Xiuxian: But It's Not a Game

Chapter 334 Earth Longevity Fruit, Karma
Whether it was his shout that had an effect or the Eclipse Ancestor's attempt to intimidate him, just as he was about to transform, the chilling cold that had frozen everything suddenly vanished, and even the frozen seawater around him instantly returned to normal. If he hadn't personally experienced that the severe cold had truly occurred, he would have thought that everything had been an illusion.

"May I ask, Ancestor, what price would I have to pay if you were to intervene remotely?"

A cold, slightly mocking voice rang out:

"A mere Golden Core cultivator dares to ask me for help?"

"You can't afford that price."

"Please tell me, Ancestor."

After a brief pause, the voice rang out:
"Either one hundred Heavenly Immortal-level demon cores or primordial spirits, or ten True Immortal-level demon cores or primordial spirits."

Su Yu paused for a moment, then continued to ask:
"Would you accept a demon core from a wild beast?"

"It can only be a demon immortal who has survived the great calamity between heaven and man."

Su Yu was speechless and remained silent for a long time.

The chilling voice sneered upon hearing this, and the suspended Eclipse Blood Seal suddenly sank into the vortex, causing the vortex to shrink rapidly.
"For the sake of this seal, the Ancestor will not punish you for disturbing me without cause. I hereby order you to withdraw this seal."

Upon seeing this, Su Yu immediately shouted:

"Ancestor, please wait. How can I contact you once I have all the necessary materials? Are there any other methods besides this?"

"We'll discuss it once we've gathered them all. As for other methods, if there's a way to prolong my life that works for me, that's fine too."

"Methods to prolong life."

A sudden inspiration struck Su Yu. She immediately took out the Earth Longevity Fruit, which she had previously divided into several parts and still had over nine hundred years of lifespan remaining, and shouted loudly:

"I have this item, but I don't know if it will be of any use to the ancestor."

The rapidly shrinking vortex paused, and an invisible force pulled the Earth Longevity Fruit in his hand into the vortex. A surprised voice came from within:
"Earth Longevity Fruit? You actually possess such a thing?"

"Is there anything better?"

"Please give me a year, and I will bring you another one."

After a brief silence, a streak of blood-red light shot out from the vortex. Su Yu caught it; it was the Eclipse Moon Blood Seal. The voice of the Eclipse Moon Ancestor echoed:
"This item is barely acceptable. For every five thousand years of lifespan fruit you obtain, I can help you once."

"I will go and prepare it right away."

The Eclipse Ancestor said nothing more, and the vortex rapidly shrank until it disappeared. Only then did Su Yu look up, rubbing the bloodstain with her fingers thoughtfully.
"Given such importance to the Earth Longevity Fruit, this Old Ancestor of the Eclipse Moon must be nearing the end of his lifespan, and ordinary life-extending items are ineffective."

Su Yu hadn't forcibly stripped away lifespans to condense the Human Life Fruit and Earth Life Fruit for many years because she was afraid of becoming a demon.

But this time, in order to obtain another Sea-Stabilizing Pearl, he had to break the self-imposed prohibition and return to his old ways.

"Again."

As for the consequences, he felt he could handle it once or twice.

"However, this operation can only be carried out by myself, and Ao Ying must not be informed."

The Eclipse Ancestor needs Earth Longevity Fruits of at least five thousand years, while the lifespan limit of a normal Golden Core Earth Immortal is only three thousand years. Even if all of them are removed, it won't be enough, unless three are removed in a row.

Instead of going through all that trouble, why not just kill a celestial being?

A celestial being's lifespan is capped at 129600 years; the lifespan completely stripped away in one go could probably be used several times over.

Moreover, killing a Celestial Immortal player grants a great merit and numerous loot, making it a win-win situation.

Of course, native celestial beings are also acceptable, such as demon immortals from the sea serpent clan, as long as they have survived the great tribulation between heaven and man.

Having made up her mind, Su Yu could hardly wait to take action.

He first greeted Ao Ying:
"Brother Ao Ying, have you taken any action recently?"

