Chapter 689: Within the Protected Area

Talking while walking with Lao Hei, Su Che still didn’t forget to pull weeds. In half an hour, he traveled hundreds of miles using the technique of shortening distance, leaving behind a long stretch of grassless land with exposed brown soil.

Traveling hundreds of miles in half an hour—such speed was simply unimaginable and unacceptable for an immortal.

But this was the Immortal Realm, where the rules of the world were just like this.

Human immortals were nothing but the lowest class. If they didn’t walk honestly, what else could they expect?

“I estimate it will take at least a month to get out of this human immortal protected area.”

Even a turtle taking a month to crawl worried Su Che a bit, but he didn’t dare release his celestial servants to help him slack off.

Because within the protected area, those with cultivation levels above human immortals were not allowed. Once one reached the level of earth immortal, they would be expelled by the protective rules. Thus, celestial immortals could never appear here.

The supreme Heavenly Dao couldn’t be deceived. If a celestial immortal suddenly appeared, it wouldn’t just be an expulsion—it might bring even worse punishments.

He couldn’t take that risk. It was better to walk honestly!

After walking for a while longer, Su Che and Lao Hei both noticed a figure approaching from behind. Judging from its movement, it was clearly following the grassless path they had created.

“A human immortal!”

Su Che wasn’t nervous. Here, he would only encounter human immortals who had ascended not long ago.

Since they couldn’t fly, their walking speed wasn’t very fast. Su Che deliberately slowed down to avoid making it hard for them to catch up.

When they were less than a thousand zhang apart, the person called out from behind, “Fellow cultivator ahead, please stop!”

Su Che naturally stopped, turned slowly, and waited quietly.

The man had regular features and an unoffensive appearance. His aura was also balanced and steady, not like that of someone who pursued the evil path to become an immortal.

In fact, after entering the Immortal Realm, the concept of evil cultivators no longer existed. It was just that everyone pursued different paths. There were only two true evils: one was the demon race, the public enemy of the Immortal Realm; the other was the inner demon that existed in everyone’s heart.

In the span of a flash over a thousand zhang, the man came closer and asked right away, “Fellow cultivator, what are you doing?”

Su Che knew he was questioning why he had created such a grassless area and why he had caused such destruction for no reason.

“Great, here comes a nosy one,” Lao Hei muttered in the Immortal Prison.

Su Che explained with a smile, “I’m picking wild herbs for alchemy. It’s not pointless destruction.”

“Alchemy?”

The man frowned and said, “I observe that you, fellow cultivator, have already reached a quite stable level as a human immortal. You don’t seem like someone who has just ascended. Don’t you understand that these wild herbs have no effect on a true immortal’s body? Using them to refine pills is pure waste of effort.” Clearly, he didn’t believe Su Che’s explanation and had already preconceived him as a sick maniac. “The pills I refine aren’t for my own consumption but are meant for the future, for that world of living beings that still hasn’t appeared…” Su Che patiently explained, without any displeasure. Although the other person seemed to be meddling, he did show some sense of justice—after all, these plants and flowers are also forms of life, and they shouldn’t be destroyed without reason. “I see…” The man was skeptical. After a pause, he asked again, “It seems you really enjoy cultivating your own world of living beings.” “Yes,” Su Che nodded. “I had this hobby even in the mortal world. It’s a pity that after ascending to the immortal realm, I can only leave them behind.” “I see.” Only then did a faint smile appear on the man’s face as he nodded and said, “In that case, you must also be compassionate, willing to spend effort refining immortal pills for those ordinary living beings.” He then added, “My hobby is growing spiritual herbs, so I can’t stand seeing people treat these spiritually rich, weak lives in such a manner.” Su Che nodded with a smile, showing understanding. At the same time, his silence served as a reminder to the other person: I’m not a talkative person and don’t really like making friends. If there’s nothing else, I’ll just keep walking… But the other person was extremely enthusiastic and even invited Su Che, “After ascending, I’ve been in this protected area for decades. You’re only the second person I’ve met. Since we’ve met, it must be fate. Please, honor me by stopping by my humble abode for a while, how about that?” He spoke so politely, even using phrases like “honor me by stopping by,” that given Su Che’s principle of “if others respect me, I’ll respect them even more,” it was truly hard to refuse. “Alright, I’ll go. It won’t take much time anyway. As an immortal whose life spans like a long river, what do I care about a few hours? Besides, he’s only at the human immortal level and can’t pose a threat to me…” With such thoughts, Su Che agreed.

In less than fifteen minutes, Su Che entered his temporary residence. It was a beautifully designed three-story building with exquisite decorations and complete furniture. It was clear that all the materials such as stone, wood, etc., came from local natural resources.

Although he arrived empty-handed upon ascending, as an immortal, such tasks were not difficult for him. He could even use some materials discovered in the protected area to craft simple storage tools, magic instruments, and treasures.

Of course, creating true immortal artifacts was completely impossible.

