Immortality begins with Swallowing the Stars.

Chapter 57 Return

In the southern part of the Chaotic Realm, in a quiet and mysterious little mountain village.

Outside a courtyard built of rocks and wood.

Lu Jing closed his eyes and sat cross-legged on the grass, absorbing the surrounding wind elements into his body and turning them into magical power.

"Haha, Brother Noah, every time I look for you you're cultivating. None of the ascetics I've ever seen from the Vatican have ever worked this hard..."

A middle-aged man with dazzling long golden hair approached Lu Jing and exclaimed repeatedly.

"Higginson." Lu Jing opened his eyes. "He's here to challenge me again?"

Higginson's face stiffened, and he quickly said, "What's the point of comparing myself to a monster like you? I have some good news to share with you."

"Good news?"

"Hehe, the war is over. The Dark Alliance seized the Kingdom of Hess, the Kingdom of Saens, and six duchies. The Holy See suffered a crushing defeat this time. It is said that the Holy Angels suffered heavy losses and may not be able to recover for one or two thousand years."

Lu Jing raised an eyebrow slightly. The Holy Angels can be considered the cornerstone of the Holy See, or rather, its core foundation.

Those who can serve as vessels for angelic descent are extremely rare; their physical bodies must be exceptionally powerful, at least at level six or above.

Some even need to reach level seven or eight in terms of physical strength.

While such a physical vessel is not as rare as a pure soul, it is still quite difficult to find.

The two-winged and even four-winged angels in the Holy Angels have accumulated over thousands of years. If they are severely injured, it will be difficult for them to recover in a short time.

"However, the Dark Alliance has to thank you, Brother Noah, for achieving such great results. It was those rats from the Dark Church who benefited from it." Higginson seemed somewhat disdainful of the Dark Alliance's victory.

Lu Jing smiled but didn't say anything.

Fifteen years have passed since he became a Purple Flame Warrior.

After Lu Jing successively killed two Saint-level powerhouses, Chi Yan, the leader of the Glory Knights, and Steller, in the capital of Otto, he then fought a series of battles with Chief Judge Usenno. However, he was met by another peak Saint-level powerhouse from the Holy See, Luo Ye, the leader of the ascetics.

With two peak Saint Realm experts besieging him, Lu Jing could only fight and flee at the same time.

Although his cultivation level was very high, he only possessed the power of the initial stage of the Saint Realm after transforming. He could fight to a draw with Usenno by relying on his speed and recovery ability, but Luoye was someone he could not deal with.

Luo Ye had a profound understanding of the profound mysteries of the laws of light, and his speed was in no way inferior to Lu Jing's.

After fighting for thousands of kilometers, Luo Ye had no choice but to give up until Lu Jing escaped to the southern part of the Chaotic Territory.

The dignity of a Saint-level powerhouse like Desli was not something Luo Ye could challenge. Even though Luo Ye tried to reason with him, he couldn't make Desli back down.

Previously, Grandpa Sigwell had already placed the Hyde family under the protection of Desley.

Desli was also very curious about Lu Jing, the Purple Flame Warrior who shocked the continent in the first battle, so he let Lu Jing live in this mysterious little mountain village.

Although Lu Jing went into seclusion in a small mountain village, the Vatican's manhunt for him did not end.

Instead, Lu Jing was directly promoted to the top of the Tribunal's blacklist, even surpassing the Pope of the Dark Church!

Every time Lu Jing went out, he would encounter the Vatican's attempts to ambush him or set traps for him.

Despite being injured repeatedly and encountering dangerous situations, he always managed to escape thanks to his increasingly sophisticated "Windwalking Technique" and incredible regenerative abilities.

On the contrary, the Holy See suffered heavy losses time and time again.

Until five years ago, Lu Jing broke through to the Saint Realm and became a true ultimate warrior.

Off the coast, they used a trap set by the Papacy to their advantage, resulting in an epic battle that is still talked about throughout the mainland today.

The Holy Angel Order has lost two four-winged angels, as well as five Saint-level powerhouses, including Chief Judge Usenno, a peak Saint-level powerhouse!

