Chapter 169: Module·Immortality
Chapter 169: Module·Immortality
Zhan Xue wore a grim expression as he fought wits against thin air, lashing out at the emptiness time and again.
Watching from the side where she lay bound, Mei Yu, the leader of the Five Immortals Sect, also looked thoroughly tense.
“What’s your surname?” Chen Xiyi asked Mei Yu.
“Mmph!~”
“Speak up. I asked you something – isn’t it rude not to reply?” Chen Xiyi questioned Mei Yu again.
“Mmph, mmph mmph!!!” Mei Yu widened her eyes, gesturing frantically that her mouth was gagged and she couldn’t speak.
Chen Xiyi looked disgusted. “So rude. Won’t even answer a question.”
‘Damn it, this grandson of a man! Can’t he see old lady’s mouth is stuffed?!’ Mei Yu raged inwardly. But she kept her thoughts to herself, not daring to show them on her face.
Hadn’t she seen the man who subdued her in one move getting completely toyed with by this one?
“Lao Lin, keep fighting them. I’ll look around for some goodies while I’m here,” Chen Xiyi called out to Lin Feng, who was currently in a deadlock with Guo Chen.
Lin Feng didn’t reply, completely absorbed in his battle.
“Do me a favor and keep an eye on that guy fighting thin air. Don’t let him wreck my stuff. It’s all mine now. Ruining it would be a huge loss for me.”
Chen Xiyi said this to Mei Yu.
‘Gah! Come back! Untie me first, you jerk!~’
That’s what Mei Yu wanted to say, but with her mouth jammed shut, she could only make muffled noises as she watched Chen Xiyi drift further away.
Following the location on his Game Map, Chen Xiyi quickly located the module.
\[Module: Immortality\]
“……”
Looking at it, a bad feeling washed over him.
Honestly, not cultivating immortality was fine—he could stick with martial arts, floating elegantly in white robes.
But this module made him think unavoidably of the Ascension Ritual and The Immortal. Judging by the two strangers, Chen Xiyi had every reason to believe this probably wasn’t anything wholesome.
He didn’t need lessons from Zhan Xue and Guo Chen’s experience either; the thing was embedded in a bone fragment. What kind of bone it was, he didn’t know.
Crammed onto the bone fragment was a dense script.
From Chen Xiyi’s analysis, it wasn’t writing from this era—it was ancient script.
Luckily, the Home Game had a built-in language pack. Although the script was technically lost, Chen Xiyi could still decipher what was on it.
“A sword art manuscript? No… It’s more like some barbaric shaman ritual script. The Ascension Ritual, this thing is?”
Chen Xiyi was baffled. Sword arts and ancient rituals—how were those even remotely related?
“This makes the origins of those three outsiders a whole lot more interesting.”
\[Module: Immortality\]
\[Activate to receive the ritual: Ascension\]
\[Perform the Ascension Ritual to acquire the Character Template: The Immortal\]
“A one-time enhancement module?”
This Immortality module was basically a personality mod, whereas his previous modules were likely function and foundational mods.
He had to perform the Ascension Ritual himself. What would happen after success? He had no clue; he’d never done it.
“One Concept, two Components? What the heck are these?”
The ritual seemed simple enough: insert one Concept and two Components into the Ascension Ritual, and after that, it was probably just reading a progress bar.
The immediate problem was clear—it only slapped on the ritual panel, then gave him Qi Sensitivity, similar to the Zhou Tian Qi Circulation—like activating a service that left all the development work entirely to him.
“Maybe those three outsiders know something, especially that Guo Chen guy. He clearly came specifically for this Ascension Ritual.”
He used the module, and the bone fragment vanished. It didn’t remain like the Yi Jing from the Qi Refiner World.
“Let’s set ‘The Immortal’ aside for now. Wasn’t this supposed to be a martial arts world?”
Chen Xiyi had a sudden realization. Why would a martial arts world reward a module not related to martial arts?
Why was it talking about ascension and immortality?
His heart sank like Commissioner Gordon’s in Gotham. Could this world be hiding some deep, dark secret?
“Hopefully, it’s not that unlucky. Maybe those outsiders just learned some obscure secret elsewhere.”
He had a sneaking suspicion about them.
They might very well have come from the future—and the one meant to receive the Ascension Ritual wasn’t him, but Lin Feng.
Otherwise, how else would all these coincidences stack up? Combined with the pile of unsettling questions about them, Chen Xiyi felt even more certain.
“Perfect spot too. I think I’ll claim this place as my Shelter.”
Chen Xiyi decided he couldn’t keep messing around with Lin Feng every day. It was time to buckle down and get serious.
Returning to the battleground, Lin Feng and Guo Chen were still locked evenly together. Zhan Xue kept warring with nothingness, and the Five Immortals Sect’s Mei Yu still wriggled like a caterpillar.
“The Five Immortals Sect leader, right? Have something to discuss. Just nod your agreement, okay?”
“It’s like this: I really dig this vibe at the Five Immortals Cave in Miaojiang. How about you folks move out?”
“That head shake doesn’t mean… Ah?~ Got it! Shaking ‘no’ means ‘yes’ in your Miaojiang customs, doesn’t it? My mistake—guess being uncultured bites, not knowing your traditions.”
