“Becoming an immortal, truly an immortal?”

Above the Yan family mansion, a mirage of pavilions and palaces formed, filled with ethereal fairy energy. Immortal music filled the air, as if to make people forget all their troubles, wishing they could follow Old Master Yan to the heavens. But Hu Ma only felt waves of formless panic.

Old Master Yan had indeed "become an immortal."

He, and the descendants who trapped him in the Dragon Transformation Well, only wanted him to live long enough to become emperor, enjoying the second greatest freedom in the world.

But to prolong his life, they used toad gu to refine immortal energy. Over time, being emperor became unimportant to Old Master Yan; the most important thing was the greatest freedom in the world.

Originally, the immortal energy only helped him prolong his life. He was trapped here, so even with the energy, he could only suffer.

Now, these Reincarnators had joined forces to destroy his physical body, finally freeing him from a life forcibly extended for over twenty years. The emperor's fate collapsed, but his spirit gained freedom, escaping its shell and becoming an immortal with the help of the immortal energy?

To use a bit of professional jargon, this old codger borrowed the Reincarnators' means to achieve *bingjie* (disintegration of the body) and ascend to immortality?

Understanding dawned in an instant. He glanced around and saw the other Ghost Walkers and Small Butchers looking equally horrified, none of them able to smile.

The Palace God Bearing Spirits had long since put away his umbrella, looking at the immortal clouds overhead with fear. It was clear that his umbrella, filled with divine light, had been tainted by the immortal energy, now dim and dull.

The young man codenamed Burning Blade carried a natural fierceness, but now he gripped his blade tightly, wanting to slash but utterly powerless.

Old Master Yan, now an immortal, was above them, seemingly within reach. They could feel the pleasure brought by the falling immortal energy and hear the faint immortal music. They felt dread but lacked the strength to even draw their blades.

The auspicious clouds were overhead, visible, audible, even palpable, but they were in a different world, impossible to contend with.

"Becoming an immortal, is this what it means to become an immortal?"

Those who saw this scene weren't just those inside the Yan family mansion. Outside the house, Miss White Wine was looking coldly at the One Life Hall lobby manager kneeling before her.

The two seemed to have gone through a fierce battle. Oil lamps were kicked over all around them, and even Miss White Wine's sleeves were stained with blood. But in the end, the One Life Hall lobby manager knelt in the alley, a silver needle stuck deep into his head.

Having just forced out the recipe, and now seeing Old Master Yan happily ascending to immortality above the Yan family mansion, her mind felt overwhelmed: "Purple *taisui* (fabled fungus of immortality), so-called immortal energy, is actually this kind of thing..."

"Becoming an immortal? How insane are these people to think of becoming immortals?"

"..."

"..."

"Could be considered a not-so-successful experiment?"

Outside the Yan family residence, in the alleyways, a man in a white robe with loose hair turned around, a hint of worry in his brow.

Iron Cage King personally led two thousand armored personal guards into the city to relieve the siege of the Yan family. To find the Yan family mansion hidden by those Jianghu (martial arts world) practitioners, he launched a massacre, pushing down houses and staining his soldiers' weapons with blood.

Now, none of these two thousand personal guards would stand in his way. Only now did the man in the white robe slowly lift his foot and walk forward.

As he entered the alley, the strange mist swirling around him finally dissipated, revealing armored soldiers pinned to the broken walls and streets by swords, spears, and halberds, densely packed, a mountain of corpses, their faces filled with madness.

Their weapons were thrust into each other's bodies, pinning them in place. Some even had the other's flesh in their mouths. Their dim eyes were filled with hatred and madness for each other.

What the man said wasn't wrong. He didn't like killing, even if he didn't know if these were people. So he simply made them kill each other, without lifting a finger himself.

But the result clearly didn't make him happy. He only slowly entered the alley and saw a man sitting on horseback, wearing black armor and an iron helmet, tall and imposing, the Iron Cage King who shook Guazhou City.

He was still alive. He saw the man in the white robe, first with fear in his eyes, but then that fear seemed to be covered by something else. Blood was clearly flowing from all his facial features, but he smiled strangely and puffed out his chest, smugly.

He pointed forward with his horsewhip:

"Bold commoner! Have you seen that our Old Master Yan has become an immortal, and Master Yan will ascend the throne and become emperor."

"I am a Yan family retainer, a General of Pacification, enfeoffed as a king, second only to one, above ten thousand. You commoners killed my guards, a crime unforgivable. Speak, how do you want to die?"

