Longevity Chronicles

Ascending Immortal Island, Bibo Dragon Marsh.

Although the dragons that wrought havoc were gone, the place had become even noisier and more perilous, leaving no room for any life to rest.

Two colossal creatures were engaged in a fierce battle, unleashing various Divine Powers, and the residual power from just a casual blow was fatal to some low-level devils and alien species.

Purely in terms of body size, the Nine-Headed Alligator Dragon undoubtedly had the advantage, compounded by its many Bloodline Divine Powers, the battle was expected to be in its favor.

Regrettably, that wasn't the case.

All eyes were on the other massive being, a Buddha Ape clad in a kasaya, enveloped in Buddha Light. Even in its ferocity, its movements contained the marvelous essence of Buddha's teachings, and anyone who saw it would recognize it as a guardian of ancient Buddha Bird Skill, profound in Buddhist doctrine and insight.

Jiushou himself thought the same.

But being of Buddha or not, the attacks that landed on it did not diminish in power; instead, they became even more painful.

In the midst of the battle, Jiushou remained utterly baffled.

"Why is it like this? This is truly against all reason."

"This Spirit Treasure Cultivator is only at the Foundation Establishment Realm. Even if the Buddha Bird Relic is exceedingly mysterious, how could he wield it, allowing him to borrow the power of such a terrifying Buddha Bird?"

"Even a Buddha's son meticulously nurtured by a great Buddhist monastery would be no more than this, right?"

"How did this boy achieve it?"

Lost in his doubts, Jiushou endured the Buddha Ape's brutal assault on him, trying to crush it with sheer strength, trying to destroy the link between them with his Divine Skills.

However, these attempts were meaningless.

Tao Qian used the "Great Freedom Nirvana Divine Spell" to command the Buddha Ape Guardian, borrowing mana through the Spirit Treasure Returning Immortal Technique, seemingly endless, utterly oblivious to exhaustion.

On the other hand, Jiushou, despite his extraordinary lineage and supernatural power, found himself in a perilous state of fatigue after Tao Qian used the Mystic Netherworld True Water Meridian Suppression Great Prohibition to cut off his connection to the Dragon Marsh Water Vein.

After half an hour of entangled combat, Jiushou lost his concentration for an instant and was overwhelmed by Tao Qian.

He laughed heartily as the body of the Buddha Ape swayed, then he invoked the "Dharma Manifestation Heaven and Earth" Divine Power, magnifying his body even further, and with transformation magic, he sprouted eight additional arms. With a total of ten arms, he seized every single one of Jiushou's heads, unleashing tremendous strength, pummeling them with barbaric fists glowing with Buddha Light.

"Roar"

"Roar Roar Roar"

Instantly, cries of agony filled the air above Dragon Marsh.

In his struggle, one of his heads was ripped clean off, crashing into the marsh like a segment of a mountain.

One should know this was dragon head, dragon meat, dragon blood; it should have attracted many from the Devil Clan and alien species to fight and consume it.

Yet at this moment, the dragons were bound, and no life forms dared to approach from outside the marsh.

Thus in his cries, Jiushou could only watch as three small figures cheerfully flew over.

Among them, the exquisitely cute Taisui Baby appeared the most ferocious at that moment, letting out a howl as it flew up, its small mouth opening wide and with a snap, it pounced on the bloodied wound and began to ravenously gnaw away at his flesh like a moving demon.

And the green-haired Wild Demon was exceptionally excited, muttering:

"It's mealtime, finally mealtime; this is a delicacy rarely enjoyed even on Wild Man Mountain."

Amidst this horrifying muttering, the Wild Demon stretched out its hands, and dense, tender white tentacles burst forth, instantly penetrating the dragon head and voraciously devouring the flesh.

With the two scrambling competitively, within a few breaths, a whole Alligator Dragon head had been devoured down to the skeleton.

What was more terrifying was the silent mechanical little person, made of bronze, cast iron, ancient wood, and white bone, standing by.

