"Sir, have mercy..."
"I don't want to die!!"
"Who summoned this evil star?"
At this point, the city was completely chaotic, and in fear, many people went mad, committing arson, murder, and robbery. The sins and greed of human nature completely erupted at this final moment.
Thunk!!
Ding Yan struck down a cultivator attempting to kill him with one palm, then swiftly headed towards the west of the city.
There, the crowd was the largest, and there might be a slight chance of escape if fleeing together.
"The next move..."
As he turned the corner, Ding Yan suddenly heard an ancient voice. Following the sound, he discovered an elderly man in white robes at the street corner at an unknown time.
The old man's white hair and flowing robe emanated an otherworldly aura, much like a transcendental being. There was not a single crack or trace of damage on the old man's body, and even the ground beneath his feet had no sign of damage from the dispersed immortal's power in the air. "Aren't you worried about yourself, sir?" Ding Yan asked, looking at the surging crowd to the west of the city, as he walked towards the old man.
It was not the safest to be squeezed within the crowd.
Moreover, although there was no trace of elemental force fluctuation on the white-robed old man's body, his aura was absolutely unattainable by ordinary people.
The old man tucked his long beard and picked up a piece, then placed it on the board with an indifferent expression. "I am not afraid even of the heavens collecting my life, let alone ignorant youngsters."
Having said this, he handed the black chess pieces to Ding Yan and said, "You play as the black pieces."
Ding Yan, feeling surprised, nodded nonetheless and sat down. As he looked at the chessboard, the clash between the black and white pieces had reached a fever pitch, with the black pieces surrounded and at a severe disadvantage. It seemed that the white pieces could almost completely wipe out the black pieces with just one more move.
Ding Yan, holding the black pieces, pondered for a while before making a move.
The quiet sound of the chess piece placed sharply contrasted with the outside clamor.
Ding Yan sought survival in death, while the old man relentlessly pressed him.
"Splack," the old man's hand moved like lightning, placing a piece and saying, "All routes of survival are cut off."
Ding Yan shook his head and placed another piece, as if implying, "Maybe there is a way out in the direst situation."
"Accidents are always left to the prepared. Win this game, and I will help you," the white-robed old man intervened again, cutting off Ding Yan's path to survival.
However, the black pieces under Ding Yan's control, like a cockroach, reversed their momentum and once again paved a way for survival.
"I have a story. Would you like to hear it?" Ding Yan looked up at the old man, and a chilling glint appeared in his pitch-black eyes.
"Go ahead," the old man said as if he hadn't noticed, keeping his eyes on the chessboard as he made a move.
Ding Yan withdrew his gaze, taking another piece and placing it down.
"A harmless girl was brutally murdered, all because of a game. Someone, with righteous intentions, killed the killer, unaware that it would attract an immortal's pursuit..."
"Even with the intent to kill the enemy, why didn't you extend a hand to save the person?" the old man interjected.
"How can a commoner know the thoughts of others?" Ding Yan responded without hesitation.
After being resurrected in a new body, Ding Yan's understanding of this world was still limited, most of it coming from ancient texts. When the young man in ancient attire suddenly made a move, it indeed caught Ding Yan off guard. It was like a conspirator encountering a motorcycle coming head-on and instinctively stepping aside, only to realize that the person on the motorcycle had given him a kick when it was too late.
Unprovoked murder, just for entertainment. Even after a millennia of cultivation, Ding Yan had never encountered such a situation.
In his impression, murder was only for the sake of gaining unattainable benefits. How could he have expected that in this world, there were people who treated human lives as a game.
"The law of the jungle is the rule of this world. You are ignorant, it's your mistake! Attracting pursuit is the karmic effect brought upon by oneself," the old man continued making moves.
"So I have learned this lesson," Ding Yan thought of the hidden hand he had left in the young man's body. Considering the time passed, that person should have already left the mortal realm.
The old man fell silent.
Ding Yan fell silent as well and put the chess pieces aside, looking at the dispersed immortal in the void.
The old man also set down his chess pieces and after a while, suddenly said, "Even if you have avenged the little girl, what does it matter? The deceased has passed away. Have you ever thought how his family would feel due to one mistake?"
Saying this, the old man casually placed a piece on the death gate and then turned his back towards Ding Yan.
"I will ask you a few questions, and you shall answer me," the old man said.
Ding Yan fell silent, but for some reason, in his mind, he remembered the little girl mentioning her little brother.
"I have been fleeing for several days, with no time to return to save others. Without anyone taking care of him, her sick little brother should have..." At this point, Ding Yan's mind once again recalled the innocent smile of the little girl.
"Have you ever regretted in your heart? For the sake of a girl you barely knew, you attracted the pursuit of scattered immortals..."
"In a person's lifetime, there are things to be done and things not to be done. Since I possess powers beyond ordinary people, how can I turn a blind eye to the suffering of others? Although I cannot control everything in the world, I can still clear the immediate injustice. Otherwise, what is the point of cultivating immortality?" Ding Yan declared emphatically.
The old man fell into silence and after a while, continued to ask, "Even if you have no regrets, because of you, countless people in this city have lost their lives. Do you feel guilty?"
"The way of cause and effect is something even immortals cannot determine, let alone me! In my view, life is short, and for us cultivators, our lives are as fleeting as mayflies in this vast world. If we are burdened with worries every step of the way, what's the point of cultivation? It's better to live an ordinary life, like decaying wood, and return to the dust," Ding Yan said as he stood up.
