I Can Reincarnate Infinitely

Seeing Shi Shentong’s smug smile, a jolt of delight shot through Du Youqian.

"Elder Shi, you’ve suspected all along that there’s something wrong with Wandering Dragon? Then why didn’t you permit an investigation?"

Shi Shentong lowered his head again, staring at the bobber drifting on the water’s surface. "Haven’t I told you this before? Do you not remember? Back at the Elder Council meeting. First, there must be irrefutable proof. Second, this is just a minor issue."

Du Youqian was utterly stunned. "This... A True Disciple possibly colluding with the Demon Race, who could potentially unleash a worldly calamity from the Desolate Abyss—this is a minor issue?"

"Of course it’s a minor issue," Shi Shentong said adamantly.

Du Youqian couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger. "Then what, in your eyes, constitutes a major issue?"

Shi Shentong paid his rudeness no mind, saying calmly, "I’ve said it before. Unless a Tier Five or higher Great Demon appears, or a vast demon tide threatens to engulf the world."

After a pause, he added, "And, something I didn’t mention at the time: the Great Saint Incarnation beneath the Desolate Abyss."

Hearing this, Du Youqian grew even more incensed. But he was not a man without composure, so he simply offered a cold sneer. "Since there’s such a great hidden danger beneath the Desolate Abyss, and you, Elder Shi, already had your doubts about Wandering Dragon, why did you still allow him and Yin Ruozhen to garrison the Desolate Abyss? Aren’t you afraid he’ll release that Great Saint Incarnation?"

Shi Shentong chuckled softly. "If the Great Saint Incarnation isn’t released, how is the Blood Slaughter Sword supposed to slay it?"

Du Youqian’s mind reeled with a BUZZ, as if a bolt of lightning had just illuminated his thoughts. He could suddenly see things that were previously hidden, and countless clues snapped into place.

’This Elder Shi... he really is playing a grand game of chess!’

He was just a bit confused. "The Blood Slaughter Sword can’t reach the depths of the Desolate Abyss?"

Shi Shentong admitted, "Though rumors claim the Blood Slaughter Sword can strike any corner of the Nine Countries of Momenan Desert, the truth is, there are a few places it cannot reach. Beneath the Desolate Abyss, for instance."

’So that means... aside from those few places, the Blood Slaughter Sword really can strike anywhere in the Nine Countries of Momenan Desert...’

Du Youqian silently observed three seconds of mourning for anyone who ever crossed the Holy Blood Sect.

Then he voiced the question that had troubled him for so long. "If the Desolate Abyss holds such a great hidden danger, why didn’t our Human Race predecessors deal with it sooner? Why did they let the Demon Zombies there trickle out to wreak havoc upon the human world?"

Shi Shentong laughed again. "It seems you truly don’t understand what a Great Saint Incarnation implies."

"What does it imply?"

"It implies invincibility in the human world."

The words, spoken so casually by Shi Shentong, sent a chill of horror down Du Youqian’s spine.

’The word "invincible" isn’t something one should throw around lightly.’

’And Shi Shentong didn’t seem the type to make sensationalist claims.’

’Perhaps the Great Saint Incarnation truly is unbeatable in the human world!’

"If it’s invincible, then how can it be killed?" Du Youqian was now genuinely baffled.

"Heh." Shi Shentong gave a derisive chuckle and suddenly lifted his fishing rod.

The bobber hadn’t shown the slightest twitch, yet a small, silver-white fish was now wriggling on the hook.

Du Youqian’s eyes narrowed. He hadn’t even detected when the fish took the bait with his Divine Sense. How bizarre!

He extended his Divine Sense again, inspecting the fish carefully, but found it was just an ordinary silver-finned fish.

’How could such a fish possibly have eluded his Divine Sense?’

’The only possibility was that Elder Shi was playing a trick, using his far more powerful Divine Sense to distort and block my own.’

A chill ran through Du Youqian.

’This meant that if he were to engage in Sword Fighting with Elder Shi, he would likely be suppressed by the elder’s Divine Sense, leaving him virtually powerless to fight back.’

Shi Shentong deftly unhooked the small fish, tossed it back into the pond, re-baited the hook, and cast it into the water before continuing, "Even a Great Saint Incarnation that is invincible in the human world cannot withstand a swarm of Human Race Cultivators, especially when they’ve borrowed power from a higher plane."

"Besides, it wasn’t killed... only suppressed. In the human world, who could possibly kill it?"

"Now, after being suppressed for eight thousand years, its power has mostly dissipated. It’s time to resolve this problem once and for all."

Only then did Du Youqian understand.

’It wasn’t that the Sect’s leadership was blind to these matters.’

’They simply had other plans.’

’Wait a minute... I suppose I’m part of the Sect’s leadership now, too.’

