Chapter 1 : Immortal Alliance North Martial

Chapter 1: Immortal Alliance North Martial

In the year 24520 of the Immortal Alliance calendar, in Shouhe No. 2 High School, Yuan Kong County—

The blazing sun hung in the sky like a radiant pearl of heaven and earth, illuminating the majestic and well-arranged school buildings.

By the window in the classroom, a slender and lustrous hand was holding a black gel pen, freely scribbling on an exam paper.

【10. A ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator was bitten on the arm by a Scarlet-Patterned Scorchfire Serpent and injected with a large amount of venom. What is the correct way to handle it? ( )】

A. Sever the arm promptly and take an Antitoxin Pill.

B. Immediately report the exact location of the Scarlet-Patterned Scorchfire Serpent's appearance to the Immortal Alliance.

C. Seal the Divine Gate acupoint near the wound and use magic power to flush the wound repeatedly.

D. Do not use any magic power; cut open the wound using the Bloodletting Method and suck out the poisoned blood.

Chen Beiwu glanced at the question and, without hesitation, filled in answer B.

This multiple-choice question was quite difficult and tested knowledge beyond the high school curriculum, enough to stump almost everyone in the class—everyone except him, who had thoroughly studied Three Years of Qi Refining Practice, Five Years of Immortal Exams, Ten Years of Foundation Building, and the Celestial and Earthly Beasts Confidential Exam Volume.

The Scarlet-Patterned Scorchfire Serpent was a treasure beast ranked among the top ten poisons on the Earthly Fiend list, also known as the Three-Breath Treasure Serpent.

Its venom was so potent that even a Golden Core true cultivator would perish within three breaths if bitten, let alone a mere ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator.

If a cultivator were unfortunate enough to be bitten by the Scarlet-Patterned Scorchfire Serpent, the best course of action was to immediately report the sighting to the Immortal Alliance to prevent further casualties, and to prepare a will so that the family could receive a massive reward from the Alliance.

According to the rewards published by the Immortal Alliance, information on an unclaimed Earthly Fiend treasure beast was worth at least ten high-grade spirit stones, equivalent to a hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones.

What did a hundred thousand spirit stones mean within the Immortal Alliance?

Such a massive amount of spirit stones could probably be piled up to form a Foundation Establishment family.

With the right connections, one might even exchange it for a Calamity-Breaking Golden Pill that even rogue Foundation Establishment cultivators yearned for but could not obtain.

Unfortunately, within the jurisdiction of the Immortal Alliance, it was nearly impossible for a Qi Refining cultivator to encounter a Scarlet-Patterned Scorchfire Serpent.

“Bang bang bang!”

“Bang bang bang...!”

This was the sound of Chen Beiwu’s heart beating rapidly.

He sensed a spiritual premonition and followed the nine-breath chaos within his heart to gaze out the window.

Boom!

In the sky above, a golden sun hung high, like a pearl on the throne of a divine king, radiating seven-colored brilliance that illuminated the world, as if an ancient being had descended with a crash.

‘What is that?’ Chen Beiwu’s mind went blank.

To ordinary eyes, the sun’s radiance appeared gentle and warm, nurturing all living things with vitality.

But to Chen Beiwu in that moment, the sun had undergone a terrifying transformation.

Its aura had become overbearingly tyrannical, like an ancient deity gazing down upon the world, capable of obliterating any ant that dared look directly at it.

‘I’ll die!’

‘If I keep looking, I’ll definitely die!’ A sudden realization surged in Chen Beiwu’s heart.

At that moment, the organs, bones, flesh, and even the very cells within his body cried out under unbearable strain.

Even his consciousness flickered like a candle in a storm, on the verge of extinguishing.

Yet he still could not look away.

“Buzz!”

Fortunately, at the critical moment, the treasure residing in Chen Beiwu’s heart suddenly activated.

A mysterious power, unlike any magic or cultivation, forcefully severed a strand of the sun’s brilliance and began healing the exhaustion deep within his soul.

“Huff... huff...”

When Chen Beiwu came to his senses, he was drenched in sweat and trembling uncontrollably.

‘That was close, I almost died!’

‘What exactly caused this sudden transformation of the sun? Did I accidentally glimpse a forbidden secret of the Immortal Alliance, or was it a strange encounter triggered by the earlier orange-colored fortune...’

His mind was a mess, too frightened to think further, and he dared not look out at the sun again.

“This student, are you alright? Are you feeling unwell? Should I take you to the infirmary?” Noticing Chen Beiwu’s abnormal state, the proctor took the initiative to ask with concern.

Chen Beiwu wiped away his sweat and forced himself to calm down. “Mr. Lei, I’m fine. I just happened to gain some insight into the Ten Thousand Beasts Scripture.”

