Elder Decay Peak, whose true name was Zhang Xiu.
Decay Peak was named after him.
This elder's cultivation was ordinary, merely at the Great Power level. Even within the long-declined Changbai Immortal Sect, he could only be considered average.
Yet, it was precisely because he was a Great Power that Zhang Xiu had become a legend within the Changbai Immortal Sect.
Everyone knew that when Zhang Xiu first joined the Changbai Immortal Sect, the sect's assessment judged his aptitude to be very mediocre, only slightly better than a mortal's, possessing some cultivation spiritual roots, nothing more.
What was surprising, however, was that many of his contemporaries, including those with extraordinary aptitude and no shortage of Supreme Heavenly Prides, had perished for various reasons over the years. Yet Elder Zhang Xiu, with his utterly ordinary aptitude, had lived to this day and even become a Great Power.
Even more shocking was that, like Ye Chen, Zhang Xiu also cultivated the 'Immortal Method Compendium', step by step reaching his current level. Although he was not a Supreme Heavenly Pride of the Ten Revolutions, it was still astonishing.
It could be said that Elder Decay Peak had also shattered the world's understanding of the 'Immortal Method Compendium'—that it could be cultivated to profound realms.
Of course, his cultivation speed was extremely slow, almost breaking through only when he approached his lifespan limit each time. Back then, he had barely managed to step into the Great Power realm just before reaching ten thousand years of age.
One must know that even a Heavenly King only had a lifespan of around ten thousand years.
For Zhang Xiu at that time, he was already aged and frail, his vital energy depleted. Even if a Supreme Heavenly Pride reached that point, advancing would be extremely difficult. Depleted vital energy severely hindered breakthroughs, and the Heavenly Tribulation faced was especially fatal for the aged and frail.
Yet, against all expectations, Zhang Xiu truly became a Great Power as he neared his lifespan limit, causing many to be utterly astonished.
Therefore, Zhang Xiu's ability to become an elder of the Changbai Immortal Sect was entirely due to his endurance, his longevity allowing him to become a true elder.
On the other hand, this elder also possessed great perseverance. Despite his ordinary aptitude, he diligently cultivated. Now eighty thousand years old, he was at the Eighth Heaven of the Great Power realm—almost one Heaven per ten thousand years of cultivation. One had to admit his aptitude was truly ordinary to the extreme.
Even after becoming a Great Power, his aptitude remained largely unchanged, as ordinary as ever.
At this pace, he would probably reach the peak of the Great Power realm only as he neared the hundred-thousand-year lifespan limit for Great Powers.
With Ye Chen joining Decay Peak, from then on, the peak within the Changbai Immortal Sect was no longer inhabited by just one person. It now had a young Great Perfection Supreme Heavenly Pride who, like the peak's elder, also cultivated the 'Immortal Method Compendium'.
The 'Immortal Method Compendium' was the most fundamental cultivation method. Even Ye Chen had spent a full three hundred years to finally reach the Divine Transformation realm, a cultivation period almost equal to the lifespan limit of a Demigod.
No one suspected why Ye Chen, merely a Demigod who had cultivated for several hundred years, remained so young and preserved his youth. After all, the Changbai Immortal Sect provided him resources without hesitation, including precious heavenly materials and earthly treasures that could extend lifespan.
Of course, they did not know that Ye Chen had no need for these at all. His lifespan was infinite, long since unrestricted by heaven and earth.
However, Ye Chen, to more genuinely comprehend the Immortal Method, allowed himself to gradually age and weaken with the years, just like a true Demigod would.
If anyone knew Ye Chen's true identity, they would surely marvel. At his level, where years could not cut him and time could not decay him, he could still manifest aging and frailty from the inside out—truly terrifying.
Three hundred years passed. When Ye Chen reached the Divine Transformation realm, other Heaven's Prides of the Changbai Immortal Sect who had started cultivating at the same time had long since become Saints. Some had even transcended the cycle of reincarnation to become Heavenly Kings, far ahead.
Yet Ye Chen remained patient, continuing to cultivate on Decay Peak. After another five hundred years, again nearing the lifespan limit for the Divine Transformation realm, he finally became a Saint.
