A second life, An Eternal journey to Immortality

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At this time, Jiang Cheng saw several curious drinkers. After the warrior stood up, they also stood up, as if they wanted to follow quietly.

  One of them happened to pass by his table. He flicked his fingers lightly, continued to drink, and inadvertently snapped his fingers toward the window.

Once the group had left the restaurant, Jiang Cheng finished his meal at a leisurely pace before making his way back to the inn.

At noon, he set his plan into motion.

He spent some time capturing several common birds, selecting the most intelligent among them. Then, with careful precision, he placed low-level control talismans on them—small, unassuming seals that subtly influenced their instincts without producing any spiritual fluctuations. After all, in the mortal world, any technique carrying the slightest hint of spiritual power could attract unwanted attention.

Jiang Cheng tested the effectiveness of the talismans by issuing simple commands. The birds responded well, circling above and following his silent directions. Satisfied, he released them to gather intelligence across the city, using their natural presence to scout without raising suspicion.

For the rest of the day, he stayed in the inn, drinking tea by the window and occasionally closing his eyes to meditate. He remained patient, waiting for nightfall.

Late at night, Jiang Cheng made his move.

Dressed in dark, unassuming robes, he activated the Breath Containment Technique, erasing any trace of his presence. Then, pulling the Phantom Shadow Cloak over his shoulders, he blended seamlessly into the shadows. To ordinary eyes, he was nothing more than a whisper in the wind.

Above, several of his controlled birds circled lazily in the sky, guiding him toward his destination—the residence of the wealthy businessman Liu.

As he moved through the silent streets, he remained hyper-aware of his surroundings. In a city like Yanzhou, where warriors and rogue cultivators mingled freely, it was best to assume that danger lurked in every shadow.

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Jiang Cheng quietly observed the surroundings, his sharp senses picking up on several faint presences hidden in the darkness. Among them were the steady breaths of warriors lying in wait—but more importantly, he detected three weak traces of spiritual power.

Though subtle, these fluctuations carried the distinct signature of the Breath Containment Technique. To ordinary cultivators, they would have been nearly undetectable, blending seamlessly into the night. But to Jiang Cheng, at the sixth level of Qi Refining, such tricks were as obvious as candlelight in the dark.

A faint smile tugged at his lips. As expected, this was a trap.

The mayor of Yanzhou City must have lost patience waiting for the Qinglin Sect's appointed cultivator and had instead taken matters into his own hands. Hiring independent cultivators wasn't cheap—it must have cost him a small fortune.

Among the three spiritual traces, one likely belonged to the garrison immortal master, the official Qinglin Sect cultivator assigned to the city. The other two? Perhaps hired rogue cultivators, mercenaries with just enough ability to make them useful in this operation.

Jiang Cheng's eyes narrowed slightly. The situation was becoming more interesting.

This wasn't just a random hunt for the flower thief. Someone had orchestrated this trap carefully—perhaps even baiting the true target into action.

Based on what he knew about the garrison immortal masters stationed in mortal cities by the Qinglin Sect, the requirements were straightforward.

A minimum cultivation level of the fifth level of Qi Refining.

- A stationing period ranging from one to three years.

- A starting merit reward of one thousand points, increasing with longer service.

- Regular distribution of elixirs as compensation.

However, the tradeoff was severe—a stationed immortal master had little time to cultivate properly, relying almost entirely on elixirs to maintain their progress.

Jiang Cheng found this arrangement reasonable. After all, in the event of a crisis be it a rogue cultivator incident or the emergence of a spiritual disciple—the garrison immortal master's primary duty was to send an emergency transmission talisman or a jade slip to the sect as quickly as possible. Their role was not to fight but to serve as the city's direct link to Qinglin Sect.

Given Yanzhou City's proximity to the sect, the cultivation requirements for its stationed immortal master were likely on the lower end. If the flower thief had been difficult to catch, it could mean one of two things

- The garrison immortal master was weak, unable to handle even a Qi Refining cultivator with some stealth abilities.

Of course, it was also possible that he was afraid of death and was dawdling.

Generally, the disciples who chose to stay in the mortal world either had poor qualifications and it was dangerous to complete other tasks, or they wanted to earn more merit points and prepare for long-term retreat and cultivation.

The primary advantage of this assignment was safety. In the mortal world, an immortal cultivator at the mid-stage of Qi Refining was nearly unstoppable. There was little to no real danger. If a threat did arise, they could simply retreat into defensive formations and wait for the sect's reinforcements.

This meant that while these stationed disciples might not be ambitious or powerful, they were rarely in true peril. The flower thief's continued escape wasn't a reflection of his strength—it was more likely due to the garrison immortal master's reluctance to act.

Jiang Cheng hid in a big tree not far away, his whole body seemed to merge with the night, and no one noticed his movements.

  However, nothing happened that night, but instead, news of a decent woman being defiled spread from other parts of Yanzhou City.

  Upon hearing the news, Jiang Cheng did not lose his footing and continued to squat here at the wealthy businessman surnamed Liu.

  The aura and spiritual power fluctuations of the surrounding warriors did not change either, as if they also saw through that this was a feint to the east and attack to the west by the flower thief, deliberately attracting attention.

