Immortal of the Ages

Chapter 490: Downing the Peach Blossom Elixir!

After coming to her senses, Lian Xi slowed her pace and ceased the tearful, frenzied flight. Yet, she pouted and scowled, adorably furious.

Yun Xiao caught up to her in a blink.

"Come on, Lil Xi. Don't be so angry," Yun Xiao said, taking her delicate hand.

"Hmph," Lian Xi crossed her arms and turned her head away.

"It's all my fault; I was young and foolish," Yun Xiao confessed.

Lian Xi turned to glare at him, her lips pursed as she demanded, "Foolish how?"

Yun Xiao could only explain, "Back in my days in the Nine Hells, when I was a young Emperor of a mortal nation, the palace arranged for me..."

"Out with it, how many were there?" Lian Xi asked anxiously.

Yun Xiao scratched his head and chuckled awkwardly. "Maybe seven or eight?"

Yun Xiao, shamefaced, looked down and admitted, "A different one each day."

Lian Xi was stunned momentarily, then, overcome with sadness and fury, she stepped forward, seized his collar, and pounded on his chest, exclaiming, "You're unbearable!"

"Go easy," Yun Xiao winced, his chest rattling, barely catching his breath.

After a long while, Lian Xi ceased her assault.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," she said, lifting her gaze sorrowfully at Yun Xiao. "By the way, are you still planning to visit that Celestial Source?"

"No more. That girl died there; they'll surely notice. It's no place for cultivation now," Yun Xiao shook his head.

"What about triggering your tribulations?" Lian Xi tugged at his garment.

"Look at this," Yun Xiao produced a jade vial, giving it a shake. Inside, the water churned, a faint pink mist rising.

"Is this from that True Immortal just now?" Lian Xi asked.

"Yes. The liquid inside is the essence of the Heavenly Decay. With it, why would I need the Celestial Sourcecore?" Yun Xiao gazed at the vial, his eyes gleaming.

"Oh," Lian Xi nodded, enlightened. "I remember now, she called it the Peach Blossom Elixir, didn’t she?"

"I heard it too," Yun Xiao nodded.

"The Peach Blossom Elixir is a divine substance from the heavens. It's said that mortals need only taste it to prolong their lives. Is this juice squeezed from it?" Lian Xi's eyes sparkled, mixed with a hint of doubt.

"Peach Blossom Elixir, my foot. That's just a fancy name," Yun Xiao sniffed at the jade vial, his brow furrowed. "It smells sweet, but make no mistake—this is a venom of heaven and earth. It seeped into the Celestial Sourcecore, causing decay across the myriad worlds and robbing the lives of countless beings. Every drop here is a sin that threatens all life."

"How do we dispose of it?" Lian Xi looked at the vial with disgust.

"It's alright, I'll try it first," Yun Xiao suddenly declared.

"What? Try it?"

Before Lian Xi could react, Yun Xiao had already squeezed the vial to his lips and took a sip.

He pulled the vial away, his face flushing red, and he remarked with a sigh, "That tastes brilliant, stronger than Tiger Rod Wine. Fiery and sweet just like you, Lil Xi."

"Have you lost your mind?" Lian Xi watched him anxiously, her pretty face filled with worry. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, really." Yun Xiao's face was flush with a drunken glow as he looked at the bottle and shook his head. "No good, this stuff. One sip and you want more—it's addictive!"

"Give it to me!"

Startled, Lian Xi quickly took the vial from him, saying nervously, "I'll keep it. Don't touch it anymore."

"Hahaha... such fine wine!" Yun Xiao burst into laughter, suddenly staggering; his Sovereign Sword retracted into his body. His eyes squinted shut, and he plunged straight down towards the Nine Hells.

"Yun Xiao!" Lian Xi quickly followed, catching Yun Xiao in a tight embrace.

She was terrified. Fortunately, she found Yun Xiao seemed only drunk. His body was still warm, and he seemed to be breathing. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"He dares to drink something that could poison the myriad worlds; he must be close to death. You'd better take advantage while he's still warm..." A little white tiger popped its head out, excitedly speaking.

"Get lost." Lian Xi glared at it, holding Yun Xiao tightly as they fell through the sea of clouds, landing beside the lake they had left earlier.

She noticed the Life Sigil on Yun Xiao's forehead lighting up, casting a dense pattern of violet dragon scales across his body. Where the dragon scales touched, the flush of red slowly faded from his skin.

The previously flushed areas had actually begun to show signs of aging, such as his black hair, which turned white for a moment.

"It's uncanny how his lifespan is wildly fluctuating. Even the judges of the underworld would be baffled looking at the Book of Life and Death," the little white tiger said in awe.

"Quiet!" Lian Xi was somewhat panicked, her eyes reddening again, tears glittering like jewels.

She could feel the drastic changes and the gamble between life and death happening inside Yun Xiao. The poor fellow was hopping back and forth at death's door.

"You have to hold on..." She had been quite angry before, but now, seeing him caught between life and death, she realized just how deeply she cared for him; her heart was breaking.