The seventh Saint-level powerhouse was also born!

Lu Jing is even known as the most terrifying of the strongest warriors in the Saint Realm.

Because no one could escape his speed, which almost surpassed that of a saint.

Unmatched speed, coupled with terrifying regenerative abilities.

An even more terrifying ultimate warrior than many in history has appeared on the continent once again.

The Holy See could only swallow their anger and resignation, and even withdrew the blacklist warrant for Lu Jing's arrest.

Or perhaps they simply no longer have the energy to scheme against Lu Jing.

Because the Holy Light Church lost eight Saint-level experts under Lu Jing's command, including one at the peak of the Saint-level, and countless others below the Saint-level, its strength was severely weakened, which finally attracted the covetousness of the Dark Church.

A great war broke out between the Holy Alliance and the Dark Alliance.

Unlike previous "holy wars" where the high-ranking officials of both sides had a tacit understanding and the main purpose was to train and hone the strong, this time the Dark Church had been planning for a long time to beat a dog when it was down.

Higginson said somewhat unwillingly, "I wonder how many treasures the Dark Church plundered from the Light Church this time. It would have been better if you had listened to me back then and we had persuaded our brother to destroy the Light Church together."

Lu Jing rolled his eyes. Desri also had feelings for the Vatican. Unless it was a life-or-death friendship, or the Vatican's actions crossed his bottom line, why would he destroy the Vatican?

"I won't tell you that the Dark Church's actions were pre-arranged between me and the Pope." Lu Jing shook his head, muttering to himself, "The Church of Light isn't so easy to destroy."

Lu Jing had considered eliminating the Holy See like Lin Lei had done.

The problem is that it's impossible.

Not only is he still quite a distance from Linley, who has conquered the Tomb of the Gods.

More importantly, only he knew what trump cards the Holy See of Light was hiding.

A divine intervention!

Summon the dimensional projection clones of the high-ranking gods in the Realm of Light.

In the original story, if it weren't for the summoned projection clone that nearly killed Bebe who was protecting Linley, triggering the means Beirut left on Bebe, Linley, Desri, Tulilei, and other Saint-level powerhouses would have been wiped out.

Although the four ultimate warriors were created by Beirut, Lu Jing absolutely did not believe that Beirut would save him when he was truly facing death.

If you don't have the background, don't try to be tough.

If summoning the "divine intervention" didn't require the Pope to use the Holy See's most precious treasure, the "Bible," and consume a massive amount of life force, magical power, and spiritual power, at the cost of severely damaging the soul, Pope Haytings would have summoned the "divine intervention" long ago to deal with Lu Jing.

Pope Haitings might even have considered using "divine intervention" to kill Lu Jing.

This is also why Lu Jing contacted the Dark Church immediately after killing five Saint-level experts from the Church in one fell swoop, asking the Dark Church to take action.

The Dark Church also has its own trump cards, no less powerful than the Light Church, and is a formidable force fully capable of destroying the Light Church.

Only the Dark Church can make the Light Church divert its attention from Lu Jing.

"Now that the war is over... I should leave too."

Lu Jing became wary, knowing that his blow to the Vatican was far greater than the damage Lin Lei had inflicted on it before the final battle.

Eight Saint-level experts and two cardinals—this kind of hatred cannot be forgotten simply by fighting the Dark Church.

Suddenly, the door to the room in the courtyard behind Lu Jing opened.

A thin old man stepped out; he was Lu Jing's grandfather, Sigwell, followed by his parents and brother, Rosen.

"Grandpa, did it work?" Lu Jing's eyes lit up.

"Haha!" Sigwell laughed loudly, "Although it's not a pleasant experience, the warriors of our Purple Flame family have never been defeated!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a purple light suddenly rose, and Sigwell's thin figure was bathed in purple flames, his powerful aura sweeping in all directions.

Without any magical fluctuations, Sigwell floated into the sky.

It seemed to sense the powerful aura emanating from Sigwell.

A white shadow flashed by, and a handsome and refined middle-aged man with long black hair, dressed in a moon-white robe, appeared beside Higginson. It was Desley.