With just a few words, Chen Xiyi declared the Miaojiang Five Immortals Cave his.
“Lao Lin. Hurry up. Got places to be,” Chen Xiyi called out.
As Chen Xiyi finished speaking, human-shaped shadows began popping up throughout the Five Immortals Cave. Arms surged from Zhan Xue’s body, pinning the man face-flat to the ground. He couldn’t budge.
Their eerie twitching forms sent fright through everyone present.
Guo Chen, startled, lost focus. In that split second, Lin Feng flicked his sword away.
Before Guo Chen could recover, countless arms dragged Lin Feng backward.
Further off, a woman who looked like Mei Yu was similarly grabbed by swarming arms and hauled into the Five Immortals Cave.
“How did you even…?” Lin Feng sheathed his sword and approached, wary of the looming shadows surrounding Chen Xiyi.
“Told you, remember? A little (billion) familiar with the Strange Gates Escaping Arts. This is it,” Chen Xiyi replied dismissively.
“You call that ‘a little’?”
Lin Feng thought Chen Xiyi had lost his mind.
Nearby, still securely bound, Mei Yu was starting to believe that Miaojiang truly had a custom where shaking your head meant yes.
If some immortality-cultivator like Chen Xiyi got stomped by mere martial world warriors, that’d be downright shameful.
“Hmm… just a ‘billion’ little. Oh, but free that wriggling caterpillar whenever you get the chance. This spot’s mine now, and she’s in the way,” Chen Xiyi said playfully.
“The terror! Aren’t you afraid the Five Immortals Sect and Miaojiang will hunt you down?” Lin Feng sucked in a cold breath.
“Seriously? Cut the ‘sucking in cold breaths’ and ‘terror’ rubbish. My catchphrases—sounds weird coming from you,” Chen Xiyi griped. With a protagonist template like yours—dramatic inhalations and awe—you’re robbing side characters of their moments.
“Hah! You do this schtick after every trial match of mine. Thought I’d return the favor today,” Lin Feng huffed back before heading to untie Mei Yu.
Watching them, Mei Yu questioned her entire life: Did reaching powerhouse status require complete madness?
Meanwhile, Chen Xiyi ignored them both. His attention locked on the three outsiders buried under swarms of arms.
“Outsiders. Care to chat about Wandering Light, the Ascension Ritual, and The Immortal?” Chen Xiyi smiled.
Fear and defiance still burned in the trio’s gazes—yet none broke.
“Well-read man myself, generally against torture, see? So cooperate? Get what I want, and you walk free.”
Chen Xiyi sounded impossibly sincere—the opposite of manipulation.
Unshakable resolve kept them silent.
“Honestly… I dislike digging into brains for intel. Awkward for all involved.”
\[You converse with Outsider Zhan Xue. The discussion soured. He dismisses you as spouting nonsense. Zhan Xue’s Hatred +10. Current Hatred Rank: ★★☆\]
(Similar alerts ping for Guo Chen and the other outsider. After three exchanged lines, hatred rockets to max rank ★★★)
“Ah, you lot… so petty. Barely two sentences—no fists flying yet? Already mortal enemies… breaking my aching heart.”
Non-compliance forced Chen Xiyi’s hand.
Flicking his fingers, three shadowy forms seeped into the captives. Instant loss of bodily control seized them.
Worst was the sensation in their minds: smooth, slithering things caressing their very thoughts.
A mere illusion, of course—Chen Xiyi wouldn’t actually touch their brains; they were two Innate Warriors and maybe an unheard-of Grandmaster Martial Artist of this era.
“Ahem. You two, step aside—got intel to squeeze out. Resistance expected, and it might run… messy. Understand?” Chen Xiyi’s gaze settled on Mei Yu.
Lin Feng cared less, all eyes on Mei Yu now.
Disagreeing meant becoming another bound Postnatal Warrior test subject.
“Oh, crystal clear!” Mei Yu smiled stiffly.
What choice did she have? Shadow figures swarmed everywhere. One wrong tone would be “arms up” galore.
Only after they left did Chen Xiyi face the trinity before him.
“Excellent. Question time begins. Who are you, really?”
Contempt flashed in all three—but contempt was impotent against the Chang Ghost-infused shadows puppeting their forms. Temporary thralls they’d become.
“I am Zhan Xue, team leader of Squad Seven under Temporal Response Bureau Group Seventeen. My primary duties involve—”
“I, Temporal Response Bureau—”
“I—”
All spoke, their wills entirely violated. Trying desperately to shut themselves only hastened the floodgates.
Sheer terror swelled. How could such nightmarish power exist before the Mythic Era—nowhere near Grandmaster levels?
Right then, everything they knew dissolved.
Question after question spilled secrets: their origin, purpose, futures… all laid bare.
One thought consumed them: Ruined. Everything was ruined.
Historically, no Temporal Response Bureau agent had ever spilled identities and secrets like this into the past.
Worse—their listener seemed a fathomless powerhouse, promising catastrophic shockwaves to come.
‘Damned world, trash game, life wrecker! All I wanted was to stomp plebs in a low-level martial arts world—not be the one stomped!’