Starforce Warriors-Chapter 898: Immortal (4)

In the end, he was flattened into the dust with a single move. At first, he was indignant and refused to accept the outcome. But after listening to Li Xiaofei’s teachings for just one hour, he transformed completely.

He then shamelessly followed Li Xiaofei like an obedient child, calling him Honored Master with every breath, eagerly asking questions and soaking up wisdom at every step.

Li Yiyun could only click his tongue in disbelief. He felt as though his own special place at his teacher’s side had been stolen by this shameless old mutt, and he was thoroughly jealous.

Meanwhile, as the reach and momentum of Li Xiaofei’s preaching continued to expand, the pressure on the Myriad Saints Immortal Sect grew heavier by the day. At first, they had only needed to deal with one man, Li Xiaofei. At most, they had counted the Song Emperor among his supporters, a figure they had never taken seriously.

But now... They faced tens of thousands. That number could easily swell into the hundreds of thousands by the time Li Xiaofei reached Mount Myriad Saints. These were not mere commoners. The majority were martial arts experts and powerful cultivators.

These people, gathered together, formed a force so vast and formidable that even the high and mighty immortal sects dared not take them lightly. Each day, various pieces of intelligence were relayed out from within the procession, spreading swiftly to the major powers across the land. No sect paid more attention to this than the Myriad Saints Immortal Sect.

As time went on, new developments began to surface. It was said that the Myriad Saints Immortal Sect had begun inviting other immortal sects from foreign nations to convene an Immortal Dao Summit.

Officially, it was to be a peaceful gathering. But even a fool could see it as the thinly veiled effort to deal with the powerful and unexpected threat that was Li Xiaofei. The sect even went so far as to publicly declare that any action taken in support of Li Xiaofei would be regarded as an act of hostility not just against the Myriad Saints Immortal Sect but against the entire immortal world.

These threats and warnings did, in fact, have some effect. Some followers, fearful of retaliation, chose to stop advancing with the group. Others, feeling they had already learned enough cultivation methods and secret techniques to sustain their practice for years, quietly left the procession of their own accord.

Such behavior infuriated Li Yiyun. He cursed them without restraint, calling them heartless and ungrateful traitors. But Li Xiaofei paid it no mind. He allowed them to come and go as they pleased, making no effort to stop them. This wasn’t about loyalty, nor was he trying to filter his followers for purity.

From the very beginning, he had never expected anything in return. All he wanted to do was preach the Dao, to pass on the teachings and resolve confusion. He wanted to restore the immortal cultivation techniques that had once belonged to the human race and return them to the people.

That alone was his goal. As for repayment? It wasn’t arrogance, Li Xiaofei genuinely believed that no one on this continent was capable of repaying him for what he was doing.

At last, after a month-long journey, Li Xiaofei, still riding his shaggy old horse, finally arrived at the foot of Mount Myriad Saints. As the ancestral home of the Myriad Saints Immortal Sect, the mountain truly lived up to its reputation. It was a land overflowing with spiritual energy, a place rich in fortune and saturated with celestial essence.

Clear mountains, and flowing waters. It was truly favored by creation, Li Xiaofei gazed upon the range from horseback and couldn’t help but voice his admiration.

There were dozens of villages and towns of various sizes scattered around the mountain’s base. The mortals who lived here maintained close ties with the Myriad Saints Immortal Sect. Some settlements had been founded by outer sect disciples, and others by core disciples or elders of the sect.

These villages were all wealthy and well-protected. Their residents held themselves in high esteem. The people here felt little attachment to the Great Song Empire. Instead, they were bound by strong family loyalties. Clan consciousness thrived, and their allegiance lay wholly with the Myriad Saints Immortal Sect.

They rarely, if ever, obeyed the imperial court’s orders. When Li Xiaofei and his followers arrived, the townsfolk responded with hostility. Gates were shut from afar. Villages and towns alike barred their doors, refusing to let them enter.

“Outrageous!” Li Yiyun was furious. “This is territory of the Great Song! These people are Song citizens, and yet they dare to show such disrespect? Master, give the word and I’ll lead a group to storm the gates. I’ll teach them a lesson.”

But Li Xiaofei simply shook his head. Instead, he chose a stretch of wilderness at the mountain’s base and ordered the camp to be set up there. He remained calm, unbothered by how the locals perceived him.

A luxurious carriage rolled slowly down the mountain road in the distance and came to a stop at the edge of the camp. Emerging from it, wine gourd in hand, was none other than Chicken Bro. But when he saw the anticipation in Li Xiaofei’s eyes, Chicken Bro gently shook his head. Li Xiaofei’s gaze dimmed slightly.

He had traveled slowly, preaching the Dao along the way, giving the so-called immortal sects ample time to complete their alliances. His plan was to draw them out in full and gather all the snakes and demons in one place to settle the matter once and for all.

