Unintended Immortality

“This one is real, you know…”

A snow mouse stood on the ground, its tiny paws hanging down naturally, making it look both cute and obedient. It tilted its head up, staring at Song You.

Its voice was high-pitched and faint, almost inaudible if one didn’t listen carefully.

Before him lay a fissure, shallower and narrower than the one before, but still deep enough to be fatal.

“…” Song You merely glanced at it before stepping forward. Once again, he crossed the chasm as if walking on solid ground.

On the other side of the Snowy Plains, a fox lay sprawled out.

It was a red fox, with a pointed snout. Its fur resembled the persimmons clinging to branches in winter. Lying lazily on the snow, it yawned, looking like a flicker of flame against the white snow, speckled with a dusting of snowflakes on its fur.

As Song You approached, the red fox turned its head to look at him, its eyes lively and bright. It asked curiously, “You’re skilled in illusions as well?”

The voice sounded like a child’s.

“But even if you see through the flaws, is there truly not the slightest doubt in your heart?”

“Why doesn’t Your Excellency meet me in your true form?”

“My true form is still far away.”

“And where might it be?”

The red fox didn’t answer him. Seeing that Song You’s steps didn’t falter as he walked past, the fox could only yawn lazily before getting up and following him.

“I am the manifestation of the marsh’s spiritual resonance. The marsh stretches across a hundred li—I am the marsh, and the marsh is me. Even the combined forces of the legitimate gods from the Thunder Division and the War Division couldn’t destroy me. How do you plan to subdue me?”

“You seem afraid,” Song You said, looking down at the fox. “Was it from battling my master before, or were you injured during the Thunder Division’s purges?”

“You’re quite sharp!”

“Among mortals, I might be considered somewhat clever, but compared to you, I’m probably much better.”

“There’s another chasm up ahead.”

“…” Song You’s pace gradually slowed.

Before him, there was indeed another ravine. It stretched endlessly from left to right, with no visible end. Its length was unknown, while its width and depth lay somewhere between the previous two chasms.

A glint flashed in Song You’s eyes. With clarity of mind, the world revealed its truth. Pure spiritual energy was most effective against illusions.

Turning his head, Song You saw the red fox standing right beside him, looking up and meeting his gaze. Its eyes resembled amber.

“…” Song You shook his head. It was half real, half illusion.

He closed his eyes in deep thought, forming a hand seal. A flash of spiritual light appeared at his fingertips.

Then his eyes suddenly snapped open. “Shift the stars and swap the constellations!”

“Rumble...” The earth began to quake violently.

This was a formidable spell.

Legends say that when mastered, it could alter the very stars in the sky. While this was surely an exaggeration, it could indeed shift the positions of everything in the world—moving a river from Yizhou to Changjing, swapping a desert dune from the northwest to the mainland, even rotating the places of humans, gods, demons, spirits, animals, and plants. It was all said to be possible.

Though Song You’s skill was far from mastery, merely scratching the surface, he could still shift the nearby landscape of earth and water.

“Boom!” A muffled sound echoed as the ground shifted.

Between the edges of the chasm, a path about a zhang wide appeared, extending down to the very bottom of the fissure. It couldn’t be called a bridge—more accurately, it was simply a road.

The fox turned its head, watching intently, its eyes flickering with thought. Meanwhile, the Daoist had already stepped onto the newly formed path.

The fox sat down, scratching an itch with its hind leg, gazing at him with a contemplative look.

“Whoosh…”

Suddenly, a fierce wind swept across the land.

The wind was so strong it could tear roofs off houses, topple buildings, and even displace boulders. The countless snowflakes in the sky were whipped into a frenzy, flying like razor-sharp blades in all directions.

Even the Daoist was not spared. The force of the wind made him stagger, forcing him to take a step to the side before he could regain his balance.

“Wind, stop!” A voice echoed out, and the fierce wind immediately died down.

“Boom! Boom!”

