Immortalis

White Dog Fifteen

This voice... she had heard it before.

Chu Qiqi's heart turned cold. The moment she recognized the voice, she couldn't help but tremble: "You are..."

In the blink of an eye, Song Lan's voice transformed from that of a gentle young man into a sinister middle-aged tone.

He laughed: "You've all gathered here merely to find the Palace of Eternal Life, but alas, those with eyes but no vision can never attain longevity."

By now, not only Chu Qiqi, but even Shen Qingshi and Yang Wujian felt their hair stand on end.

They both recognized this voice.

Even though Shen Qingshi's memories were hazy, she would never forget this voice, just like that brand that would remain on her body forever.

It was...

Shen Qingshi's face turned deathly pale, and Yang Wujian was the same. He watched as Song Lan slowly peeled off a thin mask from his face, followed by the cracking sounds of his bones as he instantly stretched into a thin, withered White-faced Old Daoist.

Even though Yang Wujian was considered an expert in disguise, he had only mastered Bone Shrinking and never learned the ultimate skill of wearing human skin masks for extended periods to completely become another person.

The one who had taught him Bone Shrinking and voice changing since childhood was the true master of disguise.

It can't be...

Yang Wujian's eyes widened. Although he had once considered that person might still be alive, he never expected to see him appear directly before him.

Old Palace Master Guanri.

Yang Wujian's entire body tensed instantly. The last time he had seen this person was over ten years ago, when Guanri had madly swung his palm at him, only to be blocked back by Mingshan and Gu Yun.

Back then, Guanri had genuinely wanted to kill him.

"Quite a few old friends here."

Fifteen years ago, it wasn't just Yang Wujian who had seen Guanri. Longyin Sword had once dealt with the Old Palace Master of Longevity Palace. He abruptly stood up, his face ashen: "Longevity Palace..."

How could it be... How could he still be alive?

Was he the White-faced Guest?

Yang Wujian stared incredulously at Guanri's face. Apart from his skin tone becoming paler, he looked almost no different from fifteen years ago, even appearing somewhat younger.

Why was this?

Anyone who used the Longevity Heart Sutra would inevitably deplete their internal energy and vitality. If used continuously, one would need to constantly take tonics. All medicine has some toxicity, and when medicinal properties accumulate in the Five Viscera and Six Bowels, even frequent Blood Washing would be useless. This was why, ultimately, those of Longevity Palace rarely lived out normal lifespans.

To live long, one couldn't use the Longevity Heart Sutra. However, as the saying goes, it's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury to frugality. Once one experienced that dominealing technique that allowed internal energy to bypass meridians and acupoints, almost no one would choose not to use it.

Not to mention that before joining the palace, most Longevity Palace members were starving people with poor origins and nowhere to make a living. To live with dignity, they would rather have shorter lives than abandon this path.

Over the years, no one from Longevity Palace had ever turned back, which was why Yang Wujian had never considered that Guanri might still be alive.

Could it be that he abandoned the Longevity Heart Sutra and entered Medicine King Mountain?

Yang Wujian's mind was in chaos, but then an even more terrifying thought leaped into his mind.

No, it wasn't that he wasn't using the Longevity Heart Sutra.Only by employing the Longevity Heart Sutra could he possess such terrifying power—to casually brutalize the chief disciple of the Jade Pavilion, or rather, to have the audacity to appear directly before the Four Seas Alliance.

Yang Wujian felt a chill run through his entire body.

He understood clearly that there was only one possibility why Guanri could use the Longevity Heart Sutra and still be alive today...

Guanri had been hiding in Medicine King Mountain, using the rare herbs and plants found there, and had achieved great mastery in alchemy.

By now, the other factions of the Four Seas Alliance had also realized who the newcomer was. The disciples surrounded Guanri, but he merely smiled and looked at Chu Qiqi.

"Miss Chu, though I don't mind adding a few more lives to my tally, why not let me speak the truth? After all, having served as Elder Song Lan for so long, I owe him a debt of gratitude."

Guanri strolled leisurely, while Zhou Huai, fearing he would attack Zhou Jinglei, rushed forward to shield him. Yet the moment he met Guanri's pale face, Zhou Huai's mind felt as if pierced by needles, dizzy and disoriented, as if on the verge of contracting the Evil Sickness.