Desri gazed at Sigwell's figure in the sky and sighed, "I never imagined that after thousands of years, I would still see the ultimate warrior's revival."

Taking advantage of the war between the two alliances, Lu Jing went to the Dark Forest in his spare time to search for the Purple Blood Lion.

Although the Purple Blood Lions are few in number, he still managed to discover two Saint-level Purple Blood Lions and obtain two magic crystal cores.

After searching the entire Dark Forest, no third Sacred Purple Blood Lion could be found.

One of the magic crystal cores was given directly to Grandpa.

Sigwell was already a level nine Silver Flame Warrior, so refining the magic crystal core was easy for him, and he finally became the second Purple Flame Warrior.

The remaining one can only be kept and used by whoever in the Hyde family becomes a Silverflame Warrior.

Deslie's weathered eyes fell on Lu Jing: "You're leaving?"

Lu Jing nodded: "It's about time."

He has been in the Panlong World long enough, while the humans on his original side are still living under monster attacks.

"Why not wait a few decades? The Tomb of the Gods, which opens only once every thousand years, will open again in a few decades. If we are lucky enough to obtain a godhood, it will be safer to go to the divine plane."

Deslie naturally believed that Lu Jing's departure meant leaving the Magnolia Continent for the God Plane or the Supreme Plane.

Lu Jing shook his head slightly. The Graveyard of the Gods was extremely dangerous. Of course, if he were to cultivate for several more decades, he might be able to reach the eleventh level, or even higher, but that would still take too long.

Sigwell landed, extinguished his purple flames, and looked at his grandson, whose rapid rise still felt like a dream, and sighed, "It's alright. Most of the ancestors of our Purple Flame family and other ultimate warrior families have gone to the Supreme Plane. I just don't know if they can ever come back."

Although Sigwell has become a Purple Flame Warrior, he has long lost his ambition and only wants to protect his family until the second and third Purple Flame Warriors are born. He has no intention of leaving the Magnolia Plane.

There will always be a time to meet again.

After taking one last deep look at his grandfather, parents, and brother, Lu Jing took a step and disappeared.

……

Arctic ice sheet.

A massive iceberg exceeding 10,000 meters in height.

Lu Jing stood atop the mountain, dressed in thin clothes, facing the biting cold, and closed his eyes to feel the wind elements between heaven and earth.

"Finally, a breakthrough!"

Lu Jing opened his eyes. No one knew that on this desolate ice mountain, a wind-elemental holy domain mage had been born silently.

"A mage's progress is indeed slow."

The reason he waited another five years after becoming a Saint-level expert was to wait for his spiritual power to reach the Saint-level.

"I wonder how many years it will be before I come back..."

Immediately, Lu Jing's body burst into purple flames, and the ancient glacier melted rapidly under the burning purple flames. Lu Jing sank down along the narrow opening of the melting glacier, directly to the center of the glacier.

Then, Lu Jing had a thought.

A white light suddenly appeared.

A bone-chilling cold suddenly descended!

Forbidden Magic - Frozen Coffin!

This is a sacred magic scroll that Lu Jing won in a bet with Deslie in the mountain village.

Lu Jing's physical body was instantly frozen and sealed, as if he were inside a crystal coffin.

Even a Saint-level expert would find it difficult to harm the ice that sealed Lu Jing's physical body.

Lu Jing naturally didn't want to start all over again every time he traveled through time, so he came up with this solution.

This was also the idea that Lu Jing had been brewing in his mind ever since he transmigrated, perhaps because his soul was strong enough. The mysterious gate did not directly possess his soul in the body of a dead person, but instead gave him the opportunity to act freely and choose freely, allowing him to possess the body of a fetus in the Hyde family.

Of course, there is a prerequisite: the physical body must reach at least the Saint Realm level, otherwise it will not be able to survive for thousands of years.

With a thought, Lu Jing opened the mysterious door once more.

His soul vanished from this world in an instant.

Only the slumbering flesh, seemingly asleep, remains lifelike within the glistening ice, as if it will never wither or decay.

(End of this chapter)