“Roar!”

Suddenly, there was a deep rumble and a loud roar from up ahead.

On the far side of the stone path spanning the chasm, snow and ice that had accumulated over the past decade gathered together, forming a massive ice ape two to three zhang tall. It beat its chest and bellowed in fury, charging straight toward him.

“Fire, ignite!” The Daoist raised his arm, spreading his palm wide. A column of flame erupted from his hand.

The fire was intense and unrelenting, surging forward toward the ice ape.

“Boom!”

The column of flame collided head-on with the ice ape.

The fox's eyes were as clear as amber, reflecting the clash before it. The flames could be seen spreading along the body of the ice ape, outlining its massive form. The fire then hit the snow-covered ground behind the ape, instantly melting the ice and snow, sending up billows of white steam.

The ice ape, too, was rapidly melting away.

In just a blink, its shape became unrecognizable. In another blink, it lost its balance and crashed to the ground.

Yet, at the same moment, several more ice apes, even taller than the first, emerged from the far side of the chasm. They roared as they charged forward, their momentum so overwhelming it seemed as if they could smash through a city wall.

The Daoist formed a hand seal and made a sweeping motion with his hand.

“Whoosh, whoosh...”

Several streams of bright, scorching light shot out.

As soon as the light reached the air, it transformed into pillars of flame, like dragons dancing in the sky, one by one diving toward the charging ice apes on the far side.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

The flames exploded, sending shockwaves through the air, as if the very atmosphere was being torn apart.

The ice apes fell one by one in front of the stone path, dissolving into icy slush and snowmelt, then evaporating into white steam.

The Daoist, unhurried, walked across the chasm. Upon reaching the other side, he immediately sensed a change in the atmosphere.

Looking back, the chasm was still there, but it had narrowed significantly. What he had seen earlier—the edges of the chasm—had been an illusion, while the center was real. The stone path still bridged the chasm.

The red fox had also stepped onto the stone path, tiptoeing cautiously as it followed him across.

The Daoist did not continue forward; instead, he stopped and waited for it. As he waited, he seemed lost in thought.

This Snowy Plains demon was the spirit of the marsh, not the spirit of a mountain. For it, splitting the earth to create a chasm shouldn’t have been that simple, especially given its other formidable powers. This chasm, then, was likely the original marsh of He Plains.

After crossing the chasm, the vitality of the land noticeably faded, while the demonic and yin qi grew much stronger. This was likely the true core of the demon’s territory.

At that moment, the red fox had arrived before him, looking up and asking, “Like your master, do you also practice the Five Elements Method, specializing in the Five Elements magic?”

“And how does Your Excellency plan to stop me this time?”

“Let’s see what you’re capable of!”

“…” Song You smiled at the fox and waved his hand. “I suggest you head back.”

“...!” The red fox shivered, its eyes suddenly becoming much sharper and clearer.

It glanced left and right, looking curious yet flustered. Then it lifted its head to look at Song You, its expression lively and expressive. Seeing him wave his hand, the fox promptly turned around and started walking back along the stone path, glancing back every few steps.

Only after it crossed the chasm did Song You turn back and, with a wave, shifted the earth, returning the stone path to the surrounding ground.

The fox, startled by the movement of the shifting earth, ran a short distance away but did not go far. It soon stopped again, standing on the snowy ground of the opposite side, lowering its head at times and lifting it at others, curiously gazing back in his direction.

It truly looked like the spirit of the Snowy Plains.

Why even bother taking human form? It was already incredibly beautiful just as it was.

“…” Song You withdrew his gaze and continued walking forward.

“Rumble...” A rumble echoed from the distant earth.

Looking ahead, he saw the sky shrouded in darkness, as if brewing an immense heavenly force. On the horizon, numerous black figures were stampeding towards him with great ferocity.

Song You's expression remained calm. By now, he had reached the core of the Snowy Plains demon's domain. It was likely he was not far from the spiritual spring, the heart of the underground marsh.

