Surprisingly, the normally short-tempered Su Jishi was unusually silent at this moment.
After a brief silence, both Su Jishi and Chen Xiaosheng looked at Li Ji'an with a different gleam in their eyes.
"Is his aspiration for immortality that strong?"
Their first reaction wasn't that Li Ji'an rejected the Unparalleled Technique, but his willpower.
At such a young age, he has such a strong desire to seek immortality!
Their level in the Martial Dao could be considered at the peak of the world, and they were already old, having experienced and heard too much about the aspiration to seek immortality, but mostly it was superficial, just pursuing mortal wealth and fame. Yet Li Ji'an, in the face of the Unparalleled Technique, still showed such determination, which reflects his sincerity.
Seeking immortality, seeking immortality, who among them didn't initially dream of becoming an immortal?
After all, it is the true transcendence, the possibility of everlasting life, immortality alongside the heavens. All mortal wealth and pleasure, a hundred years later, are but dust, fleeting like clouds.
Especially as they now have little lifespan left, they feel it even more deeply. If given the chance to start over, they would undoubtedly strive with all their might to ascend to immortality, no matter how slim the chance.
The older one gets, the more they fear death, the more they understand the terror of death, the beauty of life!
The more they understand how precious that sliver of hope for immortality is.
Alas, their lives have no if, no do-overs.
They are all failures, and they gave up long ago.
And almost all of them gave up after being eliminated from the first Immortal Seedling Grand Ceremony.
Their entire lives spent on these decades of wealth, family prosperity and decline.
In the end... one brings nothing into life, and takes nothing with them in death.
Failing to ascend to immortality, it all amounts to nothing.
And at this moment, Li Ji'an's determination made them subconsciously feel a bit ashamed.
Because at the age Li Ji'an was, they thought more about wealth and status, even wishing not for a long life, but a life of height, preferring a brief blaze of glory over a quiet permanence.
"Good!" Finally, the two nodded with a somewhat desolate look in their eyes and said no more.
Not only did they not blame Li Ji'an's audacity, but they even offered a bit of encouragement.
This left Ning Haichan, who had been preparing to play the role of the strict elder, with his prepared words stuck in his throat.
"This... that... hmm, good, good, Ji'an, dear nephew, having such a will is a good thing, a good thing, now you all should step down and prepare for the journey..." He believed that Li Ji'an's chances of becoming an Immortal Seedling in ten years were almost zero, by then, his thoughts would naturally change, there's no need to rush.
Leaving the military tent, both Ning Sujin and Ning Yutan looked at Li Ji'an's carefree back, feeling a warmth surging in their hearts.
"I will definitely wait for you in the Immortal Realm! I believe you can do it!" In Ning Yutan's heart, the little deer was prancing around, mistakenly thinking that Li Ji'an gave up immense wealth just to reunite with her in the Immortal Realm.
"Bah! Who cares for you? If others knew how glib and frivolous you were before, would they still believe your nonsense?" Ning Sujin spat lightly, thinking that Li Ji'an's words about aspiring for immortality were just to join her.
----------
The journey thereafter was smooth sailing.
A half month later, the group arrived at the Imperial City!
Traveling in the most prosperous and central part of the Imperial City, Li Ji'an became increasingly cautious.
Under the Emperor's feet, controversies abound; getting involved could mean death without knowing how one died.
He declined Duke Dingguo's invitation and decisively reported to the Immortal Palace first.
Upon seeing the Immortal Palace for the first time, any trace of doubt Li Ji'an had about the existence of immortals in this world vanished.
Compared to the world of his previous life, where even rulers governing with alleged divine mandate manipulated the masses with superstition, the Immortal Palace here was the grandest building in the entire Imperial City.
And it was located at the very center of the Dynasty.
Whether in terms of land area, location, or architectural scale, it surpasses the Emperor's Imperial Palace!
This clearly shows the Emperor's attitude towards the immortals.
At the center of the Immortal Palace stands a ten-zhang tall gargantuan gold-painted stone sculpture.
A sculpture of an elder with an immortal demeanor, kind eyebrows, and benevolent eyes, standing in a pose of universal salvation.
"Is this the Immortal Master encountered by the Grand Ancestor of the Immortal Dynasty?" Carrying a heart full of reverence, Li Ji'an followed Duke Dingguo's instructions, bowing in respect.
As he walked into the Immortal Palace, he finally noticed below the Immortal Master's sculpture, hundreds of dense, life-sized "sculptures," all in a posture of kneeling in apology.
Seeing these "sculptures," Li Ji'an slowly took a deep breath, suppressing the negative emotions stirring within him.
Because all these "sculptures" were once real men, and most were figures who had been on the Grandmaster List across the entire Immortal Dynasty fifty years ago, each one encased in molten iron, outwardly an iron figure, but flesh and blood within.
These iron sculptures stand here as a warning to all martial prodigies entering the Immortal Palace, never to harbor delusions, never to attempt to challenge the might of the immortals!
The chaos of fifty years ago, it could even be deemed a great calamity in this Martial Arts Realm, something Li Ji'an had heard of during his first life here.
At that time, he thought it was merely the ruler's intimidation tactics against the martial artists of this world, threats and lies.
But now, with what he has seen and heard across three lifetimes, he was almost sure of its authenticity.
It is said that sixty to seventy years ago, a group of individuals reached the pinnacle of martial cultivation in this world—Qi and Blood Great Perfection, their energy and blood like furnaces.
But they couldn't progress any further.
And as their lifespans waned, death became inevitable.
Having enjoyed the pinnacle of status and wealth in this world, they were even less willing to face death.
Especially since they had truly encountered Immortal Masters and knew of the existence of immortals, naturally fueling their yearning to become immortals, to live eternally.
However, they clearly knew they had been filtered out, with no qualification for immortality.
So gradually, amidst despair, some began searching for a sliver of hope, initially hoping to find another route into the Immortal Realm apart from the Immortal Masters selecting Immortal Seedlings.
This ambition was shared by the royal family, who secretly provided support.
And so, during those nearly twenty years, nearly all the experts of the Immortal Dynasty were engaged in exploring maps.
In the end, after countless attempts and with efforts that included the largest recorded scale operation involving hundreds of thousands in transport and supply, consuming nearly thirty percent of the nation's grain reserves, the conclusion was reached—the Immortal Dynasty was surrounded by endless deserts!
The furthest record: vast stretches of yellow sands extending for thousands of miles.
This nearly drove them to despair!
They finally believed the Immortal Master's sayings that the Immortal Realm and this Mortal Realm were not in the same place.
Aside from the Immortal Masters guiding the Immortal Seedlings, they saw no other hope for becoming immortal.
Yet they were precisely those who had been excluded.
Some fell into despair, some went mad, while others felt secretly delighted.
The royal family, amidst their despair, also felt secretly delighted, for they were the only mortals in the world who had gained the Immortal Masters' audience, truly the toppers among mortals, holding martial resources and entrusted with tasks by the Immortal Masters, having a chance to receive their rewards, thereafter focusing solely on serving them, seeking only their blessings.
However, the high-ranking members of the Grandmaster List, already advanced in age and with limited lifespans left, were truly unwilling, and ultimately, to seek that sliver of immortal fate, formed a secret organization and decided to go all in.
Comply with heaven, and perish; defy heaven, and become an immortal!
If they were not allowed to become immortals, they would slay the immortals!
Thus, fifty years ago, that calamity descended.
Seventy percent of those on the Grandmaster List gathered hundreds of grandmasters and tens of thousands of martial artists from all over the world, targeting Linchun Immortal Master during that year's Immortal Scripture...