The farmer-looking man gave Ling Huyin a once-over, slow and thoughtful, like someone greeting an old friend after many years and wanting to see what had changed.

"Hmm. You don't feel like one of our kind," the man said. "Anyway, my name's Shan Yi. What can I help you with, dangerous traveler?"

Shan Yi... So he'd been right.

This was the former Sect Leader of the Blazing Sun Sect.

Ling Huyin wasn't worried about being found out. His technique wasn't like those of mere otherworlders or body-hoppers using Sky Grade techniques to extend their lifespan.

His was an Immortal technique, and Immortal techniques were absolute.

There weren't many detection-based Immortal techniques to begin with. And even fewer that could see through reincarnation.

"I'm someone who was once known as the Velvet Shadow Immortal," Ling Huyin said evenly. "My technique allows me to reincarnate. I thought we could help each other."

He met Shan Yi's eyes without hesitation.

"My current name is Ling Huyin."

Even if the technique couldn't be sensed, Shan Yi had likely already figured out something. The man had probably been watching him for some time, possibly even orchestrating the nearby monstrous beast hordes, just to see what he would do. Just to force his hand before a single word was spoken.

Ling Huyin understood Immortals.

You couldn't negotiate with them unless you stood on equal footing.

He didn't offer a full explanation of his technique's limits. But from what Shan Yi had already seen and what he could likely deduce, he would know this reincarnation wasn't a one-time fluke.

"Velvet Shadow Immortal?" Shan Yi rubbed his chin. "What generation were you from?"

"Almost the same as your Sect's founder, the Blazing Sun Immortal," Ling Huyin replied. "But I was a monstrous beast in my first life. I lived as a Nascent Soul cultivator for thousands of years before I broke through."

Of course, he wasn't revealing all of this out of naivety.

He had his own insurance.

There was a reason so few new Immortals made a splash these days.

A certain faction of immortals believed that too many of their kind walking the world might tip the balance and bring about another Great Calamity. So they acted early. Quietly. Efficiently.

Every five hundred to a thousand years, someone ascended.

And someone died.

Shan Yi wouldn't survive long unless he possessed an attack-type Immortal technique. Dead men knowing a few ancient secrets were no threat. That faction likely had an Immortal-grade divination technique; no place in this world was hidden from them for long. This guy was going to be found out soon too.

Even if Shan Yi had a reincarnation method… The next time he returned would be during the Age of Immortals.

"Reincarnation? That is quite interesting," Shan Yi said, his voice calm, almost nonchalant.

The way he spoke truly resembled that of a halfwit farmer. Ignorant, carefree, and unaware of the deeper forces moving the world.

But Ling Huyin knew better.

No Immortal who ever existed had been simple. There had been talentless people who reached immortality, yes, but never someone foolish. He'd never met an Immortal who could say they'd been taken advantage of. Not even once.

"It truly is," Ling Huyin replied smoothly, but he offered nothing more. Not yet.

Speaking of reincarnation...

Ninefold Reincarnation of Nine Turns. That was the name of his technique.

He could reincarnate nine times. The odd numbers blessed him with luck. The even numbers cursed him.

He wasn't sure how that luck was measured or calculated, but this one?

This was definitely a bad luck cycle.

Poor talent. Reborn in the middle of what might as well be an Immortal's tomb. Heaven's Chosen nearby. Monstrous beasts drawn in.

Textbook bad draw.

As for whether Shan Yi might kill him?

Unlikely.

And even if he did, Ling Huyin wasn't too worried. Revenge could wait.

He could activate the technique at any time. Even mid-torture. There was no scenario where this ended in true defeat. Nobody wanted an enemy like that to haunt him during seven lifetimes.

"How did you die?" Shan Yi asked. "I've heard of the Velvet Shadow Immortal, but never quite where he ended up or what he did. You were from the Central Continent, right?"

That line, delivered so casually, proved it.

Shan Yi wasn't as ignorant as he pretended to be.

"I died during my fourth heavenly calamity," Ling Huyin admitted without flinching.

It was early, by Immortal standards. He'd lived as one for only four centuries. But that wasn't uncommon among Immortals who lacked a combat-type Immortal Technique.

Some Immortals mocked the heavens, treating their tribulations like training sessions. Some even harvested resources from their calamities.

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But they were monsters of their generation.

And they died too. Eventually.

Still, at least Ling Huyin had learned one undeniable truth:

Immortal Techniques were absolute.

He'd died with his soul torn apart during a heavenly calamity.

And yet, he'd lived again.

The technique had activated.

He still had eight lives left.

His particular calamity had taken the form of a swarm of Soul-Eating Piranhas, monstrous beasts with no minds, even at the Nascent Soul stage. Perfect pawns for the Heaven's Will. Nothing to trick. Nothing to plead with.

Just hunger.

They had shredded his soul, torn through his spiritual defenses, and it should have been the end.

But it wasn't.

Despite this, Ling Huyin still felt a simmering dissatisfaction.

Every Immortal had an immortal technique. But not all techniques were equal.

If he'd had a combat-based Immortal Technique… those beasts wouldn't have even touched him.

Now, even with his current weak cultivation, he could still sense the Immortal Technique inside him. It wasn't entirely sealed. Not dormant.

He could even activate it.