Then, on the third night, a figure darted toward the estate of the wealthy businessman Liu, the faintest of spiritual ripples marking their presence.

  Jiang Cheng's eyes sharpened. The figure's aura was weak, almost insignificant, suggesting they were trying to conceal themselves. The thief's movements were cautious, but deliberate, and Jiang Cheng could sense they were being watched from all directions.

As expected, the figure was soon spotted. A flurry of activity erupted as a few of the nearby warriors rushed toward the estate, but their efforts to catch the intruder were in vain. Two powerful spiritual auras remained rooted in their positions, watching carefully but making no move to intervene.

After a moment, a new figure crept into the estate, even more elusive than the last. The spiritual fluctuations in the area shifted dramatically—what had been weak, almost imperceptible waves suddenly intensified, surging toward the figure with alarming speed. The intruder, sensing the threat, exhibited a sudden surge of spiritual power, and fled in a frantic, desperate escape.

Jiang Cheng's senses locked onto the scene. The three warriors, cultivators from Qingshi City, were clearly at the fifth level of Qi Refining. The fleeing figure, too, was likely of the same level—either at the fifth or sixth level—matching the mission's intelligence.

However, Jiang Cheng remained unmoving, watching the events unfold with measured calm. Despite the apparent display of power from the fleeing figure, something didn't add up.

He could sense it—the spiritual fluctuations coming from the figure weren't consistent. They flickered erratically, as though the figure's cultivation was fluctuating, like a flickering candle in the wind. Some of the energy felt real, while other parts were hazy and feigned.

Jiang Cheng's lips tightened in thought. This wasn't what it appeared to be.

At that moment, only two or three warriors remained stationed at the door of the Liu family estate. The rest had taken off in pursuit of the mysterious figure.

A shadowed figure silently slipped into the estate, so subtly blending with the night that Jiang Cheng almost missed it entirely. If he hadn't been so focused, the intruder would have passed by unnoticed.

Jiang Cheng, however, remained still, his gaze sharp. From the information he had gathered, the flower thief had a twisted habit—before leaving any city, he would abduct a woman of high standing, torment and degrade her, then discard her lifeless body to provoke the city, leaving chaos in his wake.

Jiang Cheng's eyes narrowed. This was likely the final act before the thief departed from Yanzhou City. After such an audacious move, he wouldn't be able to stay in the city much longer.

Moments later, the figure emerged from the Liu estate, a sack slung over his back, disappearing into the darkness, heading towards the outskirts of Yanzhou City.

At this moment, the two immortal cultivators who had gone to chase him also rushed back. The figure that seemed real or fake was probably not real, but was just a trick to lure the tiger away from the mountain.

Jiang Cheng's lips curled into a faint smile. A clever trick, but he had already anticipated it.

With deliberate calm, he activated his Wind Step Technique, the soft breeze of his movements barely disturbing the air as he quietly followed the man, maintaining a careful distance.

During this eight months since he traveled trough time here , Jiang Cheng had devoted some of his time to perfecting the Wind Step Technique, which allowed him to move with almost no sound or disturbance to the air. It was difficult to master, but when perfected, it would make him nearly invisible to anyone nearby.

Combined with the Breath Containment Technique, which suppressed his spiritual presence to the point of blending him into his surroundings, Jiang Cheng could move like a shadow through the night."

  With the hidden effect of the Phantom Shadow Cloak his perfection is equivalent to nothing, so when he used the wind energy in his body, there would be no fluctuations.

  In this way, Jiang Cheng followed the figure all the way to the forest outside Yanzhou City. He hid in the bushes and brought the effect of the Great Perfection Breath Containment Technique to the extreme.

  There was a piece of rock here, and there was no clue. At this time, the man with fair skin had already fled here.

  Jiang Cheng's eyes narrowed as he observed the man. The flower thief had begun an unusual gesture. He placed a hand on his body, and with a swift motion, he transformed into a thin paper figure, which he carefully folded and placed into his storage bag.

Jiang Cheng couldn't hide the surprise on his face. Even with his sixth-level Qi Refining senses, he could still detect a faint trace of life within the paper figure. How could something that looked so artificial still carry the breath of a living person?

  "Heh, a bunch of idiots, trying to catch me." The flower thief sneered. At this time, the sack suddenly moved twice, and the person inside seemed to wake up and was struggling.

  He gently stroked the sack, his expression contorting into something disturbingly sick. His smile was not one of joy, but of someone who reveled in the suffering of others, as though each moment of torment brought him closer to an inexplicable, perverse satisfaction.

The way his hands lingered on the sack spoke not of urgency, but of deep, obsessive pleasure—an act far darker than mere cruelty."

His eyes flickered with obsessive delight, and there was a momentary flicker of madness in his gaze, as though his very sanity was slipping away with each touch. It was as if the act of handling the sack—this tangible symbol of his twisted desires—was infinitely more satisfying than the act of capturing or torturing the woman within.

and his nose lay on it and sniffed it hard for a few times. "The fragrance of virginity is really intoxicating. Girl, don't worry, I will definitely let you enjoy real happiness." After

  saying that, the flower thief picked up the sack and flicked his finger. A hole appeared in the rock in front of him. After he entered, the hole disappeared.