The Third Immortal King of the Lunar Song Tribe took a deep look at Yaan, before leaving without a word.
He left, but Yaan knew that this would not be the end of this matter. In all likelihood, Yaan's threat made him realise that he could not be rash when dealing with the Bloody Totem Tribe's 'Red Demon', and that he needed to discuss things with the other immortals of his tribe.
Yaan exhaled deeply, releasing the tension from his body.
From start to finish, he felt on edge. How could he possibly feel relaxed when threatening an immortal? Were it not for the war flower law, he would not dare to use such a crazy tactic!
In fact, it was thanks to the war flower law that Yaan was able to act so wantonly in the first place. Otherwise, it would simply be stupid to create so much ruckus in this region, knowing that there were immortals ruling over this kingdom.
"Ga Shu." Yaan called out lightly. A couple of seconds passed by, before Ga Shu appeared by his side.
The old immortal had used some methods to conceal their conversation from spreading outside of this small garden, but after he left, this concealment method was also dispelled. Yaan found it interesting that a body temperer had such methods available to them, but he supposed that immortals could not be judged by the same standards as mortals.
"Lord Red…" Ga Shu clasped his hands together respectively, but looked like he wanted to ask something. Clearly, he was curious about their visitor.
"Ga Shu. We have been noticed by the Lunar Song Tribe. It is likely that in future, they will use their vassal tribes to either probe us, or to initiate an all-out war."
Ga Shu stared forwards blankly for a moment, but the reality of Yaan's words soon set in. Combined with the appearance of that old man earlier, he immediately realised what had happened.
Ga Shu was shocked like never before. He was an experienced, worldly person, but he had still never met an immortal before! Until now…
He stared at Yaan with a stunned expression.
'How is he so calm? How can he be so calm, even after meeting an immortal? Just who is he, really…?'
Many had their doubts about Yaan's true identity, but the truth was simply beyond the scope of their worldview. Nobody could guess that he was from the Qi Plane, when they had never even heard of the Qi Plane to begin with.
"After I am done here, I will be entering secluded cultivation for some time. I want you to handle things along with the Bloody Totem Tribe Leader. Do your best to fend off the Lunar Song Tribe's attacks, but if the battle reaches the core Bloody Totem Province, then you should come find me."
After hearing Yaan's words, Ga Shu's heart rate sped up and he couldn't help but feel a sense of pressure.
He was being asked to defend against the Lunar Song Tribe, to defend against multiple immortals! Even if the immortals would not attack personally, they could still send hordes of Rank 5 vassal tribes to do their bidding!
"Yes, my lord…"
In the end, Ga Shu could only accept.
Yaan looked up at the stressed Aztec man and smiled faintly.
"Ga Shu, take this."
Whoosh!
Ga Shu reached out in surprise, catching the bottle that Yaan threw towards him. When he opened his palm and looked at what was inside, he stared blankly for a moment, before his eyes widened and his heart trembled. He almost cried out in shock, because he could hardly believe what he was holding…
"Rank 6 medicine! L-lord Red, this is a Rank 6 medicine!"
"Mm." Yaan nodded. "It's useless to me, but…it should be able to help your wife."
Ga Shu's eyes widened, he stared at Yaan for a long time in silence, unable to find the words.
No, he really could not believe that something so precious was being given to him, just like that!
Rank 6 medicines were simply too rare, Ga Shu was unable to procure such a treasure by himself. He had searched high and low to find medicines that could treat his wife's condition, but he found nothing that could even awaken her from her slumber.
"This tincture is called boundless vitality water. After seeing your wife, it was clear to me that she entered a comatose state because her body is trying to save her vitality, which is being burned away by her illness. Whilst this medicine cannot cure her…it should be enough to wake her up." Yaan explained, without much emotion in his tone.
"My lord…thank you…thank you…" Ga Shu bowed deeply. His body was visibly trembling, he was barely restraining the tears in his eyes.
After so many years, he would finally be able to awaken his wife! After 207 years of waiting, he could finally speak with his beloved wife again!
They could accompany one another like before! He would tell her all about the things he had experienced during these past 207 years! It would be a long, relaxed chat, there were so many things to go through after all!
The trembling in Ga Shu's body grew stronger. As the reality of the situation set in, he was unable to control his emotions. He clenched his hand around the vial, but made sure not to grip it too tightly, he did not want to damage it.
"Go." Yaan spoke this one word. Ga Shu looked up, facing Yaan with a solemn expression.
"My Lord, I will never forget this favour. I will do everything in my power to guard you from the Lunar Song Tribe, even if it means waging war against immortals!"
After saying this, he bowed again, then flew off into the distance, using his fastest speed to rush home. He could not wait…he could not wait!
Yaan watched him leave, sighing to himself and shaking his head.
"Love is truly too powerful, even a Peak 5-Star warrior like Ga Shu cannot control himself under the influence of this emotion. But, it is understandable…he spent 50 years with his wife, then protected her as she slept for over 200 years. Anyone would grow tired after so long…anyone would lose their calm after being presented with such a medicine after waiting for so long."
Yaan found this vial of medicine within the treasury of the Fallen Cloud Tribe. They had stored it away, saving it as a treasure to treat the serious injuries of their future warriors when they underwent the Nirvana Death heavenly calamity.
