Stealing Immortal

Chapter 236: Chapter 233: Divine Palace

Soon after, the two of them changed their position again.

The Conscious Fish circled within a two-hundred-li radius, and Chen Qingyang could detect practically any movement within that range.

This time, they arrived at a valley hidden deep within a dense forest. The two of them concealed their auras, making it difficult for others to detect them.

”You can tell me now. What exactly is the Dao you’re pursuing?”

Lin Qingxuan stood beneath a tree as a gentle breeze rustled, lifting a corner of her black robes. Her graceful figure was as captivating as the swaying branches next to her. ”Senior Brother Chen, I don’t want to talk about it!”

From the first time he met her, he knew she had a stubborn and resilient streak.

Chen Qingyang knew he couldn’t force her. ”Alright, then. You’ve suffered a great deal, and it hasn’t been easy for you to survive this long. I just want you to be more careful in the future...”

Lin Qingxuan snapped back to reality, her eyes already tinged with red. ”I have to do this in the Divine Palace. It’s not just me—everyone’s opportunities are seized by force. Otherwise, how would so many Armor-Protecting Treasures end up in anyone’s possession?”

As she began to speak, Chen Qingyang stopped talking and simply stood still, listening.

”Ever since the Divine Palace lost its Golden Core True Monarchs, chaos has reigned for centuries. We went from over thirty Foundation Establishment Masters to just seven. The Masters scheme against and slaughter one another. As long as they can obtain another’s Armor-Protecting Treasure, they can raise their own cultivation. Faced with such a great opportunity, who would refuse...?”

If the slaughter among Foundation Establishment Masters was that severe, then there was no need to even mention their disciples. Chen Qingyang was beginning to understand why she had taken such a risk. ”Then... what about you?”

Just then, a single tear slid from the corner of Lin Qingxuan’s eye. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the trees, making the droplet sparkle like a crystal before it fell to the ground with a soft splat.

”Me? It’s survival of the fittest, of course. If I could survive Xuan Gui, then I absolutely cannot die at the hands of my ’allies.’ If someone has to die... it will be them, at my hands.” Her tone was resolute, her teeth clenched. She was like another Lin Qingxuan entirely.

”The seven remaining Foundation Establishment Masters of the Divine Palace have now reached an agreement. They can no longer personally make moves against each other to scheme or seize Magical Treasures, or else the sect’s foundation of over ten thousand years will be destroyed. They only permit their disciples to fight amongst themselves. This is what is meant by ’life and death are decreed by fate, wealth and honor are determined by heaven.’”

After hearing this, Chen Qingyang paused for a moment. ”Are you saying... a Foundation Establishment Master is backing you in this?”

”Heh.” Lin Qingxuan laughed coldly. ”He sees me as his disciple, but I see him as my enemy. Without his torment, I wouldn’t have made it this far. I must raise my cultivation to its peak, step by step, and defeat every single one of them... and even grind them under my heel.”

Suddenly, a heavy, malevolent aura emanated from her. Her usual detached, broken fragility was replaced by a grim darkness, and her beautiful eyes now held a domineering certainty of victory.

As the saying goes, you can’t understand a person’s choices until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes. There was clearly a reason Lin Qingxuan had become the way she was.

”Then tell me about the Star-Attracting Wheel.”

Hearing Chen Qingyang’s voice, Lin Qingxuan reined in her ferocity, and some of her youthful demeanor returned.

”I only know that it is one of the Twelve Great Treasures of the Divine Palace. That is to say, it is one of the twelve most powerful treasures the Divine Palace has acquired in its history of more than ten thousand years. It is used for the Xuanji Acupoint and has miraculous effects. My master ordered me to obtain it at all costs, as it’s also extremely important for my future cultivation.”

”It fell into the hands of the True Demon Sect not because of a lost bet, but because three hundred years ago, the Divine Palace was being pressured by the Yu Xiao Demon Sect. They sought help from the True Demon Sect, but after being refused, Master Reversing Fate flew into a rage. The Celestial Child True Monarch then forcibly took the Star-Attracting Wheel from him as a punishment.”

”Now, the True Demon Sect and the Divine Palace are on good terms again, but Master Reversing Fate no longer needs the treasure. That’s why this opportunity arose for him to send his own disciple to retrieve and refine it. My master heard about it and sent me. Whether this ends in fortune or disaster all depends on my own abilities...”

As she spoke, her demeanor softened again, and she looked at Chen Qingyang. ”A moment ago, I truly thought I was trapped with no hope of escape. I never expected to meet you again, Senior Brother Chen. Since I first entered an Immortal Sect, you’re one of the very few... um, good people I’ve met.”

’How strange.’ Chen Qingyang had never considered himself a good person; he simply acted according to his convictions.

Seeing that Senior Brother Chen wasn’t speaking, Lin Qingxuan turned her head, her voice dropping slightly. ”My circumstances are unique, and I practice the Armor Control Technique, which is how I’ve reached my current cultivation. But Senior Brother Chen, you walk the path of the Sword Dao. Why has your cultivation progressed so divinely fast?”

He had incapacitated Senior Brother Tong in a single blow just now. Lin Qingxuan knew his realm was definitely higher than hers.

Chen Qingyang said, ”I’ve always been this strong; I was just good at hiding it before. So, are you saying that if you can leave the True Demon Sect and successfully refine this treasure, you’ll be safe?”

He offered only that one sentence of explanation, and Lin Qingxuan didn’t press further. ”That’s right.”

”Then I’ll escort you out. I’ll take you as far as Duling City. You’ll be safe by then.”

Hearing this, Lin Qingxuan shook her head vigorously. ”No, this is my own affair. There’s no need to drag you into this, Senior Brother Chen. Besides, I can handle it myself.”

