Chapter 416: The Legend of Wei City Three Hundred Years Ago, The Dragon Maiden, the True Lord, and the Guardian General!

The old man in the hemp robe explained, “Three hundred years ago, in Wei City, an Elixir of Immortality appeared. Countless powers converged to fight over it. I too took part in the struggle and offended a monk in white robes. Thus, he suppressed me here.”

“Elixir of Immortality...” Li Yanchu froze for a moment, frowning. “How long have you been sealed here?”

“Three hundred years,” the old man replied slowly.

Li Yanchu’s eyes widened slightly. “So even back then, the rumor of an Elixir of Immortality spread through Wei City and led to bloodshed?”

The old man nodded.

“What exactly is this Elixir of Immortality?” Li Yanchu pressed on. “And where was it hidden in Wei City?”

“I don’t know,” the old man said, shaking his head. “No one does. None ever saw its true form. But it drew countless masters to covet it, and that bloody battle still chills my heart to this day.”

Li Yanchu asked, “What was your cultivation realm back then?”

“The advanced second realm,” the elder replied. “I was young at the time...”

“And now?”

“Still at the advanced second realm.”

“Hm?”

“My attempt at dragon transformation failed. My cultivation was almost completely crippled. In these years, I’ve relied on the underground yin veins to slowly refine a trace of pure yang lightning within my body. Thus... my realm has barely recovered.”

Li Yanchu regarded the golden carp in human form with a deep gaze.

Unfortunately, he did not know the Buddhist Heart-Questioning Method, nor any soul-reading arts. Otherwise, he could have discerned how much truth the old creature spoke.

After asking a few more questions, Li Yanchu pondered briefly, then turned to leave.

There were no vengeful spirits clinging to the old man, nor had there ever been rumors among the townsfolk of a golden carp bringing harm or misfortune to Wei City. To kill him now would seem uncalled for, so Li Yanchu simply turned to leave.

“Eh? Immortal sir, please wait!” the old man in the hemp robe hurriedly called out.

Li Yanchu turned his head. “What is it?”

The old man’s expression was full of hope. “If you would be willing to free me from my bindings, I would gladly follow at your side and serve as your attendant.”

Li Yanchu frowned. “You’re trapped in a place steeped in death and corruption, and bound by Buddhist chains of suppression. Ordinarily, I’d strike you down without hesitation. But since you bear no trace of resentment or malice, and your aura is clear and pure, I’ve spared your life.”

He continued coldly, “Not killing you is mercy enough. Why would I rescue you as well?”

The old man’s lips twitched. “My true form is a golden carp. If I recognize you as my master, it could increase your blessing and fortune, as well as your karmic luck.”

“Enhance my luck?” Li Yanchu raised a brow, surprised.

“Indeed!” the old man said solemnly.

Li Yanchu shook his head. “Forget it. You failed your tribulation to become a dragon, that says plenty about how poor your luck already is.”

In response, the old man fell silent. And so it was that, a golden carp of unknown age and mysterious cultivation was left behind in the Duanlong Cave, ignored and unredeemed.

Meanwhile, Li Yanchu roamed the cavern unhindered. Whenever he encountered corpse beetles, water fiends, wicked corpses, he cut them all down without mercy.

After wandering for some time and finding no more monsters, he finally concluded that he’d just about wrecked the entire place.

Satisfied, he turned back toward where the mysterious Daoist temple had once stood, rejoining Zuo Qian and the ferryman.

“Daoist Master Li!” Zuo Qian called out.

Li Yanchu smiled slightly in greeting.

The ferryman ventured cautiously, “Daoist Master, earlier there were a series of loud explosions from within the cavern, was that you...?”

Li Yanchu nodded slightly. “I slew a few lingering abominations inside. They were unsightly.”

The ferryman’s face showed an

I knew it

expression.

“Daoist Master, we should leave this place,” Zuo Qian suggested.

“Agreed,” Li Yanchu replied with a nod.

His gaze swept over the rescued young noblewomen, eleven in total.

The ferryman offered, “I can make several trips back and forth.”

The fishing boat was far too small to carry so many at once.

Li Yanchu thought for a moment, then said, “Let’s all leave together.”

The ferryman froze slightly at that; this was, after all, his area of expertise. With a boat this small... how could it possibly fit over a dozen people?

Hearing this, the rescued ladies turned their anxious eyes toward him as well, their hearts uneasy. If the ferryman’s suggestion stood, someone would have to stay behind to wait. After all they had endured, none of them were willing to remain here even a moment longer.

At this moment, hearing that Li Yanchu had come up with a new solution, everyone immediately perked up. What method could this young and handsome Daoist possibly have this time?

Li Yanchu formed a hand seal and shouted, “Grow!”

In an instant, his body surged upward, towering to a height of

two zhang

. The same elegant, divine-looking Daoist now stood before them, only magnified.

Heaven-Earth Titan Form!

This spell, inherited from Mount Longhu, was now being used by Li Yanchu in an entirely new way.

The ferryman and Zuo Qian both fell speechless.

That works too!?

The ferryman, being a cultivator himself, was especially shocked. After all, only upon reaching the second realm and forming the Yin Spirit could one cultivate a manifestation of the primordial spirit.

Earlier, Li Yanchu had projected his spirit outward, invoking the power of heavenly gods through a Spirit Officer Summoning Talisman, which already seemed awe-inspiring enough. But this time, he could clearly see that Li Yanchu had expanded his physical body itself!

Such a divine ability... it’s actually quite practical

, the ferryman thought, unable to help himself.

His mind wandered to a few

other

potential uses of such a technique...

And so, the Duanlong Cave, once infamous for its sinister aura, teeming with the dead and the wicked, had become utterly calm. There were no more chill of death, and instead, a faint warmth filled the air.

From afar, a battered old fishing boat approached slowly. Onboard stood a frail old man and a young man carrying a plain saber, along with three or four disheveled women. Trailing behind the little boat was a two-zhang-tall Daoist, towering like a giant, with seven or eight rescued young ladies perched upon his arm.

Had any townsfolk witnessed this sight, surely yet another legend would have spread through Wei City before long.

When they finally returned to the city, the local authorities were in an uproar. After all, these were the missing daughters of wealthy families from the prefectural capital, found alive within the Duanlong Cave!

As for Zheng Ziyi and his band of river bandits, Li Yanchu had searched the entire cavern and found no trace of them. Something about it all felt deeply ominous.

Worse still, among the rescued girls, a few were still missing. For example, the young girl that Li Yanchu and the others had first encountered, and that later female Daoist, no one knew whether they had been taken elsewhere, or if their lives had already been consumed through some forbidden longevity ritual.

As for that demonic Daoist, after Li Yanchu interrogated him, he was executed on the spot.

From the clues he provided, his grandmaster was the founder of the Elder Lord Zhai lineage, a sect claiming to practice arts bestowed by an immortal. According to his account, the techniques they cultivated truly came from an immortal being.

Some even claimed to have witnessed divine manifestations, like a Dragon Maiden, a True Lord, Guardian Generals, and even a Celestial Master appearing before them.

To this, Li Yanchu remained deeply skeptical.

Having personally seen what lurked beneath the “immortal guise” of the Elder Lord Zhai founder. a many-eyed demon disguised as a deity, he had every reason to believe that these so-called “divine figures” were, in fact, demons masquerading as gods.

And yet, this was the first time he had ever encountered demons bold enough to call themselves immortals and gods outright. That, in itself, felt profoundly unsettling.

Li Yanchu couldn’t shake the feeling that behind all this lay the shadow of a mysterious and powerful force.