Guanri said, "Back then, I merely heard by chance that disciples of Medicine King Mountain would come to this village seeking medicine, so I went to the village to see the wonders of Medicine King Mountain. Unexpectedly, I discovered White Dog and found it quite intriguing... Though not an immortal, he dared to call himself a deity. I deliberately approached him and found that beneath his handsome exterior, he was nothing but a mortal clinging to worldly desires. So, I thought, why not use him to help me? After all, I still needed many Flesh Conduits."

Flesh Conduit.

Hearing these words from Guanri's mouth, Shen Qingshi felt as if struck by lightning, her mind buzzing instantly.

In her daze, she saw Guanri standing outside the cage, his eyes lowered as he looked at her. There was neither sorrow nor joy in his gaze, as if he were staring at a piece of meat on a chopping board.

"Ugh..."

Shen Qingshi's head throbbed with unbearable pain, and she clutched her forehead. Only then did Yang Wujian suddenly remember Shen Qingshi's identity and almost instinctively shielded her behind him.

Had Guanri recognized her?

If he had never been Song Lan from the start, then had he approached Shen Qingshi because...

Yang Wujian shuddered, nearly unable to resist dragging Shen Qingshi away on the spot. But at that moment, a deafening roar echoed as a massive iron cage descended from above, trapping all of them inside.

Zhou Jinglei said coldly, "If you dare cause trouble in White Rainbow Tower, you must be prepared not to leave."

"Tower Master Zhou, you're too hasty. Let me finish my story first."

Guanri acted as if he didn't notice the surrounding crowd, still smiling. "Since you didn't want me to refine the Cicada Molt, I had no choice but to settle for second best and select some other Flesh Conduits—such as voluntary sacrifices. After all, White Dog Village had a deity. Where there is a deity, people obediently follow. So, I told that foolish young man that I could help him leave White Dog Village to be with Miss Chu, but he had to give the villagers an explanation, or rather, a promise. For example... to take a divine prescription, after which they would be free from all illnesses."

"Stop..."

Chu Qiqi covered her ears in despair. "No... It was you! It had nothing to do with him! It was you!"

Guanri looked at her with leisurely composure. "Miss Chu, if someone is willing to be a Flesh Conduit, why would I need that beast? You've gone to great lengths to preserve your little lover's clean reputation."

"I..."Chu Qiqi’s face was streaked with tears: “It was you all along! You deceived him! You tricked him into believing it was just a prescription to make them sleep—you never told him it was poison!”

Zhou Huai was startled: “What? Weren’t they killed by wild beasts…?”

Guanri laughed heartily: “How could that be? To me, they were all excellent Flesh Conduits. Why would I let wild beasts devour them and waste those bodies willingly offered to death? It was all because of that foolish lad. I ordered him to deliver a divine decree, commanding the villagers to take that medicine. And he, eager to meet Miss Chu, complied without a second thought… But when he realized something was wrong with the prescription, the fool refused to hand over their bodies to me. He desperately scattered the powder everywhere, attracting hordes of wild beasts and ruining all my plans.”

Yang Wujian felt a chill in his heart.

Guanri had used others to do his dirty work. To obtain willing Flesh Conduits, he had deceived White Dog into making the villagers voluntarily consume poison. When White Dog discovered the truth and refused to comply, he used Howling Whistle pollen to destroy the villagers’ bodies. In the end, he himself also…

Guanri sighed with regret: “If he had chosen to leave then, I might have let him go. But he stubbornly refused, claiming he would sacrifice himself for the village. He scattered the remaining powder all over his own body. How foolish! Miss Chu, if not for his stupidity, you wouldn’t have ruined your face trying to save him, covered in Howling Whistle powder, would you?”

“Shut up! It was you! All his life, he never wanted to betray the people of White Dog Village who raised him—but you! You made him carry the weight of all those lives! You!”

Like a madwoman, Chu Qiqi drew a dagger from her robes and charged forward. Just as Yang Wujian moved to stop her, Guanri lightly raised his hand. An invisible, razor-sharp blade of internal energy extracted from his body pierced straight through Chu Qiqi’s chest.

