Chapter 1265: Pendant

Emperor Zhao Hao’s biggest problem was his lifespan drawing to an end. If he had an elixir for longevity, wouldn’t he be invincible?

Yun Jianyue explained, "To ascend to an Earth Immortal, one must possess their own unique Dao and laws. The laws governing an Earth Immortal's body are already vastly different from the universal laws of this world. These longevity elixirs, being born from the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, inevitably carry the laws of this world. Therefore, they are incompatible with Earth Immortals and thus have no effect."

Yan Xuehen said, "The current emperor is invincible in the world, and his age is not considered old among his peers. It's just unfortunate that he has already begun to experience the Heaven-and-Man Five Decays; death is an inevitable outcome."

"What exactly does 'Heaven-and-Man Five Decays' mean?" Zu An asked; it wasn't the first time he had heard the term.

"An Earth Immortal, after all, still carries the 'Earth' character in their title; they are not true immortals," Yan Xuehen explained. "Unless one breaks through to become a true immortal, they will always be rejected by the will of heaven and earth. When this rejection reaches its peak, it will trigger the Heaven-and-Man Five Decays. Earth Immortals will gradually succumb to death, eventually turning into dust and completely merging with this world."

"Zhao Hao's Heaven-and-Man Five Decays seem to have arrived earlier than usual. However, people are currently unsure of the exact factors causing the Heaven-and-Man Five Decays. They only speculate it might be related to the irreparable 'Dao injury' he sustained during his great battle with the Demon Emperor."

Zu An's heart stirred. "Does that mean the current Demon Emperor is also nearing his end?"

"He's also nearing the end of his life," Yun Jianyue replied. "That's why he summoned the various demon clans to the Royal Court for a grand assembly this time; he's probably making arrangements for his passing. The Demon Emperor, being an elder generation master, has lived much longer. Zhao Hao, however, only recently ascended to Earth Immortal status. During that war, everyone initially thought the Demon Emperor's cultivation would be half a step higher than Zhao Hao's, but unexpectedly, he lost by half a move, thus solidifying Zhao Hao's reputation as invincible."

Zu An's expression was odd. "Doesn't that mean Zhao Hao suffered a huge loss?"

He might be invincible, but he had barely enjoyed his time as an Earth Immortal before facing the Heaven-and-Man Five Decays.

"It's not about loss or gain," Yan Xuehen shook her head. "At their level, what they consider is completely different from ordinary people."

Hearing the increasingly fierce sounds of fighting from afar, Zu An asked, "Do these spiritual herbs have any effect on your injuries? I'll go help you get them."

Yun Jianyue and Yan Xuehen shook their heads in unison. "The higher one's cultivation, the less likely they are to get injured, but once injured, it's very difficult to recover. While these spiritual herbs are miraculous, they are not of much use to us."

"Unless it's some very special treasure, otherwise we can only rely on time and slow recovery."

Yu Yanluo asked what treasures could help them recover from their injuries quickly. Both women smiled without answering; such items were too precious, their rarity comparable even to divine artifacts, so there was no need to speak of them and invite more trouble.

"Oh, right, where's that fat Taoist?" Yan Xuehen suddenly remembered something and looked around, but Wu Liang was nowhere to be seen.

Zu An's heart also skipped a beat. He had been so concerned about their injuries that he'd forgotten about that damn fatty. Fortunately, he had left a wisp of his divine sense on him. He looked up into the distance: "He went deeper inside, not stopping along the way, as if those spiritual herbs held no attraction for him."

Yun Jianyue said gravely, "Hurry and follow him. I'm curious what he's up to."

Since those spiritual herbs weren't very useful to them, Zu An also abandoned the idea of snatching them. The group walked directly further in, passing by the location of the spiritual herbs, where they found the group of people who had just been chatting and laughing now fiercely fighting.

