Chapter Sixty-Eight: The Karmic Threads Within the Immortal Abode

After the battle at Golden Turtle City, Ji Feichen first traveled to East Mountain, then returned to Nine He Mountain for secluded cultivation. By the time he emerged, it was already February.

After the vernal equinox, butterflies danced among the blossoms.

During this period, both the Xuan and Yuan sects exercised restraint, yet undercurrents surged beneath the surface. In light of the Great Hong Imperial Dynasty’s recent actions, none of the Xuan sects visited the imperial capital to offer New Year’s greetings this year.

This broke with the longstanding customs of Xuanzheng Continent: at New Year, people offer sacrifices to heaven and gods, and Xuan cultivators would step forward to grant blessings to the populace in place of the ancient shamans. But this year, each sect cited the need for tranquility and refrained from praying for the Great Hong Dynasty. Rumors even circulated that the Taiyuan Palace was contemplating the founding of a new dynasty, to change the mandate of heaven. Yet few responded; the successor of Taishang Palace never appeared, while Taixiao Palace was preoccupied with the “Demon Suppression Tower” incident, and the matter eventually faded away.

Nevertheless, the rumors seeded unrest within the imperial court.

“Today happens to be the second day of the second month,” Ji Feichen mused as he strolled among mortals. “In my previous life, this would be the day when the Dragon Raises Its Head.” The festive aura of the first lunar month had just receded.

Xuanzheng Continent shared customs with Earth, such as the New Year, Lantern Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival, but also boasted many distinct traditions. After February began, there was no “Dragon Raising Its Head” festival here. The next major festival fell on the third day of the third month—a celebration dedicated to the Heavenly Mother.

The Heavenly Mother was an ancient goddess venerated in Xuanzheng Continent, a righteous deity presiding over the winds, rain, and the weaving of fates and abundance. Legends held that she possessed the elixir of immortality and the peaches of longevity. In Ji Feichen’s view, the Heavenly Mother was akin to the Queen Mother of the West on Earth: a divinity conjured in the collective imagination.

After the spring months, there was no Dragon Boat Festival in May—only the Five Poisons Festival, honoring the Lord of Five Poisons, a fearsome god allegedly venerated by a cultivator who leveraged a human dynasty to establish the holiday. Each year, mortals offered sacrifices to him on that day to protect themselves from venomous harm. Unlike the formless Heavenly Mother, the Lord of Five Poisons was a real, exalted deity, worshipped on a national scale and rivaling earthly immortals in stature.

“If I wish to promote the twenty-four solar terms among mortals, I should follow the Lord of Five Poisons’ example and begin with the imperial dynasty. Should the Taiyuan Palace succeed in changing dynasties, I could bestow favor upon the new king and pass down the twenty-four solar terms,” Ji Feichen thought as he left Nine He Mountain, flying on the wind to a steep cliff.

According to his early investigations, the family of this body’s original owner had fallen from this very precipice.

“Many who fall from cliffs encounter great fortune, but surely it can’t be so coincidental?” Ji Feichen descended, two blue lotuses blooming beneath his feet as he performed the Lotus-Born Step, searching below.

The base of the cliff was shrouded in miasma. He extended a finger, and watery light parted the toxic air, dispersing the poisonous fog with immortal energy. Before long, he discovered two skeletons entwined at the bottom—judging by the bones, a mother and her child. The mother clutched the child to her breast, trying to shield him somewhat from the impact. But the child, too young, had been killed by the fall’s force.

Seeing the remains, Ji Feichen felt the resonance of bloodline in this body.

“As expected, they are his mother and elder brother.” With a wave, two coffins flew from his leopard-skin pouch, collecting the bones.

“When a person dies, it is like a lamp extinguished. I’ll see to your burials and sever your ties with the Underworld Sect, thus repaying the karmic debt for this mortal shell.” Having attained immortality, Ji Feichen comprehended destiny. He knew he was born beyond this world—an anomaly here. Without this body, which shared his name with the original, he would have been erased by heaven’s might long ago.

Now, unless Ji Feichen truly wished to discard this flesh and reincarnate, he had no choice but to rely on it to evade heaven’s wrath. He had fused twenty-four Jade Tidal Pearls into his body, nurturing them like dragon pearls at various points to repair the vessel for his use.

Having gathered the remains, Ji Feichen returned to Moon Sun Court.

He erected a tomb and buried the pair behind the garden, then approached the Blood-Patterned Golden Tree.

Now that he was immortal, Ji Feichen feared no backlash from the bloodwood. Standing beneath the dense canopy, he pondered deeply.

“When I first arrived at the Immortal’s Mansion, I struck a bargain with the bloodwood: with its help, I lured and destroyed all invading demon cultivators. Now that I am immortal, it is time to fulfill my promise.” He pressed his palm to the Blood-Patterned Golden Tree. The tree quivered as if it understood.

“Friend, if not now, when?” Channeling vast power into the tree, the dark-blue fruit atop it burst with golden light. Ancient script appeared upon its surface, and then the fruit fell, transforming into a young maiden.

“Thank you, friend, for your assistance!” The maiden’s brows resembled Ji Feichen’s, but her features were more delicate and ethereal, making her seem a peerless beauty.

She stood naked, ecstatically caressing her new flesh, occasionally flaunting herself before Ji Feichen.

The Blood-Patterned Golden Tree had stood here for eight hundred years; in another two centuries, it would have broken through to the Human Immortal stage on its own. But who could wait two hundred years? Gaining a body now was clearly preferable.

With Ji Feichen’s help, she had taken human form from the fruit. Though her true body remained rooted, her avatar could now roam the Immortal’s Mansion freely.

