Chapter 8: The Eternal Separation of Immortals and Mortals

High above in the sky, strange phenomena appeared once again!

A giant sword, forged through a thousand hammerings, had been left in the shadows, ignored for a thousand years.

As time passed, its blade lost its luster, its edge lost its sharpness, and its entire body became covered in rust!

However, a feeling of fury and unwillingness suddenly surged forth!

The erosion of rust grew more severe, yet the extraordinary nature and majesty of the giant sword increased with each passing day!

"Foundation Establishment cultivator Dao Xuanzi, having cultivated the Dao for two hundred and one years, achieved his Dao Foundation with the strange object [Rusted Sword Dao Xuan]. In the Immortal Extinction Land, he fought against another, and ultimately died at the hands of Foundation Establishment cultivator Kou Hong."

"Now that my body has perished and my Dao has dissipated, I return the Dao to the Heavens!"

The spectacular scene lit up the sky for thousands of miles like fireworks.

"Dao Xuanzi…" Kou Hong looked up at the magnificent sight, seemingly stunned, and muttered to himself incessantly.

All the soldiers present also looked up at the sky, lost in a daze.

"This old man, Li Fan, greets the Immortal Master."

At that moment, an elderly man with white hair and beard, leaning on a cane, walked trembling to Kou Hong's side.

Kou Hong ignored him, but Li Fan was not in a hurry; while waiting on the side, he also signaled for the soldiers to wait patiently.

After a long time, when the strange phenomena in the sky dissipated, Kou Hong finally looked at Li Fan.

"Are you the leader of the Mortals here?" Kou Hong's tone was stiff; clearly, he did not have a good impression of Li Fan. "The voice that echoed everywhere earlier was yours, right?"

"A meager trick, unworthy of the Immortal Master's Dharma Eye." Li Fan cupped his hands, avoiding the topic, and bowed deeply: "I implore the Immortal Master to show mercy and save the lives of the thousand-plus members of my clan."

"Mercy…" Kou Hong sneered upon hearing this. "My battle with Dao Xuanzi was based on our own abilities; life and death are determined by fate. You, a mere Mortal, actually dared to interfere in a battle between us Immortal Cultivators."

He looked at Li Fan, the Killing Intent in his words undisguised: "Come to think of it, although Dao Xuanzi and I fought to the death for the Core Formation Technique, he was still my brother of over a hundred years. Now that you have ambushed him, should I kill you to avenge Dao Xuanzi?"

Ignoring Kou Hong's aggressive demeanor, Li Fan just smiled bitterly: "It is merely a quest for a sliver of survival! Just as I said before, if the Immortal Master had been defeated, my clansmen would certainly not have escaped death."

Kou Hong's expression softened upon hearing this. He sighed lightly: "A good quest for a sliver of survival. You are right; the world is difficult, and who isn't struggling bitterly for that sliver of survival?"

Seeing Kou Hong's tone soften, Li Fan immediately pressed his advantage: "Previously, Dao Xuanzi… the Immortal Master had promised me that if…"

Before he could finish, Kou Hong frowned and interrupted him: "If it's about that, I'm afraid I have to disappoint you. Dao Xuanzi likely never intended to fulfill his promise from the beginning."

Li Fan was stunned: "What does the Immortal Master mean by that?"

Kou Hong said with a hint of mockery: "For a hundred years, Dao Xuanzi has maintained an image of being serious and keeping his word, but I didn't expect that in reality, he has no bottom line and would even deceive Mortals."

He paused, looked at Li Fan's expression, and continued: "The Immortal Extinction Array is extremely dangerous; the fact that we two were able to break in was partly due to luck. We would have to expend great effort just to leave ourselves, so how could we possibly take a Mortal with us?"

"What? You don't even know the method to leave this place?" Li Fan's mind was shaken violently, and his complexion turned extremely ugly. Over a hundred years of anticipation had been personally denied by the Immortal Cultivator in front of him; Li Fan's composure nearly collapsed.

Fortunately, Li Fan had experienced many lifetimes of tempering, and his mind was resilient. He steadied himself and said to Kou Hong: "This is not a place to talk; please follow me, Immortal Master."

Saying this, he led Kou Hong through the ruins of Mystic Capital City for a while, arriving at an underground bunker.

When Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi were fighting earlier, the soldiers in the city had been hiding in these bunkers. In Mystic Capital City, there were over a hundred such bunkers, large and small.

