CHAPTER 473:

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"Qingzhuo, do you mean… let us endure him?"

The Grand Elder of the Great Dao Sect frowned, feeling a bit displeased.

"Not really," Elder Qingzhuo smiled and said.

"Endurance, but with no specific purpose or benefit."

"To be more precise, our method is… to wait!"

Wait?

When this word was spoken, the other elders also reacted.

That’s right.

The path of immortality is a long journey that humanity has explored over many years; life is long but has an end.

It is said that those who can ascend to immortality have limitless lifespans, living as long as the heavens and the earth, as long as the sun and moon.

But even a Nascent Soul cultivator, after the decline of spiritual energy, can still live for a thousand or two thousand years.

"Qingzhuo, it must be you," said the Grand Elder in realization.

"If one practices diligently, thirty or fifty years is just the time it takes for us to enter seclusion once."

"Not to mention enduring for a hundred years, even in thirty or fifty years, all the martial artists in this world will have grown old and passed away, their life force completely used up."

It is well-known that martial artists do not live long lives and there is not much difference from ordinary people who do not practice martial arts.

Especially those who practice external martial arts, strong and powerful in their youth, but in old age, they suffer from hidden injuries and weakened energy, sometimes even worse than healthier ordinary people.

The longest-lived among humans is the founding emperor Yan of the Great Yan Imperial Court, who was born with a Medicine Spirit Body and extended his life using heavenly treasures.

At three hundred years old, Founding Emperor Yan is already the oldest martial artist in the world, but his age is still just a fraction compared to the elders.

Besides Founding Emperor Yan, the only other martial artists still active in the Jiu Province are the Earth Sword Immortal brothers and Li Changshi, who are relics of the previous generation, aging between seventy and ninety years old.

These elderly martial artists, who practice top-tier internal skills and are still active today, are extremely rare long-lived individuals in the world.

But when compared to cultivators of the immortal path…

As for the Qiao family member…

"How old are the Qiao family members again?" Some people felt a hint of unease.

The Qiao family members are too mysterious, with many things that even we cultivators of the immortal path find unbelievable.

The martial arts of the Qiao family, which practices the Human Path Sutra, are almost no different from those of young people in their twenties, making it hard to judge their age.

The Qiao family members are said to be famous for their long lifespan, having several elders who are over a hundred years old… It is said that some of them even have lifespans that rival that of the Founding Emperor Yan.

If calculated this way, the oldest could be three to five hundred years old, right?

But in the end, these rumors are just like the claims that the Qiao family members have a once-in-a-lifetime teleportation ability, which are unfounded.

The long lifespan spoken of by ordinary people is not the same as the immortality sought after by cultivators of the immortal path.

Life is rare at seventy, and a hundred-year-old person can be called a treasure… but how many martial artists in this world have lived past a hundred years?

So, Elder Qingzhuo’s answer is to endure.

"That’s right, we rely on endurance, outlast them."

"Cultivators have long lives, and compared to martial artists, they live longer, just right."

"Maybe by the next time I wake up from my meditation, all the Qiao family members will have aged and passed away."

"Still, Junior Brother Qingzhuo holds great wisdom and does not concern himself with the present troubles."

The Nascent Soul Elders began to discuss and found it very feasible.

A few among them felt a bit worried, but at this point, they naturally would not speak up.

With the sect leader deceased and the Supreme Elder trapped in a small world, the Great Dao Sect is now leaderless, leaving no other choice.

"Endure, just endure!"

"The Soul Predicting Path chose to stay hidden, probably thinking about this situation."

"Ha, if I can’t win, can I not escape? The martial artists of this world only know how to attack with fists and kicks; they don’t understand my mystical methods!"

"It’s a pity that a member of the Qiao family is guarding the entrance of our Great Dao Sect; we cannot leave. If we did, like the Soul Predicting Path, we could just disappear and hide. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?"

We cannot leave the Great Dao Sect.

But the other Immortal Gates are different.

…………………………….

At the ruins of the Qingxuan Road Immortal Gate.

Qiao Mu stood quietly beside his dead companions, his feet resting on the crushed head of the Qingxuan Road sect leader.

He waited a long time in the ruins of this mountain gate, but he could not see the so-called Supreme Elder appear.

"This is boring. Let’s go to the next Immortal Gate."

Qiao Mu closed his eyes and used his intuition to connect with his flesh clone far away in another state.

The Nine Heavenly Immortal Gates of today.

The four sects of Qingxuan Road, Yunxiao Sect, Blood Lotus Sect, and Xuantian Sect have been destroyed and turned to dust.

The Great Dao Sect was guarded by Qiao Mu’s flesh clone from Zhong Province, while the Soul Predicting Path stayed hidden, leaving no trace in the whole Southeast Province, disappearing without a trace.

Among the remaining sects, there are still three: Long Life Gate in Dong Province, Tongtian Sword Sect in the Northwest, and Liangyi Sect in the Northeast.

