longer turbulent, but filled with a dead silence, incompatible with the distant sea.

The creatures in the sea showed absolute fear in their eyes, frantically swimming away, fleeing this place.

Though they lacked intelligence, the instinct to seek benefit and avoid harm was inherent in every creature.

They only knew that if they didn’t escape... they would surely die!

Lightning flashed across the sea surface, and a sudden thunderclap exploded in the void, the booming sound spreading in all directions, carrying an oppressive and terrifying atmosphere.

The figure on the reef had hair that was gradually turning silver, lightning dancing among the silver strands.

Whoosh, the fierce wind rose!

At this moment, the topknot he had worn for thousands of years slowly fell, like a cloud meeting a storm, his head of silver hair disheveled in the wind.

Even his white clothes were gradually turning black, though black and white seemed to be alternating, as if struggling.

The qi of the Five Elements surged between heaven and earth, and even the sound of space cracking could be heard.

In an instant, the surrounding sea was filled with lightning and thunder, pouring rain falling, as a Void Refinement cultivator could already evoke celestial phenomena, possessing immense magical power.

Chen Xun remained seated on the reef, his clothes fluttering, silent, allowing the wind and rain to batter him, his lowered head never lifting.

The majestic starfall continued to streak across the clouds, emitting a grand sound of breaking through the sky, and the fragments of starfall became more and more numerous...

Intense death energy slowly flowed from Chen Xun’s body, the black lines on his body becoming more numerous, even beginning to cover his pupils.

His whole body was filled with death energy and twilight, yet his face showed no pain, nor any emotion.

He felt his mindset had never been so calm.

Perhaps what is more powerless than despair is not heart-wrenching pain, nor regret, but an endless calm.

”Longevity...”

A calm voice escaped his lips, a wry smile of self-mockery tugging at the corner of his mouth, ”Haha.”

Even though separated from the small boundary by countless mountains and rivers, in just a short hundred years, it seemed as if everything had changed, the world transformed, people and things no longer the same.

They, and it, seemed to have turned into countless starfalls, streaking across above him, becoming a beautiful scene admired and savored by the cultivators of the grand world.

He still wanted to return to that small hill with Bull to retire, to Panning City to forge iron, to tend to the weeds on Old Sun Mountain every month.

To return to the Five Aggregates Sect to teach disciples whenever he had time, and to scare those great demons...

Finally, to visit the graves of old friends for a chat, and take Little Chi and Little Crane to travel the Tian Duan Plains.

Clearly, only a short hundred years had passed, yet it seemed everything... had been destroyed, catching him off guard, without any warning.

Now, like a boundary cultivator, a deep sense of fear and powerlessness permeated his heart, chilling him to the bone, as if all this was his doing...

All the scenes had transcended the limits of time, appearing directly before him from the boundaries of space.

Such a strong sense of impact nearly silenced Chen Xun’s dao heart.

He lowered his head, trembling as he raised his hand with difficulty, reaching powerlessly for the countless starfalls, but grasping nothing, the tails of the starfalls slipping through his fingers.

At this moment, death energy seemed to envelop Chen Xun’s entire body like black flames, the dazzling light of the starfall completely disappearing.

He could no longer see, nor did he want to see.

A rootless essence flower, radiant with white light, slowly burst forth from his body, transforming into an illusory flower like black jade.

Chen Xun’s vitality was rapidly draining away, three Mountain-axing axes emerged from his primordial spirit, casting boundless death energy.

They seemed intent on annihilating their creator, even the ever-flowing qi of the Five Elements was dissipating, unable to withstand the erosion of death energy.

On the reef, no one knew what terrifying transformation Chen Xun was undergoing, no one could sense the towering rage and boundless malice hidden in his heart.

The rulers of immortality in this grand world could not foresee the consequences of a longevity practitioner’s homeland being destroyed.

They never cared, never feared, still looking down upon all beings.

Chen Xun slowly raised his head, his face as calm as water, his perspective infinitely elongated, looking into an unknown distance.

And in his lightning-filled eyes, a chilling light was shooting out, bone-chilling cold, as if to freeze everything, returning all to the void.

Buzz—

In an instant, a terrifying wave spread through the void, and above the void behind Chen Xun, a pair of cold and indifferent Five Elements Immortal Eyes seemed to slowly open, overlooking the sea.

”Everyone, I, Chen Xun of the small boundary, you... will not die in vain, nor will you be forgotten by time.”

Chen Xun’s voice was like ancient ice, his silver hair wildly dancing, his expression cold beyond that of a living being, ”Those people, I will find out one by one, even if they are Heavenly Lords, True Immortals, Immortal Kings, or even Immortal Emperors...”

”I will drag them down from the Nine Heavens, and ensure they ascend to immortality and die, to be buried for my boundary.”

As his words fell, boom! Boom!

In an instant, lightning and thunder filled the sky, endless death energy drifting in the void, Chen Xun’s body’s death light and death lines suddenly converged, madly rushing toward his brow.

At this moment, a terrifying black and white mysterious law pattern was forming on his brow, as if the forbidden laws of heaven and earth had descended, the extreme of life, longevity, the extreme of death, longevity!

And with these words, heaven and earth trembled together, the sea surged with a furious tide, as if a monstrous tsunami was about to engulf Chen Xun.

Meanwhile, in the far distance.

In the Great World of Taiyi, the Great World of Taiwang, the Great World of Taihua, the Great World of Tailan, and so on... true celestial powers opened their eyes, gazing into the boundless void, their brows all twitching.

”The Chaos Immortal Spirit List is shaking... a great ominous sign.”

”The qi cannot be deduced, it’s not a calamity of living beings, could it be...”

”Unknown, unknowable, restrain the races of all great worlds, there must be a reason, find the source, I will go to see that one in the Boundless Great World.”

”Alright.”

...

Several indifferent voices traversed all directions, then returned to silence, as if nothing had happened, completely unperturbed.

The next day, as the sun rose, its rays were dazzling.

Beside the coast, Black Bull and the others had stayed the night, the majestic starfall had completely disappeared into the gale of the Great World of Taiyi.

Little Crane, eyes full of sorrow, whispered to Black Bull’s head, ”Second Brother.”

”Moo~~~”

”Big Brother... Big Brother will be alright, right?”

Little Crane’s cheeks were still stained with tears, she had already sensed the disappearance of the small boundary’s essence, that part within her like rootless duckweed, the sensation too strong.

She even guessed that the small boundary might have been destroyed, but she didn’t dare tell Second Brother and Fourth Brother, because there was still hope in their eyes.

”Moo moo~~” Black Bull gently shook his head, thinking Chen Xun must have gone to investigate something, not wanting to worry his third sister.

But deep in his eyes lay deep unease, Chen Xun’s emotions this time were too strange.

In all these years, he had never felt this way from Chen Xun.

Indescribable, unclear, so calm it was unlike the Chen Xun he knew, even making him feel a twinge of fear at the time.

”Sister Crane, it’s alright, hehe...”

Little Chi’s smile was uglier than crying, but he didn’t want Sister Crane to be sad, ”It should be alright...”

Even he didn’t know what he was saying, whether it was Brother Xun being alright, or the small boundary being alright, or the Tian Duan Plains being alright.

Little Crane’s face was pale, yet she forced a weak smile, they were all comforting each other, worried for one another.

But the person they cared about most was still the big brother who hadn’t returned that night...