Pursuing Immortality

Rumble!!!

The blazing sun fell down and the sword energy that had mostly solidified exploded, turning into a golden shower that filled the sky. It covered nearly a quarter of the Siebengebirge area from where the blazing sun was all the way to the east.

Trees, rocks, soil, waterfalls, rivers, and countless wildlife instantly fell victim to the golden rain, all incinerated without a trace.

Rumble… rumble…

Crackle!

There was then an ear-splitting sound, scaring the wits out of the onlookers distance away. A small mountain peak about a hundred meters tall was caught by a flitting streak of sword energy and was truncated; the top half slid down and collapsed, revealing a smooth section of the slope.

That top half of the peak made a crash-landing in the woods, tumbled around, then lay dead still in the valley like a deserted building block.

“Sweet Mother of Jesus!”

“Is, is that even possible for a human being?”

“C-can our magic ever reach that level?”

Presently, countless people began to doubt their own faith and practices. Some clergymen even uttered their prayers repeatedly to ease their panic and anxiety.

‘!!!’

Inside the conference room, the old man bolted to his feet, which was a very rare lapse of state of mind for him. He looked into the distance in a daze, overwhelmed by a million emotions. On one hand, he was so proud of having a mighty cultivator as his fellow countryman, on the other, he was growing more concerned with this power that was only becoming harder to control.

He had little idea of what specific cultivation state Gu Yu was in, but it was not hard to guess that Gu Yu must have risen to the next level.

“No, no… it can’t be! She lost! How could that happen?”

Panic filled the hearts of politicians and various magic associations of Britannia. Fiona’s power was the reason for their toughness, but now she had been defeated. Looking back to what they had done so far, they might as well have dug their own grave.

“…”

A strange silence fell over the great conference hall.

After a while, the old man proved to be one of the tougher minds, for he cleared his throat and said, “Now, let me reiterate the position of my country. The transcendent system is a common asset of humanity; on the premise of guaranteeing that basic rights and interests are not infringed, my country will always advocate joint development, seeking common ground while reserving differences, and benign competition.

“We have gone through the specific measures many times. I will hereby propose again the establishment of an international, peaceful, tolerant, and cooperative institutional framework in response to social changes in the new environment…”

He paused for effect, feeling his chest filled with lofty sentiments. He then looked around the room and asked the question, “Anyone agree or disagree?”

***

Whoosh!

The reddish yellow flame ignited the woods. Large stretches of beech trees and oaks danced in the fire, some burning, some splintered everywhere by the explosions.

Black smoke filled the air and soon surged up and spread in all directions. This famous mountain was devoured by flames in half a heartbeat.

“Ha… ha…”

Fiona had slumped to the ground, her white gown smudged with dirt and her long hair dishevelled. She stared at the man standing in front of her with utter astonishment and confusion. She thought her end was coming, but it turned out she was only wrapped up by a streak of refined energy and this embarrassing state was only superficial.

“Why didn’t you kill me?”

“We’re both on a difficult cultivation path and there is no grudge between us. Why should I kill you?”

The dancing flames reflected in Gu Yu’s pupils, giving them a red color. He grinned. “Plus, it was thanks to you that I was able to break through. Like it or not, I owe you one.”

“You…”

Fiona suddenly felt this man was beyond comprehension. He was mighty, he did things as he pleased—he was capricious.

“All right, I know you’re not that weak. Your leg would not give up from this little fight.”

Hearing the hubbub approaching, Gu Yu said, “If you want to leave, now would be a good time. Things will get awkward when they get here.”

“…”

Fiona pursed her lips and finally rose to her feet. In a tiny voice that was barely audible, she uttered a thanks. Then, she drifted away in a sphere of green glow.

“Young friend! Young friend!”

She had just left when the others’ voices moved closer. Erhard, Ernese, and the mages of various countries had arrived at the scene.

Erhard was indeed a remarkable old man; he was treating Gu Yu the same as before as if nothing had happened. The others—Ernese and Cohen included—now had a reverence and envy in their eyes watching Gu Yu.

The next second, when they turned to examine the battlefield, they broke into a cold sweat.

The rampaging flame was turning into a severe forest fire and the broken landscape reminded them of an inferno left by combat between gods.

“Anything else can wait—this is all on me. We have to put out the fire now.” Looking up, Gu Yu took in the sky that had turned dark with all the black smoke and cupped his hands at the others earnestly. “We have the most capable men of many countries here. Please lend me a hand!”

“Sure! Sure!”

“Don’t worry. That’s what we’re here for.”

There was then a hubbub of chanting in a hundred languages.

“Time is of the essence. Let’s begin!”

Ernese was a man of action. He quickly drew a magic circle, then chanted a spell. Dark glow shot up from the circle, then there was a gurgling sound. Cold water gushed out.

He had linked it to a water source in an area not affected by the fire.

“Water bird, come out!”

Jolly Erhard was, and his creation was equally delightful. He took out a little puppet bird and tossed it into the air.

The little bird flapped its wings and became alive. It then grew and grew, until it was a giant bird with a wingspan of over a dozen meters.

It was made from water element itself. Flying over the sea of fire, it splashed water here and there before finally diving down in a self-destruction mode. With a loud splash, the fire in a large area was extinguished.

The others were also taking this seriously and worked their individual magic. Spells of various systems flashed to life, lighting up the area like a disco ball. After all, Bonn was the host city and it would look bad for all of them should anything happen. Moreover, with the mightiest cultivator among them there, they were all trying to leave a good impression.

The fire was successfully contained at their joint effort. There was only one area still burning.

“Thank you for all the hard work! Allow me.”

Seeing that a lot of them were clearly exhausted from all the maneuvering, Gu Yu walked out. The twenty or so people stopped what they were doing and opened their eyes wide, curious about what was going to happen next.

Facing the burning woods, Gu Yu raised his right hand and grabbed at the air.

The size of the burning area was still quite considerable, but in that instant, it looked like it had been closed inside a vacuum container. Without oxygen, the fire went off immediately. At the same moment, a ball of fire appeared in his palm. Because of the high density, it was of a golden red color.

“Haha, the power of Human Immortals is indeed beyond the imagination of mortal men.”

Gu Yu smiled, sensing the change in his Small Moving Technique. He then took out his gourd and stuffed the ball of fire in, completing his task in front a crowd of gaping mouths.

***

We would forget about the cost of damage our fellow dealt for the time being—not that it was possible to estimate the cost…

A five-hundred-year-old street was destroyed, as well as a quarter of a mountain; the value of damaged properties was astronomical. They couldn’t attach a price tag to any of the damages above and the delegation was bound to clean up the mess after Gu Yu. In the negotiation in the following two days, they agreed upon certain treaties in favor of Germani as a courtesy.

International relationship was a complicated thing. With the initiation of the Chinese delegation, most of the countries agreed on the establishment of an international organization. However, there was more entanglement than one could count between countries and factions.

For instance, Germani, Gual, and Viking had an alliance of their own; Chine had Uncle Sam and signed the contract of the largest single cooperative order; Uncle Sam then turned its bullying hand on Great White North.

The African countries were in constant civil wars, changing their leaders every week… the world was as boisterous as always.

That being said, the general peaceful tone was set after the agreement was reached, even though it would not stop conflicts from happening.

Hence, after ten days of discussion (or, tearing each other’s hair out), the first oh-so-rare-in-human-history global agreement was reached!