Immortality begins with meditation puppets

The Heroes' Gathering, a competition where skill is judged but life and death are not decided, is a stage for reconciling conflicts and building a united front against demons. Of course, harmony should be valued above all else, with mutual restraint and no trouble caused by sects. This is the attitude of most participants. However, weapons are merciless and the laws of the Dao are ruthless. Once you step onto the stage, you must be prepared for bumps and bruises, and even death on the spot.

Since the start of the tournament, the sports with the most deaths have been combat, swordsmanship, boxing, strength, and magic—sports that sound dangerous and are indeed very dangerous.

But no one expected that one of the safest projects, the armor project, would have an accident!

"I just don't understand, how can two armored warriors, wearing lumps of iron, just bump into each other and die?"

One of the committee members, Zhongze Zhenjun of the Dongwang Sect, stood on the battle armor arena, feeling both annoyed and bewildered by the current situation.

The reason for the anger was that, of all people, it was Delong who died. Delong was no ordinary person; he was the son-in-law of Ying Jueshen, a founding hero of the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom, and a good brother of Su Qing, the ruler of the Kaiyuan Kingdom. Such a person died on the battle armor arena, and his opponent just happened to be a fifth-level battle armor master from their Dongwang Sect.

One represents the local forces of Tianyuan, and the other represents the forces of the various realms.

If this serious incident is not handled properly, it will definitely have a huge impact on the relationship between Tianyuan and the forces of the heavens.

But when he rushed over and understood the situation, he was also completely bewildered.

Shao Delong was wearing an immortal armor, and with its extremely shameless immortality, he managed to survive until the finals of the armor competition.

The armor craftsmen of the Eastern King Sect forge armor called the Seeking Life Armor, which uses life and death runes to imbue the armor with the characteristics of dead spirits and vengeful souls, giving it the advantage of constantly gathering and dispersing, making it extremely difficult to destroy. In essence, it is also a kind of rogue armor that leans towards defense.

Nonsense! Which armor doesn't prioritize defense?

But how did this situation, where one was not dead and the other was trying to survive, which should have been a game of mutual torment until the end of time, until one side could not hold on any longer and only sweated but did not bleed, develop to the point where the dragon died?
Zhongze Zhenjun frowned and looked at the Dongwang Sect battle armor master on the arena, who looked just as bewildered as he was and seemed to have no idea what was going on.

"Qiu Jing, look what you've done! Before the competition started, our sect elders repeatedly told us that competition comes first, friendship second, and harmony is the most important thing. Do you think that because Penglai Immortal Kingdom and Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom have a bad relationship, and our Dongwang Sect has fallen into Penglai Immortal Kingdom, we should stand on their side and help them open Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom?"

"Foolish, foolish, and utterly unnecessary! The sect has already instructed us that since we've landed in Penglai, it's only right that we cultivate good relations with them. However, we should treat other immortal kingdoms separately. Penglai's enemies can also be our Eastern King Sect's friends. This Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom is quite powerful in the Tianyuan Realm; why should we offend them? Wouldn't that just hinder the sect's development in the Tianyuan Realm?"

Zhongze Zhenjun transmitted his thoughts, and his words left the armor master Qiu Jing looking aggrieved. He spread his hands and pointed at Delong, who was encased in armor on the arena:

"Junior brother, you're wronged! Senior brother Zhongze, don't you know me? I've been cultivating in the sect for over two thousand years. From the day I became a disciple, I've been diligently forging armor. I've been honest and hardworking in armor making for so many years that I haven't even had time to date a Daoist partner. They were assigned to me by the sect. How could I possibly disobey the sect's will and kill someone on this arena!"

"If you didn't kill him, could it be that this Fellow Daoist Shao committed suicide?" Zhongze Zhenjun stopped using divine sense to transmit his voice this time and raised his voice so that all the people gathered around the arena because of this matter could hear him clearly.

"It's hard to say. I think he not only looks like he's trying to commit suicide, but he's also trying to extort money from us!" Qiu Jing said stubbornly, his conscience clear.

"You filthy, rotten bastard, killing my Delong wasn't enough, you didn't even have the guts to admit it, and instead you framed my Delong."

Upon hearing this, the woman in the audience could no longer contain her anger. She took three steps in two, like a heavy tank, and knocked all the law enforcement officers in her way three miles away. The woman, as swift as a hurricane, arrived in front of Qiu Jing and slapped him three times across the face, making Qiu Jing's head buzz. Just as he was about to react and wanted to curse the shrew for being rude and settle accounts with her, she...

Then the shrew knelt weakly beside Delong, cradling his body, which was still covered in armor but whose life force had ceased. Without any preamble, she burst into tears.

