My Longevity Simulation

Chapter 917: Hiding Within the One-Heart Sect

This Sword Cave Heaven was different from ordinary Cave Heavens born through natural evolution.

Inside, there were no mountains, rivers, or lakes—only a scene almost identical to the Sword Tomb outside.

The entire land was covered with countless swords stabbed into the ground in chaotic disarray.

Sword qi surged and intertwined, forming howling gales of sharp wind.

The whole Cave Heaven was a world that belonged solely to the sword. It could not tolerate the existence of any other living being.

Outside the Sword Tomb, beside the Sword Cave Heaven, the clone Li Qing, whose body had previously been shattered into pieces, slowly reformed as his flesh and blood wriggled back together.

“Nascent Soul early stage,” he murmured, sensing his current cultivation and nodding slightly.

His realm was somewhat weaker than his true body. Although his actual combat power was inferior, the foundation he had built upon Heavenly Wonder far surpassed ordinary cultivators. Crushing an average Soul Transformation cultivator would not be difficult.

However, after stepping into the Nascent Soul realm, Li Qing felt a vague resistance hindering his advancement.

When his clone bade farewell to Heavenly Wonder Wooden Sword and returned to the Xuanhuang Realm, that hidden malice from the heavens became even more pronounced.

A phrase suddenly echoed in his mind:

“The new law of the Heavenly Sovereign defies the will of heaven itself. The more blessings one receives from heaven and earth, the harder it will be to rebel against their laws in the future.”

“Even when offering sacrifices to the Spirit of Heaven and Earth, one will suffer multiple layers of backlash from the will of the world. No matter how high one’s talent, most can only stop at the Soul Transformation realm.”

Perhaps because Li Qing had contributed in part to the birth of that Black Sword, when he devoured it and transformed it into a Cave Heaven, he did not encounter much resistance.

But he could sense that this was already the utmost limit of what heaven and earth would tolerate.

If he wished to go further, to advance to Soul Transformation or even Dao Integration—he would have to face the full malice of heaven itself.

Yet Li Qing did not pay much heed to it.

After all, as a clone, his mission was not to cultivate but to travel to the Five Elders Association and seek One-Heart Heavenly Sovereign to reclaim the lost cultivation manuals of the Xuantian Sect.

After reviewing the information sent from his true body, he learned that due to a mysterious spatial fluctuation earlier, the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance and the Five Elders Association were currently in a rare period of truce.

After orienting himself, Li Qing transformed into a streak of black sword light and sped swiftly toward his destination.

Once in flight, Li Qing immediately noticed the difference from before.

When his true body soared through the sky, it needed to resist the pressure of heaven and earth and the fierce winds that came with it.

But Li Qing, having transformed into sword light, moved as smoothly as a fish in water, perfectly merging with his surroundings.

Not only was the resistance negligible, but the energy consumption was astonishingly low.

“Heavenly Wonder naturally belongs to the Dao of Xuanhuang itself,” he thought. “Hence, it receives preferential treatment.”

Flying was no longer a chore—it had become a pleasure.

Li Qing’s heart felt utterly refreshed. If not for the risk of attracting the attention of the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance, he would have let out a long, joyous roar.

The Black Sword light grew faster and faster, flashing across the heavens in an instant.

Even if someone happened to glimpse it, they would merely think it a trick of the eye.

Seven days later, the region of Jiwei Prefecture, under the domain of the Five Elders Association, was already in sight.

Before the vast white mist barrier that stretched across heaven and earth, a squad of cultivators from the Martial Hall of the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance was stationed.

Without alerting them, Li Qing relied on the information transmitted by his true body to easily evade the Alliance’s defensive formations and slip into the white mist.

As a buffer zone between the Five Elders Association and the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance, Jiwei Prefecture had no Heavenly Sovereign presiding over it—aside from Carefree Heavenly Sovereign, no other Heavenly Sovereign power extended into this region.