A thousand years later, once more presenting an aged and frail appearance, he cultivated to the Tenth Heaven of the Saint Treasury realm.
Not long after, he broke through further. Ye Chen directly transcended the cycle of reincarnation in one fell swoop, becoming a Heavenly King. This shocked the entire Changbai Immortal Sect, and even the Qiyang Immortal Kingdom where the sect was located.
For someone had actually used the 'Immortal Method Compendium' not only to cultivate into a Great Perfection Supreme Heavenly Pride but also to reach the Heavenly King realm.
Soon after, the ruler of the Immortal Kingdom—Immortal Qiyang—personally visited the Changbai Immortal Sect. Upon meeting Ye Chen, he was very satisfied and asked if Ye Chen would be willing to become his personal disciple. He would personally guide Ye Chen and even seek more suitable Immortal Scriptures for him to cultivate.
Countless people within the Changbai Immortal Sect were envious.
But unexpectedly, Ye Chen refused.
Immortal Qiyang left, seemingly somewhat displeased.
Ye Chen paid no heed. A mere Immortal—what qualification did he have to guide his cultivation?
He continued burying himself in cultivating the 'Immortal Method Compendium'.
The ordinary elder of Decay Peak, Zhang Xiu, took a deep look at Ye Chen.
On Decay Peak, Ye Chen sat cross-legged on a mountain peak. Dazzling purple light occasionally flickered around his body, as if infinite purple qi was arriving from the east. At times, Primordial Immortal Light shimmered, and at others, azure light flashed, resonating strangely with the myriad Daos of heaven and earth.
Upon careful sensing, one could detect the rhythms of various Immortal King Scriptures pulsating from Ye Chen's body, exceptionally extraordinary.
This was precisely the resonance of the strongest chapters of the various Immortal King Scriptures Ye Chen had obtained.
These strongest chapters of the Immortal King Scriptures operated autonomously, engaging in a special resonance with the 'Immortal Method Compendium', deepening Ye Chen's comprehension of the Immortal Method and further advancing his accumulation in the Immortal Dao.
After stepping into the Heavenly King realm, Ye Chen's cultivation speed gradually increased. Yet it still took a full three thousand years for him to break through in one go and become a Great Power.
Thus, having cultivated the 'Immortal Method Compendium' for nearly five thousand years now, Ye Chen had finally become a Great Power.
This cultivation speed wasn't slow, but it was very average.
After all, an ordinary Heavenly King only had a lifespan of just over ten thousand years. Taking five thousand years to become a Great Power was neither here nor there.
Of course, compared to the cultivation speed of other Heaven's Prides who became Great Powers in mere hundreds or thousands of years, it was very slow. Especially for Great Perfection Supreme Heavenly Prides—by five thousand years of age, they could have cultivated to the Divine King realm, with some reaching Quasi-Monarch or even stepping into the Ancient Monarch domain.
Ye Chen in his past had been the same.
However, using the 'Immortal Method Compendium' as a cultivation method and achieving Great Power in five thousand years was already remarkable. Back then, Elder Decay Peak had also barely broken through and attained the Great Power fruit only as he neared his ten-thousand-year lifespan limit.
The Primordial Immortal World remained as peaceful as ever, at least within the Qiyang Immortal Kingdom as far as Ye Chen knew.
The Qiyang Immortal Kingdom belonged to an Immortal Domain Ancient Country under an Immortal King Domain within the Primordial Immortal World, vast and boundless. Even if great wars erupted in the Immortal World, they rarely affected the common populace.
Five thousand years later, Ye Chen finally stepped into the Divine King realm, becoming a Divine King of the Changbai Immortal Sect.
To date, he had cultivated for ten thousand years.
His cultivation speed was still quite average, but very stable, with each major realm flawless.
Moreover, Ye Chen discovered that through the 'Immortal Method Compendium', the strongest chapters of the various Immortal King Scriptures were actually linked together. From Demigod to the Great Power realm, each major realm was perfectly connected, seamless and flawless.