Suddenly at this moment, it slowly walked up, its gem-like eyes emitting red light. Touching the skeleton with its hands, within several breaths, a breeze blew and the dragon bone that should have lasted a thousand years disintegrated to dust and was gone without a trace.

As these scenes unfolded before Jiushou's eyes, an emotion he should not have felt, called "fear," rapidly filled him.

Compounded by the terrible presence of the Sky-Supporting Ancient Ape that rode on him while relentlessly beating him, Jiushou's battered body and the remaining eight heads all trembled, nearly shedding tears, as he couldn't help but cry out in his heart:

"Alas, if this continues, can I, Jiushou, even preserve my life?"

"It's all because of greedy mischief; back then, I should have decisively fled this island, not agreeing to that bet because of greed."

"Now there's no place for regret, if I don't surrender, this boy will break my heads one after another, to feed those three terrifying little things."

At this moment, the supremely regretful Nine-Headed Alligator Dragon that had once paraded power within the great marsh, recalled countless signs, such as the "reminder" from the little girl and this boy's inexplicable confidence.

But at that time, Jiushou only concentrated on the difference in their cultivation levels, completely forgetting the background of this Spirit Treasure Disciple.

One misstep caused heavy calamity.

"Well then, I am willing to admit defeat; it's still better than death."

"This boy being Duobao True Monarch's primary disciple, and favored by Fairy Yunhua, is bound to become a True Monarch in the future, perhaps even inheriting the Duobao Lineage."

"As the saying goes, when one person achieves the Dao, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven; I, Jiushou, may not lack chances to achieve the Dao."

Who would have thought?

In the blink of an eye, the Nine-Headed Alligator Dragon had settled his mind.

If his escape had lacked resolve, his surrender now came swiftly.

All eight of his heads stopped resisting, and his body fell into the marsh. While floating on the water surface, he muttered gloomily:

"Daoist, please no more beating, Jiushou surrenders."

"If Daoist does not disdain Jiushou, from now on, I will follow your cultivation and be at your service."

After uttering those words, Tao Qian did not stop his assault but continued beating him.

At first, Jiushou still wondered if this boy was ruthless and intended to take the opportunity to kill him, feeding him to the little ones.

Soon, however, one of his heads caught sight of a Mermaid smiling radiantly at the edge of the battlefield and suddenly he understood.

"So that's how it is!"

"Indeed, one cannot be completely deceived."

With bitter thoughts stirring, they saw the central head of the Alligator Dragon raise up and spew forth a Nine-Colored Dragon Pearl.

Then, changing its address, it respectfully said, "Please, Young Master, imprint your Divine Thought. From today onwards, Jiushou will follow the Young Master's cultivation, at your beck and call."

As expected, as soon as it acted and spoke thus, its pain ceased immediately.

They witnessed a Divine Thought being imprinted inside its Dragon Ball, and the two became master and servant.

The one in the kasaya, who resembled a barbaric giant troll, let out a Buddhist chant, then the Buddha Light retreated, revealing an ordinary Spirit Treasure Cultivator.

Tao Qian smiled broadly, pocketed the Buddha Bird Relics, and looked down from on high at the Nine-Headed Alligator Dragon, its entire body nearly devoid of a single patch of unharmed skin.

His attitude was not as warm as it was with the mermaid; he just smiled faintly and said, "You are called Jiushou, your Bloodline Talent is extraordinary, and for that reason, you harbor many stray thoughts, always looking ahead and back. If you were at peace, you might achieve something but once confronted with something serious, you find it difficult to make the right decisions. Now, forced to submit to me, I presume you are mostly filled with regret in your heart."

"It does not matter much, one reaps what they sow; let's see what the future holds."

Oddly enough, Tao Qian was just a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

Yet, as he now advised this mountain-sized Nine-Headed Alligator Dragon, nobody felt anything was amiss.

Jiushou, having its thoughts exposed, hung its eight heads low in contemplation.

At the same time, they saw the youngsters, including the Crystal Demon Girl who had brought the mermaid, as if she had stumbled upon some joyful event, gather around.