The old man sighed and swept up the chess pieces. "This game, I concede to you," he said. With that, the old man took a step forward, and a powerful aura burst from his body.
The void cracked.
The old man walked step by step into the air, his voice clear as it reached Ding Yan's ears.
"I, as a mortal, have hidden for sixty years and found a disciple. Although this disciple's worldly ties have been severed, he still owes you a favor. I have never owed anyone in my life, not even my own disciple! Now, I abandon the cycle of reincarnation for you, resolving your karmic entanglements and completing the cycle!" The old man's statement raised his aura to an astonishing level.
Ding Yan was shocked to realize from the old man's words that the man had cultivated an unparalleled technique of reincarnation in his practice.
Ding Yan had heard of this technique in his past life. He knew that with each cycle of reincarnation, a cultivator's strength would soar, and if one successfully completed nine cycles of reincarnation, they would reach consummation and ascend to immortality. Now, this elderly man had abandoned one cycle of reincarnation for a favor unknown to Ding Yan, which was truly unbelievable.
A middle-aged man surnamed Hua stood in the void, his right hand emanating immortal energy, shaping into a palm that descended, its terrifying power engulfing the sky and shaking the hearts of the onlookers.
It was without doubt that a scattered immortal using immortal energy possessed formidable strength.
By this time, the city had already collapsed by half. Nearly half of the city's inhabitants had perished, leaving only the higher-level cultivators gathered together, forming a defensive formation, temporarily resisting the terrifying power.
However, it was obvious that it was only a temporary measure. The power of a scattered immortal originated from the heavens and the earth. If left unchecked, it would be almost endless. The cultivators below, with their limited cultivation, were unable to withstand the opponent's connection to the heavens and the earth.
Boom!
Another palm strike.
As the force condensed and the immortal energy gathered, a large hand appeared out of thin air.
Just as the illusionary hand was about to be deployed, an immensely powerful force suddenly erupted. The hand, barely taking form, was shattered by the force, and at the center of the impact, a figure emerged with ease.
Without hesitation, the middle-aged man surnamed Hua was pushed back several steps by the sudden surge of force. "Who are you?!" he exclaimed in shock at the sudden appearance of the old man in front of him.
Moments ago, he had infused all his immortal energy into his full-strength blow, of which the old man had easily dismantled. What's more, his own immortal energy had noticeably decreased. A single unit of immortal energy could only last for a short time, and with fighting, it might not even sustain for half that time.
The old man reached the same height as the middle-aged man with the surname Hua and stopped. Standing with his hands behind his back, his white robes rustled in the cold wind, and his white beard fluttered in the breeze.
"Get lost..." The old man stood in the air, his white hair floating as if he were a deity. A layer of mist shrouded him, making it impossible for the middle-aged man surnamed Hua to see his appearance clearly.
"You!! Arrogant!!" As a scattered immortal, the middle-aged man naturally possessed arrogance. As an elder of the Transforming God Sect, he would not be easily frightened by anyone, even if this old man seemed somewhat mysterious.
With a swift attack, the middle-aged man surnamed Hua gathered all his immortal energy together, preparing to annihilate this mysterious old man with his own strength.
"Seeking death!" There was a hint of killing intent in the old man's eyes as the mist around him grew even denser.
An inexplicable force started to gather, and with a step into the void, the old man extended his right hand and lightly tapped.
"The Dao follows nature!"
Nine faint, pale words converged with glimmers of light, silently emerging, arranged between the old man and the middle-aged man surnamed Hua. Upon closer inspection, these nine words read as 'man,' 'method,' 'earth,' 'earth,' 'method,' 'heaven,' 'heaven,' 'method,' and 'Dao.'
The first three words, full of brilliance and surrounded by immortal energy, seemed almost solid, while the latter six words seemed nearly illusory, especially the last three, bearing only a vague shadow.
As the nine words appeared, a terrifying pressure spread in a circular motion. Many cultivators below the city were directly pressed to the ground, and even Ding Yan felt his bones creaking.
"This power?!" Before the middle-aged man surnamed Hua could react, the transparent ripples pierced his body, causing him to spew a large amount of blood mist from all over. The residual power had injured the scattered immortal, and such a technique was on par with that of heaven and man!
"The Dao of heaven and earth! You are the old monster from the Dust Gate..."
A hint of horror flashed in the middle-aged man's eyes, and without any hesitation, he burst out with a mouthful of blood, his entire body exploding into a blood stream, disappearing into the sky.
"Quite knowledgeable," the old man remarked as he waved the mist away. In the void, he glanced at Ding Yan amidst the partly ruined city below, said nothing more, then turned into a streak of light and disappeared into the sky.
The people in the city who had survived were left with expressions of relief as if escaping a disaster.
Some people started to speculate about the origin of the mysterious old man. However, their speculations mostly centered around hermits and scattered immortals, and didn't yield any important information. Soon, these people dispersed, as the city had been destroyed and they naturally wouldn't stay there anymore.
A few cultivators went into the ruins, attempting to find some hidden treasures.
Ding Yan silently watched the direction in which the white-clothed old man had disappeared. In his heart, he had a more terrifying speculation.
Since he cultivated the Reincarnation Divine Ability, it was very likely that this white-clothed old man was just a clone!
"If this is a clone, what about the original body's cultivation?"