This Snowy Plains demon, though an inherent god with vast power and extraordinary abilities, was symbiotic with the underground marsh and hard to destroy. However, it was also confined to this place—unless its territory expanded, it couldn’t easily leave. Now that Song You had come seeking it and the demon could no longer stop him, a direct confrontation was inevitable.

As the saying went, true skill was proven in battle.

Song You paused briefly and then shifted his direction, heading west.

He walked with his left hand leaning on his staff, while his right hand formed a seal. As he moved, he waved his hand, scattering streams of light.

These lights carried the life force of the four seasons.

“I call upon the Mountain God for aid!”

The moment his words fell, the ground quaked, and the rumbling sounds echoed far and wide.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

The ice cracked apart, and the snow was flung into the air.

From all directions, massive stone giants, each two to three zhang tall, emerged from beneath the ground. The Daoist continued his stride, scattering streams of light as he went.

He then casted the earth-hardening spell! A metallic sheen began to spread across the bodies of the stone giants.

The demon king of the Snowy Plains had its army of demonic soldiers and generals. But the Daoist could turn stones into his own soldiers.

A colossal moose, at least two zhang tall at the shoulder, came charging through the snow, lowering its antlers and aiming straight for him.

A steel-clad stone giant charged forward to meet it head-on, its footsteps shaking the earth. It planted one massive hand on the head of the charging moose, forcefully slamming the enormous beast into the snow with a resounding crash.

Yet the momentum of the moose was undiminished, pushing the metal and stone giant back as it skidded across the ground, carving out a trench several zhang deep in the snow.

It was a clash of raw power. A contest of weight and size.

From the distance, a tiger demon, over a zhang tall and in human form, came whirling in with a gust of wind. But the rampaging metal and stone giant shattered the gust with its charge, sending the tiger demon sprawling into the snow.

A pack of wolf demons came swarming in next.

Though the metal and stone giants appeared massive and cumbersome, they were not slow at all—their large size merely created the illusion of sluggishness. On the snowy field, the giants dispatched lesser demons with a single punch each.

Those with sturdier bodies were merely hammered deep into the ice and snow, gravely injured and unable to escape. Those with less cultivation were reduced to patches of crimson blooms on the snow.

Hundreds, even thousands of demons swarmed forward in a frenzy. Collisions of varying sizes erupted across the Snowy Plains, one after another.

But these demons were flesh and blood, after all. They were the creations of the Snowy Plains Demon King, whose minions had been repeatedly purged by the Thunder Division of the Heavenly Palace year after year.

Even if their cultivation wasn’t low, it was far from high. Without the Snowy Plains Demon King, most of them would be unable to withstand the elite soldiers of the human realm. How could they possibly stand against the metal and stone giants?

Only a few managed to get close to Song You, relying on sheer numbers.

Yet the Daoist’s pace did not falter. His bamboo staff swung through the air, reducing the approaching demon soldiers to ashes. The stronger demon generals put up some resistance, managing to deplete a bit of his magical power.

“Whoosh...” Suddenly, a fierce gale rose from the ground.

The icy wind cut through the air like a blade, sweeping across the Snowy Plains, striking the metal and stone giants with a sharp, ringing sound. Countless tiny wounds were slashed into their bodies, with pieces of metal and stone splintering off.

The biting wind passed by the giants and surged toward Song You. The Daoist’s expression grew serious. He struck his bamboo staff against the ground.

“Boom...”

A wave of light spread out.

The cold wind seemed to vanish on either side, though it was unclear whether it had been shattered or simply halted. In any case, the clanging sound from the metal and stone giants nearest to Song You ceased entirely.

The Daoist continued on his way.

In the distance, a blizzard loomed like a towering wall, pressing forward with an overwhelming force that made it hard to breathe. At its center, a tornado rose, like a colossal pillar supporting the sky.

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