The carriage swayed and jolted for several days before finally emerging from the Canglang Mountains.
An endless great plain appeared before their eyes.
During these days, the three children, who had never traveled far, found their greatest joy in squatting by the window and watching the scenery along the way.
For them, everything was entirely new.
Immortal Master Zhang was also patient, explaining things to the children throughout the journey and sharing many thrilling stories about the region.
It was said that in this Northern Yan region, where mountain peaks and miasma ran rampant and roads remained impassable, the imperial court found it inconvenient to govern. Consequently, the area had become a gathering ground for numerous outlaws of the greenwoods.
Yet rather than calling them outlaws, it would be truer to say they were a pack of vicious mountain bandits who preyed upon the local common people, while the incompetent officials could do nothing against them.
Among the most notorious were the Hungry Wolf Gang and Chaotian Sect, both gangs boasting individuals with martial arts foundations.
Twenty years ago, Daoist Dragon Profound, the founding ancestor of the Dragon Profound Sect, came to this region. Unable to bear these gangs bullying the common people, he established the Dragon Profound Sect and used techniques to scatter these ragtag bands, bringing peace and stability back to the local populace.
Shu Han had once heard adults tell many tales of jianghu martial arts, described as marvelously profound, so he asked Immortal Master Zhang what techniques were truly like and whether they surpassed martial arts that allowed one to vault over eaves and scale walls.
Upon hearing this, Immortal Master Zhang laughed heartily and replied that no matter how strong mortal martial arts might be, they remained merely mortal, and mortals could never be compared to immortals. Once a person stepped onto the immortal path, all mortals were like ants-the difference was as vast as heaven and earth.
Immortal Master Zhang’s choice of words left the three children somewhat bewildered, but they had already begun to dimly realize that immortals were beings far beyond a mortal’s reach.
Immortal Master Zhang treated the three children from the mountain valley exceptionally well.
According to his own words, he had originally hailed from a remote mountain village himself. Seeing Shu Han and the others felt much like seeing his own reflection and that of his fellow villagers when they first stepped out of the mountains all those years ago.
At this point, Immortal Master Zhang could not help but self-deprecatingly remark that his two traveling companions back then possessed extraordinary talent. After cultivating intensively within the Dragon Profound Sect for a time, they had been sent by Headmaster Daoist Dragon Profound to higher-level immortal sects for further cultivation.
As for himself, because his cultivation had stagnated and could advance no further, he was now left performing ordinary duties within the Dragon Profound Sect.
Shu Han, however, thought nothing of it. In his eyes, Immortal Master Zhang was already majestic and awe-inspiring; he believed that if he could become an immortal like the Immortal Master one day, it would be more than enough to bring honor to his ancestors.
These words put Immortal Master Zhang in high spirits. When they passed through a small village along the way, he specifically bought pastries for the three children to enjoy.
Eating and drinking as they went, the three children felt not a trace of homesickness, their days filled with continuous laughter.
Yet this joyous atmosphere came to an abrupt end near the Emerald Bamboo Forest, not far from the Dragon Profound Sect.
After the carriage had jolted along for nearly ten days, Immortal Master Zhang had mentioned that they would reach the Dragon Profound Sect in another day or two.
The emerald bamboos swayed in the breeze, and the hearts of the three children fluttered in rhythm, filled with bright anticipation for their future lives.
Then, the sharp whistling of objects cleaving through the air shattered their illusions.
Inside the carriage, Shu Han heard only a rapid succession of tearing sounds, followed by the agonizing neigh of the horses. The carriage surged forward at a sudden, violent gallop for a short distance before grinding to a halt with a harsh clatter.
Immortal Master Zhang immediately thrust the three children beneath his body, his fingers shifting rapidly through a series of hand seals as he chanted incantations in tandem.
An instant later, a green-light barrier rose up around them.
The whistling of the air grew increasingly dense.
First the roof of the carriage was torn away, and then countless jagged holes blossomed across the wooden frame.
Through wide, terrified eyes, Shu Han saw a multitude of flying arrows pouncing upon the carriage from every direction, only to bounce harmlessly off the Immortal Master’s green-light barrier.
In a matter of moments, the carriage was torn apart by the relentless rain of arrows.
Straining his eyes, Shu Han saw that the driver and horses at the front had already been pierced like hedgehogs, blinding streams of fresh blood gushing from the wounds across their bodies.
The horrific sight drained the color from Shu Han’s face, his stomach churning violently.
