93: Chapter 93 The Dire Situation of the Xuan Kingdom.

Unsurprisingly, with a Heavenly Immortal combatant like Lu Hu cooperating, the Immortals of Xuan Kingdom would certainly not pass up this opportunity.

In the eyes of other nations, Xuan Kingdom was the strongest, always maintaining the pride of the mightiest nation, ignoring all others. The experts of Xuan Kingdom were also arrogant, rarely leaving Xuan Kingdom to set foot in their barren lands.

The various major sects huddled together and did not accept outsiders, yet they never forbade people from entering Xuan Kingdom or their sects. Regardless of how strong the entrants were, how many there were, or what their motives were, they simply did not care or pay attention.

If you behaved yourself, Xuan Kingdom would not bother you, but if you broke the laws of Xuan Kingdom, it would be quite a feat if you managed to escape.

Xuan Kingdom was cold and aloof; as long as you did not provoke them, they did not care what you did. Even if you fought until rivers of blood flowed, as long as it was not within the borders of Xuan Kingdom, they could not be bothered to care. This was the impression the other nations had of Xuan Kingdom.

But only the Immortals of Xuan Kingdom knew the truth—what nonsense about being cold, aloof, and indifferent; they would not even glance at a war happening right at their doorstep.

It was only because they possessed the power of Immortals solely within the borders of Xuan Kingdom; once they left, they were useless.

The major sects did not care about the spread of cultivation techniques or secret manuals. Why would they care about that stuff? Could it help one cultivate to become an Immortal?

The reason they could become Immortals was that the previous Immortal had passed down the position to them; it was not achieved through practicing cultivation techniques.

They simply managed things well and maintained their prestige, leading the world to believe that they were just that awesome!

Take the current Qian Kingdom, for instance; it has already fought every power except for Xuan Kingdom. It might look like Qian Kingdom dares not provoke Xuan Kingdom, but in reality, the military forces of Xuan Kingdom have not gone out.

If they really were to go out, those lunatics from Qian Kingdom would definitely attack them.

Only they knew their own suffering. Their strength was stuck, and their power was limited to one region. They could only watch helplessly as Qian Kingdom grew stronger, the threat growing bit by bit until it reached a point they could no longer contend with.

If there was an opportunity to suppress Qian Kingdom, they had to seize it firmly.

...

After discussing the major matters with Emperor Xuan, Lu Hu returned to the Mountain Lord's dojo. With the memory inheritance of Ancestor Que, he discussed antiquity with the Mountain Lord, exchanging their respective understandings of history.

It was true that Xuan Kingdom had not just had one Heavenly Immortal; it had given birth to three Heavenly Immortals.

The first Heavenly Immortal was Ancestor Xuan, who was even more ancient than Ancestor Que. In the ancient texts of Xuan Kingdom, his ascension to immortality was clearly recorded.

The second and third were from the same era: Young Ancestor Xuan and Emperor Xuan Shi.

They were the son and disciple of Ancestor Xuan. That period of history was vaguely recorded; the Mountain Lord only knew that Ancestor Xuan and Emperor Xuan Shi had already become Heavenly Immortals in their prime, founded Xuan Kingdom, and developed it under the management of the two Heavenly Immortals until their later years, when they led the Immortals to ascend.

The information the Mountain Lord possessed was scarce, but it was all high-quality. With Young Ancestor Xuan, Emperor Xuan Shi, plus Ancestor Que and Ancestor Kun, Lu Hu now understood the identities of the four Heavenly Immortals of that era.

Lu Hu also discovered that the Mountain Lord did not know about the failed ascension of Young Ancestor Xuan and Emperor Xuan Shi.

After Lu Hu told the Mountain Lord, the Mountain Lord did not believe him, but after seeing the images Lu Hu projected, the Mountain Lord fell silent.

"When the previous Mountain Lord was suppressing the national destiny, his Immortal soul shouted out the word 'Shao'. I still do not understand what it meant to this day; perhaps it is related to this."

The Mountain Lord revealed a secret: upon inheriting an official position and becoming an Immortal through the blessing of destiny, after death, one's Immortal soul must merge into the national destiny of Xuan Kingdom to suppress its vast national destiny.