The reason for choosing to enter through this location of Five Elders Association was that it allowed one to avoid the Realm of Truth. By passing through the Heavenly Domain of Humanity, one could reach the One-Heart Immortal Sect directly.

Within the Realm of Truth, all lies were laid bare. It was clearly not a suitable place for infiltration, and one should avoid it whenever possible.

By contrast, the Heavenly Realm of Humanity was much safer.

Compared to the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance, which was sharpening its blades for war, the territory of the Five Elders Association appeared far more peaceful.

Only the bordering and buffer states had heavy military presence.

In other regions, it almost seemed as though the war did not exist at all. Along the way, every cultivator and mortal Li Qing encountered appeared relaxed, even somewhat lazy.

This made Li Qing click his tongue in quiet admiration, deeply impressed by how well the Five Elders Association governed its people.

Encountering no real danger, Li Qing passed through the Heavenly Domain of Humanity and finally arrived at the lands governed by the One-Heart Immortal Sect.

Of course, the smoothness of his journey was not only due to his cultivation foundation being rooted in the Heavenly Wonder, granting him excellent concealment, but perhaps also because he was not a member of the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance.

Had he been one of their cultivators, sneaking through so easily would have been far more difficult.

This region was called Yilu Prefecture.

As its name implied, the land stretched with fertile plains as far as the eye could see.

He could even see mortal caravans traveling between cities.

Unlike the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance, where mortals and cultivators lived separately, every city within the Five Elders Association housed both mortals and cultivators together.

However, there was a distinction between the inner and outer cities.

Mortals resided in the outer city, while cultivators lived within the inner city.

As Li Qing took in the familiar scenery around him, he felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

“I feel like I have been here before…”

Suppressing the fleeting thought, Li Qing began searching for his target.

According to the information transmitted from his true self, the key to entering the true One-Heart Immortal Sect was to attract the attention of the One-Heart Heavenly Sovereign.

Among the Five Elders Association, there were secretly circulated erotic picture scrolls, which were considered the fastest and most effective method to draw such attention.

Unfortunately, this operation did not seem to be going smoothly.

Li Qing had wandered around Yilü Prefecture for several days but could not find any of those daring merchants.

This was understandable, for under the authority of a Heavenly Sovereign, anyone caught publicly spreading such things would truly lose their heads.

Just as Li Qing was considering moving on to another prefecture to try his luck, the previously quiet city suddenly became noisy.

Li Qing’s heart stirred, and he followed the crowd toward the source of the commotion.

“You are Wan Zailai?!”

Several cultivators surrounded a handsome young man in white robes, their expressions hostile.

“So you found me. Well, that’s fine. I’ve rested long enough; it’s about time I got back to work.” Wan Zailai tilted his head, glancing lazily around. Under the pressure of his gaze, the surrounding cultivators subconsciously took half a step back.

This caused the cultivators of Yilü Prefecture to feel humiliated.

One of them shouted angrily, “A mere Golden Core cultivator, and you dare to speak so arrogantly! Are you saying all cultivators of Yilu Prefecture are useless?”

“Today, I’ll teach you a lesson!”

“Brother Pei, you’re already at the Nascent Soul True Lord realm. Isn’t it unfair to bully someone weaker?” someone nearby tried to dissuade him.

Before the cultivator surnamed Pei could respond, Wan Zailai chuckled softly. “A Nascent Soul cultivator? So what? In my eyes, you are no more than chickens and dogs.”

Every cultivator of Yilu Prefecture present instantly grew furious.

“Good! Very good!”

“I, Pei Qingshan of Yilu Prefecture, accept your challenge!”

As Pei Qingshan spoke, a transparent, circular structure suddenly appeared in the sky.

Amidst the gasps of the onlookers, the arena-like construct cast down two beams of light, pulling both duelists inside.

“That’s the Heavenly Sovereign’s Trial Arena!”

“So the rumors were true after all. Wan Zailai really intends to challenge a Nascent Soul cultivator as a Golden Core Lord, and thereby earn entry into the One-Heart Immortal Sect!”