But despite that patience, he still couldn’t suppress his urgency. He desperately wanted to know whether Si Kongxue and the others were on this continent. So Chicken Bro had gone ahead to Mount Myriad Saints to investigate in secret.

Given Chicken Bro’s strength, he could roam the land unhindered. What’s more, since he lacked the overt presence and notoriety of Li Xiaofei, the Myriad Saints Immortal Sect wouldn’t be on guard against him. That made him perfect for reconnaissance.

But clearly, Chicken Bro had found nothing. There was no trace of Si Kongxue. And if someone of his caliber came up empty... It likely meant that Si Kongxue and the others were not even on this continent.

Faced with this, Li Xiaofei could only steady his heart and wait. After a brief discussion, Chicken Bro took his leave once again. Li Xiaofei resumed his preaching until the sun fell and darkness cloaked the mountains.

“Master, someone else has come down from the mountain,” Kou Zhengyang reported at the entrance to the tent.

“Bring them in,” Li Xiaofei replied.

Moments later, a familiar face stepped into the tent. It was none other than An Wanshan, the opponent he had so thoroughly defeated.

“Please, Elder, have a seat,” Li Xiaofei said politely.

An Wanshan’s expression was complicated. He cupped his hands and said, “I’ve come to deliver a message on behalf of our sect master. He asks the Grand Preceptor to take note that the Myriad Immortals Conference will be held three days from now, at noon, atop Sky Drum Mountain, near the upper reaches of Mount Myriad Saints. He will await your arrival at the summit and will provide clear answers to the questions you intend to ask.”

“Very well,” Li Xiaofei replied calmly. “Then I’ll wait three more days.”

He already understood their intent. They were simply stalling to gather more support. They were perhaps even preparing to invite a Reaper-level entity to intervene from the shadows. But that was exactly what Li Xiaofei wanted.

Chicken Bro was looking for a battle to the death in order to break through his current bottleneck. And Li Xiaofei himself wished to resolve all of this continent’s troubles as quickly as possible, so he could once again journey into the stars in search of Si Kongxue and the others.

With the Emperor Armament in hand, Li Xiaofei had no fear, no matter how many enemies they amassed.

An Wanshan let out a long sigh and said, “May the Grand Preceptor take care of himself.”

He cupped his hands once more, then turned to leave. His heart was a tangled knot of emotions. An unending stream of reports had been delivered to the sect’s inner sanctum for more than a month now. An Wanshan had come to know everything Li Xiaofei said and did. The more he learned, the more shocked he became, and the more deeply he respected him, in secret.

To speak truthfully, in An Wanshan’s eyes, Li Xiaofei’s actions in spreading the Dao along his journey were nothing short of saint-like. There had never been someone like him since the beginning of this world.

One who treated all beings as equals. Who taught without discrimination. Who unveiled the secrets of the immortal sects as openly as one might share cooking or tailoring techniques. What he did had shattered the age-old monopoly the immortal sects had held over cultivation and advancement.

As one of the immortal sect’s own, An Wanshan fully understood what Li Xiaofei had done was nothing less than cutting at the roots of the sects, shaking the very foundations of their dominance, and loosening their grip on the world’s order.

Still, he couldn’t help but admire such a man. Perhaps only someone like this truly deserved to be called Immortal. But this world... This land... Had no place for a true immortal like him.

An Wanshan turned and departed, walking slowly along the winding mountain path beneath the starlit sky. This time, he said nothing about bringing Lu Jiansheng and the other disciples back to the sect. It was as if he had simply forgotten. But what he truly thought, only he himself knew.

The starlight was distant and cold. An Wanshan had never felt so lost. Halfway up the mountain, he turned and looked back at the vast encampment of tens of thousands at the foot of the mountain. From this height, it looked no larger than the palm of his hand.

"Perhaps in three days," he murmured, "This legend will come to an end and vanish like smoke in the wind... But this moment in history will never be forgotten in the hearts of martial artists across the land. Even if it is made taboo, even if it is buried, there will still be those who give their lives to pass this story down.

"But still... What a pity it is." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

An Wanshan let out a long, weary sigh. He didn’t believe Li Xiaofei would succeed at the Myriad Immortals Conference. When that moment came, the one called Immortal would not be merely facing the Myriad Saints Immortal Sect but the collective might of sixteen of the world’s most powerful immortal sects.

The world only saw the growing tide of followers that had gathered around Li Xiaofei over the past month. But what they failed to see was the steadily increasing number of cultivators now concentrated atop Mount Myriad Saints.

At that moment, the mountain had become the very nexus of this world’s mightiest cultivators. They bore cold, mocking smiles. Their eyes burned with killing intent. And they were all waiting for Li Xiaofei to walk straight into their trap.

To them, not only would Li Xiaofei perish, but his countless followers, too, would be slaughtered without even a place to bury their dead. That night, An Wanshan stood among the many peaks of the mountain range, facing the cold wind. He gazed at the stars and sighed all night long.