When the previous Mountain Lord merged with the national destiny, he discovered something that shocked him, leading him to shout the word 'Shao'.

Now, perhaps, had he seen Young Ancestor?

"What does suppressing the national destiny mean?" Lu Hu asked curiously.

"It might be related to the source of our power."

The information the Mountain Lord understood was only what generations of Immortals had researched. They believed that official positions—that is, Immortal positions—derived their power from heaven and earth: mountains, the earth, the ocean, the night...

And since one could not command such powerful heaven and earth energy on one's own, they gathered the vast faith and will of living beings, using the power of the masses to harness the power of heaven and earth.

"This is the power possessed by an Immortal position!" The Old Mountain Lord summoned the bone seal again. This great seal was engraved with many mountains, corresponding to the endless mountains of Xuan Kingdom. Through it, one could use the power of the mountains.

This was the power possessed by an Immortal position.

The Mountain Lord could not withstand that power, so the power of the masses was needed to regulate it.

"The energy surrounding it is the conferment of the world-suppressing seal, which is the bridge to ascending to an Immortal position."

The Old Mountain Lord pointed to the energy circling the bone seal. This energy came from the world-suppressing seal. The world-suppressing seal could condense the will, faith, and other emotional powers of the masses. After conferment, the person being conferred could use the power of the bone seal through the power of the masses.

However, the masses were vast, and the emotions they contained were incredibly complex. Even though this power had already been cleansed once by the world-suppressing seal, it was still immense. While using the power of the masses, one also had to endure the onslaught of the masses' emotions.

"Ao~" Lu Hu was thoughtful. No wonder he had almost lost control of his emotions when he touched the bone seal and the world-suppressing seal; it turned out they had gathered the emotions of so many people.

"The energy condensed by the world-suppressing seal is unstable. If the land is peaceful, the energy is mild; conversely, if there is chaos, it is turbulent. Because it gathers the will of the masses, it is infinitely complex. After an Immortal is conferred, upon death, their soul is taken by the world-suppressing seal to assist in purifying the will of the masses. We also call this suppressing the national destiny."

Speaking of this, the Mountain Lord's mood became low. His physical body was aging, and perhaps in a few years, he would die of old age, and his soul would become a tool for sorting and purifying the will.

The vast will of the masses and the endlessly complex thoughts and emotions would wash over him until he lost his own emotions, becoming a heartless tool.

This was not alarmist talk. The longer one stayed in an Immortal position, the more one's own emotions and memories would fade. Every day, one had to come into contact with a massive amount of will; no matter how resilient one's conviction was, it would be gradually corroded.

"I've digressed." The Old Mountain Lord swept away the low atmosphere and returned to discussing the matter of the Young Ancestor.

Only when an Immortal's physical body died would their soul be summoned away by the world-suppressing seal. The Mountain Lord did not know what state one would be in at that time, but he guessed that by then, one would have become part of the world-suppressing seal and should be able to see its true face.

The word 'Shao' that the previous Old Mountain Lord said before dying must have been Young Ancestor Xuan!

"Could he still be..." Lu Hu did not finish his sentence, but his meaning was expressed. The Mountain Lord nodded slightly. Perhaps, possibly, Young Ancestor was really still alive.

Lu Hu's eyes flickered. Although he was living quite comfortably at the moment and had no thoughts of ascending, he felt that sooner or later, he would grow tired of life in this world.

No matter how fun something was, one would eventually grow weary of it over time. He would inevitably have to ascend.

In the memories of Ancestor Que, ascension held unknown terrors. Four Heavenly Immortals, along with many Earthly Immortals, had all failed.

If Young Ancestor was still alive, finding him would allow one to figure out what the so-called terror was!

"His Majesty is the Emperor; he knows more than I do," the Old Mountain Lord said. He was dying soon. His previous final wish was only to find a qualified successor, but now he had added the reason for the failed ascension of Young Ancestor and the others.

"Let's leave that for later." Lu Hu shook his head. He did not want to disturb Young Ancestor for now; there was still plenty of time, so he would take it slow. Lu Hu changed the subject and continued chatting idly with the Mountain Lord.

Another day passed. Lu Hu asked the Mountain Lord to look after Tiger Sister at the zoo, and then he bid farewell to Xuan Kingdom.

...