Eternal Life by Daily Divination

"Her injuries aren’t serious. She’ll recover after a moment of meditation."

Li Chang’an withdrew his Magical Power, relieved.

Nearby.

Chang Lan stared at him blankly, her heart reeling in disbelief.

It was difficult to associate the Li Chang’an of this moment with the ’turtle’ from the rumors.

Moving alone through the chaotic Black Dragon Mountain Range, immobilizing an Array with a single strike of his staff, and slaying a Demon Beast in one blow—he cut the figure of a decisive and ruthless expert!

Though he looked young, he exuded an air of resilience and aged wisdom, like a senior who had weathered endless ages. He seemed trustworthy at a glance, inspiring an unconscious desire to rely on him.

At this moment.

Xu Sijing was every bit as shocked as Chang Lan.

She took a deep breath, quelling the storm in her heart, then cupped her hands in thanks.

"Thank you for your help, Daoist Li."

"It was no trouble."

Li Chang’an replied nonchalantly. His only reason for being there was to save Su Yuyan.

Once he confirmed Su Yuyan was unharmed,

He relied on his Pupil of Truth, channeled the power of his Wind-Stabilizing Staff, and struck the Array’s weak points in quick succession.

In the blink of an eye.

The entire Array was shattered.

Then, his figure blurred, becoming a series of afterimages as he plucked the Array Flags and Array Treasures from the void around them.

A moment later.

Li Chang’an collected the entire Array.

He began the Refinement of the Array’s core and learned its details.

’A Tier Two Middle Grade Array, the Blood Sacrifice Nether Killing Array. Its power is decent. I’ll set it up on Changqing Mountain when I get back.’

The spoils from this trip were quite good. Li Chang’an was rather satisfied.

He turned to Su Yuyan. "Yuyan, come with me. We’re leaving the Black Dragon Mountain Range. I had a premonition just now—something big is about to happen. We can’t linger here!"

"Okay, Brother Li. I’ll do whatever you say."

Su Yuyan smiled sweetly.

Xu Sijing and Chang Lan both asked if they could leave with Li Chang’an as well.

Li Chang’an did not refuse.

Just like that.

The four of them set off on their journey back.

...

「Two days later.」

They finally walked out of the Black Dragon Mountain Range.

The journey had been fraught with danger, with constant attacks from Demon Beasts.

Li Chang’an looked back and saw the horizon was a swath of blood-red, suffocatingly oppressive.

He performed a quick Divination. The results still pointed to endless chaos and slaughter. To get a more precise reading, he would have to expend some of his lifespan.

’Forget it. This has nothing to do with me. I’ll just wait and see what happens.’

Not long after, the four of them returned to Yellow Crane Immortal City.

Yellow Crane Immortal City was much emptier than usual.

Many Cultivators had charged into the Black Dragon Mountain Range and had yet to return.

Su Yuyan and the other two returned to the Cyan Cloud Sect’s residence, where they learned that the Sect’s Golden Core Ancestor and many of its Foundation Establishment Cultivators had still not come back.

Li Chang’an, for his part, paid a visit to Zheng Qingqing’s house.

Zheng Qingqing was an Alchemist with a Tier Two Skill, so she had no need to go out adventuring. All she had to do was focus on her Alchemy.

Throughout the nearly six-month-long Beast Tide, she had remained safe and sound.

"There’s something strange about this Beast Tide. Yellow Crane Immortal City might not be safe for much longer. If you sense things are taking a bad turn, you should leave as soon as possible."

Li Chang’an warned, mentioning the results of his Divination.

Zheng Qingqing was first surprised that Li Chang’an possessed yet another Tier Two Skill, then became somewhat puzzled.

"Chang’an, the Major Sects and Noble Families almost all have Cultivators who’ve reached Tier Two in Divination, and some might even have Tier Three Divination Masters. Is it possible none of them predicted anything unusual?"

"Hard to say."

Li Chang’an shook his head.

The Demon Beasts have been preparing for several years. They might have methods specifically to counter Divination.

All things have their counters. In the Cultivation Immortality Realm, this principle of mutual counters is especially profound.

Li Chang’an himself knew of a few ways to counter Divination.

For example, certain special Arrays can obscure heavenly secrets, and some bizarre locations are impossible to scry through Divination.

He himself, for instance, could not be read by such means.

...

「Seven days later.」

Li Chang’an left Zheng Qingqing’s house.

He paid a visit to Yuelai Restaurant and found Xu Fugui holed up there, doing just fine.

From the start of the Beast Tide until now, Xu Fugui hadn’t gone to the front lines to kill a single Demon. He had been single-mindedly hiding in the restaurant, having truly mastered Li Chang’an’s doctrine of caution.

"Brother Li, I’ve remembered your warning this whole time. I won’t go anywhere near the slightest hint of danger!"

"Good!"

Li Chang’an was pleased.

Xu Fugui, for his part, felt incredibly lucky.

When the Demon Beasts were routed, many of his friends had invited him to join the pursuit, telling him it was a golden opportunity to scavenge for loot. They said if he missed it, he’d regret it for the rest of his life.

But now, not a single one of those friends had returned.

Over the past few days, a steady stream of news had trickled out of the Black Dragon Mountain Range.

The situation was far from the optimistic initial reports; in fact, it was utterly disastrous.

The Demon Beasts were far more cunning than anyone had imagined. Their supposed rout appeared to have been a premeditated trap.

"Brother Li, so many people have died in the Black Dragon Mountain Range."

"I heard that many were lured into traps by the Demon Beasts. Those who weren’t killed were maimed. Few managed to escape in one piece."

Xu Fugui recounted the news he had gathered, his voice laced with worry.

A few more days passed, and more news emerged, almost all of it from the survivors who made it back.

The news spread like wildfire, discussed by everyone as it flew through every corner of Yellow Crane Immortal City.

"It’s a tragedy! An absolute tragedy!"

"The Cyan Cloud Sect lost several of its geniuses!"

"The Beast Taming Zhou Family lost many of its geniuses too. They couldn’t even recover the bodies—they can only erect cenotaphs."

"..."

Countless were killed and injured in the Black Dragon Mountain Range as Celestial Prides fell one after another.

The atmosphere throughout Yellow Crane Immortal City grew increasingly oppressive.

「A few days later.」

Two mangled corpses were brought back to the Immortal City.

Countless people were shocked when they saw the faces of the two corpses.

They were none other than the two renowned Foundation Establishment Loose Cultivators!

"Those two were practically walking advertisements for success! You’d think they would have been well-protected. How could even they have died?"