Brothers Bear One and Bear Two, being close, had an advantage in numbers. The others weren't foolish and quickly formed alliances, though some relationships were better than others. For instance, Duan Tiande would never ally with Qiao Heng, so he joined Bear One and Bear Two.

Although their cultivation levels varied, there wasn't a qualitative gap between them, and the spiritual herbs changed hands multiple times.

Suddenly, a spiritual herb was sent flying and landed directly in front of Zu An and his companions.

Zu An subconsciously caught it, feeling a chilling sensation in his hand. His heart stirred; this must be the Soul Severing Underworld Grass.

At that moment, two figures flew over, instinctively moving to snatch it. One of the men anxiously shouted, "That's ours!"

The woman next to him had already recognized Zu An and his group. She quickly stopped the man, then smiled at Zu An, "Treasures belong to the capable. Since this spiritual herb chose its master, it must be the will of heaven. Please accept it, Young Master."

The woman was naturally Princess Soren, and the man beside her was Silver Shark Prince, who always followed Princess Soren around diligently. They had naturally allied to snatch the herbs during the recent chaotic battle.

She clearly understood that given Zu An's demonstrated combat power and the mysterious women beside him, it would be difficult for her and Silver Shark Prince to retrieve the Soul Severing Underworld Grass, even if they teamed up. Moreover, he had saved her before, so it was better to do him a favor.

She glanced behind her, a hint of regret in her eyes. It was clear there was no chance to snatch the other spiritual herbs if they went back now.

Seeing the woman of his dreams so meek and yielding in front of another man, Silver Shark Prince was quite displeased. However, considering that even West Lion had just been defeated, he ultimately didn't dare to act out.

[Anger points from Silver Shark Prince: 499499499...]

Feeling the dangerous gazes from Yu Yanluo and the others, Zu An chuckled and tossed the Soul Severing Underworld Grass into her hand. "Just kidding, it's yours."

After speaking, he continued on, following the fat Taoist Wu Liang.

Princess Soren hadn't expected him to so easily give her such a valuable item. For a moment, she stood there stunned, gazing blankly at his receding figure.

Yun Jianyue couldn't help but mutter, "This guy tricked another young girl. I even suspect that's how Hong Lei was tricked by him back then."

Yan Xuehen nodded in deep agreement, thinking that Chu Yan had probably fallen for him the same way.

For some reason, she felt a burst of annoyance. "Didn't you say your disciple's charm magic was perfected? She should have been able to trick him easily, not be tricked herself so simply!"

Yun Jianyue was silent for a long time before finally letting out a long sigh: "How was I to know there were male fox spirits in this world?"

Unconsciously, the group arrived at a large hall. The ground was a vast expanse of white, as if covered by a layer of greenish-gray dust.

As they stepped on it, their feet sank several inches.

"Is this snow?" Yu Yanluo asked, somewhat surprised. If it were mud, the color was too strange.

"No!" Yan Xuehen, who practiced the Snow Blossom Divine Sword and was very familiar with snow, immediately denied it. "There's a pervasive aura of death here. Everyone, be careful."

"This is what remains after countless bones have decayed." Yun Jianyue, who had fought her way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, knew this best and quickly recognized what the white layer of mud on the ground was.

The scramble for spiritual herbs among the demon experts behind them had also settled, and, mindful of the treasures further ahead, they began to follow.

Hearing this, everyone was horrified. Skeletons are normally very hard and can endure for thousands of years, yet here they had all decayed into mud. How many long ages must have passed for this to happen?

At this moment, they spotted Wu Liang. He was squatting dozens of feet away, in front of a completely intact skeleton.

The skeleton had not only avoided decay but remained perfectly preserved, translucent like jade, and it emanated a faint, almost imperceptible pressure.

It was evident how powerful it had been in life.

Then, Wu Liang carefully took a necklace-like object from its chest. The cord on it was clearly of extraordinary quality, but after countless ages, it turned to ash with a light touch.

Wu Liang didn't care about that; instead, he caught a pale golden pendant in his hand, his expression filled with immense excitement.