Starting with a Super Five-Star Hotel-Chapter 541 Immortal Mountain Old Sect Master_1

Chapter 541: Chapter 541 Immortal Mountain Old Sect Master_1

"This..."

"How is this possible!"

When the fire was finally extinguished, Ning Wan stood amidst a pile of ruins. Seeing the charred remains of Ning Zhendao, she was too shocked to speak.

The enemy she had schemed so desperately to kill... had burned to death just like that? A Longevity Realm expert shouldn’t be able to die in a fire. How could this happen?

She’d never dreamed of such a scenario.

"He was indeed burned to death."

Su Xuan stood beside Ning Wan. He scanned Ning Zhendao’s remains with his mutant vision and said this in a low voice.

Before he could say more, Ma Beiqiu hurried over. As the master of Golden Lotus Peak, he personally examined Ning Zhendao’s remains before turning to Ning Wan.

"Your honorable father might have been practicing a certain technique before the accident. Perhaps it was because he drank too much, but something went wrong with his cultivation. He lost control of his internal fire, which incinerated his body from the inside and started the blaze. Miss Ning, my condolences."

This was the same conclusion Su Xuan had wanted to share with Ning Wan. Ning Zhendao’s remains confirmed it: he had burned from the inside out, rather than being killed by the external flames.

Ma Beiqiu then dispersed the crowd, leaving Ying Lan alone with her "father’s" remains. Only Su Xuan was allowed to stay with her.

"Waaah!"

As soon as everyone else had left, Ying Lan let out a loud wail. The sound made the departing crowd’s hearts ache with sorrow. But no one knew that her crying was just an act.

A moment later, Su Xuan patted Ying Lan’s shoulder. "Alright, you can stop crying now. No one’s around to hear you."

"Okay."

Ying Lan nodded, then turned to Su Xuan with a grim expression. "I don’t believe he died just like that."

Su Xuan glanced at Ning Zhendao’s pitch-black remains. "I don’t believe it either."

"This is probably just one of his tricks," Ying Lan pursed her lips. "He must have impersonated someone else again, maybe someone from Immortal Mountain! You know how much he yearned to come here. Immortal Mountain is a far greater prize to him than Hua Shui City."

"If you’re right..." Su Xuan mused, "then hunting him down becomes much more difficult. Neither of us knows anything about Immortal Mountain, so we have no idea who he might be impersonating."

"That is a problem," Ying Lan agreed with a nod. "That’s why I need to stay at Immortal Mountain for a few more days and meet more people. Maybe I’ll be able to recognize him."

Su Xuan was silent for a moment before saying, "I could recognize him too if I saw him."

He then added, "But what’s his purpose in doing this? Is it simply for Immortal Mountain’s cultivation resources?"

Ying Lan pouted. "Who the hell knows!"

***

「That night.」

While everyone was still discussing the fire at Golden Lotus Peak, an old man lay on his sickbed in a secluded courtyard, coughing incessantly. This was Liu Yangshu, the former Sect Leader of Shunfeng Immortal Mountain.

Two guards were stationed at the courtyard entrance.

"The Old Sect Leader is at the end of his tether. I wonder how many more days he can hold on."

"I know. I really thought I’d get to see the Old Sect Leader ascend, but it seems he never managed to take that final step."

"Has anyone been able to ascend since Ancestor Meng left?"

"Some say the place Ancestor Meng went—the supposed land of ascension—is just a grand deception."

"Why don’t you go check it out, then?"

The two guards chatted about matters they didn’t fully understand, yawning occasionally.

Neither of them noticed a shadow, like a patch of clinging mud, scaling the courtyard wall. It wriggled into the yard and then slithered silently along the ground toward the Old Sect Leader’s room.

This clump of mud had a face: the face of Tang Heng, a subordinate of the Fifth Elder. This was the same Tang Heng who had confronted Su Xuan at Golden Lotus Peak earlier that night, only to be hit by his Seven Star Burst technique.

Now, he seemed completely boneless, his movements utterly eerie.

COUGH, COUGH!

Inside the room, the Immortal Mountain’s Old Sect Leader, Liu Yangshu, coughed violently and reached for the water beside his bed. He knew his condition well. He had reached the end of his life force and was on the verge of dying from old age.

Although he could accept his death with equanimity, his failing body was not so willing. It fought on, instinctively seeking a way to prolong his life.

"Hm?"

Old Sect Leader Liu Yangshu’s hand froze. He tilted his head slightly, his dull, lifeless gaze falling to the floor.

He saw a puddle of something slowly gathering, then rising, twisting into a human silhouette in the blink of an eye!

Is it because my time is up? Are my eyes playing tricks on me?

He couldn’t help but think it was a hallucination. But the intense wave of danger that followed made him realize this was no illusion. An assassin! Someone was here to kill him!

"Guards..."

He opened his mouth, wanting to shout for the men outside.

A hand clamped over his mouth.

"Don’t shout."

"This is for the good of us both."

The Old Sect Leader’s eyes widened as he slowly made out the assassin’s face. He recognized the man as one of the Fifth Elder’s disciples, a young man named Tang Heng. He remembered awarding the young man a prize after a trial two years ago, praising him as one of Immortal Mountain’s greatest prodigies!

Then, Tang Heng began to say some very strange things:

"Liu Yangshu, I know you don’t want to die."

"Your cultivation has reached its peak. You have a real chance of taking that legendary final step."

"But Ancestor Meng cut off your path. You can only die of old age!"

"Don’t be afraid, though. I can give you a chance to live again!"

"I’ve waited for you in Hua Shui City for so many years, all for this very moment!"

"I won’t wait a second longer!"

As Tang Heng spoke with a dark expression, he firmly gripped Liu Yangshu’s neck.

Liu Yangshu’s mouth stretched wide. His trembling hand rose, trying to pry Tang Heng’s fingers from his throat.

HISSS!

Tang Heng’s own mouth opened wide, and a stream of black vapor gushed out, pouring into Liu Yangshu’s mouth...

An indeterminate amount of time passed.

Liu Yangshu’s dull eyes suddenly shone with a bright light. The deep wrinkles etched upon his face seemed to smooth out a bit. He appeared to have grown much younger all at once!

THUD!

With a gentle lift of his hand, Liu Yangshu pushed Tang Heng, who was still standing at the bedside gripping his neck, to the floor.

Tang Heng lay on the ground, no longer breathing.

"Heh heh, fortunately, everything went smoothly!"

"Who would have thought I could go from being a mere city lord to the Sect Leader of Immortal Mountain?"

"Although this body is on the verge of decay, its value to me is immeasurable!"

"Whether I can open that door..."

"It all comes down to this!"

His voice kept changing, shifting from Ning Zhendao’s to Tang Heng’s, and finally from Tang Heng’s to Liu Yangshu’s.

Then, Liu Yangshu slowly got out of bed. With a loud CRACK, he stretched his body and then pushed open the door, walking outside.

"Old Sect Leader?"

"Sir, why are you up?"

The two guards had just heard a noise from Liu Yangshu’s room and were rushing over to investigate. They were stunned to see the Old Sect Leader, a man who looked like he could breathe his last at any moment, walking out on his own. He even looked rather spirited!

Liu Yangshu ignored the two guards. He gazed up at the crescent moon just emerging from behind the clouds and murmured to himself:

"The times are changing..."

"...for this world on the mountain!"