"..."

The man in the white robe looked at him strangely, then glanced at the strange clouds above the Yan family mansion and frowned: "So that's how it is?"

"Those guys are very slow to react. After so much time, they finally gathered the people. But to reveal this thing at the first gathering, it makes this gathering a bit more interesting..."

"..."

As he spoke, he walked past the Iron Cage King sitting on his tall horse. He gently blew on a flute, sharpened at one end, and the Iron Cage soldiers, all僵死 (jiang si - stiff corpses) on the spot in the alley, suddenly came to life and surged toward the Iron Cage King.

Listening to the Iron Cage King's panicked screams, he seemed a bit dissatisfied. This trial of the *fa* (law/method) was ultimately imperfect...

There was actually one left, requiring him to take action a second time?

Sure enough, none of the world's *famen* (magical methods), no matter how famous, could be called perfect. But the thing above the Yan family mansion, he glanced at it again, and a hint of appreciation couldn't help but appear in his eyes.

...That thing, that's a bit interesting!

...

Meanwhile, in front of the Guazhou Prefecture City God Temple, a man in silver robes and golden boots, wearing a vermilion crown, and a woman wrapped in black robes had finished questioning the Guazhou Prefecture City God statue kneeling on the ground.

Turning their heads, they saw auspicious clouds and immortal energy above the Yan family mansion, and even the memorial tablets were flying into the sky.

Even the well water was bubbling, as if boiling. The auspicious clouds in the sky were getting bigger and bigger, illuminating everyone's hearts, and these auspicious clouds...

Even they changed their expressions greatly at this moment, and whispered: "They really figured out this kind of thing..."

"The Ten Clans concealed it for twenty years, but they couldn't hide it in the end. These ambitious guys finally glimpsed..."

"...Immortality!"

"..."

"That old brother Hu, he should take action himself, right?"

The red-crowned man couldn't help but move his limbs, seeming uncomfortable, and whispered: "He's probably figured out the details of this Yan family, so he put on this show, and even got ahead of us..."

Chen A'Bao, who was entirely wrapped in black robes, suddenly said, "What if he doesn't take action?"

The red-crowned man was immediately startled: "No... impossible, right?"

"Quick, quick!"

Inside the Yan family mansion, everyone was closer to the auspicious clouds, and the influence was greater. Old Abacus huddled in the crowd, almost hugging his head, and quickly muttered: "Release the *jian* (a type of mace), release the *jian*, releasing it now is good for everyone!"

...

...

Amid this grim chaos, the Reincarnators directly beneath the dark clouds in the mansion were silent, each with the intention to retreat.

The appearance of the auspicious clouds caused a great commotion, but they seemed to be little affected. Their spirits felt light, but something was suppressing them, preventing them from being drawn up by that thing.

Retreating now wouldn't have much impact.

But in this entangled silence, Hu Ma's breathing was slightly heavy.

As soon as he saw Old Master Yan ascend to immortality, he had prepared to offer the Town Fiend Strike Gold *Jian*, but as soon as he had this thought, he once again felt a sensation. It was a feeling that had been touched when he first saw Old Master Yan.

The Grand Might Heavenly Duke General Seal was named after a seal, but it cultivated the Dharma Idol. But if we're talking about seals, there was a seal.

In Stone Horse Town, in the old house, three treasures hung on the tree. One of them, the one that Hu Ma had obtained at the very beginning, but had not used until now, was one of the seals.

The seal had no words, it was a wordless seal.

But now, as Old Master Yan became an immortal, the entire Guazhou land began to become lighter, as if it were about to ascend with him. Hu Ma suddenly felt a deep longing.

At this time, he could ask the Golden Armor Warrior to bring the Town Fiend Strike Gold *Jian*, but the sensation in his heart gave him a different idea, and for a moment, his mind was a bit overwhelmed with excitement: "The key to the Grand Might Heavenly Duke General Seal, so it's here?"

"Everyone, please step back for now, let me handle this."

Amidst this panic and citywide strangeness, he suddenly spoke softly, startling the Reincarnators around him. Their eyes flickered with confusion and surprise, and they stepped aside, with countless eyes falling on him.

Then, Hu Ma suddenly strode forward and shouted: "By the order of the Town Fiend Office, the Yan family harmed people by refining elixirs, falsely used ghosts as immortals, and bewitched an entire city. The crime deserves ten thousand deaths!"

"Daring to test the blade, Heaven's law is intolerable, kill!"