Beside him, Erdan and Goudan had already fainted from sheer terror.
Immortal Master Zhang rose to his feet. Dozens of figures emerged from the bamboo grove, their gleaming blades leveled directly at the remains of the carriage.
“The Hungry Wolf Gang!”
Discarding his usual amiable smile, Immortal Master Zhang shouted with fury, “You common mortals truly do not know the meaning of death! How dare you ambush this Immortal Master! None of you will leave here alive today; stay and perish!”
With that, a ball of bright flame flared up in the palm of his hand.
Shu Han had never imagined that anyone could cradle scorching fire in the palm of their hand. This was the first time in his life he had witnessed a spell.
The leader of the Hungry Wolf Gang held a wolf-tooth club-a burly man with a thick, bristling beard resembling iron wire.
“Zhang Ruoshan, your Dragon Profound Sect has bullied us intolerably for far too long! What immortals! What immortal dao! Bah! Today either you die or I perish! Brothers, charge! Chop off his head for me!”
“Courting death!”
Immortal Master Zhang struck out swiftly, each palm thrust dispatching a blazing fireball.
Whenever a fireball struck a target, it immediately erupted into raging flames. Several figures transformed into burning, screaming torches running wildly across the clearing, accompanied by heart-rending shrieks and the acrid stench of charred flesh.
Faced with such a grisly scene, Shu Han felt no fear; instead, his eyes shone with boundless admiration.
The green-light barrier protected Immortal Master Zhang’s body while the fireballs decimated the enemy.
Standing entirely alone, Immortal Master Zhang seemed utterly invincible.
Suddenly, an ear-piercing shriek split the air, followed by a sharp, cracking crash.
A massive arrow shot out from an unseen location.
The green-light barrier shattered under a single blow. Immortal Master Zhang coughed up a mouthful of blood as a thick, bowl-sized arrow pierced straight through his chest.
The flames in his palm instantly extinguished, and the green-light barrier dissolved into nothingness.
With a heavy sway, Immortal Master Zhang collapsed to the ground.
“Ooh-rah!”
Loud, wild cheers erupted from the surrounding crowd as they danced in celebration.
Staring at Immortal Master Zhang’s blood-soaked corpse, Shu Han fell into a daze, his understanding of the world fundamentally shaken.
Had the Immortal Master not said that mortals could never be compared to immortals?
How could an Immortal Master be killed by a mere group of mortals?
At that moment, another group emerged from the bamboo grove, wheeling a heavy divine crossbow. They could hardly contain their jubilation upon seeing the body.
The Hungry Wolf Gang leader picked up a broadsword, hacked off Immortal Master Zhang’s head in one brutal motion, and hoisted it atop a long spear. He roared in a rough, booming voice, “Look! This is your so-called immortal! They are not undying! Just like the rest of us, they can be wounded, and they bleed! From now on, we counterattack the Dragon Profound Sect and take back our ancestral territory! Let these immortals see just how fierce the wrath of mortals can be!”
The crowd around him roared in approval.
The bearded ruffian planted a foot on the shattered carriage, his scarred face fixing a cold gaze upon the bloodless face of Shu Han.
“A child from the mountains?”
Paralyzed with fear, Shu Han could only nod mechanically.
The ruffian laughed. “You’ve got some nerve. Seeing so many people die and not even fainting from fright.”
Someone shouted from the side, “This is one of the disciples the Dragon Profound Sect is planning to recruit-a little immortal seed!”
“If they’re connected to immortals, kill them all!”
The stubble-faced man grinned viciously. “Right! Chop these three little bastards up together!”
“Wait!”
A woman dressed in green stepped out from the group operating the divine crossbows. Looking at the bearded leader with visible disgust, she snapped, “Gang Leader Gao, have you lost your mind? These are merely children, yet you intend to slaughter them in cold blood. Has the Hungry Wolf Gang completely abandoned all principles?”
The ruffian chuckled. “Miss Wan’er, our Hungry Wolf Gang isn’t like your Chaotian Sect. We don’t have so many scruples. To us, any enemy deserves death! But considering your Chaotian Sect’s divine crossbows did the heavy lifting today, what do you suggest we do with these three kids?”
“Let them go. They’re all under ten years old and pose no threat. We still have important business to attend to.”
Turning back to Shu Han, the bearded leader barked, “You heard her, brat! I’m sparing your life-get out of here before I change my mind!”