As this immense power poured into Evan's body, he shuddered all over. His head spun, but he couldn't resist at all. Still, he could clearly sense the energy the old man was channeling into him surging through his body, gradually filling up his dantian.
As more and more Immortal spiritual power flooded in, Evan's dantian swelled so much it felt like it was about to explode. Panic rose in his heart—was this old geezer insane? How could he possibly withstand such terrifying Immortal spiritual power? If this guy blew up his dantian, he'd be in real trouble.
But Evan's worries were unnecessary. Once his dantian was full, the Immortal spiritual power started coursing through his meridians, slowly packing them to the brim. Then it spread to his muscles and bones. Evan's body was incredibly tough now, and his meridians were especially resilient and spacious, which left the old man thoroughly shocked.
At this moment, the old man could clearly sense Evan's physical state. To have such insane defense and storage capacity—he'd never seen anything like it before. In fact, Evan's current condition was basically what you'd expect from a late-stage Heavenly Immortal. For a newly ascended Immortal to have a body this monstrous was downright terrifying. If he truly grew to his full potential, his future would be limitless.
So the old man started channeling power even faster. Evan, meanwhile, was completely unaware of what was happening—he slowly slipped into unconsciousness, feeling like he'd fallen into a massive pool of energy. The pool was overflowing, but he'd reached his absorption limit and needed to get back to shore—except he had no idea where the shore was.
Meanwhile, the old man grew visibly older. His hair, once black, turned snow-white, and his already ugly face wrinkled up like dried bark—he looked as if he'd aged a hundred years in an instant, so frail a breeze could topple him.
No one knew how much time passed before the old man finally stopped and said, "Kid, I hope you make the most of this chance. For me to meet a once-in-a-generation genius like you in my lifetime is worth it. I hope you can fulfill my wish—let my legacy mean something."
Evan was still sitting quietly on the ground. The old man, now extremely weak, seemed to remember something. He reached out and tapped Evan's forehead again, and a streak of green light slowly sank into Evan's mind.
No one knew how long it was before Evan woke up. He felt like his whole body was about to explode—Immortal spiritual power filled him to the brim. But the old man who'd passed on his power had vanished. Evan remembered the old man warning him to quickly digest the Immortal spiritual power, so he immediately started circulating his arts.
At first, when Evan started circulating his power, his dantian ached terribly—there was barely any room to operate, and it was a huge hassle. But his Chaos Immortal Force was way higher quality than the Immortal spiritual power the old man had given him, so he slowly absorbed and fused it. It took almost a whole day before he managed to free up a little space in his dantian.
With that tiny bit of space, Evan could finally start moving Immortal spiritual power around in small cycles. As he slowly circulated it, the Immortal spiritual power in his dantian gradually converted into Chaos Immortal Force. Time flew by, and when all the Immortal spiritual power in his dantian had been transformed, Evan noticed the Immortal spiritual power in his meridians, muscles, and bones instantly flowed back into his dantian, refilling it to the brim.
After another full conversion, Evan felt how packed his Chaos Immortal Force was. He immediately began circulating this powerful energy through his meridians in a full-body cycle. When he finished the third cycle, a crisp, ringing sound echoed from his dantian—a heavenly sound, the one every cultivator longs to hear: the sound of a breakthrough.
Evan kept circulating the Chaos Immortal Force, since he could tell he hadn't fully compressed it all into his dantian yet. Plus, he'd just broken through to the Heavenly Immortal Realm and needed to stabilize his power. Evan wasn't worried about his mental realm at all—his Nascent Soul was already several layers above his main cultivation, and now that it had evolved into an Immortal Infant, it was even higher. He was sure its mental realm was at least Golden Immortal level, so there was no risk of a backlash from his will lagging behind his cultivation.
After a few more cycles, Evan finally stopped. Checking his body, he was thoroughly satisfied—he knew he'd reached mid Heavenly Immortal Realm now, just a step shy of the late-stage target the old man had mentioned. Maybe it was because his foundation was just too freakish.
Evan slowly stood up and looked around the mine. In a corner, he finally spotted a white-haired old man. He rushed over, instinctively knowing this was the elder who'd passed on his power. But now, the old man had stopped breathing, his eyes closed forever—the agony of the Helljudge Powder was finally over.
A wave of regret washed over Evan. He could've saved the man, but he'd treated him like a threat instead. He'd totally misjudged the elder's intentions. Just then, the old man's voice echoed in his mind.
"Kid, when you see me again, it'll probably be as a corpse. Meeting a genius like you made it all worthwhile. I hope you'll fulfill my last wish and slay that shameless Lord of Coldriver City. Next to my body, there's a storage ring—I’ve erased my spiritual imprint. There’s a lot inside that'll help you in the Immortal Realm. Make good use of it, and don’t let me down..."
The message cut off there. Evan was certain the old man had left it with the last flicker of his consciousness. "Rest easy, elder. Since I’ve received your kindness, I swear I’ll fulfill your wish—no matter how strong he is, I’ll make it happen. You can rest in peace now!"
Evan waved his hand, summoning a ball of flame to cremate the old man. Then he buried the ashes with ore, picked up the elder’s storage ring, and turned to leave.
The mine was huge. Evan found a clean spot in the miners’ rest area, sat down, and injected his Divine Sense into the storage ring. Inside were loads of high-grade and mid-grade Immortal Stones, and low-grade ones were as common as cow hair—just what you’d expect from a former mine master.
There were also some pills and several jade slips. Evan checked them one by one, but one jade slip in particular caught his eye. It read...
(Two chapters tonight, six on the weekend)