Immortality Begins With Internal Breathing

Above the Chaotic Star Sea, on an ordinary island, a sturdy man dressed in a gray martial outfit and possessing an unremarkable appearance slowly emerged from the void.

”It’s somewhere nearby,” Ning Shiyi murmured softly.

Hovering in the air, he spread his powerful senses outward, blanketing the surrounding region. His hands rapidly formed seals as a faint milky-white energy flowed from within his body and spread throughout the void. This was the Ning Family’s unique bloodline power. As the milky-white energy permeated the space around him, countless peculiar traces began to emerge within the void in Ning Shiyi’s eyes.

Ning Shiyi thought to himself, He’s on that island! This fellow’s attainments in the Dao of Space are astonishing. I can’t let him escape.

With a light tap on his storage pouch, a gray umbrella appeared in his hand. The umbrella looked utterly ordinary, yet it radiated a mysterious aura. It was the Graywood Space-Stabilizing Umbrella, a powerful dharma treasure bestowed by Ning Wenyuan. Possessing formidable spatial interference abilities, it had been specifically prepared to deal with cultivators skilled in the spatial laws.

At a mere thought from Ning Shiyi, energy flowed down his arm and into the Graywood Space-Stabilizing Umbrella. Strands of chaotic gray mist seeped from the umbrella. With a casual flick of his hand, he tossed it upward.

The Graywood Space-Stabilizing Umbrella drifted above his head. Its canopy slowly rotated, scattering wisps of gray mist in every direction. Moments later, the umbrella vanished into the void as though it had never existed.

Standing atop a large tree on the island, Lin Zheyu sensed Ning Shiyi’s appearance in the void and commented with interest. ”Tsk, tsk, tsk... That dharma treasure looks pretty good. It should sell for quite a few spirit stones.”

Within his sea of consciousness, the golden Heavenly Eye opened and gazed toward the Graywood Space-Stabilizing Umbrella hidden within the void. The chaotic gray mist it released contained a mysterious power capable of disrupting the laws of space, throwing the surrounding space around Ning Shiyi into disorder.

Centered on Ning Shiyi, the affected region of space steadily expanded, gradually beginning to envelop the entire island below. Yet Lin Zheyu remained completely unmoved. The reason he had stayed here instead of leaving was precisely to set a trap and lure out these ill-intentioned figures hiding in the shadows.

Lin Zheyu clicked his tongue in amazement. ”What powerful blood qi. There’s an immense force hidden within his body. His aura is very similar to Ning Ji’an’s, so I’m guessing that he’s a bloodline martial artist of the Ning Family. Ning Ji’an must hold quite a high position within the Ning Family if he can command a Shackles realm expert.”

From Lin Zheyu’s perception, the middle-aged man floating in the void possessed the strength of the Shackles realm. Through the golden Heavenly Eye, he could see five rust-covered shackles embedded firmly within the man’s flesh. Of those five shackles, only one had fully materialized. The others had not even formed phantom outlines, existing instead in an indescribably mysterious state.

The corners of Lin Zheyu’s lips curled upward, and a cold sneer appeared on his face. ”Five shackles still remain. He’s only a martial artist who has broken free from two shackles. Even with his special bloodline powers, his strength should only be around the peak of the early Golden Core realm.

”That fellow really knows how to hold a grudge. He actually sent someone who has broken two shackles. If I kill him here, even the Ning Family will feel the pain, won’t they?”

As far as he knew, the Ning Family was merely a Deity Transformation realm family, meaning that the family possessed only a single Deity Transformation realm expert, one who had been raised through the combined efforts and resources of the entire family.

In a family of that scale, every Shackles realm expert was immensely important and a pillar of strength. If one died here, even Ning Wenyuan would find it difficult to account for the loss.

Lin Zheyu’s heart stirred. He’s here!

The divine patterns associated with the Heaven-Deceiving Art had long since been fully activated, flowing with a golden radiance. Blood qi and energy thundered through his body. His right hand gripped the saber hilt tightly as a powerful momentum slowly gathered within him. Tiny spatial rifts flickered into existence around the blade at random, only to vanish again moments later.

