Chapter 600 - 609: The Everlasting Years

Just then, Wen Qingye saw from the corner of his eye Xiao Zuilan strike the Sand Python’s head with her palm. She showed no mercy. The Sand Python’s skull was instantly crushed, and blood sprayed wildly. It couldn’t have been more dead.

Xiao Zuilan smiled faintly, as if she had just done something trivial. Her ruthlessness was on full display. She walked to Wen Qingye’s side and looked at the Desert Fox in the distance. "Now the Nascent Vein Flower is yours. Go on and take it."

Wen Qingye nodded and walked toward the Desert Fox.

The Desert Fox lay in a pool of its own blood, wailing in agony. Its face was twisted, and faint, miserable cries escaped its mouth.

Wen Qingye walked to its side, glanced at its tail, and grabbed the Nascent Vein Flower.

The Nascent Vein Flower’s stem was only about two fingers thick, and its leaves were a dark brown. It felt cool to the touch. The stem and leaves were covered in fine lines that, at first glance, resembled the meridians of the human body, giving it an air of mystique.

"Aren’t you going to kill it?" Xiao Zuilan walked to Wen Qingye’s side and asked, looking at the wailing Desert Fox.

The Desert Fox seemed to understand her words. Its body began to squirm, and its eyes filled with terror as it tried to flee. But it was already severely injured—forget escaping, even standing up was a monumental effort.

Perhaps sensing its fate, the Desert Fox squirmed, and crystal-clear tears began to stream from its eyes, perfectly visible even in the darkness.

"Forget it," Wen Qingye said. "We have no real quarrel with this Demon Beast, and we’ve already taken its Nascent Vein Flower. Let’s just let it live." He took out a Healing Elixir and tossed it by the Desert Fox’s mouth, then turned and walked away.

’So naive,’ Xiao Zuilan thought, a faint smile on her lips as she watched Wen Qingye’s retreating figure. She shook her head in resignation. "Youth... it truly is a wonderful thing."

Just then, the Desert Fox, sensing it was no longer in danger of death, gulped down the pill Wen Qingye had left. Its eyes followed his retreating figure.

Xiao Zuilan couldn’t understand what was in Wen Qingye’s heart. It wasn’t soft-heartedness, but a profound appreciation for all living beings.

Having lived through endless ages, he understood the value of life far better than most.

...

The desert at night was dull and silent.

Atop a sand ridge, Wen Qingye and Xiao Zuilan sat facing each other.

Xiao Zuilan said, "You’re far too naive. That Desert Fox is incredibly cunning. It was obviously crying on purpose to make you feel sorry for it so you’d let it go."

"I know," Wen Qingye said in a low voice, his eyes fixed on the sand in front of him.

As if remembering something, Xiao Zuilan said, "Oh, right. I still don’t know anything about your background. I’ve heard your name is Wen Qingye, which I’ve been hearing a bit about lately. Supposedly, you’re a genius from a remote minor kingdom who joined the Celestial Profound Sect and rose to prominence, but then your meridians were crippled."

"Yes." Wen Qingye took a deep breath and nodded.

A glint flashed in Xiao Zuilan’s eyes before vanishing. "I’m actually quite curious about your childhood," she said.

"My childhood?"

Hearing her words, the corners of Wen Qingye’s mouth lifted slightly as a series of images began to flash through his mind.

「It was the dawn of ancient times.」

The Demon Race and the Witch Race had just concluded a great war. Nearly all of the Witch Race’s top masters had perished, and the Demon Race had also suffered grievous casualties. As a result, the Demon Race’s dominion over the Immortal Realm grew precarious, and they were forced to ease their oppression of the other races.

This was when the Human Race began to rise, and it was into this era that he was born.

He was an orphan, taken in by an ordinary, wandering Human Celestial Immortal. But the good times did not last; his adoptive parent was killed at the hands of the Demon Race.

At the time, the future Longevity Immortal Monarch was only six years old. Innocent and naive, he understood nothing of the world. After escaping by a stroke of luck, he began to drift, struggling to survive in the vast Immortal Realm.

It may be hard to believe, but he was left completely alone at just six years old.

He could never seem to forget those years. For the sake of survival, for the chance to see another sunrise, he did whatever it took.

He lived like a beast in the woods, eating raw flesh and drinking blood, consuming all manner of things both edible and not. He had served as a test subject for tribes developing new pills, an experience that nearly cost him his sight forever. He had acted as a scout to track the Demon Race’s Eight Desolates Profound-tailed Sparrow, a mission that left him with a broken leg...

The years passed. If not for the cataclysmic events that followed, he might have spent his entire life settling in a tribe, marrying an ordinary human woman, and quietly living out his days.

Later, the Demon Emperor who ruled the Immortal Realm failed to overcome his final Celestial Tribulation and was utterly annihilated.

The entire Immortal Realm was shaken to its core. That Demon Emperor’s power had been legendary, a being whose might struck fear across the realm.

He alone had been able to suppress the boundless Immortal Realm, allowing the Demon Race to rule over the majority of it.

Seeing a glimmer of hope, the Human Race allied with the Spirit Race and rose up in rebellion. Experts from every faction of the Human Race flocked to the cause. It was only then that the other races of the Immortal Realm discovered just how formidable humanity truly was.

The Human Race, which had been quietly recuperating all this time, had already become one of the most formidable forces in the Immortal Realm.

The eight major tribes, three major sects, and four great powers all marched on the Demon Race’s Imperial Court. With the Witch Race having withdrawn from the world, the Demon Race was already in severe decline. How could they possibly fend off the combined might of the Human and Spirit Races?

This great war raged for thousands of years, its flames engulfing the entire Immortal Realm.

It was an era of heroes, an era of epic triumphs and heart-wrenching tragedies.

That year, he turned thirteen. The winter wind was biting. As he always did, he took his hunting knife and headed deep into the Great Wilderness to hunt.

Just then, a young girl walked up beside him. Her face wasn’t particularly fair, but it was exquisitely featured. Her eyes, especially, shone brighter than any star in the sky.

"Can’t you show some ambition? All the experts of the Human Race are out there fighting the Demon Race. But for the last two years, you’ve done nothing but waste your days here in my Youxiong Tribe, living a life of comfort without a single ounce of drive. What will you do when all our experts are dead and you fall into the hands of the Demon Race?"

He shook his head. "You are the daughter of the Youxiong Clan’s Leader; your heart is set on the fate of the world. I’m different. I’m just an ordinary person trying to survive. I have no great talent, no powerful backing. I live each day simply for the sake of living."

The girl pouted. "You could still try harder."

He nodded. "I am. I’m working hard... to stay alive."