My Journey to Immortality Begins with Hunting

Outside the Holy Tree Temple, in a patch of forest so forgotten there wasn't even a path, two figures suddenly dropped out of thin air.0

Yao Jue took Li Yuan by the hand and threaded between the ancient trunks. Before he could ask what she was up to, the air in front of him rippled like water. He stepped through and walked straight into another world.0

A heartbeat ago, he'd been staring at yellow leaves and tangled undergrowth; now an elegant manor stretched before him. He saw stone bridges over winding streams, saffron leaves swirling in the breeze, and red maples hissing in the west wind. Pavilions, each one gleaming like pearl or jade, rose at different heights among the trees.0

At the vermilion gate, beside the guardian stone lions, stood two women with flour-pale faces and clockwork movements, obviously automaton sentries.0

"So this is…?" Li Yuan had expected a modest country retreat, not…whatever this was. The sight reminded him of the portal that led to the Trueflame Tribe settlement in the tundra, though that place had been grander still.0

Catching his dazed stare, Yao Jue covered her smile with a fingertip.0

"Wow, pretty fancy…" Li Yuan said.0

"All thanks to Gu Xuejian," Yao Jue replied. "After she broke into the fourth rank she and the temple master activated the Holy Tree Temple's hidden mechanisms.4

"Beneath the three gates lies a master formation. Branching off from that formation are dozens of miniature pocket worlds like this one. They're nothing but camouflage arrays, perfect hideouts. The Holy Tree Temple assigns them out to fifth rank elders and forbids outsiders from entering."0

She tugged his sleeve and smiled. "Fortunately, you aren't an outsider."0

Li Yuan chuckled. "Back in my day we never got perks like this."0

The joke faded into thought.0

If this is a formation, could that portal in the frozen tundra be one too? Who laid these formations, the old monsters in the Deathless Tomb? I'll have to go back and take another look.1

And if Gu Xuejian and Qing Hancheng opened these pocket worlds together…has Gu Xuejian sided with the Lotus Cult? No…both her personalities know me; neither seem like the type to join the Lotus Cult. Yet Bai Lingshui said she didn't know why Qing Hancheng defected…0

He shelved the puzzle for now and stretched a hand back through the threshold. From his side the arm slipped smoothly through the ripple.0

On the other side, Yao Jue shouted back that she only saw a disembodied hand floating in mid-air.0

"It's not another world at all," he murmured, impressed. "Just a hidden pocket, the real scenery swapped for illusion, and I never noticed. So formations do exist, not just with domain weapons."0

"Exactly! I was floored when I first discovered it," Yao Jue said, slipping her arm through his as they strolled deeper into the manor. "Domain weapons are basically tools tuned for fourth rank experts. A fourth ranker already wields Domain force; the weapon carries a second, nested Domain that blooms outward when the user's own power feeds it.0

"But without a domain weapon, a fourth rank has only one domain, the blood domain."0

Li Yuan had never heard the term, and the more she spoke the more he appreciated this former bed-maid's quick mind. In this marriage deal he'd gotten two wives for the price of one, and thebonusbride might just be the more valuable.2

"Blood domain?" he prompted.0

"Right. The cultivator vents crimson aura until it rings them like 10,000 blood-forged blades. It slaughters the living and pins down ghosts. Ghosts can't truly die, of course, but a blood domain can flatten a lesser ghost domain. I once saw Gu Xuejian do it. After she left, it took a while for the ghost domain to spring back."0

"Impressive," Li Yuan said wryly. "Unlike me. I'm only fifth rank, no blood domain for me."0

Yao Jue had no idea of Li Yuan's real strength. Despite lacking a blood domain, he commanded a Yang domain and blade qi domain. So she tried to console him in earnest, "Maybe not yet, but fate favors you. Your future's bright. Besides, the whole world knows your name as a master weaponsmith. Your Sun and Moon Aloft is already ranked tenth among the greatest weapons under Heaven! Who hasn't heard of Master Li Yuan?"0

"Ranked tenth?" Li Yuan blinked. He really had been out of the loop. Then again, at that level, news and power shifted by the day; no wonder he hadn't kept up.2

Yao Jue's arrival went a long way toward fixing Li Yuan's biggest blind spot. He'd never had eyes in the highest circles.0

Of course, Yao Jue took his lack of a reaction the wrong way. She thought Li Yuan was upset that the demonic blade he'd forged with his very life force only scraped in at number ten. Flustered, she blurted, "It's only ranked tenth because it debuted late! Give it time. Its place on the rankings will climb, you'll see."0

Li Yuan laughed. "Then what are the nine weapons ahead of it?"0

"Ninth is the Great Illumination Demon Subduing Vajra Staff; eighth, the Rain Sense Edgeless Zen Blade; seventh, the Forget-the-Moon One-Leaf Boat; sixth, the Four Dreams Chakram… As for the ones higher up on the rankings, it gets a bit murkier because of the secrecy. But according to rumors, the weapon in third place is reserved for the Son of Heaven himself?"0