Ao Ying quickly responded:

"No action lately, Brother Su, are you restless?"

"Yes, I want to go out and hunt down some experts from the sea serpent clan."

"That's no problem, you can go wherever you want, but you have to be careful about some places you can't go."

Just after he finished speaking, Ao Ying sent him some information:
"This is an important stronghold of the Sea Serpent Clan. Some strongholds are guarded by multiple Celestial Immortals, and some places have teleportation arrays that lead directly to the Serpent Fortress, allowing the enemy to provide immediate support. Compare this with the map and be careful to avoid it."

"Thank you, Brother Xie Aoying."

"You're welcome."

After shutting down the communication, Su Yu asked Ao Run to stay and keep an eye on the progress of the training grounds, and then left Dragon Castle alone, flying south.

Four days later, he appeared silently near an important stronghold belonging to the Sea Serpent Clan, more than 200 million kilometers away from Dragon Castle.

According to the information, this stronghold is guarded by a sea serpent demon immortal year-round.

The key feature of this stronghold is the presence of a massive Xuanming Cold Iron ore vein underground. This spiritual ore is only of the fourth-grade low quality and is the main material for refining the standard weapons and armor of elite demon soldiers.

Normally, there are many types of main materials that can be used to forge standard weapons and armor. Xuanming Cold Iron, Shoushan Red Copper, Sun Refined Iron or Star Divine Iron are all acceptable. As for which one to choose, it mainly depends on which one has the largest output.

This giant Xuanming Cold Iron Mine has a very large output, which is why it was chosen as the main material by the Sea Serpent Clan.

The main material for the standard weapons and armor of the Dragon Clan's elite navy is Starry Sky Divine Iron. If the Dragon Clan can conquer this important mine, they will naturally choose Dark Nether Cold Iron as the main material for forging.

Such an important place should, in theory, require a large number of guards and more than one celestial being to be stationed there.

The reason why there is indeed only one demon immortal stationed there is that the location of this stronghold is very close to Youchao City, an important immortal city of the sea serpent clan, which is less than ten million kilometers away.

Youchao City is the closest sea immortal city to Dragon Fortress. It is located between Dragon Fortress and Snake Fortress and serves as a forward outpost and core operational hub for the Sea Serpent Clan and the Dragon Clan. A Mysterious Immortal and several True Immortals are stationed here year-round, along with dozens of Celestial Immortals.

This mine is so close to Youchao City that even if the Dragon Clan conquers it, they won't be able to stop the Sea Serpent Clan experts who are right next door.

Unless the dragons can conquer Dark Tide City, the sea serpent clan will abandon this stronghold on its own without any further attack.

But the defensive strength of Ghost Tide City
The sixth-order city-protecting formation is constantly guarded by a Xuanxian (Mysterious Immortal), several Zhenxian (True Immortals), and dozens of Tianxian (Heavenly Immortals). It also has an ultra-long-distance teleportation array that leads directly to Dragon Fortress, with multiple Xuanxian from the Sea Serpent Clan providing support at any time. With the Dragon Clan's current strength, it is impossible for them to break through it.

A few celestial beings couldn't take it down, but more from the nearby Youchao City quickly came to its aid. Besides, even if it was captured, it couldn't be held, making it completely useless.

Su Yu chose this stronghold to take advantage of the darkness; he didn't really intend to conquer the stronghold, he just needed to eliminate the celestial being guarding it.

He attacked alone, and the demon immortals guarding the Sea Serpent Clan certainly wouldn't immediately call for help. He could quickly and decisively kill them by activating the Ancient Dragon Primordial Spirit Dharma Form, and then leave. His speed was fast enough that even the Xuan Immortals of Youchao City wouldn't have time to provide support.

Of course, another important reason for choosing this location is its proximity.

Other suitable places are too far from Dragon Castle, and I'm too lazy to go.

An invisible wisp of smoke crossed the Xuanming Cold Iron Mine, which spans more than 200,000 kilometers, and quickly arrived at the stronghold.