On Three Immortals Day, she was tied to the compass, and Yun Xiao had defended her and slain the Mystic Earth Immortal... These scenes were engraved in her heart, transforming her from her core!

Perhaps no one could change an incarnation of transcending calamity who was a descendant of the Primordial Immortal Ancestor—no one but the Creator Immortal.

"Gah!"

Just as Lian Xi's hands trembled slightly and her eyes blurred with tears, Yun Xiao woke up amidst a bout of dry heaving.

Groggily, he grabbed Lian Xi's face, smiling, "What's wrong, my precious Lian Xi? I'm not dead yet, why cry like this? Don't you despise me?"

"Ah... you scared me to death!" Lian Xi burst into tears, her grief as profound as rain in a pear orchard, her tears flowing freely again, evoking sympathy.

Pity, that was the meaning of the first character in Lian Xi's name. She seemed predestined to evoke pity.

"This is nothing yet; the real thrills are still to come." Yun Xiao, still drunk, was quick with his hands and grabbed the jade vial of Peach Blossom Elixir that was lying nearby.

"What are you doing! What are you doing!" Lian Xi was struck as if by lightning.

"What else? I'm going all in. You do as you like!" Yun Xiao, smiling, held Lian Xi with one hand while he lifted the bottle with the other and drank heartily.

CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!

"AH! AH!" Lian Xi's eyes widened, and she stood frozen, able only to scream, speechless.

BURP! Yun Xiao belched heartily and turned the jade bottle upside down, grinning broadly, "Ah, what a treasure. That does it for me!"

With those words, his grip on the vial loosened, planting it upside down in the ground, while he himself trembled with his limbs and then lay rigid on the ground, his head tilting, tongue lolling out.

"Ah! Yun Xiao! Yun Xiao!" Lian Xi's hair disheveled, let out a wretched cry, tears bursting forth like a dam unleashed.

"Strike while the iron is hot!" The little white tiger barked urgently, popping its head out.

"Get lost!" Lian Xi grabbed its head, and in her grief and fury, flung it beyond the clouds where even its shadow vanished from sight.

Her tears fell like rain as she knelt and cradled Yun Xiao's arm.

"No, no..." she wailed, in utter despair.

Before her eyes, she could see Yun Xiao's body visibly aging, his skin and hair deteriorating at an alarming rate. His lush black hair turned instantly white and withered, his skin was suddenly all wrinkles, and even his handsome face aged into that of an old man, his teeth wobbling.

If this continued, he would soon be nothing but a pile of dry bones.

Seeing this, Lian Xi's spirit shattered.

"The Five Decays, the tribulation has come, all four remaining decays at once..."

It was the most horrific tribulation she had witnessed, spreading through Yun Xiao's body like poison, deep into his heart, marrow, and organs.

Yun Xiao seemed to have no chance to resist!

"I'll… I'll die with you! I care about nothing else!" Lian Xi cried.

"Damn it!" The little white tiger had just returned and heard her, its tailbone quivering with rage, "Have you gone mad with love, forgetting the suffering of the people across the myriad worlds?"

"Cough, cough." The aged Yun Xiao opened one cloudy eye and said, "Listen, throw that cat further away."

"Huh? Okay! Okay!" Lian Xi, overjoyed to see him responsive, swung the little white tiger around and threw it far away, then came back to ask, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine..." Yun Xiao looked down and frowned, "Just can't feel my lower half right now!"

"What do we do now?" Lian Xi asked, dazed.

"It's nothing serious," Yun Xiao inhaled deeply, "I've withstood the Great Decay, why would I fear the Peach Blossom Elixir?"

After speaking, the Life Sigil above his head swept across his body again.

Lian Xi witnessed a miraculous sight—

Yun Xiao's body was revived and rejuvenated! His flesh tightened, his hair darkened, his eyes brightened. When it was all over, his vitality seemed even more robust, and even the transformation process within him from sacred power to celestial power seemed to accelerate!

"It's wonderful, truly wonderful." Lian Xi saw Yun Xiao revived, her tears of despair turning into tears of joy.

"Remember, I am no ordinary man, I am ageless—darn it!" Yun Xiao patted his chest, but before he could finish, the force of decay swept through him once more, aging him from a robust youth to an old man on the brink of death,

And this time he appeared even older and frailer than before.

"Yun Xiao!" Lian Xi's tears of joy were abruptly cut short, replaced again by sorrow. She placed her hands on Yun Xiao's chest, shaking him as she cried, "How could it fade again!"

Pushing gently revealed a shocking truth, this time not only had he aged further, but his heart had also stopped beating.

"He's dead, he's dead..." Lian Xi collapsed to the ground, staring blankly at Yun Xiao, her spirit lost.

"WAHHHHH!!" She lay over Yun Xiao, crying desperately.

This time, her heart truly split with pain, a pain she had never known in her lifetime.

"Ugh, my love, you're about to break my ribs!"

Suddenly a hand reached out, supporting Lian Xi's chest, gently pushing her away.

"Huh…?" Lian Xi, amidst her overwhelming grief, was pulled back into the air, completely stunned.