"You're wondering why the effect seems so negligible, aren't you?" Immortal Venerable Jicheng smiled, voicing Ximen Yue's unspoken question.
Ximen Yue hurriedly bowed his head in apology.
Immortal Venerable Jicheng merely waved a hand, dismissing the gesture. "The Heavenly Capital Feather Transformation Pill grants an additional eight hundred years of lifespan. The Ambrosial Fruit, five hundred. The Rebirth Longevity Fruit, three hundred.
"Each is an exceedingly rare treasure. Among the countless precious items I have laid eyes upon in my three thousand, six hundred and twelve years, these rank near the very top.
"And now, they all fall into the hands of a dying man like me."
His tone held a note of self-mockery.
"Combined, they would grant an ordinary cultivator an additional sixteen centuries of lifespan. But for someone like me...
"Heh. Guess how effective they are?"
Immortal Venerable Jicheng posed the question.
Seeing that this Immortal Venerable seemed somewhat approachable, Han Yi found his courage. "Five hundred years?" he ventured first.
Immortal Venerable Jicheng let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head repeatedly.
"Two hundred?" Ximen Yue guessed.
The Immortal Venerable continued to shake his head.
"Twenty?" Li Fan suddenly spoke up.
The number was so outlandish it made both Han Yi and Ximen Yue turn to look at him.
"Bold guess, but still an overestimation!" Immortal Venerable Jicheng laughed aloud, raising his right hand and extending a single finger.
"Ten years.
"That is the final reprieve I can wrest from fate.
"And that's including all the other life-extending treasures offered by fellow cultivators."
Immortal Venerable Jicheng's voice was low and thick with emotion, yet he spoke with a smile.
Hearing this, Li Fan and the others were visibly shaken, their faces a mask of shock.
"How can that be?" Ximen Yue's expression was one of utter disbelief. "Could the appraisal of the Tianxuan Mirror be false?"
Both Li Fan and Han Yi wore looks of extreme gravity, their eyes fixed on Immortal Venerable Jicheng, seeking an answer.
The Immortal Venerable did not answer immediately. Instead, he pointed to the large tree before them. "Do you know what tree this is?"
Han Yi and Ximen Yue studied it for a moment, then shook their heads, unable to identify it.
Li Fan, however, answered without hesitation. "A Greencloud Willow. A common spirit plant. Aside from its ornamental value, it has little worth."
After all, he hadn’t studied the Heavenly Physician’s Immortal Scripture for so long for nothing.
Immortal Venerable Jicheng regarded Li Fan with his clouded eyes, looking slightly surprised that he could recognize it.
He pressed on. "Then do you know the maximum lifespan of a Greencloud Willow?"
Li Fan thought for a moment. "It is rare for a Greencloud Willow to live for eight hundred years in this world. Exceeding a thousand years is nearly impossible."
Immortal Venerable Jicheng nodded slowly. "Correct."
“I planted this Greencloud Willow when I first broke through to Dao Unity and was named successor to the Chief Commander of the Garrison Command. That was over nine hundred years ago.
"Back then, I was filled with lofty aspirations and boundless ambition.
"I thought death was a distant concern. That I could advance further, that the hope for eternal life was within my grasp."
Jicheng shook his head.
"How presumptuous I was..."
The Immortal Venerable sighed, then returned to his point.
"For over a century now, I have watched this old companion, who has accompanied me all this time, approach its natural end.
"I exhausted every method imaginable to preserve its life.
"Qingmu Spirit Sap, Immortal Soil Nectar... I tried every treasure you can name.
"Yet all I managed to do was barely pull it back from the brink of death.
"A lingering, feeble existence...
"It was then that I understood. Death, for us, is inevitable.”
Immortal Venerable Jicheng looked up once more at the withered Greencloud Willow.
“I just never imagined the same fate would befall me so soon.”
Having spoken, Immortal Venerable Jicheng fell into silence.
Li Fan and the other two exchanged glances, not daring to disturb him, and simply stood waiting quietly.
After a long silence, Jicheng finally spoke again, his words unhurried. “When a person’s end is near, the only way to truly avert it is to break through and achieve a complete metamorphosis. Every other approach can do no more than postpone death by a small margin.
“And not only do such measures work far less well, but the more you rely on them, the more quickly other methods of the same kind stop working. Take the life-prolonging treasures you offered, for instance. I’ve already used too many items with similar effects. That’s why what should have bought me sixteen hundred years has been reduced to only ten.
“When heaven has decreed you’ll die at the third watch, keeping you alive until the fifth is no easy matter.”
Jicheng lifted his gaze toward the sky; something strange and unreadable flickered in his cloudy eyes.
“But for me, ten years is enough.” His voice sank lower and lower until Li Fan and the others could no longer hear what he was saying.
After another long pause, Han Yi couldn’t hold back and asked, “Immortal Venerable... does that mean these life-extending treasures aren’t as valuable as people think?”
Immortal Venerable Jicheng looked at the three and let out a quiet laugh. “The younger you are, the more precious they are. The older you are, the more useless they become. Do you understand?”
All three fell into contemplation.
“That’s enough. Seeing you vigorous youngsters today has made me unusually chatty. It’s time to give you your rewards.”
Without any visible motion from Jicheng, three jade tokens radiating prismatic light abruptly appeared and shot toward them.
Li Fan caught his. Along its rim were intricate, profound patterns encircling a single word in the center, “Technique.”
“This is an Audience Jade Token,” Jicheng told them. “With it, you may go to the Enforcer Hall at the Myriad Immortals Alliance headquarters and request access to the Derivation Jade.” Then, as if recalling something, he added, “Remember, each token allows for only one application.
“After you apply, you may have to wait a very long time before your turn. And each derivation session has a strict time limit. Don’t let greed cause you to squander your opportunity.”
“Heh... thinking back to those days...”
His voice grew fainter and fainter until it disappeared entirely.
At that moment, the blue-robed cultivator who had escorted them in silently appeared again at their side.
“Let’s go,” he sent by voice transmission.
Li Fan and the other two put away their tokens and gradually left the courtyard.
Just as Li Fan stepped beyond the small courtyard, Immortal Venerable Jicheng’s voice suddenly reached him again.
“Young man, a word of advice: Your token can only be used to derive Nascent Soul level techniques. Using it just to derive your realm advancement cultivation technique would be a waste.
“Consider having the Derivation Jade produce a technique with rare, specialized abilities instead. Though only at the Nascent Soul level, you might still end up with something extraordinary.”
Li Fan couldn’t help turning back. Jicheng was gently stroking the withered Greencloud Willow, just like when they had arrived.
Li Fan saw an old man walking toward the end of his years, his lone figure drenched in solitude.
He bowed slowly in Jicheng’s direction, then departed in silence.