"An imperial exclusive?" Li Yuan raised a brow. "Is the Emperor fourth rank?"0

If so, had marrying the Emperor's concubine entangled him in some awful cosmic karma? Probably not. The Emperor hadn't even bothered reclaiming the Yin Consort.2

Still, it was better to be safe than sorry. If the throne were ever toppled, Li Yuan would be ready to slip from the shadows and make sure the sovereign stayed down. That was the advantage of having stayed behind the shadows this whole time.0

Yao Jue shook her head. "The Emperor's likely still fifth rank. Honestly, I don't know. I only overheard that tidbit while eavesdropping on a summit of the Five Elements Alliance."0

Seeing Li Yuan lost in thought, the clever, long-legged beauty pressed against him, arms looped around his waist, voice honey-sweet.0

"Huayin met His Majesty exactly once, at her investiture. He hasn't looked our way since. And he gives me the creeps. He's got narrow snake-like eyes and a cruel mouth. Doesn't even look like an Emperor. Ifyousat on the dragon throne, you'd wear the crown better. Without you, my lady's fate would make my skin crawl. And me? I pledged this life to you, and you alone."0

Li Yuan tapped his chin. "Tell me more about the Emperor."0

Yao Jue rose on tiptoe and waggled a finger. "Not here." Her bright eyes sparkled. "I'll tell you later. One round is nowhere near enough. I missed you terribly. What if you hear my secrets, pull on your trousers, and vanish?"0

Li Yuan ignored the blatant provocations and asked, "You're not coming with me?"0

"I'm your rear guard. If I leave, who'll help extract the others?"1

He swept the flirtatious little schemer into his arms and carried her toward the manor's depths.0

The two spent an entire day in shameless bliss, during which Li Yuan learned plenty. The Emperor's moods swung like a guillotine, his methods were violent, his appetites legendary, and his cruelty worse.0

The next morning, Li Yuan had an itch to forge but lacked the tools.0

Yao Jue's network, plus the agents of the Black Cloaks, quietly delivered a full smithing kit. Sadly, blood crystal marrow was still hard to come by. So he would have to settle for high quality blood gold, which capped the amount of lifespan he could infuse into a weapon at 300 years.0

Li Yuan drew a drop of source blood from Yao Jue. Then inside that hidden manor, he burned three centuries of his own life to craft her a flying dagger.0

The dagger could ride in a sleeve or at the waist, fully concealed until needed.0

In any crisis, theunarmedYao Jue could easily unsheath a gray streak of death and erase an enemy in a heartbeat.0

She received the blade like a child handed a new toy, fingertips tracing its weird slate-gray runes, delight bubbling over.0

In Li Yuan's eyes, her overall combat power jumped from 1,210~1,280 to 1,210~6,238. Given she'd just advanced to fifth rank, it was nothing earth shaking but still respectable.0

He still recalled how Jing Shuixiang's ceiling had spiked to 9,548 the day he forged a sword for her. His fourth wife was truly domineering.0

Yao Jue set the blade spinning. Gray light coiling, the dagger darting round her like lightning. Although she had previously served under Cui Huayin, she cultivated the Evergreen Art of the Jing Clan. So this spirit artifact resembled the one Li Yuan forged for Jing Banfeng.0

The difference, however, was that Jing Banfeng's piece held only 30 years of life force. This dagger brimmed with 300 years, and Yao Jue herself was a very different soul.0

The Evergreen Art leaned towards recovery, and spirit artifacts forged using the source blood of someone who cultivated the technique also generally had some sort of supportive effect.0

For example, the spirit artifact that Master Gong had crafted for Jing Ruyi had the effects of temporary resurrection, area of effect recovery for allies, and a power buff to the wielder.0

Another example was the spirit artifact that Li Yuan had forged for Jing Banfeng. It drained vitality in exchange for speed, strength, and enhanced reflexes, but it also restored all the vitality back when the wielder suffered fatal damage or reached exhaustion.0

All of these abilities revolved around the power of recovery.0

The new flying dagger, packed with three full centuries of life force, was no exception. However, its ability was far purer and simple. No acid, no fancy debuffs, it just provided the user with breathtaking regeneration and explosive bursts of power.2

As long as Yao Jue kept the dagger on her, the shared blood resonance would turn her healing factor into superhero levels of ludicrousness. Her head could be blown off, body hacked into dozens of pieces, and she would be whole again in the blink of an eye. Even if her heart were targeted, being stabbed or bisected, the wound would recover immediately.1

She could also utilize that astonishing vitality to boost herself. For a few heartbeats, she could spike her speed, strength, and reflexes to their peak, perfect for a decisive blow. Even if she took fatal damage repeatedly during this time, it would all be healed instantly.0

This was the source of the 6,238 ceiling, which was also somewhat deceptive in nature.0

Yao Jue could hardly stop grinning; a single spirit artifact could rewrite a fifth rank martial artist's fate. That night she thanked Li Yuan very thoroughly, and the two of them lounged through more than ten shameless days ofbetter-than-marriedbliss.0

Between cuddles, Yao Jue slipped back to the Holy Tree Temple to keep tabs on the latest developments.0