But this time, when Qiao Mu cleared the three states and attacked the place of the Immortal Gate.

He ended up empty-handed.

Some Immortal Gates have become empty, with only a few silent pavilions remaining, showing no signs of cultivators living there anymore.

Some Immortal Gates have completely vanished, leaving behind a deep pit where the mountain once stood, with no clue as to where they have gone.

"The Nine Heavenly Immortal Gates, are they really gone?"

Qiao Mu walked alone in the desolate ruins of the Liangyi Sect Immortal Gate, filled with doubt.

The Taoist temple in the great city of Jiu Province has been mostly destroyed by him.

Even if a few remain, they are unlikely to make any difference.

"Have the other Immortal Gates also mysteriously learned from the original Soul Predicting Path and escaped by unknown means?"

Qiao Mu quickly found Li Gongde to talk in detail.

But Li Gongde was also helpless at the moment; his cultivation was only at the Golden Core Stage, and he did not possess the complete inheritance of the Merit Sect.

For the other methods of the Immortal Gate, a golden core cultivator like him was naturally powerless.

Later, Qiao Mu also tried to find Lingling Taoist Priest, who had reached the Nascent Soul Stage, but he had no way to do so.

Qiao Mu clenched his fist, feeling a sense of confusion as he looked around with a desire to draw his sword.

Invincible in the human world, the whole world is silent.

He searched throughout Jiu Province, breaking through the gates of the Nine Heavenly Immortal Gates, but not only did he fail to find any Supreme Elder from ancient times still alive, even the traces of the Immortal Gate were gradually disappearing.

By this time, there were very few cultivators from the Nine Heavenly Immortal Gates left in the human world.

Once, there were nine Immortal Gates in Jiu Province, but now they have turned into a fleeting memory.

Nearly half have perished, and the others have chosen to hide away, avoiding the spotlight.

If one were to mention an Immortal Gate still standing in the human world, it would only be the Zhong Province Great Dao Sect, protected by the Nine Palace Mother and Child Formation.

In the end, Qiao Mu left a flesh clone at the old site of Nine Heavenly Immortal Gates to secretly observe the changes.

……………….

"As spring turns to autumn, half a year has passed in the human world, and this feeling is quite rare."

"But I still don’t believe Nine Heavenly Immortal Gates will simply give up… After all, before heavy rain, the mountains are always a bit quieter."

"I can’t believe Immortal Gate would let things continue peacefully in the human world like this."

"With no rivals in the human world and surrounded by silence, the feeling of looking around with my sword drawn is quite strange."

In the Western Province Kuafu Mountain Secret Realm.

Qiao Mu sat on the ground with a lazy, fat cat curled up in his lap, gently stroking it while mumbling to a Blood Flesh Divine Being that was ten meters long.

The Blood Flesh Divine Being remained silent, but vague outlines of a face began to appear on its originally blank face.

Looking like this, he somewhat resembles Wu Qizheng from the past.

Over the past six months, Qiao Mu has tried to save Wu Qizheng, but his efforts have been in vain.

The fact that the faceless Blood Flesh Divine Being gradually grew a face cannot be credited to his achievements.

In the four hundred years of Long Life Dream before Qiao Mu destroyed Bei Province Qingxuan Road, he tried to practice the "Divine Human Transformation" left by Martial Saint.

But he quickly realized that "Divine Human Transformation" was actually a trap.

Divine Human Transformation is a martial arts secret technique that has not yet been fully developed, and even the original Martial Saint, after using "Divine Human Transformation," gradually fell into despair.

Only after Qiao Mu stripped away a large amount of blood and flesh, causing the towering Blood Flesh Divine Being to shrink rapidly, did it gradually regain its clarity.

This was Martial Saint’s final desperate measure; the consequences of it were something the original Martial Saint could no longer fully consider.

Therefore, Qiao Mu cannot find answers to Wu Qizheng’s condition from the techniques left by Martial Saint.

Because Martial Saint also had no solution.

During the past six months, the Nine Heavenly Immortal Gates remained hidden, and the reputation of the Qiao family spread throughout Jiu Province.

Especially the unrivaled Qiao Shuangtu and the Master of Peach Blossom Villa, Qiao Xin.

Throughout Jiu Province, there was no one who could match their brilliance; wherever they went, the Immortal Gates would retreat and hide away.

"But even if one is unmatched in the world, there are still things they cannot do," Qiao Mu said slowly.

"Having babies?" Fat Cat yawned and interrupted.

Qiao Mu remained silent.

"Having kittens?"

Qiao Mu ignored Fat Cat’s interruption and continued:

"Only you can save yourself; even I cannot help you at all."

"This is something that even Martial Saint from the past could not do, and you—"

Qiao Mu stared at the blurry face of the Blood Flesh Divine Being and said nothing more.