"My husband, my poor husband, you died so tragically. Why did you leave so early, leaving me and my child to be bullied? It's all my fault for that damned old man. He became a god but didn't treat me, his daughter, with any respect. He could have just chosen anyone to test the armor, but he insisted on making you go into battle. Now that you've died, he'll be happy!"

Delong's wife cried bitterly, cursing Qiu Jing for killing her husband and also cursing her own father for driving Delong to his death.

Qiu Jingyi was an honest warrior. Although he had a clear conscience about what happened on the arena, he still felt a little guilty in front of his victim. Even though she had slapped him three times, he could only endure her harsh words and pitiful cries, his old face flushed red.

The god Yingjue below is, after all, a deity who has built a temple and is well-known in the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom. Among the onlookers present, there might even be devout believers who usually offer incense to him. In front of these people, being scolded by his own daughter, how can he ever face the world again? Bah, how can he be a god?

"In a duel, life or death is irrelevant. If he dies, it's because he wasn't skilled enough. What's there to cry about! Get down here now! You've already disgraced the Ying family enough!"

"What's wrong with crying? Shouldn't I cry? It's not like your husband died, so of course you shouldn't cry!"

"What's the use of crying? Get down first. If you have any grievances, your old man will get revenge for you later!"

Ying Jueshen scolded his daughter back, but despite scolding her, he still loved his son-in-law. He said that his skills were inferior and he deserved to die, but his eyes were glaring at Qiu Jing and Zhong Ze, the two True Lords. It seemed that he already hated the Eastern King Sect. This made True Lord Zhong Ze feel bitter. Thinking of Ying Jueshen's current power and connections, he couldn't help but feel even more troubled.

Just then, Su Qing, who had gone home to rest after the match-fixing incident, heard the news and rushed to the scene.

Upon arriving at the scene, he immediately looked at the ring. He didn't care about revenge later; what he cared about most was Delong's current condition.

Delong was his good brother, and they had come together from Yunshan City through thick and thin. Su Qing had built his vast immortal kingdom from scratch, while Delong had married a woman from the Ying family and become a wealthy man. It had been a long and difficult journey for them to finally make it. It would be too unjust for him to die here. He stepped forward, his face cold, ready to enter the arena. The law enforcement officers maintaining order hesitated when they saw it was him, not daring to stop him. Zhongze Zhenjun, who had been sent by the committee to settle the matter, was overjoyed to see him and rushed to greet him.

"Master Su, you've finally arrived. Today's matter still requires your decision. On behalf of the conference committee, I'd like to state our position: if any force exceeding the conference rules appears on this stage and causes this tragedy, the conference committee will not tolerate it."

On behalf of my Dongwang Sect, I will assist you in handling this matter. My sect once again promises that we have no intention of being enemies with any force in Tianyuan, nor will we take any action against the various immortal kingdoms of Tianyuan. If this Qiu Jing acts on his own initiative, once you, Master Su, find out the truth, we, the Dongwang Sect, will not hesitate to punish or kill him.

If Qiu Jing's killing was unintentional, then we implore True Person Su to help our Eastern King Sect explain the situation to Fellow Daoist Ying. Of course, out of humanitarian considerations, our Eastern King Sect is also willing to offer some compensation to comfort Fellow Daoist Shao's family.

Su Qing turned his head and glanced at the short, respectfully smiling Zhong Ze Zhenjun. He had dealt with this Nascent Soul True Lord of the Dongwang Sect a few times before. At that time, he thought that this True Lord was always smiling and easy to get along with. However, considering the Dongwang Sect's domineering and powerful reputation in the heavens, he thought that this True Lord might be the kind of smiling tiger. In addition, since the Dongwang Sect had settled in the Penglai Immortal Kingdom, he naturally assumed that it had already colluded with the Penglai Immortal Kingdom. This was why, although he had visited all the famous sects in the world, whether they were related or not, he had missed visiting the Dongwang Sect.

When news of Delong's death reached him, he assumed that the Eastern King Sect had attacked his Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom on behalf of Penglai. He was furious all the way here and wanted to come to this arena to find out what happened so that he could gather his forces and settle old scores with the Eastern King Sect and Penglai Sect.

Upon hearing his words, Su Qing wavered once again.

This True Lord seemed more like a victim than he was, single-mindedly trying to clear his name, resolve the misunderstanding, and even if they had done nothing wrong, he was willing to spend money to avoid trouble, he just didn't want to affect the relationship between the Eastern King Sect and the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom.

Whether his words were true or false, hearing them still calmed Su Qing down a bit.

