My Journey to Immortality Begins with Hunting-Chapter 574 - A New World Born of That Sword - Part 2

In truth, Li Yuan had simply hid himself. It was only a fifth rank skill, not nearly enough for high-level combat, but perfect for moments like this.

In the still air, invisible to normal eyes, his ancient frame shifted. Muscles stretched, bones realigned, flesh firmed up. Silver hair darkened to black, wrinkles faded, skin smoothed. His once-withered presence now radiated power.

One step ago, he was an old man.

Now, he was a vigorous youth again.

He crossed the river. There, he found the old woman, hair white as snow, skin yellowed and drawn tightly over bone. Her eyes were clouded, blind. Her back bent low under the weight of years.

Li Yuan followed her from a distance. He saw her despair. Her panic.

She clutched a cane, her fingers wrapped around it so tightly they trembled. Every few steps, she struck the ground ahead in quick, frantic jabs, trying to feel her way forward.

Her hair was matted with grime, her clothes caked in dried mud. Bruises in dark purples and sickly greens marred her skin. Someone had beaten her badly.

Then, from the nearby woods, two dark figures suddenly leapt out.

Blades flashed silver under the sun.

In the blink of an eye, they were upon her.

Bandits.

Ever since the Human Emperor severed the Underworld with a single strike, the land had begun to recover. Life returned, slowly but surely. Some toiled to rebuild.

But there were always those who thought, why work when you can steal from those who do?

And so, bandits began to crawl out of the cracks once more.

Before, they had been careful. But now? All the powerful figures had either gathered in the Central Capital or were too busy scheming over how to secure a spot to cross eastward. Who among the strong still had time to care about a few roadside thieves?

It was like vultures in the sky. They never gave a damn about the ants killing each other down below.

Li Yuan paused, curious. So he stayed where he was and watched.

To the bandits, he was invisible.

These two weren’t even ninth rank, just armed thugs with combat powers of 2~3 and 3~4 floating above their heads.

“Hey, hag! Hand over all your money!” one of them barked.

The old woman trembled, startled by the sudden voice. “Great sir, I...I don’t have any money...”

The other bandit sneered, voice thick with menace. “No money? Then how’ve you stayed alive this long? You must have something!”

Panic surged across the old woman’s face. She fumbled through her ragged pockets, pleading, “Truly, I don’t. I’ve been eating wild grass...muddy riverbank clay... Please, have mercy!”

The two bandits exchanged a glance. One stepped forward and kicked her over, then reached for her clothes, muttering, “This old thing’s rags should still fetch a few coins.”

The woman screamed and begged, but both men closed in like wolves.

Yet just as they pounced, the old woman’s cane suddenly snapped into motion. Like a venomous snake, it lashed out in a sharp, fluid thrust, driving straight into one bandit’s throat.

The other froze for a heartbeat, then lifted his blade in a panic, aiming to strike her down. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

The woman heard the blade cutting through the air and instinctively raised her cane to block.

The blow landed hard.

She was smashed down into the mud, her hands bloodied, her breath caught. The bandit rushed her, eager to finish the job.

But just as he raised his blade again, her cane moved once more.

A sudden, clean jab from below, angling upward, pierced through his neck.

CRACK! The bandit collapsed, clutching at his throat, gasping in horror and pain.

The old woman didn’t move for a long moment.

Then, like a puppet with its strings cut, she slumped flat in the dirt, barely breathing.

After what felt like ages, she stirred again. Slowly, painfully, she crawled to the dying bandit’s side. Her trembling hand rose and pressed down on his forehead. Her fingers clamped down.

And then, a faint shimmer began to rise from his body.

A flicker of energy, raw and vital, bled from his form into her hand.

But most of itvanished into the air, wasted.

Only the tiniest sliver seeped into her.

Li Yuan knew that feeling well.

It was lifespan.

She was using some forbidden art to siphon lifespan from the dying. But her method was crude, terribly inefficient. It didn’t make her stronger. It only helped her cling to life, barely scraping together more time.

The old woman, now slightly recovered, rose to her feet again. Leaning heavily on her cane, she resumed her journey along the river.

Step by step, she made her way to the water’s edge. She waited. Listened.

Then, after several attempts, she stabbed her cane into the shallows and managed to skewer a fish.

But as she tried to reel it in, her foot slipped on the slick mud.

She toppled forward, collapsing in a soaked heap at the water’s edge.

It was a long time before she managed to push herself up again.

Li Yuan revealed himself behind the old woman.

He didn’t bother to hide his presence.