Thinking back on what Elder Shi had said, he realized the elder was intentionally resolving some of his doubts. This was his chance to openly inquire about the Sect’s most confidential secrets.

Thus, Du Youqian cleared his throat. "Elder Shi, did Bai Shaofeng go to the outside world?"

"Of course."

’Just as I thought!’

Du Youqian’s spirits soared.

’Looks like I’ve temporarily received an ’Ask Me Anything’ buff today.’

’I might as well take this chance to get all my questions answered!’

"When a once-in-a-generation talent appears, is it standard procedure to send them to the outside world before Core Formation?"

"Why are they sent away?"

"How many passages lead from Momenan to the outside world?"

"What is the cost of sending someone out?"

"Are the passages one-way or two-way? Can Momenan receive information and instructions from the outside?"

"Besides the passages, are there other ways to reach the outside world?"

"Is there really something wrong with the Blood Slaughter Sword? Is it trapped in a slumber?"

"What is the purpose of Momenan’s existence? Is it truly just the last refuge for the Human Race?"

"..."

Du Youqian rattled off his questions, asking to his heart’s content.

And Elder Shi Shentong, true to form, answered every question without concealment.

He was so forthcoming that Du Youqian began to suspect he was just being casually fed a line of bull.

But considering the answers to all his questions...

’What he said was probably all true.’

After Du Youqian had finished his questions, Shi Shentong continued on like a rambling elder, using the serene tone of one passing life experience to a junior to explain the Sect’s secrets, its unwritten rules, the tacit understandings between the Taihe Sect and the Holy Blood Sect...

Du Youqian listened with rapt attention.

Then he began sharing amusing anecdotes he had personally experienced or heard over his five-hundred-year life—gossip, the rise and fall of various sects, the dark histories of some major figures...

Du Youqian listened with great interest.

Shi Shentong’s narrative gradually became more trivial and rambling.

The moon rose in the east, and the river of stars shone brilliantly. Du Youqian forced himself to stay alert and not yawn.

By the time Shi Shentong, though still eager to talk, had to send his guest away because it was simply too late, Du Youqian gave a sincere bow and then departed as if he were making an escape.

’From now on, unless absolutely necessary, I’m never coming back here to listen to the old man ramble.’

’He just talks... so much...’

’Like a surging river, it never ends.’

Returning to his own cave residence, Du Youqian sequestered himself in his secret chamber and began to recall and take stock of the information he had obtained from Elder Shi Shentong.

He then began to adjust his future plans based on this new information.

However, the most pressing matter was the affair of the Desolate Abyss.

’Something is definitely going to happen at the Desolate Abyss! But Elder Shi just wants to lure the snake out of its hole and solve the problem once and for all.’

’However, the Blood Slaughter Sword is indeed in a poor state. Every activation, even a partial one, consumes the entire Essence Blood of a Core Formation Early Stage Cultivator, leaving that Cultivator in a Living Dead state—unable to move or speak, untreatable, and with their lifespan drastically shortened.’

’With such a heavy price, it naturally cannot be used lightly.’

’Then again, for the Blood Slaughter Sword to be able to completely slay the Great Saint Incarnation, which is invincible in the human world... the level of the Blood Slaughter Sword is even greater than I previously imagined.’

’But even though the Great Saint Incarnation has been suppressed for eight thousand years and retains less than one percent of its strength, it still requires the full, coordinated, all-out effort of both the Blood Slaughter Sword and Jiang Shan Duojiao to slay it.’

’The Holy Blood Sect and the Taihe Sect have already reached an agreement. If the Great Saint Incarnation appears, each sect will offer up five Core Formation Cultivators as sacrifices. At the same time, they will also perform a Blood Sacrifice on several Core Formation Masters from other sects, offering up all their Essence Blood and souls—denying them even reincarnation—to boost the power of the Blood Slaughter Sword... I just hope they don’t choose Lin Sha and Fang Hua for the Blood Sacrifice.’

’So, to deal with the great trouble ahead—the potential massive demon tide and the Great Saint Incarnation—a large number of Core Formation Cultivators must be sacrificed. No wonder Meng Xiao, Fang Hua, and Luo Jinyu were so easily approved for loans to exchange for Core Formation Spiritual Objects... The Taihe and Holy Blood Sects are tacitly working together to loosen the restrictions, hoping more cultivators reach Core Formation. I was thinking that after they reached Core Formation, they’d have a better chance of surviving the coming turmoil. I never imagined it would just make them more likely to be chosen for sacrifice.’

’Elder Shi and the Supreme Elder of the Taihe Sect are both prepared. Even if it means sacrificing two-thirds of the Sect’s Core Formation Masters, they are determined to eliminate this threat for good, suppress the demon tide, and completely slay the Great Saint Incarnation.’

’In a situation like this... what can I do to protect myself, as well as my important subordinates like Fang Hua and Luo Jinyu?’