But Chen Qingyang’s tone brooked no argument. ”Back at the Four Golden Peaks, you helped me once. I’ll always remember that.”

Lin Qingxuan paused. ”Then... let’s part ways once we’re out of True Demon Mountain. You don’t need to escort me all the way to Duling City.”

Seeing her insistence, Chen Qingyang simply said no more. ”Follow me!”

Choosing a direction, Chen Qingyang led the way. Lin Qingxuan didn’t ask any questions, simply following quietly behind him.

Before long, they ran into a man and a woman, who were Lin Qingxuan’s fellow disciples.

”So it was you, you bitch, and that master of yours scheming behind our backs! Ptui!”

The woman spat the curse, but the man was calmer. He looked at Chen Qingyang. ”And who might you be? I don’t recall a disciple like you in the Divine Palace.”

”Senior Brother Chen, these two...”

Lin Qingxuan leaned close to his ear, just about to speak, when she saw the Danxia Radiance surge in Chen Qingyang’s hand. The sharp edge of his four-foot-long sword flashed as he lunged at the pair.

Panic-stricken, they scrambled to block with their Magical Artifacts, but how could two mere Fourth Realm cultivators possibly be a match for his Sword Formulas?

In an instant, two bodies fell, their lives extinguished. With that one move, Chen Qingyang had acquired over eight thousand Immortal Seedlings. Combined with the ones from Senior Brother Tong earlier, he had already surpassed ten thousand. He was acquiring them at a formidable pace.

Once the bodies hit the ground, he turned and asked Lin Qingxuan, ”Is there anything on them you can use?”

Lin Qingxuan shook her head. ”Nothing.”

He then incinerated the bodies with a burst of fire, leaving their magical artifacts abandoned and buried in the earth.

His actions were clean and decisive, his purpose clear. Lin Qingxuan gave him another look, perhaps wondering, ’Just what has Senior Brother Chen gone through all these years?’

”This is True Demon Sect territory, after all, and that Celestial Child True Monarch is incredibly powerful. We can’t touch the Demon Sect’s disciples. If I kill all of your fellow disciples from the palace, will it cause trouble for you?”

In truth, after killing those two, the path was clear for them to break through the encirclement, but Chen Qingyang wanted to acquire more Immortal Seedlings.

Lin Qingxuan shook her head. ”There’s no hard evidence, and with them dead, it’s even less likely to be traced back to me.”

”Good.”

Chen Qingyang was decisive. He led Lin Qingxuan in another direction, and before long, they ran into two more disciples from the Divine Palace.

This time, there was no verbal sparring. The moment they saw Lin Qingxuan, they were on guard. But against Chen Qingyang’s absolute strength, their caution was useless.

In the blink of an eye, two more skeletons fell to the ground.

With the Immortal Seedlings he had now accumulated, he could break through to the next realm immediately if he so wished.

”More this way!”

Seeing how clear his targets were and how every strike was fatal, Lin Qingxuan couldn’t help but ask, ”Senior Brother Chen, don’t tell me you can sense everyone’s location?”

Chen Qingyang nodded. ”Not only that, I sensed you the moment you appeared. That move of yours was incredibly risky. If those two Half-Step Foundation Establishment Cultivators hadn’t left today, the outcome would have been hard to predict.”

But Lin Qingxuan seemed confident about that. ”Rest assured, Senior Brother Chen. He was bound to leave.”

Chen Qingyang recalled that the middle-aged man from the Demon Sect had been all but lured away by the elderly Half-Step Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Divine Palace. ’Looks like they had a meticulous plan as well,’ he thought.

”What’s your master’s status in the Divine Palace?”

Lin Qingxuan replied, ”Aside from Master Reversing Fate, his cultivation is the highest. If the Divine Palace were to choose a Sect Leader, it would undoubtedly be one of those two.”

”No wonder you’re acting with such impunity.”

Lin Qingxuan shook her head. ”I’m not relying on him. I do this only for myself. Just as I defeated Master Xuan Gui, one day, I will kill my master as well.”

She must have suffered greatly under her master’s tutelage. That malevolent aura returned, and Chen Qingyang asked, ”And after that?”

Lin Qingxuan’s gaze drifted into the distance. ”After that, I will become the Palace Master of the Divine Palace. I will end the internal strife and consolidate all of the Divine Palace’s power to advance my cultivation even further. If I can become a True Monarch, I will truly stand at the pinnacle of this world, and no one will ever be able to humiliate me again.”

She was not one for idle boasts. The fact that she could voice such words meant she truly held this ambition.

He recalled her journey: forced to flee the Tai Xu Sect, defeating Master Xuan Gui to obtain his True Qi, then entering the Nine Nether Divine Palace where she plundered and cultivated her way to her current realm.

’If she can really continue growing stronger through these methods and even defeat her own master,’ he mused, ’perhaps, in the distant future, the Cyan Nether State will have another Golden Core True Monarch.’

The Profound Nether Return and Storage was perfectly suited for the path of Armor Cultivation.

”I hope so,” Chen Qingyang murmured.

Chen Qingyang led Lin Qingxuan in another direction, and soon they encountered two more people.

Again, without wasting words, he drew his sword, took their lives, and burned their corpses, leaving no trace behind.

Then, pulling Lin Qingxuan along, he executed the Ten Thousand Miles in One Breath Technique, reappearing a thousand li away in an instant.

Once they crossed this mountain, they would be out of True Demon Mountain’s territory. Although he hadn’t been able to venture deeper and witness the sect’s true power, they could not linger any longer.

Fortunately, they hadn’t felt the oppressive aura of the Celestial Child True Monarch the entire time. It was, after all, an internal affair of the Divine Palace. Why would he intervene?