A giant underwater peak was flattened at its waist, and a circular city was built on top of it. A fourth-grade high-level city protection array formed an inverted bowl of light that covered the peak.

Below the mountain lies an underwater canyon, where massive amounts of Xuanming Cold Iron ore have been mined and piled up like mountains. Monsters are constantly collecting and transporting ore into the city, where it is then smelted into Xuanming Cold Iron and piled up in every corner of the city, forming mountains in all four corners. "It's better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early. So much Xuanming Cold Iron ore can be worth a lot of money."

A wisp of smoke drifted silently toward the city and disappeared into the city's foundation.

In the city, a large flying ship, over a thousand meters long, hovered above the warehouse. Several overseers cracked their whips, urging numerous aquatic monsters to move goods, carrying boxes of refined Xuanming Cold Iron onto the flying ship.

At the bow of the airship, several snake-man players were sitting on the deck chatting idly.

"Have you heard? Some time ago, Caizhu City was attacked by the Dragon Clan, and I heard that six or seven Celestial Immortal level experts perished."

"So many celestial-level experts have died, is that true?"

A green-haired snake-man said confidently:
"It's true. The Dragon Clan sent over a dozen Celestial Immortals and hundreds of millions of demon soldiers to attack the city. Among them was an extremely powerful Dragon Clan member. If Lord Yu Jun hadn't arrived in time, Caizhu City would probably have been breached."

"The Dragon Clan has become increasingly arrogant lately. I wonder when the Serpent Fortress will launch another major attack and breach the Dragon Fortress."

"This is no easy feat. Last time, we were able to break through the Azure Dragon Palace because we had the advantage of a surprise attack, and the Azure Dragon King was not in the palace at the time. Otherwise, it would have been almost impossible to break through. This time, the Azure Dragon King has been staying in the Dragon Fortress and never goes out. The dragons from the Eastern Continent Dragon Palace also rarely go out. With three Xuanxian-level True Dragons guarding it, even if the Sea Serpent Clan is stronger, it is impossible for them to break through the Dragon Fortress."

"Yes, now both sides can only watch as those below the True Immortal level fight, slowly killing off the experts in the other camp until one side can no longer continue."

"So this time, Caizhu City suffered a great loss."

"Indeed, but it's not a big problem. We still have the advantage over the dragons, and the outcome of the battles at the higher levels doesn't concern us much. All we need to do is make money."

"This time I've spent all my savings to secure this batch of Xuanming Cold Iron. I'll make a fortune once it's transported to Snake Fortress."

"What happened to you?"

The green-haired snake-man, seeing his companion's mouth agape, asked in bewilderment:

The next second, as if remembering something, he suddenly turned around and was shocked, his mouth agape.

"Roar!"

The sudden, earth-shaking dragon roar shook the entire city. From the merchants on the flying boats to the overseers cracking their whips and the miners being whipped, everyone stared in astonishment at the red dragon that had appeared in the city center.

"Damn, how can there be a real dragon in the city?"

Many people looked up at the intact city defense formation, their faces blank:
"The city's protective formation hasn't been broken?"

"boom!"

Suddenly, the central tower of the city exploded, and a sea serpent demon fairy, only over 80 kilometers long and level 302, sprang out from the blasted ruins, baring its sharp fangs and biting at the red dragon.

"Ancient Dragon Primordial Spirit Dharma Form!"

The Supreme Dragon Transformation unleashed its ultimate move, multiplying all attributes by 10. With a single claw, it swatted away the attacking sea serpent demon, sending it crashing into the city. Its massive body rolled over countless buildings, shattering them.

"kill!"

The red dragon pounced forward, using all four claws to pin down the sea serpent fairy, and then opened its mouth wide to bite down hard.
-
9 million.

With its four claws bent and long, gleaming dragon fingers, it easily pierced through the hard, iron-like snake scales and penetrated into flesh. With a forceful tug from its four claws, four consecutive bursts of damage, each reaching a staggering 400 million, erupted.

"Shifting Stars and Changing Constellations!"

