Forging Immortality through the Dao Seed

The next day.

Zhang Jing's neighbor, Wang Zizai, gently pushed open the door, poking half of his head out. His eyes first scanned the surroundings with caution.

His pupils burst with a bright divine light, and everything around him immediately became clear within his view.

He slowly let out a breath, thinking to himself:

"Phew—no one's around for the time being. It seems that the folks from Mysterious Pavilion haven't found me yet. I need to make my arrangements quickly."

As he pondered, Wang Zizai couldn't help but glance at the room next to his, where Zhang Jing was, a thick sense of hope rising in his eyes.

Hopefully, everything goes smoothly!

His plan was simple, which was to divert all the attention of those powers to Qingyun next door while he performed an escape akin to the cicada shedding its skin.

In other words, to mimic Mysterious Pavilion and pin the blame for the Opening God Seal onto this Qingyun fellow.

As the other party was strong enough, he could naturally attract all the attention from those powers.

Of course, this wasn't difficult—the simplest way was to give the Opening God Seal to Qingyun in front of everyone.

But Wang Zizai was reluctant to part with the Opening God Seal; after all, it represented the hope for his future advancement.

So how to keep the Opening God Seal in his hands while making Qingyun take the fall was particularly crucial for him.

Under normal circumstances, Wang Zizai wouldn't even dare to contemplate scheming against a True Immortal of at least the Feathering stage. But now that he was in a desperate situation, he had to take the risk.

Moreover, they were in Immortal City, where fighting and killing were prohibited. With a careful plan against an unsuspecting victim, he might just succeed.

"Ten years should be enough," Wang Zizai thought, his eyes slightly focusing.

With that thought, he stepped out.

However, before he had taken a few steps, his body suddenly froze in place, and cold sweat dripped down his forehead.

The reason was simple.

Across the street, as well as to his left and right, the doors of dozens of rooms opened simultaneously.

Without exception, there stood a powerful figure in each doorway. Some were from the Human Race, others from various other races among the All Heavens Beasts.

These figures vaguely formed five camps, each seemingly on guard against each other. A deadly and quiet tension slowly spread.

"They're fast," Wang Zizai said, suppressing his inner fear and trying to appear calm.

His heart had sunk to the bottom.

They were too fast; these people had come so quickly that he was caught off-guard, so quickly that he felt despair.

"Wang Zizai, hand over the Opening God Seal to Mysterious Pavilion, and I can ensure you a way out," said a creature with the head of a canine and the body of a human, seemingly crafted from shadows, stepping out and appearing in front of Wang Zizai as if shifting shape and shadow, speaking in a seductive tone to persuade him.

But before the words were even finished,

four more figures flashed to appear in front of Wang Zizai.

"Wang Zizai, don't listen to that black dog. Just hand over the Opening God Seal to San Wangwen, and I'll ensure your survival," one of them said.

"Tsk tsk, Nightmare Corpse, when you say 'ensure survival,' isn't that the kind where you throw someone's divine soul into an ever-burning lamp? You're not wrong, though—it's true they won't die, but they won't really be alive either."

"Hand it over to us, the Martial Hunting Team. As fellow members of the Human Race, we certainly wouldn't harm you."

"…"

In but an instant, True Immortals of the Feathering stage from Mysterious Pavilion, San Wangwen, and three other great powers had Wang Zizai completely surrounded. If it weren't for the rules against fighting in Immortal City, they would've probably ripped him to shreds already.

The terrifying presence collided wildly in the confined space, creating deafening roars.

In the midst of the five,

Wang Zizai's face was as pale as it could be.

Now, the situation was clear.

The actions of these few powers were too swift, causing his previous escape plan to abort directly. Although you couldn't fight in Immortal City, having five True Immortals exposing their menacing presence nearby entirely extinguished Wang Zizai's thought of escaping with a congenital divine object.

And he knew very well that these were just the vanguard.

After waging a mental battle, Wang Zizai gave a sorrowful smile. His bloodshot eyes stared straight at the five Feathering True Immortals before him and asked:

"There's only one Opening God Seal. I wonder who I should give it to?"

As the words fell,

"Naturally, to me," one responded.