Creating immortal artifacts was not easy. The first requirement was to possess a refining furnace of a higher grade. For example, to create a lower-grade immortal artifact, one needed a medium-grade refining furnace, with almost no room for shortcuts.

Even if one were fortunate enough to obtain a medium-grade refining furnace in the mortal world and bring it to the immortal realm upon ascending, finding the necessary materials to craft immortal artifacts in a resource-poor human-immortal protected area was highly unrealistic.

Moreover, human-immortals and earth immortals simply did not have the capability to create immortal artifacts; at least one had to reach the level of celestial immortals.

Thus, for low-level immortals who had just ascended to the immortal realm, the first few tens of thousands of years would be extremely difficult—saying it was a struggle would not be an exaggeration.

Generally, the smarter approach was to join a sect or organization, having a backing to make life a bit easier.

After the host and guest sat down, they first introduced themselves. The other party introduced himself as Yun Qiu, a pill master. His hobby of growing spiritual herbs naturally stemmed from his years of practicing pill-making.

After chatting casually for a while, Su Che asked, “Friend Yun Qiu, you’ve lived here for decades. Do you plan to keep cultivating until you reach the level of an earth immortal before leaving the protected area?”

“That’s not the case.”

Yun Qiu waved his hand and smiled, “I stayed in the protected area to wait for my sect elders to come and pick me up. My sect, ‘Tian Dan Ge,’ is considered a medium-sized sect in the immortal realm. Before ascending, mortal disciples always make contact with their elders in the immortal realm. Otherwise, in this vast immortal realm, those with our level of cultivation might not find our sect for tens of thousands of years, and there’s a high chance we might perish along the way.”

“I see,” Su Che nodded slowly.

In the immortal realm, there were countless sects of all sizes, like stars in the universe. For a human-immortal who could only walk, finding their sect in the vast land of earth immortals was tens of thousands of times harder than searching for a needle in a haystack.

“May I ask, do you know Tian Dan Ge?”

It’s easy to imagine that once outside the protected area, if such a question were asked ten thousand times, the answer would always be: I don’t know.
After much effort, one might finally encounter a kind person who tells you, “I know! It’s in some region two quadrillion miles to the north…”
Well, after going through countless hardships and spending tens of thousands of years searching for that Tian Dan Pavilion, only to find it wasn’t one’s own sect but merely shared a name!
Indeed, in the immortal realm, there are more medium-sized sects than sand grains on the seabed, so it’s common for names to repeat. It’s not strange to end up at the wrong sect.
The person before him, Yun Qiu, was clearly kind-hearted. He said, “Since Daoist Tian Yu has no sect in the immortal realm and is interested in alchemy, I can introduce you to join my sect. I estimate that in another ten-odd years, the elders of my sect will arrive outside the protected area and send me a summons.”
The Tian Xuan Sect on Qi Yuan Star had a history of less than ten thousand years. Presumably, its founder was still struggling in the mortal world—how could he possibly come to the immortal realm to achieve greatness? Thus, Su Che, who had arrived in the immortal realm, was a typical lone wanderer, with no support or roots.
“I don’t plan to join any sect for now,” Su Che politely declined their offer, smiling and saying, “In the first few tens of thousands of years, I just want to live freely, wherever I go.”
Yun Qiu nodded first, then sighed softly, “It’s a pity that with merely human-immortal strength, it’s hard to live freely in the immortal realm. Daoist Tian Yu had better be prepared for that in advance.”
Through his own sect, Yun Qiu had a better understanding of the living conditions in the immortal realm. However, he didn’t know that Su Che, though a human-immortal, could release three Heavenly Immortals to protect himself once he left the protected area.
Although Heavenly Immortals couldn’t use teleportation spells, basic flight skills were not a problem, so Su Che wouldn’t have to travel so hard.
Su Che, having lived there for decades, must surely know which direction would be best to leave the protected area as soon as possible.
“If you have no fixed goal and just wander randomly, the direction you chose earlier is actually the longest route,” Yun Qiu said with a smile. “Turn back and head east. It will take at most five days to get out.”
As for how to distinguish east, west, south, and north in the immortal realm, the Heavenly Dao had already instilled this basic knowledge in everyone’s mind at the time of ascension.
“Thank you, brother Daoist,” Su Che said with a bow.
His advice saved him dozens of days of arduous travel, so a thank you was only fitting.

“Actually, the exact location of Tian Dan Pavilion is three trillion li to the east. That’s why I built a house here to wait nearby for the arrival of my sect elders.”
Yun Qiu said in a joking tone, “If you keep going east, who knows? Maybe in a few years, you’ll pass by Tian Dan Pavilion and can even drop by to see me.”
What he meant was, although you left the protected area over a decade early, while you were moving slowly as slow as a turtle on the surface, I had already flown far beyond three trillion li with my sect elders.
“Tian Dan Pavilion, three trillion li away…”
Su Che murmured. Truth be told, he was indeed inspired by a bit of competitive spirit.