But the blind woman had no idea anyone had appeared. She went about her routine, hurriedly gathering twigs, fumbling to build a small fire, then awkwardly trying to roast a fish over the flames.

Li Yuan vanished again, watching in silence.

It was painfully obvious how difficult this was for her. She was blind. It took her ages, but eventually, she managed to set the fish over the fire.

Just then, two burly young men happened to pass by. Catching the scent of the roasting fish, they wandered over. Upon realizing the woman was blind, one of the boys waited until she stepped aside to fetch more kindling, then crept up, snatched the fish, and bolted.

By the time the woman returned, all she felt was emptiness above the fire.

Her hands groped the air in desperation, finding nothing.

The fish was gone.

She broke down in wailing sobs.

To any passerby, she was just another struggling beggar, nothing special. This kind of sorrow, this kind of suffering, was everywhere in this land.

But to Li Yuan, this was...pitiful beyond words.

This woman was the former leader of the Green Lotus Cult. She was one of the shadowy hands that had once stirred chaos across the world. The one who had engineered the Grand Union of Yin and Yang from behind the curtain. The linchpin who had bridged the powerhouses of East and West. The original architect who proposed the flying boat to the Immortal Domain.

And now, she had fallen this low.

She cried like her heart was breaking.

Li Yuan didn’t hide this time. He walked to her side, and deliberately scraped a stone with his shoe to make some noise.

The woman instantly snapped to attention. Her hands clutched her cane. Her blind eyes turned toward the sound, full of fear and tension.

“It’s been a while, Cult Leader Ying.” His voice was calm and unhidden.

She froze. The name echoed in her mind. Her lips quivered. After a long delay, she dropped her cane and collapsed forward, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Senior... Senior...”

The words caught in her throat as she wept with abandon.

Li Yuan watched her in silence. Then, after a pause, he stepped forward, gently lifted her trembling hand, and pressed it to his own.

“Eat,” he said softly.

She hesitated. Her throat moved as if to swallow, but she didn’t dare draw in anything.

“Eat,” he said again, his tone unwavering.

At last, her parched lips twitched slightly. A faint suction began to stir in the center of her palm.

Li Yuan could feel his lifespan beginning to trickle away.

But it was so feeble, like a newborn nursing, that he barely felt a thing.

And yet, that tiny thread of life was a miracle for her.

Before his eyes, she began to transform.

The withered, wrinkled skin grew smooth and pale. The gaunt frame filled out, turning slender and delicate like a frail beauty just beginning to recover from long illness.

It didn’t take long.

The old woman vanished.

In her place knelt a young woman in tattered rags, breathtaking in her beauty, her features soft and luminous, her eyes like carved jade, brimming with tears and confusion.

She caught her breath, then fell to her knees before Li Yuan, trembling as she bowed her head.

“My master...” she whispered.

Li Yuan raised a brow. “Wasn’t your master the Northern Dipper?”

Ying Zhuoyao looked up with trembling lips. “From now on...you are my master.”

Li Yuan had already found the answer he’d been looking for. Yan Yu had won.

Now, it was time to dig out the secrets that Ying Zhuoyao still carried.

“Can you see now?” he asked.

“I can,” she replied. “As long as I maintain this youthful form, I can still access some of my spiritual abilities. But I’ll need a steady supply of lifespan to sustain it.”

Li Yuan asked, “What about your fearless soldiers?”

Her voice turned sorrowful. “They’re all dead. The Northern Dipper fell into chaos. When the nest is destroyed, no egg survives. Maybe...only the Three Sovereigns might hold out a little longer. They were the pinnacle of the Xia Dynasty’s strength. They probably had some means to shield themselves for a while. But even they won’t last forever.”

“Which Three Sovereigns?” Li Yuan pressed.

“The Celestial Sovereign, Terrestrial Sovereign, and Human Sovereign,” she answered,

“The Celestial and Terrestrial Sovereigns escaped to the Immortal Domain. They’re hiding out within sects, regaining their strength while trying to find a path to reach second rank. If they succeed, they might escape the fate of death and truly live again. But the Human Sovereign was captured. He’s being held in the sky prison in the Central Capital. No word on whether he’s alive or dead.”

“This lifespan draining skill you use, was that something you got from the Northern Dipper?” Li Yuan asked.

“Yes,” she replied. “It doesn’t just drain lifespan. It can draw out souls...or even infuse them into others. But from now on, I only obey you, my master. If you forbid me from using it, then I will never use it again.”

Ying Zhuoyao had become incredibly obedient. Before Li Yuan, she was no longer the ruthless manipulator she once was. She was as meek as a lamb. Whatever he asked, she would answer. Whatever he commanded, she would obey without hesitation.

