Immortality Simulator-Chapter 6: Watching Immortals Battle From The Sidelines

The endless Abyssal Chasm lay at the easternmost edge of Great Xuan. Its depths were unfathomable, perpetually shrouded in thick mist. A single misstep over its edge would mean vanishing forever into the depths below.

No one knew what lurked beneath the Abyssal Chasm. It was a place even birds avoided, and mankind had not set foot there for countless years.

Yet through his previous simulation, Li Fan had learned that the mist above the Abyssal Chasm dispersed once every fifteen years. Today, he had come to witness it with his own eyes.

After all, if his guess was correct, the two cultivators, Dao Xuanzi and Kou Hong, had likely arrived in this Immortal Forsaken Land through the Abyssal Chasm.

Li Fan stood silently as he waited, gazing at the ominous Abyssal Chasm that stretched before him.

Time passed indeterminably before the ancient, suffocating mist finally stirred.

A low, mournful howl, like that of some primordial beast, echoed faintly from below. As the sound grew louder, those nearby realized—it was the voice of the wind!

The thick white mist churned, rippling like disturbed water.

Then the wind intensified, blowing great swathes of mist upward from the Abyssal Chasm. The mist cascaded into the sky like an inverted waterfall.

The gale raged for nearly half an hour before the heavy mist finally dissipated.

Li Fan’s expression was grave as he raised a telescope and peered into the depths.

At first, only darkness greeted him.

Then, faint pinpricks of light flickered into existence.

After what felt like an eternity, the Abyssal Chasm below blazed with radiance, revealing an inverted mirage-like scene to Li Fan’s eyes.

Rumors claimed the visions at the bottom of the chasm differed for every observer.

What Li Fan saw shook him to his core.

There was a ruined mountain gate, with collapsed structures strewn everywhere. The cracked ground and walls bore the scars of blades and arcane arts.

In some places, the earth was stained a sinister crimson, as if soaked in blood.

Scattered bones and broken weapons littered the ground, silently recounting the catastrophe that had befallen this place long ago.

Overwhelmed, Li Fan adjusted his view. On the sheer face of a cliff, he saw immense words carved into the stone:

THE PATH OF IMMORTALITY IS NO MORE!

The words were written in dark red, as though inscribed in blood.

Even across such an unfathomable distance, the sheer terror and despair radiating from those words struck Li Fan like a physical blow.

The path of immortality is no more... What calamity befell this place? What happened to the entire cultivation world? Lost in thought, Li Fan stood in silence for a long time.

***

The mist returned after just half a day, and Li Fan made his way back to Xuanjing City.

Time flowed onward, and Anchor Year 50 soon arrived.

On Li Fan’s seventieth birthday, thousands of soldiers stood ready in Xuanjing City.

“Dao Xuanzi! Do not push me too far!”

Kou Hong whirled around with a furious roar, hovering midair above the city. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

But before Dao Xuanzi could respond, a voice rang out from below: “Kou Hong, you whelp! By the orders of Immortal Master Dao Xuanzi, you will not survive!”

The voice seemed to come from everywhere at once, echoing through the streets.

Along with it came a storm of bullets.

Caught off guard, Kou Hong was struck head-on.

Impossible! Did Dao Xuanzi already know I would flee here? Since when did he become so cunning?! Shock and fury warred within him.

Then, to his horror, Kou Hong realized that his spiritual qi was draining rapidly as he defended against the attacks. A sweep with his divine sense revealed the truth.

“Immortal-Mortal Miasma?! Dao Xuanzi, you vile snake!” He stared at the approaching Dao Xuanzi with disbelief, as though seeing a stranger instead of a close friend he had known for a hundred years.

Dao Xuanzi, meanwhile, was utterly bewildered.

What are these mortals doing, attacking Kou Hong in my name? And they’re using Immortal-Mortal Miasma?! The sudden turn of events left his mind reeling.

But seeing Kou Hong’s barely contained rage, Dao Xuanzi shuddered.

“There’s something wrong here! Kou Hong, I didn’t send these mortals!” He hastily explained.

“What? You dare not admit it?” Kou Hong laughed bitterly in his fury. “Or are you afraid that once word of you using Immortal-Mortal Miasma spreads, every cultivator under heaven will hunt you down? Or perhaps, you fear your precious reputation, built over a century, will be ruined in an instant?”

Dao Xuanzi knew his friend’s temper. Once roused, reason fled. There would be no convincing him now.

Dao Xuanzi felt as though he had stepped into a carefully laid trap. The sinister aura of this place filled him with foreboding. Fighting Kou Hong now would be unwise.

He tried once more: “We’ve known each other for a hundred years. When have I ever lied to you? This truly isn’t—”

Before he could finish, an aged voice suddenly echoed from all directions, cutting him off.

“Immortal Master Dao Xuanzi, why deny it now? Did you not promise that if we helped you slay Kou Hong here and seize the core formation method, you would lead my people out of this Immortal Forsaken Land?” The voice carried both grievance and resentment.

“Core formation method?!” Both Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi paled at the words.

“You still deny it? Besides you and me, who else in this world knows of it?!” Kou Hong’s hair and beard bristled with fury.

This person knows about the core formation method... Dao Xuanzi’s heart sank like a stone.

Meanwhile, the voice below continued relentlessly: “We stirred up the people’s fury gathering the Immortal-Mortal Miasma you asked for. Their anger cannot be contained. If you don’t keep your word and lead us out of this, my clan won’t survive!”

Falsely accused, Dao Xuanzi’s patience snapped. “Keep your mouth shut, you dog!!”

He lunged toward the source of the voice, only to find that it was emitted by a strange rectangular object. Many more like it were scattered throughout Xuanjing City.

So cautious... Dao Xuanzi clenched his teeth in frustration.

“Do you now intend to silence witnesses, Immortal Master?” The voice continued to mock him.

With a snarl, Dao Xuanzi crushed the device in his grip.

To Kou Hong, it looked like Dao Xuanzi, exposed and humiliated, had flown into a rage and sought to silence the man he’d employed.

Throwing his head back, Kou Hong let out a roar: “We’ve known each other for a hundred years—never did I imagine I’d misjudged you so thoroughly! There’s no need to resort to such underhanded tricks. I won’t run anymore. If you have the skill, come and take the core formation method from me!”

“Dao Technique: Flame Dragon’s Fury!”

A raging fire dragon coiled around Kou Hong, its deafening roar shaking the heavens.

The beast locked its blazing eyes on Dao Xuanzi and spewed a torrent of crimson flames straight toward him.

With a resigned sigh, Dao Xuanzi uttered a soft incantation. A flying sword materialized behind him in a flash of white light, streaking forth to meet the flames.