Seeing her take a female form, Ji Feichen frowned slightly.

The bloodwood was androgynous—a plant with no fixed gender. That it became a woman now was obviously a calculated choice.

“But I am hardly a slave to desire, let alone infatuated with a plant.” With a flick of his finger, mist coalesced as a gossamer robe around the maiden. “This avatar is infused with spiritual energy but possesses little power and no means of self-defense. You must not leave the Immortal’s Mansion, lest you fall victim to assassins.”

The maiden nodded. “I understand. This is near the southern border, a gathering place for demon sects. Caution is needed.”

“Do you have a name?”

She thought for a moment. “I come from wood, so I’ll take the surname Mu—call me Mu Sheng.”

Ji Feichen made no objection. “You were born here; this place will be yours in time, though leave Moon Sun Court for my use.”

Mu Sheng demurred, “You arrived first. Though I grew up here, I can hardly claim ownership. It is only right that you, having taken charge of Moon Sun Court, should govern the Immortal’s Mansion.”

Having dwelled here for centuries, Mu Sheng understood a key truth:

Immortal abodes are not easily claimed. An immortal’s lifetime of inheritance resides within their mansion; whoever acquires it inherits their legacy. Did immortals have no disciples or kin? When they return and find you occupying their abode, what then? In the Xuan sects, an unspoken rule dictates that the mansion passes to a successor or disciple, or at least to a spirit-beast attendant—never to a total stranger.

As a result, two distinct attitudes emerged regarding immortal abodes.

One seeks out the abode’s origins, finds a rightful heir, and thus occupies the moral high ground. If you desire the mansion, you must take on the fated successor as your disciple to legitimize your claim—hence the demon sects’ mockery of hypocrisy.

The other believes “might makes right”—seize every opportunity, forcibly break the mansion’s wards, and claim it by strength. Who cares what the dead intended?

When Ji Feichen first entered the Immortal’s Mansion, he dared not claim it outright, instead joining forces with the Blood-Patterned Golden Tree. Guided by the tree, he obtained only Moon Sun Court, taking no more than was his due, which allowed him to survive here for years. Otherwise, over a millennium, many would have tried to inherit this place—so why had none succeeded?

After attaining immortality, Ji Feichen divined the mansion’s fate. When Cloud Sky Pavilion was destroyed, a servant boy escaped, living as a rogue cultivator. This mansion was his; in a great immortal-demon war a thousand years ago, he perished. Yet his soul endured, destined to reincarnate and return. The appearance of the Blood-Patterned Golden Tree was as expected—a temporary steward before the true heir’s return, defending the place against all comers. When the rightful heir returned, the tree would become his retainer, and he would reclaim the mansion.

Such was the calculation of immortals who understood destiny. Ji Feichen realized only after becoming immortal. All others who entered here perished, while he alone survived, spared by a single moment’s restraint from greed.

“So, Sima Kang truly kept secrets. He brought the Cloud Sky Pavilion’s scripture, the ‘Supreme Cloud-Forming Jade Transformation,’ here—not by chance!” Ji Feichen explained the karmic threads to Mu Sheng. “One day, I will reestablish the Cloud Sky Pavilion. The reincarnated heir within this mansion will inherit its legacy. For now, it is no harm for us to remain here.”

Mu Sheng was overjoyed. “If you take the rightful heir as your disciple, wouldn’t you then legitimately preside over the mansion?”

Ji Feichen shook his head. “I am not truly a Cloud Sky Pavilion heir. In the end, it will fall to you. You should take the disciple—you’ve spent eight centuries here. I’ll teach you the ‘Supreme Cloud-Forming Jade Transformation’ so you can one day take a pupil.”

“Thank you, senior brother!” Mu Sheng was delighted. As a wood spirit, she had no true cultivation art; now, with a proper Xuan sect scripture, she could aspire not only to Human Immortal but even to Earth Immortal status.

So she formally acknowledged Ji Feichen as her senior brother and began cultivating the Cloud Sky Pavilion’s art.

Having agreed upon their course, the two began to clean and restore the mansion. With Mu Sheng’s intimate knowledge and Ji Feichen’s immortal power, most wards offered no resistance.

Ji Feichen in particular used the Yin Yang Dragon Whisker as a blade, nullifying all enchantments within. “Truly, this mansion’s defenses are attuned to the Cloud Sky Pavilion—none of their arts bind us.”

They cleansed the mansion, restored the array formations, and Ji Feichen temporarily refined the core pillar, taking control.

He then forged a token for Mu Sheng, allowing her free passage in and out. “I have many matters outside; you will manage affairs here.”

This had been the intention of the mansion’s original owner—to entrust its care to a wood spirit, ensuring its preservation until his return.

Sima Kang, however, had intervened, seeking the Cloud Sky Pavilion’s art to usurp the abode, only to be outmaneuvered by Ji Feichen, who ultimately gained the legacy.

Just as Mu Sheng received the token, she noticed a change in Ji Feichen’s expression. “Senior brother, is something wrong?”

“I felt a stir just now—a premonition.” With a wave, Ji Feichen conjured a watery mirror that revealed the distance: several members of the Radiant Sun Demon Sect were searching for the mansion’s ruins.

“So, the scripture Sima Kang held was not acquired by chance. The mansion has already drawn the demon sect’s attention.” Ji Feichen took out the Nine Cloud Profound Crystal Disk and, after a calculation, breathed a sigh of relief.

“Fortunately, the coming calamity is manageable—I can barely cope.” In his divinations, he foresaw a great trial soon to befall the mansion.

“I must act swiftly and seize the initiative, using the Xuan sect’s strength to counter the Radiant Sun Demon Sect.”