When he reached Delong's wife and saw her fierce appearance, cursing heaven and earth and her father, he could only bite the bullet and try to persuade her:

"Sister-in-law, don't be too sad. Master Tong once told Fellow Daoist Shao that he was destined to reap the rewards without sowing, a person of great fortune and long life. He can't just die on this arena like this. The coroner on this arena is not very professional, maybe he made a mistake. Sister-in-law, step aside so I can see Delong's condition. Maybe Delong can still be saved!"

"It's hopeless! It's dead! A third-tier cultivator is overloading his fourth-tier battle armor, and he's encountered a survival battle armor whose attributes clash with the Undying Battle Armor. One battle armor is based on death runes, and the other on life runes. One is dead and the other is alive. They clash, attract and repel each other, causing the survival battle armor to disperse and attach itself to the Undying Battle Armor. During the process of the two battle armors fusing and repelling each other, the extremely distorted power of life and death is simply something that a third-tier body cultivator cannot withstand!"

Upon hearing someone question his professionalism, the coroner on the stage spoke with absolute certainty.

Hearing him say that, Delong's wife cried even louder and cursed even more harshly, including Su Qing. She cursed him for not doing good deeds and for insisting on bringing the Heroes' Gathering to the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom. She said that if it hadn't been held in the Immortal Kingdom, Delong wouldn't have participated, and if Delong hadn't participated, she wouldn't have died. In short, she blamed Delong for his death and said he deserved it!
Su Qing had often heard Long complain about his wife being unreasonable and sharp-tongued, but today she witnessed it firsthand. She realized that she had envied Long too soon; not everyone could live off a rich woman.

After glaring at the coroner and telling him to shut up, Su Qing, still under his sister-in-law's spittle, finally managed to pull the armor covering Delong's corpse into his hands.

At this moment, the Undying Armor and the Survival Armor have not yet fully merged. The Survival Armor can be seen crawling into the Undying Armor like swarms of black worms, wriggling out raised black lines. Meanwhile, the Undying Armor is also changing, emitting a faint green light. The life force emanating from the light points is constantly repairing the damage to the armor caused by the violent fusion of the Survival Armor.

Both suits of armor were exceptional, but Su Qing clearly had no time to consider that right now. He used his True Eye of Truth to directly examine the dragon's condition through the armor.

But inside the armor, Delong was indeed just like a corpse, as the coroner had said, without making a sound.

His heart skipped a beat. He thought he might as well try anything, since they were brothers after all. Regardless of whether it would work or not, he was already here, so he had to do his best. He sent out a team of spider doctors from his storage bag to treat the wounds along the gaps in the armor.

But before these spider doctors could enter his body, the corpse-like Delong's right hand suddenly moved, waving a few times like swatting away mosquitoes, which made Su Qing frown.

He's pretending to be dead, trying to find somewhere cool to stay!

But why did he pretend to be dead?

Su Qing was taken aback, then seeing the Life-Saving Armor on the Undying Armor, he immediately understood. Not wanting to ruin his brother's plans, he calmly returned the corpse and armor to his sister-in-law, saying with a heavy expression:
"The struggle between life and death, the conflict between the two, is still too stimulating for Brother Delong. According to my Spider Doctor's diagnosis, he is currently in a state of being alive or dead, in a state of superposition between life and death. Prying open this armor could mean either life or death, no one can say for sure..."

"So, Delong might not be dead?" Upon hearing Su Qing's assessment, Ying Jueshen's face lit up with joy. As long as he didn't die on the spot, that was good. In the cultivation world, there were countless rare and precious materials and all sorts of methods. Even those who died on the spot could be brought back to life, let alone those who hadn't died on the spot!

"He may not be dead, but he might not be alive!" the coroner retorted, feeling humiliated.

"Regardless, let's take Brother Delong home to rest and recuperate first," Su Qing said, waving his hand and preparing to swiftly take Delong home.

Yingjue Shen had no objection. He had wanted to take Delong back for a long time. Why leave him here? Was he just going to let his daughter scold him for being shameful and give others something to watch?
"You can't leave like this! My Life-Saving Armor is still on Fellow Daoist Shao. This is a fifth-tier armor that I crafted with the savings I accumulated over two thousand years. If you take it away, my wife will kill me when I get home!"

Upon seeing that the Ying family father and daughter were about to pack up the corpse and its armor and take it away, Qiu Jing immediately panicked!

"You damned bastard, you've turned my husband into a monster, and you're still eyeing your armor?"

Upon hearing this, Delong's wife flew into a rage, waving her claws as if she wanted to tear him apart! (End of Chapter)