A year ago, San Jiuling sat in front of an empty grave, and engraved upon the tombstone was Dong Chifan's name. He leaned his elbow on his knee with an empty red can in his hand. "What am I going to do? I already drank all the cola you made for me last time. I only have one can left. Why did you die so easily? Did you forget all the hardships we endured to get to this point?"
San Jiuling stood up. He placed the empty can in front of the tombstone and picked up the last unopened can. He popped open the tab and poured the contents over the grave. "See you later for now. Don't worry, I'll get revenge for you."
He turned around and walked a few steps before stopping. He sighed and muttered, "I really wanted to tell you."
San Jiuling's figure disappeared as he flew off into the air, leaving only his shadow. That, too, disappeared with time. Hours later, he flew past the shores of the Heaven Continent. He, along with a few close-knit friends and comrades, found the location of an immortal monarch's grave.
Dong Chifan had found the location and shared it with the rest, but obviously, he could no longer make it.
"Lord San," one of the four true immortals present greeted, followed by the rest.
San Jiuling nodded. Of the five present, none of them were over ten thousand years of age. Despite San Jiuling being the youngest, he was the strongest, possessing the strength of an immortal lord. His comprehension of the worldly laws was equal to the other four immortals, perhaps a little lower, but he had nine lifebound artifacts. And he had upgraded each one to the immortal rank, placing him in the top ten percentile among true immortals regarding wealth.
Although many people scoffed at his status as an immortal lord, the reality was just like this. Those with wealth often came ahead of others, and it wasn't like this was the first time San Jiuling heard such rumors. People once said he relied on his grandfather's wealth to cultivate so fast. Those rumors stopped once he returned as a true immortal, and these new rumors would stop once he entered the Seamless Immortal Realm.
"Is everyone ready?" San Jiuling asked. The four true immortals nodded. "Then let's go."
An immortal boat appeared with a flip of his hand. Compared to a normal boat's shape, it looked slightly strange, as if someone had glued two hulls on top of each other.
San Jiuling called it the Nautilus.
None of the four true immortals commented and entered through the doorway, which sealed itself. Then, the Nautilus plunged into the seawater, drilling almost straight down. Along the way, they encountered several sea monsters. The boat had concealment effects, so they avoided most lower-intelligence monsters. For those that spotted them, the Nautilus fled.
The further the immortal boat traveled, the darker the water became. Comparatively, so did the crushing pressure, but the Nautilus still continued unimpeded, unaffected. As the immortal boat nearly reached a hundred thousand kilometers, the pressure suddenly disappeared. At the center of this pressure-less zone floated a glowing blue portal.
Without waiting, the Nautilus sailed into the portal and found itself on the seafloor. However, there was still a trace of sunlight shining from above. Once the boat floated to the top, the occupants realized that the seafloor was actually a lake floor.
San Jiuling and the other immortals disembarked and observed the immortal grotto.
The sky resembled a glass dome full of cracks. The color wasn't cerulean but a deep blue. Furthermore, the grass on the land resembled shrunken seaweed, and they could see the land falling apart at the end of the immortal grotto.
Most importantly, the spiritual qi of heaven and earth was in chaos. It was mostly made of spiritual water qi, but they formed qi currents due to the chaotic nature of the immortal grotto. This environment made life unsuitable in the immortal grotto except for creatures above the Immortal Realms.
"We're lucky we found it now. A few decades more and it would have collapsed," San Jiuling said as he stored the Nautilus. "For now, we should travel together in case of any accidents."
San Jiuling glanced at the stele erected by the lakeshore next to the path leading to the center of the immortal grotto. It read Stillsea Immortal Grotto.
A few days later, San Jiuling and the other true immortals judged that no life, immortal or mortal, resided in the perimeter of the Stillsea Immortal Grotto. Similarly, any treasure found, such as herbs, metals, or artifacts, was below the immortal rank.
Since that was the case, the five members of the Leakless Sect decided to enter the core area of the immortal grotto. The core was a giant globe-shaped aquarium. From the outside, they could see the sea monsters that swam within. Even separated by the globe, they could still sense the threat of the three monarch-level sea monsters.
Still, none of them reached this level by shirking from necessary danger. All five wanted to grab the remnant properties of the deceased Stillsea Monarch and strengthen themselves so as to survive the war with the Buzhou Immortal Sect.
The five nodded and entered the globe. Instantly, the pressure started crushing them. San Jiuling didn't take out the Nautilus as it was more of a means to travel and possessed few, if any, sufficient armaments.
Still, the pressure made their swimming speed a hundredth of their flying speed. Many of them already used their artifacts to resist the pressure. San Jiuling activated his Gauntlet of Strength, Chestplate of Deflection, Sash of Strength, Grieves of Speed, and Cape of Vitality. The pressure he faced reduced, and he returned to his peak combat prowess.
Just in time, too, as a sea monster that looked like a combination of a whale and anglerfish charged towards them with its maws wide open.
A white spear seemingly carved out of a branch appeared in San Jiuling's hands. Nine green rings appeared around the spear's shaft, and he swung it. The water parted, and the released attack slammed into the sea monster, causing it to swim to the side, narrowly avoiding the five true immortals.
Although San Jiuling saved their group from the first attack, his actions drew the attention of the nearby sea monsters. "Use all your means, swim to the palace in the middle as fast as possible!"