When Little Age, Lian Jing'er, and Shan Jiu flew in, looking at it with eyes full of pity, the enormous body of Jiushou immediately trembled and shrank back.

Then, they saw a burst of brilliance, and a rude and crude Great Man transformed.

His magic was unrefined, his lower body still that of a dragon, but his upper body sported fully eight identical heads on a horribly mangled neck, scarred as though by a bowl-sized mark.

"Jiushou pays respects to the Master!"

This crude Great Man had just saluted when Tao Qian nodded in acceptance.

But then the Crystal Demon Girl dragged the mermaid forward and spoke words that caused Jiushou immense pain.

"Young Master, Young Master, we've struck it rich this time."

"Dou Dou and Sha Nu'er have inspected the Spiritual Resonance Water Mansion. Although the inner mansion is well-prepared, it's connected to the Forbidden Technique and has nothing rare to use."

"But that outer mansion, wow, all sorts of good stuff piled up like mountains."

"With those things, Young Master can completely afford to provide for us sisters' sustenance."

"If Young Master needs it, Dou Dou can return now to the Star Membrane Secret Realm and invite over half of our sisters to strike down that second Bie Fu for the Young Master."

The girl seemed to be seeking her own master's opinion, but her expression already spelled out "Young Master, please agree."

Her big eyes were blinking, clearly hoping that Tao Qian would nod so that she too could go back and show off.

Oblivious, every sentence of hers was like stabbing knives into Jiushou's heart.

Tao Qian found it amusing and then looked at Jiushou, who promptly squeezed out a smile, feigning generosity despite his heartache:

"The Master can take whatever you need; those externals are what Jiushou has painstakingly accumulated over many years."

"Now that Jiushou is still your servant, Master, what more are these worldly possessions?"

"If they can help the Master strike down the second Bie Fu on the island, then it can be considered as Jiushou atoning for his sins."

After saying this, Jiushou still harbored a glimmer of hope.

But immediately, he could subtly sense what kind of temperament his new master possessed.

"That'd be good!"

"Dou Dou, go ahead and invite more; that second Bie Fu is a bit special, and we truly need the help of the Crystal Demon Clan."

With these words from Tao Qian, Zhong Doudou whooped with joy.

And Jiushou could only force all eight heads to smile, swallowing his bitterness.

At that moment, Tao Qian's conquest of Dragon Marsh Mansion was officially declared a success.

With Tao Qian regaining control over the Mystic Netherworld True Water Meridian Suppression Great Prohibition, a third of Ascending Immortal Island fell into his hands.

To some extent, Tao Qian also officially had an extraordinary place to settle down.

After all, the Spiritual Resonance Water Mansion could indeed be regarded as an Immortal's dwelling.

After a night of commotion, dawn was approaching.

As the light of the Taiyang Star shone through the clouds, it bathed the vast watery expanse of land, making it shimmer like a mirror on the earth, a grand and resplendent sight.

Before Tao Qian, the new master, could enjoy the moment, suddenly, from a distance, a series of streams of light from all directions shot toward him.

Judging by the look of things, these were clearly more Cloud Token Letters.

As they drew near, they leapt out one by one as images.

In a few short breaths, Tao Qian was once again confronted with many fellow disciples through the air.

Their words were mostly the same.

They either offered a place to stay or proffered help.

Compared with the day before, Tao Qian could clearly see that a few of these fellow disciples seemed a bit sarcastic in their messages.

Zhong Doudou, who was just about to fetch people, saw this scene and stamped her foot, hands on her hips:

"I know those guys; they're from Non-human Clans, and even with the cultivation of the Spirit Treasure Method, they can't change their nasty nature."

"Humph, they didn't expect the Young Master to take the Water Mansion in a single night. Watch me, Zhong Doudou, not reply today and ridicule these blind fools."

Dou Dou spoke, about to catch the letters for Tao Qian to reply.

Suddenly, from afar, came a series of "gugu gugu" sounds that made Tao Qian glance sideways.