Infinite Save: I Cultivate Immortality Through Reincarnation

Roughly sixty thousand years ago, on the eve of Heavenly Summit Mountain’s impending destruction.

Qinghong Realman, the twelfth-generation Ascended Steward of Heavenly Summit Mountain, sat upright within Heavenly Summit Palace.

This Ascended Steward, in the prime of his life and the last of his lineage to hold the title, ranked within the top three in personal strength among all the Immortal Ascension Realm cultivators Heavenly Summit Mountain had ever produced.

Under Qinghong Realman’s governance, the cultivation world of Chenping Continent was striding toward a new era of prosperity.

Until that enormous crack, tens of thousands of li long, suddenly appeared in the sky.

In the very first instant that crack appeared, Qinghong Realman clearly sensed what was coming.

Though he had little time to deliberate, he made the most decisive choice in the briefest of moments.

That choice was to use himself as kindling, to drive Heavenly Summit Palace into action.

Throughout the generations, the Ascended Stewards of Heavenly Summit Mountain spent the vast majority of their time seated within Heavenly Summit Palace, one reason being that the palace itself was the highest symbol of Heavenly Summit Mountain’s authority.

The other reason was the constant readiness to transform into fuel.After all, Heavenly Summit Mountain was the inheritance left behind by Bai Chen, the Sage of Imperial Void. When the mountain was first established, perhaps its founders had known some of the inside story.

For instance, roughly eight thousand years ago, Chen Yan sat within Heavenly Summit Palace and glimpsed through the Heavenly Summit Mirror a conversation between successive Stewards of Heavenly Summit Mountain.

In the illusion of the Heavenly Summit Mirror, the scenes of the first-generation Steward, the second-generation Steward, and the third-generation Steward appearing were indeed quite thought-provoking.

Qinghong Realman first placed a restrictive formation upon Heavenly Summit Palace, preventing cultivators above the Martial Spring Realm from entering, so as to keep this palace—treated by Heavenly Summit Mountain as its ultimate weapon—from falling into the wrong hands.

Then he used himself as kindling, channeling through Heavenly Summit Palace to fight to the death against the existence within the crack—

As for what came after, that was already well known.

That colossal Seven-Colored Flowing Gold Goddess Statue, thousands of zhang tall, crawled out from within the crack.

And then, with a single clasp of its hands, everything was over.

Countless fine cracks surfaced across Heavenly Summit Palace. A dao artifact was not something an Immortal Ascension Realm cultivator could truly wield.

And when facing the Mystic Maiden Statue—a servant beneath Lord Qingluo, its cultivation bordering on the Uncarved Simplicity Realm—even a dao artifact like Heavenly Summit Palace seemed pathetically inadequate.

”If you ultimately find yourself with no path left, you may try burning your dao rhyme to drive the Heavenly Summit Mirror and meet the Sage of Imperial Void of the past.”

This was the suggestion the Tianji Sage had offered Chen Yan.

But Chen Yan did not consider it a good one.

Because if Bai Chen, the Sage of Imperial Void of old, truly possessed a solution to the crisis facing Chenping Continent, he would not have needed to resort to his current method of ”clinging to a sham existence.”

Chen Yan departed the Sage of Imperial Void’s sea of consciousness and returned to the abyssal depths of the Endless Sea.

This current Steward of Chenping Continent still stood before the remains of the Sage of Imperial Void.

The scene at this moment seemed somewhat familiar.

Chen Yan suddenly realized something.

He tried to move his extended right hand away from above the Sage of Imperial Void’s forehead.

But found that no matter what he did, he could not move it at all.

His death in the previous cycle of reincarnation had not been caused by Zuo He, the Tianji Sage.

It was because he had invaded the sea of consciousness of the Sage of Imperial Void’s remains, and had thus been repelled by the lingering pressure of the Sage’s remnant might—a Sage who had once truly dominated this corner of the world.

Perhaps, he would have to save-scum once again.

But it didn’t matter. After all, in this cycle of reincarnation, he had already obtained enough useful information from that wisp of remnant soul belonging to the Tianji Sage.

He began to await the arrival of death.

But nothing happened at all.

Because that sliver of sage authority, no larger than a millet grain, which the Tianji Sage had implanted into his brow, had actually begun to take effect.

It neutralized the residual might of the Sage of Imperial Void that permeated the abyssal depths.

Yet Chen Yan soon realized something was wrong.

Because the Tianji Sage’s authority was gradually dissipating.

Chen Yan recalled the last words the Tianji Sage had spoken to him before he left the Sage of Imperial Void’s sea of consciousness:

”This is a sliver of sage authority enough to carry you across the Endless Sea, but it will not last long. Once you leave this place, you had best return by the same route as quickly as possible.”

If he could not make it back to Chenping Continent while the Tianji Sage’s sliver of sage authority remained in effect.

Then he feared he would never be able to return at all.

Unless he chose to end his own life.

But even more unsettling was that Chen Yan was not certain whether, with the intelligence he had gathered, he had pushed the reincarnation save point forward to the next timeline.

If the reincarnation save point fell after the Tianji Sage’s authority dissipated, then...

That was something that absolutely could not happen.

If it did, Chen Yan would have only two paths available: one was to completely destroy his own soul; the other was to erode his dao rhyme to nothing.

Realizing this, Chen Yan hurriedly raised his hand, summoned the Falling Star Sword into his grasp, and then lifted this long sword—as if it carried the eternal night of ten thousand ages—and slashed directly above his own head:

”Open!”

Once again, the waters of the Endless Sea were completely split apart.

Chen Yan flew along the path carved open by his sword strike toward the sky above, and the ancient will of the Endless Sea, under the influence of that sliver of sage authority bestowed upon him by the Tianji Sage, could not invade so much as a single hair of Chen Yan’s being.

But the current Chen Yan was truly racing against time.

He had to return to Chenping Continent as quickly as possible!

Chen Yan, moving at a speed that threatened to tear the sky itself apart, streaked across the heavens, flying toward the Western Region of Chenping Continent.

......

Chenping Continent, Western Region.

Cyclone City Ferry.

This immortal ferry held no fame on Chenping Continent, and could even be said to have no fame within the Western Region of Chenping Continent either.

The cultivators who frequented this place year-round were mostly Rogue Cultivators of the Lower Three Realms.

There were typically no medium or large ferries here either; the ferries that arrived and departed were all relatively small, and their routes were basically entirely confined to the interior of Chenping Continent’s Western Region.

A middle-aged man clad in gray daoist robes, with two long swords wrapped in bandages hanging at his waist, walked at the front.

Behind him followed a young woman also dressed in gray daoist robes.

”How many spirit stones does it cost to travel from here to the Liaolong ferry?”

The middle-aged man spoke to the Rogue Cultivator standing before the small ferry in front of him.

”Two mid-grade spirit stones per person. Pay the stones and board directly.”

The Rogue Cultivator said this, then gave the two gray-robed cultivators standing before him another once-over before continuing:

”What, heading to Liaolong for a pilgrimage?”

”Yes.”

The middle-aged man replied while handing over four mid-grade spirit stones.

”You should indeed go on a pilgrimage. After all, these times are troubled—even Guardians of the Dao on Du Cang Mountain can get killed.”

The Rogue Cultivator who had taken the stones muttered:

”Go on, board the ferry!”

With that, the two cultivators in gray daoist robes stepped onto the small ferry.

Liaolong, situated at the border between the Western Region and the Southern Region of Chenping Continent.

After the Falling Star Realman, Su Hongzhen, had risen to prominence, Huangquan City in Liaolong had become the ”place of pilgrimage” for cultivators across Chenping Continent.