Infinite transcendence began with Covering the Sky.

Chapter 261 The Journey Awaits
At different stages of life, one's goals are different, and Qi Zhe is no exception.

When he first came into this world, he only thought about starting his cultivation, but as the long years passed, his goals changed again and again.

The only thing that remains unchanged is his desire to attain enlightenment and become an immortal, and even one day surpass all the immortals and stand tall on the Great Dao.

But this path is very difficult, so difficult that few people have succeeded in it throughout history.

Immortality is already incredibly difficult, let alone becoming an emperor among immortals; there are only a handful of people in all the heavens and myriad realms who can achieve it.

Qi Zhe did not believe that his descendants could succeed him after his failure; his path was not accepted by the world, and no one but him could continue it.

"Alas, your invincible spirit is perhaps precisely what I cannot wait for."

Hearing Qi Zhe's words, many powerful demons realized that Qi Zhe did not want to leave himself a way out, and felt that no one else could be like him.

Such a Daoist heart is rare throughout history. Looking at the many great powers in the Eastern Wilderness, none of them have not had a large number of descendants. There is absolutely no one like Qi Zhe.

This may be the strongest technique that enabled Qi Zhe to rise from a mortal body and dominate the Eastern Wilderness today, making him a second ruthless figure.

Without true perseverance and wisdom, Qi Zhe would never have been able to get to where he is today.

“It’s truly astonishing,” Duan De said, staring at Qi Zhe in a daze.

The Qi Zhe he knew now felt unfamiliar to him; he was very different from the Qi Zhe he knew before, as if he was opening his heart for the first time.

Several bandits stared at Qi Zhe with strange expressions. They all knew that Qi Zhe was extremely arrogant, but today it seemed that his arrogance had some basis.

It is nothing short of a miracle that a cultivator without any special physical constitution has managed to fight his way up to where he is today.

Qi Zhe was speechless upon hearing what the group was saying.

Qi Zhe was not going to waste any more words. He had already returned the magic jar and should leave, since time was the most precious thing.

However, many of the bandits did not want Qi Zhe to leave. They said they would hold a banquet to invite the young men to entertain Qi Zhe and ask him for some guidance.

After repeatedly declining, Qi Zhe had no choice but to stay, but Duan De was so anxious that he scratched his head and cheeks, as if he really wanted to leave.

In this small world, day and night are perfectly in harmony. Although there is no blazing sun, there is still a dim evening.

Descendants of notorious bandits scattered throughout various villages flocked to the area, including Xu Heng, a descendant of Xu Tianxiong, Qingyi, a descendant of the Azure Dragon King, and other minor bandits.

Wu Zhongtian, who had just escaped, appeared with Li Heishui, Jiang Huai Ren, and Liu Kou. All the bandits, except for Tu Fei who had long since disappeared, were present.

"Crackling."

A bonfire was lit in the open space of the village, and tables were scattered around it. Qi Zhe and Duan De sat on the ground, watching as many bandits arrived.

Upon arriving, Wu Zhongtian was overjoyed to see Qi Zhe and rushed forward to express his gratitude:
"Greetings, Brother Qi! If it weren't for you, my grandfather would have met the same fate!"

Not long after Wu Zhongtian escaped from the Eagle Cliff, he experienced a near-death experience, a memory that still haunts him.

"No need for that. Congratulations on getting out of trouble," Qi Zhe nodded.

Upon hearing this, Wu Zhongtian sighed deeply, stating that if Qi Zhe hadn't intervened, his grandfather would have had no chance of survival.

He himself was also unable to leave Eagle Cliff. In this sense, Qi Zhe saved the lives of both the grandfather and grandson, making him a true logical genius.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Wu Zhongtian finally turned to look at Duan De with a rather unfriendly expression.

Wu Zhongtian suddenly spoke up: "Master Duan, we meet again!"

Duan De had been silent since entering the small world, but upon hearing this, his eyes darted around and he swayed as if sitting on pins and needles.

But the next moment, Duan De straightened his neck, put on a solemn and dignified appearance, and bowed, saying, "Amitabha, I greet you, little layman." But in fact, Duan De was very guilty. If it weren't for his good relationship with the old blind man, he would have already slipped away.

He had roamed the ancestral graves of the thirteen bandits of the Northern Region, and he had even dug up Wu Dao's ancestral grave more than a decade ago. Xu Tianxiong had even hunted him down.

In his early years, Wu Zhongtian claimed that he would definitely seek justice whenever he met him.

But Wu Zhongtian was only talking; he wasn't really going to pursue Duan De. Seeing the other party's attitude, he was speechless.

"Ugh"

Unfortunately, such a banquet was not all laughter and joy. Some of the major bandits died tragically, and some of the minor bandits disappeared without a trace.

After a few rounds of drinks, some people began to sigh, and then a bandit secretly wiped away tears. Even Xu Heng, whom Qi Zhe didn't know much about, was sighing.

"In just a few years, so many masters of the older generation have died one after another."

The Thirteen Great Bandits were shrouded in gloom, with many of their best fighters dying in the daily battles, giving a sense of the devastation that was about to unfold.

Many of them believed that the chaos would continue for many years, at least a thousand years, and would become more and more brutal each day.

This claim is not unfounded; it is the result of calculations by many major sects, and even experts from ancient clans agree with it.

Qi Zhe could clearly feel the pressure. He didn't care about the coming of the Golden Age, but he couldn't help but worry about the changes on the path to immortality.

"I don't have much time left!" Qi Zhe felt a little heavy-hearted.

Now, with more than a decade or so passing, the day when the path to immortality opens is drawing ever closer, less than two hundred years away.

Two hundred years is already a tight timeframe, and now that more than a decade has passed, even Qi Zhe feels immense pressure and can't help but feel worried.

His cultivation speed was indeed extremely fast; he successfully severed the Dao in just over ten years of cultivation. However, it would be incredibly difficult for him to attain the Dao in the future.

To cultivate to the level of a Great Sage in two hundred years is extremely rare, even in the entire starry sky, and one can say that one's future is limitless.

To be able to cultivate to the Quasi-Emperor realm in two hundred years is enough to shake the ancient history; whenever mentioned, one would either be an Emperor or Wushi.

To attain the Dao and become an emperor within two hundred years, one needs the right timing, the right location, and the right people—all three are indispensable, as this is beyond human capability.

It would be incredibly difficult for Qi Zhe to achieve this, and he might not be able to do it even if he were to be shattered to pieces, but Qi Zhe was unwilling to give up without trying.

As the banquet ended, Qi Zhe slowly paced in the darkness. He knew it was time for him to leave, no matter how dangerous the road ahead might be.

Duan De followed slowly behind Qi Zhe, noticing that Qi Zhe's figure seemed inexplicably desolate, and asked in confusion, "Are you leaving?"

“Yes, it’s time to hit the road.” Qi Zhe nodded in agreement.

Duan De was speechless. Qi Zhe had only recently embarked on the path of slaying, yet he was already heading far away, unwilling to linger any longer. It was truly perplexing.

But he also knew that Qi Zhe's mind was made up, and it was not something he could persuade at this point.

The next moment, Duan De saw Qi Zhe move. He waved his hand, opened the portal to the small world, and transformed into a rainbow light, drifting away.

"This journey will take at least a hundred years to return," Duan De muttered with a strange expression, before rushing out of the small world.

However, the two had different goals. Duan De chose to stay in the Northern Region, while Qi Zhe secretly went to the Southern Region.

This time, he wanted to see an old friend.

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(End of this chapter)