Chapter 199 - Lunar Song Immortal
The appearance of the immortal from the Lunar Song Tribe came without warning. This person did not bother to announce their presence, but this was normal, why would an immortal care about the face of anyone who had not yet achieved immortality?
Yaan reacted a moment before their arrival. He sensed a change in the atmosphere as the immortal passed through the Earth Cry Tribe’s protection formation. A powerful sense of danger stormed into his mind, causing Yaan to show a severe expression as he took a step back and turned sharply, facing the immortal as they appeared before him.
Instantly, the immortal was stunned. He had not revealed his presence, and yet, this mere mortal had actually managed to sense him?
The old man frowned, staring back at Yaan wordlessly. He had come to investigate this time due to suspicions that the recently famous ‘Red Demon’ of the Bloody Totem Tribe might actually be an immortal.
However, this speculation was quite unlikely. It was necessary to check this matter due to Yaan having defeated a 6-Star powerhouse, but really, it was more likely that he was simply a 6-Star warrior himself.
The old man stared at Yaan as his frown became increasingly creased. He realised that without using any special methods, he could not see through this person’s cultivation!
The old man was becoming increasingly wary.
As Yaan and the immortal stared at one another silently, Ga Shu finally reacted. He was shocked, but it was his job to deal with any issues that Yaan might encounter during his investigation of the Earth Cry Tribe’s lands. He reacted quite quickly, stepping forwards and intending to separate the old man from Yaan.
Obviously, Ga Shu had not realised that he was face to face with an immortal.
To most Foundation Step cultivators, immortals were simply legends, beings that they would never encounter in their lifetimes. Immortals were so far beyond Foundation Step beings, they simply had no reason to involve themselves in that lower world. Only when they were nurturing potential immortal seedlings would they bother with a Foundation Step cultivator.
“Ga Shu, stop.” Yaan spoke calmly, not looking away from the old man as he spoke. Ga Shu paused, but took a step back and faced Yaan, awaiting further instruction.
“This person is my guest, you can leave us.”
Ga Shu nodded. He did not understand what was going on, and this old man made him feel uncomfortable, but in the end, Yaan’s orders were the most important thing. He left without a word, leaving Yaan and the immortal alone in this secluded garden.
With Ga Shu gone, Yaan finally spoke to the old man.
“I am not an immortal. I am a Rank 4 cultivator, but I possess immortal stage comprehension over a certain dao, allowing me to conceal myself.” After saying this, Yaan immediately stopped using his cultivation to hide his true aura, the aura of his cultivation, undistorted by anything else.
Yaan had not revealed this ever since waking up on the Blood Plane. He had always concealed his true cultivation, causing people to endlessly speculate. Most people now believed that he was a Nirvana realm being, but they were of course incorrect in this assumption.
The old man’s eyes widened, not expecting Yaan to reveal the truth so directly like this. However, when he thought about it, it made sense.
Yaan realised that he was being investigated as soon as the immortal arrived. He needed to prove that he was not an immortal, otherwise, he would be accused of breaking the war flower law. If he continued to hide his true cultivation and abilities from this old immortal, then the situation would escalate further and others would come to investigate him.
The old man smiled, finally relaxing and giving Yaan a nod. He was still shocked in his heart, both by Yaan’s obvious Four Paths Cultivation, and by his immortal stage dao, but he showed nothing of this on his face.
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Even if he was shocked, Yaan was still only a ‘mortal’ in his eyes, he posed no threat. Also, since Yaan was at the Foundation Step, the old man was forbidden by the war flower law from acting against him directly, so it was pointless to even think about entering a conflict.
“So it was like this. I never expected the infamous Red Demon to only possess Rank 4 cultivation! Even if you do practise the Four Paths Cultivation technique, your battle prowess is beyond commendable. Immortal stage dao comprehension at this level…you are truly something.”
The old man’s words seemed to be complimenting him, but Yaan did not feel good about this at all.
From this old man’s perspective, was Yaan having enormous potential a good thing? Of course not!
Yaan recognised that this immortal was from the Lunar Song Tribe by the tattoo on his forehead. All members of the Lunar Song Tribe possessed a birth mark, a tattoo of the moon and a musical note on their forehead. This old man was no different.
This was the first time that Yaan had met an immortal body temperer. Compared to immortal Qi refiners, there were some very noticeable differences.