“Miss Chu, you’ve already stabbed me once. Now it’s my turn.”

With a claw-like gesture through the air, Chu Qiqi coughed up a mouthful of blood. A gaping hole was torn open in her chest, her heart meridian completely severed.

Guanri smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll send you to meet that foolish dog right away.”

With a flick of his wrist, Chu Qiqi’s eyes widened, and she collapsed to the ground like a broken puppet.

“Longevity Heart Sutra!”

Longyin Sword gasped in shock.

Everyone in the martial world had heard of the Longevity Heart Sutra, but few had ever witnessed it.

Fifteen years ago, when several major sects besieged Longevity Palace, they had killed five of the Ten Elders. The martial arts they displayed back then were just as terrifying and bizarre as what had just been witnessed.

After killing Chu Qiqi, not a single drop of blood stained Guanri’s hands. As he lifted his gaze, the surrounding disciples immediately took a step back, none daring to approach.

Guanri chuckled. “That’s the story of White Dog Village. That foolish dog ruined my Flesh Conduits, but fortunately, on that very day, Medicine King Mountain sent someone seeking medicine. I initially planned to use that girl as a Flesh Conduit, but then I thought—if I could ascend Medicine King Mountain, wouldn’t all the world’s rare treasures fall into my hands? So, I casually fed her some pills I had refined and gave her a bit of internal energy. The girl went mad. After that, all I had to do was send her back to Medicine King Mountain. Once she caused chaos and killed people, it would be much easier for me to ascend the mountain.”

“Wait, so you’ve been on the mountain since the day Yin Qu’er returned?”

Cang Shu’s face turned deathly pale.For six long years, this demon of Longevity Palace who refined elixirs using human flesh had been hiding on the mountain, yet they remained completely unaware—even providing him with countless rare herbs and plants...

Guanri took out the handkerchief embroidered with violets from his sleeve and sighed, "I was still wondering whose skin to wear, but I never expected this fool to deliver himself to my doorstep. I watched him enter the Medicine Furnace, actually searching for the Medicine Pouch. What a pity for that silly girl—until the very end, she kept murmuring about her beloved. I suppose I did her a favor by slaughtering that heartless scoundrel and dissolving his body completely. Then, with a single blaze, I sent them to reunite in the Yellow Springs."

In those few words lay eight human lives. Everyone present was horrified.

Just then, Guanri caught sight of Lei Shuang, who looked as if facing a formidable enemy, from the corner of his eye and remarked casually, "Oh, by the way, Sect Leader Lei, that prized disciple of yours, Chang Xiuyun—that’s her name, right? I did kill her. As for the man with her, I merely disposed of him incidentally. He probably wasn’t her lover. Sect Leader Lei, you truly wronged her on that matter... Wasn’t the bridal chamber I prepared that day quite splendid?"

Lei Shuang’s face turned ashen, and she immediately drew her sword. Beside her, her four disciples loosened their grip, and the twelve mastiffs lunged at Guanri in unison. Yet, with a casual wave of his hand, he sliced them in half at the waist, scattering severed limbs and dog blood across the ground.

Had his Longevity Heart Sutra cultivation reached such a level?

Yang Wujian inwardly shuddered, pulling Shen Qingshi back. Unexpectedly, Guanri suddenly turned his head and glanced at him from afar, as if recognizing him, then smiled at him.

"You’re all so eager to find Longevity Palace—I’ve come to grant you a glimpse. But..." Guanri laughed, "Pavilion Master Zhou, are you certain you want to trap us in the same cage?"

With that, he reached out and pulled through the air. A terrifying, immense inner force, like an invisible rope, yanked Zhou Huai directly toward him. Zhou Jinglei gasped sharply, "Don’t touch him!"

Immediately, mechanisms clanked from above, and the indestructible iron cage enclosing the crowd slowly rose. Guanri laughed heartily twice, then vanished from outside the cage in a flicker of movement. Only then did the various sects seem to snap out of their daze, rushing in pursuit toward that direction.

"Young Shen—"

Yang Wujian was about to warn that this man was perilous, but his hand closed on empty air. Without a word, Shen Qingshi had already disappeared in front of the Seven Killings Pavilion, chasing after the figure.