Billions of stars descended upon this sea, the crimson dragon's whiskers burned, and the laws of fire and life surged. With a flick of its claw, the billions of stars converged at the tip of its finger and pointed towards the sea serpent demon immortal.

"Deprive me of my lifespan!"

A ripple spread from the fingertip, quickly passing over the entire body of the sea serpent fairy, reaching its tail in the blink of an eye, and then flowing back from the tail in an instant, like a torrent washing over everything. Wherever the ripple reached, the fairy light on the sea serpent fairy's body quickly disappeared, the spirituality within the snake's body was rapidly annihilated, and the snake's scales were washed away to grayish-white.

The overwhelming power left the sea serpent demon with no chance to resist.

A ring of light converged from the snake's tail to the tip of the dragon's finger, forming a dazzling point of spiritual light, which represented a full ten thousand years of lifespan.

The power of Heaven washed over the area, each cycle lasting ten thousand years. After eight cycles, that single spark of light had condensed into a single crystal.
"Ok?"

At this moment, Su Yu had a sudden realization: this fruit could choose to condense into a form, either an Earth Longevity Fruit or a Heaven Longevity Fruit.

Whether it's the Earth Longevity Fruit or the Heaven Longevity Fruit, both embody a lifespan of 82500 years.

However, the Earth Longevity Fruit only has a partial effect on Xuanxian like the Eclipse Moon Ancestor, whose normal lifespan has already been exhausted, while the Heaven Longevity Fruit can increase lifespan by 82500 years even for Golden Immortals.

The price of condensing the Earth Longevity Fruit is a karmic connection with the Sea Serpent Clan.

The price of condensing the Heavenly Longevity Fruit is +1 point of negative karma.

"Hiss, that's terrifying."

Su Yu chose the Longevity Fruit without hesitation.

They dared not condense the Heavenly Longevity Fruit, even though its effect was ten times that of the Earthly Longevity Fruit.

What is karma?
It's hard to describe in words, but every cultivator knows that one must not be tainted by karma, especially now that a new great calamity is approaching. If one is tainted by karma at this time, one will become cannon fodder and perish in the great calamity in no time.

Although Su Yu has methods to eliminate karma, it's best to avoid karma altogether if possible.

His method for eliminating karma is also very simple: by consuming a little bit of divine will, he can eliminate a little bit of bad karma.

Yes, Su Yu has attained the Heavenly Heart through various means of cultivation, and its function is to eliminate karma, whether it is bad or good karma.

He has now accumulated a total of 5 Heavenly Hearts, which can eliminate 5 points of Karma.

The Golden Wheel of Merit can eliminate karmic obstacles.

Heavenly Heart can eliminate karma.

When one accumulates enough merit and divine favor, one can be free from cause and effect and karma, thus becoming a virtuous immortal.

Accumulating Heavenly Essence is so difficult, Su Yu certainly wouldn't waste a single bit of it for a single Heavenly Longevity Fruit.

When all lifespan was stripped away, this newly ascended demon immortal of the sea serpent clan perished completely, not even its primordial spirit remained, turning into ashes and disappearing.

And at this point, it only took 38 seconds. The duration of the +20 Ancient Dragon Bloodline Ancient Dragon Primordial Spirit Dharma Form was increased from 60 seconds to 120 seconds, with extra time remaining.

The crimson dragon raised its massive body, and with a thought, boundless flames surged forth, transforming into a raging torrent of fire that swept in all directions, instantly filling every corner of the entire city.

The seawater within the city was completely unable to extinguish the raging flames driven by the law of fire, which burned mountains and boiled the sea.

In less than ten seconds, the numerous monsters in the city were wiped out by the heavenly fire.

"boom!"

The dragon's tail, stretching for tens of kilometers, swept across, shattering countless buildings.

With a heavy slam of its claw, the foundation of the great formation shattered, the city-protecting formation shook violently, and collapsed with a deafening roar.

An hour later, the three snake-man celestial beings arrived, only to find the city in ruins and the warehouses empty.

(End of this chapter)