She understood now. The man in front of her was the only reason she was still alive. The only chance she had to keep living.

Just then, a strange sound echoed faintly through the air.

Gurgle, gurgle! It came from Ying Zhuoyao’s stomach.

Li Yuan glanced at her and said, “Come. I’ll take you to eat.”

“Thank you, Master.” She immediately stood, following close behind him, her steps small and careful, nervous to fall out of step with him.

When they entered a nearby town, they drew many curious stares.

The girl wrapped in old, threadbare clothes still looked stunning. Passersby were visibly taken aback, their eyes lingering in awe.

Even dressed in rags, Ying Zhuoyao was otherworldly. The aura of a Jade Husk still clung to her, lending a surreal elegance to her beauty.

And yet, just over an hour ago, she’d been a dying old crone.

Li Yuan first took her to a proper meal. Then to a guesthouse, where she could bathe and change clothes.

When she stepped out again, all signs of hardship were gone.

She looked every bit the young noble lady, radiant, refined, almost too perfect to be real.

But no noble lady could match the air she carried. That strange, quiet allure of someone who had once crossed life and death.

“Master,” she said sweetly, bowing.

Li Yuan waved a hand. “Call me Young Master.”

“Yes, Young Master,” she replied at once, lowering her eyes.

The two of them strolled leisurely through the town, with Ying Zhuoyao trailing closely behind Li Yuan like a proper, obedient little maidservant. Onlookers whispered to each other along the way:

“Whose young lord is that? Such a pretty maid...”

“What luck this young man has. She’s a rare beauty.”

At one point, even the dim-witted son of a local lord came up and asked with a goofy grin, “Hey, is your maid for sale?”

Li Yuan didn’t dignify him with a response.

Soon after, he bought a horse-drawn carriage in town and climbed aboard, settling in comfortably. Ying Zhuoyao, without needing to be told, slipped into the driver’s seat at the front.

“Where to, Young Master?” she asked sweetly, her tone full of charm and flattery.

“Out of town,” Li Yuan said simply.

“Got it~” she chirped, playing the cute and obedient servant to perfection. There wasn’t a trace left of the fierce old crone from before.

Before long, the carriage rolled out past the town gates and onto the open road.

Only then did Li Yuan speak again. “What exactly is happening to this land? What’s changed?”

Ying Zhuoyao knew this was her chance to prove her worth, and she wasn’t about to waste it. She took a breath, composed her thoughts, and began.

“A new world is forming...one that no one foresaw.”

“Oh?” Li Yuan arched a brow and glanced at his own status screen.

There, he saw a change in his skill list. Imperial System 1 (0/9) had changed to Imperial System 2 (???).

Ying Zhuoyao continued, “The Grand Union of Yin and Yang has been shattered. This land will no longer be able to nurture Heaven, Earth, or Human Soul cultivators. And it won’t stop there. All cultivators, regardless of their current strength, will gradually decline. Over time, they’ll regress, until they’re little better than mundane martial artists, not even at ninth rank. It won’t happen overnight. But it will happen.”

She paused briefly to calculate. “30 years... In 30 years, not just the Central Plain, but even the Eastern Sea’s Immortal Domain will be no more.

“But from that collapse...a new world will rise. All martial artists will be able to cultivate a new kind of power. It’s a power that once belonged to the Human Emperor.

“No, more than that. It’s a fusion of the Human Emperor, Outerborn, and the essence of these mountains and rivers.”

After a long silence, Ying Zhuoyao gave a bitter smile. “The Human Emperor...destroyed one world, only to create another.”

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes. “How do you know all this?”

“From the Age of the Ancient Gods,” she answered without hesitation. “A secret stele of arts. Back when I served the Northern Dipper, he sent me to retrieve one of them to help me carry out his plans more effectively.”

“That stele...it revealed the secrets of destiny. It allowed me to glimpse the larger tides of fate, blurry and imprecise, but better than nothing.

“Still, this era is full of variables. The future constantly shifts. Every time I peer into fate or reveal even a sliver of it...it costs me lifespan. But...if I only divine the current moment, without touching future variables, I can be accurate.”

Li Yuan’s gaze sharpened. “Ancient Gods? Secret stele? What exactly are those?”

Ying Zhuoyao answered easily, without a trace of hesitation. “The Great Xia Dynasty was founded 30,000 years ago. Anything before that is the Age of the Ancient Gods.”

“What about the ones buried in the Deathless Tomb?” Li Yuan asked. “Are those the ancient gods?”

Ying Zhuoyao gave a cold little laugh. “Them? No. They don’t even come close.”