After speaking, he shifted his attention back to the exam paper on his desk and picked up the black pen to continue answering questions.

It had only been a few days since the new school term started, and today was the school’s initial placement exam.

Regardless of whether the earlier anomaly of the sun was related to the orange-colored fortune encounter, he needed to focus on answering the test now, using this task to restore calm to his mind.

Moreover, the results of this placement exam were crucial to Chen Beiwu, as they determined how many spirit stones the school would allocate to him as subsidies.

Hearing this, Teacher Lei gave Chen Beiwu a long look but said no more and continued patrolling the classroom.

Minutes quickly passed, and Teacher Lei, perhaps tired, sat on the other side of the classroom, his peripheral gaze occasionally drifting over Chen Beiwu’s face and exam paper.

At this moment, feeling a drowsiness welling from deep in his brain, Chen Beiwu forced himself to stay alert.

He activated the visualization technique he had cultivated since childhood—Tai Xuan Guarding the One—while flipping the exam paper to the last long-answer question.

【Facing an adult Iron Dreadbear less than a hundred meters away, a fifth-level Qi Refining cultivator holds a Swift Movement Talisman, a Minor Thunder Summon Talisman, and a small sword case. What is the correct method for escape?】

‘This long-answer question is a bit tricky,’ Chen Beiwu thought to himself.

Heaven and earth possessed spiritual essence.

All things could breathe in and out the world’s spiritual energy, nurturing their own magical power and cultivation, thus bringing the might of heaven and earth into themselves—such beings were revered by humanity as cultivators.

Yet in ancient times, humans were weak.

The great beasts, favored by heaven, relied solely on the divine powers in their bloodlines to wreak havoc across the world.

Even the cultivators admired by humanity were no match for the great beasts.

In the eyes of those ancient beasts, humans were no more than ants to be crushed at will.

In the eyes of humans, great beasts were unstoppable natural disasters.

Some humans, in order to survive and propagate in such a harsh environment, even resorted to blood sacrifices to gain protection from the great beasts.

But within humanity, there were also ancestors who refused to submit to the beasts’ rule.

Overcoming countless hardships, they gradually forged an unparalleled immortal path of beast-taming cultivation.

In doing so, they gained power surpassing that of the great beasts and opened a new world for humankind.

Today, the Immortal Alliance had already established a glorious civilization of cultivation.

Its splendor could be summed up in one sentence: wherever the sun and moon shone, wherever rivers reached, all was territory of the Immortal Alliance.

As for the beast race that once dominated Sky Abyss Star, they had long since been pushed to the margins, exiled by the Immortal Alliance to the depths of Creek Cavern Abyss to eke out a miserable existence.

Now, the beasts that lived within the territory of the Immortal Alliance were no longer purely wild beasts, but rather spirit beasts.

These were classified by the potential of their bloodline into Exotic Beasts, Spirit Beasts, Treasure Beasts, and Mystic Beasts—corresponding to the cultivators' stages of Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and Nascent Soul, respectively.

As for beasts beyond the Mystic Beast level, that was information completely beyond Chen Beiwu’s knowledge.

The Iron Dreadbear in the question was a relatively obscure third-rank Treasure Beast listed in the Ten Thousand Beasts Manual.

Theoretically, it could possess over five hundred years of cultivation, equivalent to a Golden Core cultivator.

A casual swipe of its paw could crush a group of Qi Refining cultivators to death.

Thinking this through, Chen Beiwu composed himself and wrote directly on the exam paper:

“A Qi Refining cultivator should discard the talismans and sword case, lie down in place, and play dead to escape safely.”

Seeing Chen Beiwu’s answer, Teacher Lei’s brows twitched slightly.

What nonsense was this?

To go with the mundane and defy the immortal path—how could a cultivator, with a spirit of unyielding will, striving to ascend the heavens and break through the limits of lifespan, lie down and play dead?

Admittedly, the Iron Dreadbear, like some feline Treasure Beasts, enjoyed tormenting its prey and fed on fear.

The more the prey struggled, the more excited the Iron Dreadbear became.

Conversely, when facing prey that gave up resistance, it would most likely lose interest—except in cases of extreme hunger.

However, the correct answer to this question should have been: the cultivator must embrace a mindset of survival through desperation and use the Minor Thunder Summon Talisman on themselves.

The Iron Dreadbear, being a yin-aligned Treasure Beast, was naturally averse to lightning.

To it, the thunder summoned by the talisman was like filth to humans—something to be avoided at all costs, let alone consumed.

But the trick in this question was this: if a cultivator dared to actively strike the bear with the Minor Thunder Summon Talisman, it would most likely enrage it and provoke a violent response, leading to a tragic death.

After all, no being could tolerate the humiliation of being struck with excrement—let alone the fierce and brutal Iron Dreadbear.