Although the bunker was buried deep underground, it was illuminated by lights, making it as bright as day. Furthermore, there were ventilation ducts connecting to the outside, so it did not feel stuffy.

Kou Hong examined the lights on the ceiling with great interest and praised: "No wonder Dao Xuanzi sought cooperation with you Mortals earlier. Being able to constrain and utilize the power of lightning, it seems that over thousands of years, you Mortals of the Immortal Extinction Land have truly developed quite well. And that hidden weapon from before could also be considered to have decent power."

Immediately after, he shook his head: "It's a pity; only in this place where the Dao is incomplete are these Magical Artifacts of any use. Once outside, under the suppression of the Laws of the Great Dao, these things would have no place to be used."

"Come to think of it, when did Dao Xuanzi find you and have you ambush me here? The timeline doesn't match up. Could it be that he secretly cultivated a Clone technique?" Kou Hong suddenly remembered something and asked abruptly.

Li Fan remained calm and was about to answer when he saw Kou Hong suddenly lose interest and wave his hand: "Forget it, why dwell on this matter. After the body dies and the Dao dissipates, everything is empty." Having said that, he sat directly on a chair, looking quite dispirited. He was clearly quite affected by Dao Xuanzi's death.

"It's best not to ask; if I say too much, there will inevitably be flaws." Li Fan thought to himself.

Subsequently, he asked Kou Hong with a nervous expression: "What the Immortal Master said earlier, about being unable to take Mortals out of this Immortal Extinction Land, is that true?"

Kou Hong sneered: "You are a mere Mortal, why would I lie to you? Perhaps a Golden Core Stage Cultivator could protect a Mortal to break through that Immortal Extinction Array, but if it's only Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation, it is absolutely impossible!"

"Of course, if you don't mind only having a few fragments left after going out, I would be willing to give it a try."

Ignoring this not-so-funny joke from Kou Hong, Li Fan asked, unwilling to give up: "Is it possible that we Mortals have no hope of leaving this world?"

Kou Hong thought for a moment, then shook his head: "To leave the Immortal Extinction Land, one must break through the Immortal Extinction Array. With a mere Mortal body, it is completely impossible to break through. Any attempt is just seeking one's own death. Besides, you are at an age where half your body is already in the grave; why are you so obsessed with leaving here? Being a local emperor is pretty good, isn't it?"

Kou Hong looked disapproving.

"It doesn't matter if this old man dies, but I ultimately want to leave a hope for my descendants." Li Fan, unwilling to give up, asked again: "If my descendants could Cultivate to the Foundation Establishment Stage like the Immortal Master, wouldn't it then be possible to leave here?"

Kou Hong laughed out loud upon hearing this: "Not to mention that there is no Spiritual Qi here at all, making it impossible to Cultivate. Simply put, Immortals and Mortals are eternally separated; the Mortals here are covered in Miasma, so how can they Cultivate the Immortal Dao?"

Kou Hong sneered: "I advise you to give up on this idea. You Mortals, if you want to Cultivate, must first go to the outside world to reshape your bodies and wash away the Miasma. Otherwise, even if the path to Immortal Ascension were placed right in front of you, you would be able to see it, but not touch it."

With several questions in a row, Kou Hong was so certain that Li Fan seemed to have finally given up.

"The eternal separation of Immortals and Mortals, the eternal separation of Immortals and Mortals…" Li Fan muttered to himself in a daze, "So, there is really no way?"

"There really isn't." Seeing Li Fan's mood depressed to the extreme, Kou Hong felt inexplicably great.

"There really isn't." He repeated.

"Just as the Immortal Master said, Immortals and Mortals are eternally separated." Li Fan sighed deeply.

"Ah, yes, yes, yes." Kou Hong nodded repeatedly.

Li Fan seemed to be struck by this cruel fact, his expression somewhat dazed, and he took his leave.

The moment he walked out of the bunker, the door slammed shut.

Kou Hong's expression changed, and a bad premonition arose in his heart.

However, it was too late.

Rolling White Mist containing the Immortal-Mortal Miasma surged out from all parts of the room.

"Ah!"

Kou Hong let out a scream and was submerged in the thick fog.

Outside the bunker, Li Fan's gaze was deep, and he said slowly: "Since Immortals and Mortals cannot coexist."

"Then how could I, a mere Mortal, dare to fully believe what you said."