"It's unfortunate, this medicine is only useful for pure body temperers, I cannot use it properly. It would be a waste to use it on myself, even a powerful Rank 5 medicine would be more useful for me." Yaan sighed and shook his head. Were it not for this fact, he would never give away a Rank 6 medicine like this.
Rank 5, Rank 6, was the difference really so huge?
Of course it was! This was the difference between mortal and half-step immortal!
Only Rank 5 cultivators could refine Rank 5 medicines, and likewise, only Rank 6 cultivators could refine Rank 6 medicines! For this reason, Rank 6 medicines were shockingly rare. After all, how many Nirvana realm cultivators would spend their time refining medicines rather than preparing for their calamity and tribulation?
"Ga Shu's wife should be able to wake up, but this medicine is not enough to cure her illness." Yaan muttered. "Because she will remain in a weakened state, my hold over Ga Shu will remain, whilst his loyalty will become far deeper than before. With this, I can rely on Ga Shu to handle things whilst I cultivate."
Yaan had already determined that only a Rank 7 medicine could heal Ga Shu's wife, but that was an immortal medicine. Even Yaan only had a single immortal pill in his spatial ring, left for him by the Immortal Ancestor. However, he had no idea what this pill's effect was, but even if he did…
He would not give something so valuable away to someone else.
Left alone in the Earth Cry Tribe's core gardens, Yaan continued to slowly walk around, staring at the ground as he investigated the earth. Not only was he trying to understand the unique features of this soil, but he also found that investigating like this was helping his understanding of illusions to grow further.
"Illusions…" Yaan muttered. "The concept of illusions is extremely vast, I have only comprehended a small fraction of the whole dao of illusions. The complete fragment of the illusion dao that I have comprehended is related to the concealment of truth, but illusions are so much deeper than this. But there is a very close aspect of illusions to my own illusion dao…illusions not only conceal the truth…but also reveal the truth…"
As Yaan spoke to himself quietly, he continued to probe the soil. The soil only seemed like ordinary soil to him, but how could that possibly be the case?
"If this was an incredible soil with a grand presence, I could conceal its majesty, creating the illusion that it is only ordinary…so when the soil presents itself to me as ordinary, can I do the reverse, revealing its majesty concealed within?"
Yaan's eyes lit up as he came to a vague understanding.
"If I look at all things as an illusion, then all I need to do in order to see through the truth, is to remove the illusion!"
Before his eyes, the soil below his feet began to change.
The earth previously looked normal, like any other soil on the Blood Plane. There was dirt, nutrients, decomposing plant and animal matter, and of course, spiritual power. Until now, Yaan was unable to locate the origin of the strange crying noise…but he finally found it.
Yaan saw a stream of colours, circling through the tribe in a unique flow, like a stream of musical notes forming an endless cycle.
This stream of fluorescent sound resonated with each and every spec of the earth, creating a sound akin to a crying beast…
This sound was not merely a creation of the stream of colour though, it was a remnant trace from the past. The entire stream of sound and light was left behind by a dying beast in its final moments. That beast was a grand creature, an immortal beast!
Immortal beasts were exceedingly rare on the Qi Plane, but on the Blood Plane, they were no less prevalent than body tempering immortals. Yaan still felt shocked though, because the beast that left behind this bizarre phenomena was clearly no ordinary immortal beast.
Yaan could now see the melody of the beast's final cry. He heard and saw the sorrow, he understood that this creature had died pitifully and with a heart filled with unwillingness.
But who would not feel unwillingness towards death?
As Yaan continued to stare into the earth, he saw that the beast's lingering cry was enriching the soil with a unique power. The source of this power was part of the beast's unique attribute, it was a creature that brought prosperity to the lands wherever it went.
Not all beasts were murderous, savage creatures. Some were peaceful, and could even benefit other life forms with their presence.
"What sort of beast could leave behind its death cries to linger for so long after its demise?" Yaan muttered to himself. In the end, he shook his head and sighed.
When he stopped investigating the earth, Yaan finally realised that the method he had used just now was far from ordinary. This went beyond the scope of simple dao manipulation, but nor was it something so extreme like a domain. When he activated this power once again, he focussed on himself this time, quickly understanding the truth.
When Yaan used this ability, this ability to unravel the illusion of the world in order to ascertain the truth, his eyes glowed with a light of indiscernible colour. Others would feel a deep sense of confusion when looking into his eyes, as the colour was an impossibility, as if it did not exist.
"This method…it is quite similar to a spell. If this is a common technique in this world, it should definitely be called a dao spell!" Yaan exclaimed with a bright gaze.
"I shall call my first dao spell…reveal truth."
Yaan's expression became strange after he casually named this spell without even needing to think about it.
"Reveal truth…this spell seems to suit myself and my life better than anything else…"
200 chapters! Thanks to everyone for sticking around for so long!
Some of my reader will know that I put my second novel, 'Demonic Shaman', on hiatus. I want to focus on this novel first, and writing two novels was too time consuming. Flicking back and forth between two different novels also made it difficult to focus on the novel's plot properly, I write better when I can focus on one.
Just letting everyone know that I have no intention of dropping A Desolate Life, if anything, I might start uploading some extra chapters if I have the time (no commitments though, four per week is staying as the standard).
Anyway, to celebrate 200 chapters, how about leaving a generous rating? ;)
I'd also appreciate it if you could leave a star rating on RoyalRoad, I really want to get this novel up to at least 4 stars over there. Leaving a rating on RR is easy, you don't need to write anything unlike on webnovel.
Thanks again everyone!