Chapter 335: Longevity Finally Has an End

"It seems like they don't have much of an effect, right?" Immortal Venerable Jicheng smiled as he voiced the doubt for Simon Yue.

Simon Yue quickly bowed his head to apologize.

Immortal Venerable Jicheng waved his hand dismissively. "The celestial capital feather transformation pill grants eight hundred years of life. The longevity fruit, five hundred years. The past life longevity fruit, three hundred years."

"These are all extremely rare treasures. Among the countless treasures I have seen in my past three thousand six hundred and twelve years, the value of these few definitely ranks near the top."

"And yet, now they are all being wasted on a dying man like me."

Immortal Venerable Jicheng spoke with a touch of self-deprecation.

"Combined, they could add sixteen hundred years of life to an ordinary Cultivator."

"But when used on me…"

"Hehe, guess what the effect is?"

Immortal Venerable Jicheng asked.

Seeing that Immortal Venerable Jicheng seemed quite approachable, Han Yi grew a bit bolder.

He was the first to answer, "Five hundred years?"

Immortal Venerable Jicheng gave a light chuckle and shook his head repeatedly.

"Two hundred years?" Simon Yue guessed.

Immortal Venerable Jicheng still shook his head.

"Twenty years?" Li Fan suddenly spoke up.

The number he guessed was somewhat absurd, causing both Han Yi and Simon Yue to look toward him.

"Though you are quite bold, you still overestimated it!" Immortal Venerable Jicheng laughed heartily, extending his right hand and holding up one finger.

"Ten years."

"That is the final deadline I can manage to win for myself."

"And that is even after factoring in the longevity treasures offered by other Cultivators."

Immortal Venerable Jicheng spoke with a muffled, laughing voice.

Li Fan and the others, upon hearing this, all showed expressions of shock.

"How can this be?" Simon Yue's face was full of disbelief. "Could it be that the appraisal effects of the tianxuan mirror are also false?"

Li Fan and Han Yi also looked extremely solemn, gazing at Immortal Venerable Jicheng as they sought an answer from him.

Instead of answering immediately, Immortal Venerable Jicheng pointed at the large tree in front of them and asked the three, "Do you know what kind of tree this is?"

Han Yi and Simon Yue looked for a while, then both shook their heads, failing to recognize it.

Li Fan, however, said without hesitation, "The Azure Cloud Willow. It is an ordinary spiritual wood with no value other than being ornamental."

After all, his time spent reading the Heavenly Doctor Immortal Scripture had not been in vain.

Immortal Venerable Jicheng scrutinized Li Fan with his cloudy eyes, seemingly surprised that he could identify it.

He then asked, "Then do you know how many years an Azure Cloud Willow can live at most?"

Li Fan thought for a moment and said, "For an Azure Cloud Willow to live eight hundred years is already rare in the world. Exceeding a thousand years is almost impossible."

Immortal Venerable Jicheng nodded slowly. "You are correct."

"This Azure Cloud Willow was planted by me back when I broke through to the Dao Integration Realm and was appointed as the successor to the Commander-in-Chief of the Garrison Academy."

"That was already over nine hundred years ago."

"At that time, I was full of vigor and ambition."

"I thought death was still far away from me. I thought I could take another step forward and have hope for immortality."

Jicheng shook his head.

"I truly didn't know the height of the heavens or the depth of the earth…"

The Immortal Venerable sighed and returned to the main topic.

"Over these past hundred years, I have watched with my own eyes as this old partner who has accompanied me all the way was about to die of old age."

"I tried every possible method to preserve its life."

"Azure Wood Spirit Liquid, Immortal Soil Nectar…"

"I've tried all kinds of treasures."

"But it only barely managed to pull it back from the brink of death."

"Lingering on the edge of death…"

"At that time, I knew. Death is inevitable for us."

Immortal Venerable Jicheng looked up at the withered Azure Cloud Willow once more.

"I just didn't expect the same fate to fall upon me so soon."

After Immortal Venerable Jicheng finished speaking, he fell into silence.

Li Fan and the others looked at each other, not daring to make a sound to disturb him, and could only stand quietly and wait.

After a long while, Jicheng slowly spoke again: "When the end of one's lifespan is near, apart from taking a step further and completing one's own overall transformation, all other means can only slightly delay the arrival of death."

"Not only is the effect greatly diminished, but the more one struggles, the faster other similar methods lose their efficacy."

"For instance, these longevity treasures you've handed in. I have already taken too many with similar effects before. That is why sixteen hundred years turned into ten years."

"If Heaven's Will decrees you die at the third watch, it is truly difficult to keep you until the fifth."

Jicheng looked up at the sky, a strange expression flashing through his cloudy eyes.

"However, ten years. For me, it is enough."

The old man's voice gradually lowered until Li Fan and the others could no longer hear clearly.

"May I ask, Immortal Venerable, does this mean that these longevity treasures are actually not as precious as imagined?" After a long time, Han Yi couldn't help but ask.

Immortal Venerable Jicheng glanced at the three and gave a low laugh.

"The younger you are, the more precious they are."

"The older you are, the more useless they become."

"Do you understand?"

Hearing this, all three wore thoughtful expressions.

"Alright, seeing you vibrant young people today, I've talked more than usual."

"Now it is time to give you your rewards."

Without any visible movement from Immortal Venerable Jicheng, three jade tokens emitting a seven-colored exquisite light suddenly appeared and flew toward Li Fan and the others.

Li Fan caught the jade token and saw profound patterns carved around the edges, surrounding the character for 'Law' in the center.

"This is the jin fa jade token. With this token, you can go to the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance Headquarters, the Protector Hall, and apply to use the derivation law jade," Jicheng introduced to the three.

As if remembering something, Immortal Venerable Jicheng reminded them again, "Remember, one jin fa jade token only grants one application opportunity."

"After the application is sent, you may have to wait a long time before it is your turn. Moreover, each Law Derivation has a time limit."

"Do not be overly greedy and cause yourselves to miss out."

"Hehe, back in the day…"

Immortal Venerable Jicheng's voice grew smaller and smaller, finally becoming inaudible.

At this moment, the blue-robed Cultivator who had led them in earlier quietly reappeared by their side.

"Let's go."

He sent a voice transmission.

Li Fan and the others put away their jin fa jade tokens and slowly withdrew from the courtyard.

"Young man, a word of advice. Your jade token can only apply to derive Cultivation Techniques at the Nascent Soul level. If it's only used to derive a main technique for cultivation Realms, it would be a bit of a waste."

"You can try to have the derivation law jade derive techniques with special effects."

"Even if it's only at the Nascent Soul level, it might have miraculous effects."

Just as Li Fan stepped out of the small courtyard, Immortal Venerable Jicheng's voice suddenly sounded in his ear.

Li Fan couldn't help but look back, only to see Immortal Venerable Jicheng as he had first seen him, stroking the withered Azure Cloud Willow.

His back looked lonely.

Li Fan saw an old man walking toward the end of his life.

Slowly bowing to him, Li Fan quietly departed.