"In fact, if peace really comes, then living peacefully for a while wouldn’t be bad."

Qiao Mu closed his eyes.

In the past six months, in search of the missing Nine Heavenly Immortal Gates, he had traveled all over Jiu Province, but he still found nothing.

In Jiu Province, where there were no Immortal Gates and no temples with offerings, even though only half a year had passed, it looked like it was ready for many things to begin anew.

"Living through some peaceful days without fighting wouldn’t be so bad," Qiao Mu said slowly.

"In over ten thousand years, this is the first time there has been such a peaceful moment."

As he said this, he opened his eyes once more.

The sharpness that was in his eyes before was gone, and there was no trace of menace.

Instead, they were gradually calm, like an ordinary person who is gentle and friendly.

"But this peace is ultimately just a lie."

Qiao Mu placed his hand over his heart, feeling the beat of his heart.

Half a year—it’s not long and it’s not short.

If we talk about the progress in martial arts, you can’t really achieve much in just six months.

He only understood one thing in his heart:

Either he would eradicate the Immortal Gate, or his life would come to an end.

This matter must have a result, otherwise he will never find peace in his heart, always having something to worry about.

"It is time to put an end to this."

He muttered as he walked outside.

The Nine Heavenly Immortal Gates hid away, but there was one exception.

That was the Great Dao Sect, which was faintly at the forefront of the Nine Heavenly Immortal Gates.

This sect had a deep connection with Qiao Mu, who had always taken special care of it, and had earliest assigned a flesh clone to guard the sect.

Qiao Mu could not enter, and the Great Dao Sect cultivators could not come out.

With the flesh clone watching, even if the Great Dao Sect had hidden methods, they could not act under Qiao Mu’s watch.

Therefore, this Great Dao Sect is now the last remaining Immortal Gate in Jiu Province.

Leaving the Secret Realm, they just came out of Kuafu Mountain.

They saw Wu Jing and Li Gongde already waiting outside.

"Senior Qiao Shuangtu," Wu Jing said.

"For more than half a year, I have searched hard, and I finally found where the Sun Xuan Envoy of the Wuji Association went."

"Oh?" Qiao Mu said in surprise.

This Sun Xuan Envoy is actually similar to Li Gongde; both are cultivators who received the teachings from the Merit Sect of the Ten Earth Gates.

Their cultivation level is also Golden Core Stage, not yet at Nascent Soul.

If the Nine Heavenly Immortal Gates have other hidden powers, even if they are not his match, they may have some secret techniques to hide from the world. How could the Sun Xuan Envoy, being just a golden core cultivator, hide for so long?

"Where is he?" Qiao Mu asked directly.

The Sun Xuan Envoy took away some of the powers from the seventy-two wise men and the so-called "First Sage," which made Qiao Mu quite curious.

"It’s in Zhong Province," Wu Jing replied, hesitating a bit.

"Zhong Province? That’s on the way. We can deal with that first," Qiao Mu nodded and then asked,

"Where in Zhong Province?"

"In Zhong Province…." Wu Jing hesitated for a long time before saying,

"In the Imperial Capital of Zhong Province, at the Great Yan Palace!"

Qiao Mu was slightly taken aback.

"I see now."

No wonder the Sun Xuan Envoy has been able to hide for so long… The Great Yan Palace is a place that could be considered a blind spot in the search by Qiao Mu, Wu Jing, and the others.

In that place, the Founding Emperor Yan held the Human Emperor Sword. Even when the Nine Heavenly Immortal Gates were still around, they were cautious and did not directly attack the Imperial Capital. Instead, they chose to create the Earthly Immortal Kingdom and support the puppet Martial Arts King…

The Sun Xuan Envoy, a golden core cultivator, was hiding in the Great Yan palace, hoping to deceive Founding Emperor Yan, which was simply impossible.

But… why was this Sun Xuan Envoy involved with Founding Emperor Yan?

……………………

It has been half a year since the Nine Heavenly Immortal Gates went into hiding.

The Qiao family has not taken any major actions in half a year, but in this past half year, the Jiu Province has undergone significant changes.

The downfall of the Nine Heavenly Immortal Gates and their disappearance meant that the Martial Arts King they supported also became an empty dream without roots, collapsing and breaking apart in an instant. The so-called Earthly Immortal Kingdom quickly split and fell apart.

Today, there is only one and a half Martial Arts Kings still alive.

The half is the Feather King Qin Li, who has transformed into the Jingwei Bird.

One was a Medicine Man from the Xuantian Sect in Nan Province, a golden core cultivator, known as Southern King Wang Songhe.

During the six months of Immortal Gate’s hidden existence, Jiu Province had been recovering from the previous "Chaos of the Nine Kings" and had not experienced any large-scale wars.

Southern King Wang Songhe still held up the banner of rebellion—his opposition was not only against Immortal Gate but also against the Great Yan Imperial Court that bowed to Immortal Gate.