"Okay, so why exactly did you come find me?" Shan Yi asked, forming a translucent wave of Qi in his hand that shaped itself into a fishing rod. "Ever tried fishing?"

What? Why had he changed the subject so abruptly? This was serious. Did this guy think Ling Huyin was someone he could just mess with?

Ling Huyin frowned. "Shan Yi, though you're an Immortal. I was one too. I see no reason for you to act like I'm some kid."

"Do you think I became an Immortal so other people could tell me how to do things?" Shan Yi shrugged, his expression utterly nonchalant. "Know your place, trash. As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, you're my plaything. I can do whatever I want with you."

Ling Huyin gathered Qi in his palm, the energy swirling tightly with silent intensity. His face remained calm, but his posture said otherwise; he was preparing to act. Strike, seal, something. The air around his hand shimmered faintly, the pressure building in steady pulses.

But before he could release it, Shan Yi smirked.

With a single, amused raise of his brow, the entire atmosphere shifted.

The sharp, coiled Qi between them unraveled like mist under sunlight. The pressure vanished. The energy collapsed. The warmth in Ling Huyin's palm flickered out like a snuffed candle.

Just like that.

No grand display. No flashy technique.

Just a thought was enough to dismantle the Sky Grade technique Ling Huyin had been preparing.

Of course, Ling Huyin knew the difference between an Immortal and a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Even a thousand Sky Grade techniques wouldn't matter.

But this wasn't about winning.

It was about showing that he was angry and unafraid to push things to a violent place. Maybe he couldn't kill Shan Yi in this life, but he had at least seven more tries.

"You're not going to be the first body-snatcher I've killed," Shan Yi said.

"Bet they weren't an Immortal," Ling Huyin replied.

Shan Yi shrugged. "Their situation resembles yours, but they were more into hopping down their bloodline."

Ling Huyin didn't think Shan Yi would lie about something like that. So, right then and there, he made a decision:

He would kill whoever that other person was, the one with a reincarnation technique like his.

After all, only he knew for sure that the soul could carry Immortal techniques even after death. Maybe the other guy's method worked differently… but he had to eliminate him just in case it didn't.

Because Ling Huyin knew, his technique might seem weak now…

But he had a theory.

Would he gain another Immortal technique if he reached Immortality again?

Theoretically, yes.

That meant each reincarnation wasn't just a fresh start but a stacking process.

Still, he needed to be careful. Immortal divination techniques could lock in a fixed fate… and that could counter his reincarnation entirely.

A true death.

Generally, he would rather kill every Immortal out there with a divination technique.

He just didn’t have the means. Yet.

And he had to be careful of the heavens too, because a certain someone had made sure he was noticed by the will of the heavens. He would likely face a calamity within the next hundred years.

But he had his own plans.

Now that he had confirmed through reincarnation that his technique worked and that he could likely retain his Immortal technique with each rebirth, it changed everything.

After all, Immortal techniques were absolute. No one had ever simply lost one. Not truly.

Potentially, he could become the only Immortal with nine Immortal techniques, one from each life. That would make him the strongest.

No Heavenly Calamity would ever be a threat again.

So, despite resolving to kill everyone who’d made contact with him so far and anyone who knew even the smallest detail about his technique, for now, he would tolerate them.

“I’m only offering a deal that would benefit us both,” Ling Huyin said. “After all, I know a way to access the Central Continent. That place is a treasure trove.”

And in this, he wasn’t lying.

“Oh? A deal? That’s nice,” Shan Yi replied.

“The last Immortal I met tried to kill me. I’m still kind of a junior at this, but it seems like having a simple, attack-type Immortal technique is… quite something.” Shan Yi smirked, as if he had no idea what he’d just revealed.

This guy...

Ling Huyin smiled faintly. This one hadn’t just broken through by accident. He knew what he was doing.

“Let me introduce myself again,” Shan Yi said. “My name’s Shan Yi. I’m starting to be known as the Deep Sea Immortal. Mostly because I’m always fishing when people are looking for me.”

He chuckled. “Probably should start doing something else. Never had any grand schemes about becoming an Immortal.”

That was the biggest lie Ling Huyin had ever heard.

Perhaps...

No.

This guy was dangerous.

There was something about Shan Yi that Ling Huyin couldn’t quite place.

He looked human. Calm. Relaxed. Even a little amused. But beneath that composed exterior was something else. Something off. Not in any way that could be sensed through spiritual perception or Qi-reading, but something deeper. A presence that didn’t match the man’s appearance.

When Ling Huyin was still a monstrous beast, his instincts saved his life more than he could count. They were sharper than reason, older than thought, and those same instincts now crawled up his spine like cold water.

Danger.

Not loud or obvious. But coiled. Like a serpent sunning itself on a rock, motionless, yet seconds from striking. Shan Yi didn’t emit killing intent. He didn’t need to. Just standing there, he stirred something deep and primal in Ling Huyin. The part of him that still remembered claws and survival and death.

He didn’t know what Shan Yi was hiding.

But his instincts whispered: be careful.

“Actually, I used to be more of a farmer kind of fellow,” Shan Yi said casually, as if any of this had anything to do with the conversation. “But now that I’ve become an Immortal, I decided to give fishing a try.”

Damn, Ling Huyin was actually starting to get irritated.

When was the last time he had actually been irritated before this?