Under San Jiuling's instructions, the five true immortals burst out with their full strength and traversed toward the palace. Two of the five could only unleash the strength of an earth immortal, forcing the other three to defend them.
By the time they reached the palace gates, one had fallen to the sea monsters. The only evidence of their existence was the bloody cloud. Luckily, something in the palace seemed to stop the sea monster from approaching.
"Although the loss of Tuhou is regrettable, we must persevere," San Jiuling said.
The three remaining immortals agreed, but now, they faced the problem of entering. The Stillsea Immortal Grotto was not an inheritance site prepared by a deceased senior. Thus San Jiuling and the others were outsiders. It was the reason they had to swim to the gates and suffer the attacks of the sea monsters.
As the one with the strongest strength, San Jiuling was tasked with opening the sealed gates. He struck the gates with his spear. Each move was simple and straightforward, repeating the same actions over and over again.
Each strike was near the maximum of San Jiuling's limit. However, instead of tiring, each swing became stronger, and each clash shook the gates harder. It was as if San Jiuling had unlimited stamina and qi as a thin green film surrounded his body.
San Jiuling didn't possess a heavenly spiritual vein or even a perfect spiritual vein. He only had a flawless wood spiritual vein, hardly the talent one would expect from the adopted grandson of an immortal monarch. But he possessed a special physique, the Unbound Forest Physique.
The Unbound Forest Physique granted a powerful life force to its possessor. Even as a mortal, San Jiuling would have been able to live past two hundred years. However, the longevity limit still applies to those with this physique. Its true strength lay in the accumulation of power.
San Jiuling had always possessed an immense amount of vitality and qi. Coupled with his violet-gold grade spiritual core, he had the confidence that no cultivator could generate more true qi than him. Even as a true immortal, Monarch San had said that his qi was as potent as a first-step immortal monarch's.
Under San Jiuling's continuous attacks, the gates soon broke and fell off their hinges.
San Jiuling and the other true immortal rushed in. As they expected, the golem and puppet sentries attacked them. If the Stillsea Immortal Grotto were not in a state of decay, they would have had to worry about a formation-created domain suppressing their strength.
As it was, the golems and puppets only had the power of true immortals. The few that possessed the strength of an immortal lord were solved by San Jiuling.
The four immortals swept through the palace and stored all the treasure they could find. Since San Jiuling had the most credit and strength, he received seventy percent of the loot, while the other three got ten percent each.
They scoured every inch of the palace except its innermost area. They left that place for last because they sensed the aura of a monarch-level monster guarding it.
"We should make full use of the treasure before confronting the monster," San Jiuling said, and no one objected.
They entrenched themselves in what they assumed was the former master's cultivation chamber. None of them gained any inspiration during the battles, so they settled on using the treasures they gained to strengthen their artifacts or flesh.
A few months later, the white spear on San Jiuling's lap exuded a brilliant radiance. It had been successfully promoted to a monarch-level artifact. Of course, this didn't mean that San Jiuling had mastered a law and infused it into the artifact.
The spear had always had a law inscribed into it, owing to its materials. As its appearance suggested, it hadn't been forged out of metal but carved out of wood. The wood was a broken branch of the divine Jianmu Steeltree. It was a world tree comparable to Yggdrasil.
"Congratulations, Lord San," one of the true immortals said.
"It looks like we're going to have to rely on Senior Brother San to defeat Xi Tianyi in the future," another one said.
"You're becoming an even more viable spouse option for me now," the sole female immortal joked.
San Jiuling smiled and accepted their compliments. His eyes hardened, as did his grip around the spear. 'Buzhou Immortal Sect, Xi Tianyi, just you wait.'
The group left the chamber soon after. San Jiuling was their biggest support, and the other three only served as auxiliaries and backups. Success or failure all depended on him.
Upon arriving at the entrance to the innermost area, San Jiuling asked again. "Are you all ready?"
All three nodded in compliance. San Jiuling prepared himself and then smashed open the entrance. Instantly, a bloody smell assaulted their nose. All four retreated hundreds of meters as they sensed something snaking toward them.
The sound of snapping jaws entered their ears. The sight of a serpent's giant snout greeted them. Its cold-blooded pupils stared them down, and they felt chills crawling up their spines.
To their confusion and relief, the snake didn't attack them and receded back into the room. They soon discovered why as they saw spikes impaled into the snake's flesh, chaining it to the room.
"I thought all the demons left the Huang Realm after the Divine-Beast War. Why is a Ba Serpent still here?" the sole female immortal asked.
"Look closely," another immortal said. "Although it is a demon sage, it's nothing more than a mindless beast in its current state."
"Regardless," San Jiuling said, "It is an obstacle we must overcome, and its flesh and blood are treasures themselves."
The four charged. Unlike the mindless sea monster patrolling outside the palace, the Ba Serpent possessed an innate ability. They had dodged any direct bite attacks, as that would bring them into its stomach, a unique state that they would not be able to escape out of.
As the battle heated up, an immense pressure descended and froze all of them, the Ba Serpent included. San Jiuling could only watch with horror as three giant swords formed out of crystals pierced the roof. Two swords killed two of the Leakless Sect's true immortals, but the third decapitated the Ba Serpent before killing the final true immortal under the Ba Serpent.
Once that was done, the crystalline swords shattered into millions of brilliant radiance and disappeared, leaving a stunned San Jiuling.