"Listen to me, Wang Zizai. If you dare to hand the Opening God Seal to him, the Corner Immortal Club will chase you to the ends of the earth! By then, no one can save your life," said another.

"…"

The five stood their ground, issuing fierce threats.

Their words had only one meaning: if Wang Zizai didn't hand the Opening God Seal to them, it would be relentless pursuit to the death. Their tones were so absolute, leaving no room for negotiation.

These words, when they entered Wang Zizai's ears, were no different than a death sentence pronounced directly upon him.

Not handing it over would mean death! Handing it over would mean the same difficulty in escaping death!

He couldn't see the slightest path to survival.

Just as everyone's swords were drawn and crossbows were tense.

"My lord is eternal, my lord's fortune is boundless, my lord has thousands of Tao Monks, my lord…"

A series of groveling flatteries erupted abruptly, shattering the tense atmosphere on the scene in an instant.

Dozens of gazes turned to follow the sound.

Suddenly, a young man clad in black robes entered everyone's field of vision.

At first glance, his features appeared quite ordinary, but upon closer examination, one would definitely find him growing more and more pleasing to the eye, his visage filled with an indescribable harmony and beauty.

"Who is this?"

At the sight of the people outside the door, Zhang Jing's eyes flashed, his face revealing a trace of surprise.

He seemed to find some familiar figures among them.

Mysterious Pavilion! Were they here for him?

All of a sudden.

Zhang Jing caught sight of Wang Zizai, who was besieged by five figures in the center, and as fate would have it, their gazes met.

"It seems they've come for Wang Wu."

Realization dawned on Zhang Jing, and he immediately continued walking forward as if he had seen nothing.

Although he had a significant feud with Mysterious Pavilion, it didn't mean he would interfere in this affair and cause the other party difficulty.

On one hand, he wanted to avoid trouble.

On the other hand, Zhang Jing currently wasn't confident that he could suppress them in one fell swoop, naturally unwilling to meddle in idle affairs.

For him, when facing an enemy, he would either choose not to act at all, or once he acted, he had to take things to the extreme, as he had done before with the Mysterious Pavilion in the starting Immortal City downstream of the River of Cosmos.

Of course, Zhang Jing also drew many lessons from that incident.

However, while he wanted to leave, someone else did not want him to go.

"Qingyun brother, this is for you!" An excited voice rang in his ear.

Before Zhang Jing could react, he saw a figure stumbling and rushing towards him.

In the blink of an eye as they crossed paths, his hand now mysteriously held an Opening God Seal.

The seal seemed to have been condensed out of countless strange Dao Patterns, constantly emitting an extremely profound air.

All eyes on the scene sharply turned to Zhang Jing.

Witnessing this bizarre scene, the five Feathering True Immortals who had been surrounding Wang Zizai stood dumbstruck, seemingly unable to believe their own eyes.

A few moments later.

Someone recovered, and immediately shouted angrily, "How dare you, boy?"

Despite their anger at Wang Zizai, these individuals had no choice but to shift their focus onto Zhang Jing, who now held the Opening God Seal.

"Kid, either hand over the Opening God Seal in your hand to me, or I will personally send you into reincarnation."

"On what grounds should I hand the Opening God Seal to you, are you assuming my magic weapon won't turn against me?"

"…"

While several people were talking.

The Feathering True Immortal from Mysterious Pavilion with the head of a dog and the body of a human had his pupils shake, as if recognizing something. He pointed directly at Zhang Jing with one hand and called out in a daze,

"This aura... it's Zhang Jing! You're also in the Immortal City of Bliss?"

Upon those words.

The scene suddenly grew quiet.

Behind Zhang Jing, Wang Zizai, who was preparing to slip into his dwelling amidst the chaos, also slowed his pace.

He turned his neck rigidly and stared at Zhang Jing with an expression like he had seen a ghost.

"Qingyun… Qingyun is actually that Zhang Jing who's been taking the blame for me all this time?" he cried out in disbelief in his mind.

The shock was beyond words.

Wang Zizai hadn't forgotten that just a moment ago he was planning how to pin the blame for the Opening God Seal onto the other person.

Wait!

He suddenly realized.

If that was the case, then what did his own act of forcibly passing the Opening God Seal to the other person amount to?

A cycle of karma decided by fate?!