Lu Ding slightly bent his knees, gathering momentum.
Then he leaped explosively.
As the force dissipated, the ground immediately shattered into fragments.
His entire body soared upward.
Smashing through the mountain as he ascended.
Wutian followed closely behind.
The Crooked-Mouth Old Man arrived, observing the mountain below that kept shaking and making noises.
With a wave of his hand.
Countless talismans drawn with spiritual energy appeared densely, covering his portion of the sky.
"Coming out, are you!!!?"
"Come on out! By the Heavenly Lord, I'll blast you to pieces!!"
The Crooked-Mouth Old Man stared intently at the mountain.
Watching as a figure burst forth, carrying a golden coffin, just as the mountain collapsed.
The old man raised his hand: "You thief!! Your life is forfeit!!!"
As his spiritual energy surged to its peak, he suddenly slammed on the brakes.
The Crooked-Mouth Old Man's eyes widened: "Huh?"
The person holding the golden coffin was none other than Lu Ding.
The old man stood on his crane's back, scratching his head and pacing back and forth.
"This can't be......"
Who could understand this!!!
His chosen successor had destroyed his carefully laid plans.
He had been fuming all the way here, ready to unleash his anger.
What was he supposed to do?
Might as well slap himself twice instead.
"Eh? Old man, what are you doing here?"
The old man pointed at the golden coffin, hesitating: "I........."
Lu Ding seemed to realize something, his face showing unexpected shock.
The old man nodded with a sigh: "Sigh........"
Lu Ding was speechless.
What kind of mess was this?
The Crooked-Mouth Old Man seemed to remember something, a flash of insight crossing his mind.
His crooked mouth and twisted eyes were actually the result of Lu Ding's childhood fortune-telling.
Later, when he tried to divine the grave robber's identity outside Yunhai, he was struck by lightning and forbidden from divining.
Putting it all together now.
Lu Ding was Yunhai 749's investigator, and Lu Ding couldn't be divined either.
Unable to believe it, he asked hesitantly: "Ki...kid, the general...general's tomb in Yunhai was....."
"And...the Corpse Mage in Minshan City??"
Facing the old man's questions.
Lu Ding nodded for the third time.
Having confirmed everything.
The Crooked-Mouth Old Man plopped down on his crane's back.
Making the crane squawk in protest.
"Oh heavens, what sin have I committed~ aaaaah~~~ my life is over!!"
The old man wailed while flapping his wide sleeves and kicking his legs.
"All my years of effort, my path to ascension, gone~~~ all gone~~~"
"I should have realized sooner, how could there be two undivinable people in this world~~~ I was too angry to think straight~~~ that lightning strike scrambled my brains!!!"
"Too busy recovering from injuries, is this any way to live? How many centuries does a man have~~~"
"I've got nothing left......"
Complete mental breakdown.
Decades of planning and preparation.
Everything gone, who could bear this?
Seeing the Crooked-Mouth Old Man weeping uncontrollably, tears streaming down his face.
Lu Ding's heart ached too.
The old man was like an elder to him, having helped him before.
Though Lu Ding hadn't known about this beforehand.
Ignorance wasn't an excuse - what's done is done.
Looking at the outcome, he'd been inconsiderate.
Lu Ding quickly flew over.
"Old man, I'm sorry."
The Crooked-Mouth Old Man wiped his tears and snot with his sleeve.
"*Sob* cough *sob* cough......it's fine, kid, I don't blame you, just my rotten luck~ fate's cruelty~~~ woe is me~~~"
"I'll never become immortal, never ascend to heaven......."
Hearing this, Lu Ding slowly crouched down: "Old man, remember that secret I told you about before?"
The sobbing stopped instantly.
The old man's bloodshot eyes widened to their limits.
He didn't understand why Lu Ding would bring this up now.
Lu Ding organized his words: "That secret is - our Great Han has long established fully automated ascension channels, completely risk-free."
"Once approved, you can take Great Han's express lane."
"From what you said earlier, these corpses were important for your ascension?"
How could ascension be automated?
Lu Ding continued: "Since they were important and I destroyed so many, I should compensate you."
"I've already submitted a report that's been approved. Once your cultivation recovers and meets the standards, you can safely take the express lane to the immortal realm."
"But old man, don't imagine it as some paradise."
"It's not much different from here - just bigger, with more spiritual energy, more factions, more people, and actually......"
The old man couldn't hear anything beyond this point.
Only one thought remained:
Did this mean his decades of struggle were a joke???
What was once a single-log bridge for thousands
Had been transformed by Great Han into an eight-lane expressway, fully automated?
Then what were his centuries of planning, preparation, hibernation worth?
In just one day, in mere minutes.
Not only were centuries of effort wasted.
Centuries of schemes rendered meaningless.
Like taking off pants to fart - completely unnecessary.
Then what was it all for?
The director of Yunhai 749, Chu Gexiao, must have known about this!!
And he didn't tell me!
Heavenly Lord damn it, Chu Gexiao, I'll @#￥%& *@#........
To put it bluntly, let's not mince words - curse Chu Gexiao's entire family, all eighteen generations of ancestors, especially his parents.
The Crooked-Mouth Old Man mentally cursed Director Chu's entire lineage.
"Ki...kid, is there...anything I need to prepare?"
He still felt uneasy.
Ascending without any effort seemed wrong somehow.
Lu Ding shook his head: "Nothing needed, just one precondition."
The old man smiled: "Yes yes yes, any condition's fine."
Lu Ding decided to ease him into it:
"Old man, you'll need to come with me to 749. Those corpses you raised caused some trouble. We need to clarify the situation. There's a possibility - just a possibility - you might face penalties or compensation."