Firstly, this old man was around eight feet tall, his entire body was clad in muscles whilst his body fat was almost non-existent. He wore a set of beast furs, tied up around his stomach by a single piece of vine rope and extending three quarters the way down his legs. As for his upper body, it was completely bare, showing his muscular physique and hairy chest to the world. The old immortal had no hair, but his beard was bushy and grey.
The Qi refining immortals that Yaan had met were all elegant and refined, both in terms of their appearance and their aura.
Even though this old man was not releasing his aura, Yaan could still see past a portion of his concealment. Like his appearance, this immortal’s aura was not elegant and refined, but overbearing and savage!
The fact that he was eight feet tall was not even worth considering, this was nothing strange for body temperers. Depending on their bloodline and cultivation method, any human could become monstrously large, but others remained at a relatively normal size.
The old immortal sized Yaan up once again, with a new perspective now that he understood the true nature of his power. After some time, he finally continued speaking.
“You seem to have already realised this, but I have been sent by the Lunar Song Tribe to investigate you. I have confirmed that you are not an immortal, you have not yet violated the war flower law…”
The old man paused, then narrowed his eyes and said:
“But I would personally like to continue observing you for a while longer.”
Yaan’s expression did not change. Honestly, this was still within his expectations…but he did not feel good about it.
Immortals were forbidden from directly targeting Foundation Step cultivators and tribes below Rank 7 by the war flower law.
But this rule only forbade them from attacking directly, they could still target those below them via other means.
For example, this immortal could follow Yaan as much as he wanted. He could overstay his welcome in Yaan’s territory, he could invade Yaan’s privacy, he could disturb Yaan’s cultivation.
Or, more worryingly, he could make use of his tribe’s vassal tribes, initiating a war against Yaan in this manner.
The Bloody Totem Tribe was only a Rank 5 tribe. Others might believe that it was a Rank 6 tribe, but that was incorrect, since Yaan was not at the Nirvana realm.
Higher rank tribes were forbidden from attacking lower rank tribes unprovoked, but they could still send their lower ranked vassal tribes to fight.
“May I ask for senior’s name?” Yaan asked the old immortal politely.
The old man looked surprised for a moment. It just hit him…
This little Rank 4 cultivator did not seem the least bit awed by his status as an immortal…could it be that he had not yet realised it?
“I am the Lunar Song Tribe’s Third Immortal King.” He replied, watching Yaan’s expression closely as he spoke.
Yaan smiled lightly. It seemed that the immortals on the Blood Plane also had the habit of only giving lower realm cultivators their positional title, rather than their actual name or the immortal title that they used to address one another.
“Well then, Senior Immortal King…” Yaan spoke slowly and deliberately, immediately shortening the old immortal’s name down.
The old immortal was surprised. He saw that Yaan held no fear towards him, nor any surprise when he announced his status as an immortal.
‘This child…why does he seem accustomed to dealing with immortals?’
The old immortal immediately became suspicious of Yaan’s background. He simply wasn’t acting like an ordinary Foundation Step cultivator!
After considering it briefly, the old immortal released his aura. He did not release his aura far, only covering Yaan and the few feet radius around them. However, this was the full force of his aura, he did not hold back, immediately pressing down on Yaan with his immortal might!
Yaan’s expression remained unchanged, causing the old immortal’s heart to shake. Yaan looked up at the old immortal and continued speaking.
“You can follow me if you wish to do so, I will not stop you. That said, I advise that you consider your actions very carefully…”
Yaan paused briefly. His expression changed, no longer indifferent, but filled with an icy killing intent. He faced the old immortal directly, not backing down by an inch, staring into his eyes with a sharp gaze. His aura immediately skyrocket, amplified by his illusion dao, creating a pressure that caused the old immortal to feel shocked from the depths of his heart!
He quickly realised that this pressure was only a facade, it was not representative of Yaan’s true strength, but did this matter?
This child, this lower being, was able to release an aura capable of stirring an immortal’s heart!
“You are unable to kill me yourself due to the war flower law. Do you think that any lower realm cultivator could possibly stand against me? If you oppose me now, but fail to kill me before I become an immortal…will you be able to deal with the repercussions after I succeed in my immortal ascension?”
The Lunar Song Tribe’s Third Immortal King stared at Yaan with wide eyes, hardly able to believe what was happening right now.
This lower realm cultivator…he actually dared to threaten an immortal?!