Ning Shiyi shifted slightly. Milky-white energy coiled around his body as his aura rapidly diminished. It was as if he had merged with the void itself and disappeared. Seeing this, Lin Zheyu, hidden on the island, could not help but let out a soft sound of surprise.

A gleam flashed through Lin Zheyu’s eyes, and a delighted smile spread across his face. ”So this is the power of the Ning Family’s bloodline? It contains spatial power. By merging one’s body with the void, it indirectly conceals one’s aura?”

This was another powerful concealment technique, unlike any he had seen before. Although Lin Zheyu’s attainments in the spatial laws were already quite profound, he had only mastered them for a relatively short time and had yet to develop many applications. At present, the techniques he wielded most effectively were the spatial aspects integrated into the Seven Absolute Sabers and the movement arts incorporated into the Earth Shrinking Technique.

”Interesting... This technique could be incorporated not only into the Heaven-Deceiving Art, but also into the Earth Shrinking Technique!”

Ideas surged through Lin Zheyu’s mind like a spring bursting forth.

Deep within his sea of consciousness, the golden Heavenly Eye remained fixed on Ning Shiyi’s rapidly moving figure, seeking to comprehend more of its mysteries. Ning Shiyi moved swiftly. Following the traces left behind in the void, he tracked his target all the way onto the island.

The distance between the two steadily shrank. Lin Zheyu tightened his grip on the saber in his hand. A trace of regret flashed through his eyes. What a pity this man was an enemy. Otherwise, he would have happily let him live a little longer to see whether he could glean even more inspiration from him.

”Strange. The trail ends here. Did he enter a formation, or did he use some secret art to erase the traces he left behind?” Ning Shiyi muttered softly.

His eyes remained filled with vigilance. Despite possessing such formidable concealment abilities, he did not relax his guard in the slightest.

As a seasoned martial artist, Ning Shiyi had faced countless powerful enemies wielding all manner of bizarre abilities. Had he lacked such caution, he would have died at the hands of stronger opponents long ago.

Without warning, a terrifying saber light erupted from the void. As it swept forward, powerful spatial power tore through the surrounding space, leaving countless tiny spatial rifts in its wake.

Not good!

Ning Shiyi was greatly alarmed, yet not a trace of panic appeared on his face.

The energy he had prepared in advance erupted into motion. The Graywood Space-Stabilizing Umbrella hidden within the void suddenly blazed with light. At the same time, he swung his right arm and raised the saber in his hand across his chest.

Metal collided against metal, unleashing a thunderous roar. Lin Zheyu immediately sensed that as his strike approached Ning Shiyi, the power of rules attached to the blade had vanished in an instant. Only raw physical force remained.

What a powerful dharma treasure! Lin Zheyu was inwardly startled.

Even from a great distance, he had already sensed interference affecting the spatial laws in the surrounding void. When using the Seven Absolute Sabers, he had felt a noticeable resistance, though not enough to prevent him from employing it.

What he had not expected was that within a hundred meters of Ning Shiyi, the Graywood Space-Stabilizing Umbrella became vastly more terrifying. The power of rules attached to his blade had simply been erased.

A deafening explosion suddenly rang out, and Ning Shiyi’s expression changed slightly. The instant he blocked Lin Zheyu’s attack with his saber, he felt an unmatched force crash into him. His entire body was blasted backward like a cannonball.

Ning Shiyi’s eyes filled with shock as he thought, This guy! He’s a Shackles realm martial artist, and he’s broken free from more than two shackles!

Even with the Graywood Space-Stabilizing Umbrella disrupting the spatial laws in this region of space, he still could not withstand a single strike from his opponent. The other’s strength was simply too terrifying. Even with two broken shackles and the support of his bloodline powers, Ning Shiyi could not receive that attack head-on.

Ning Shiyi made his decision without hesitation. ”I have to go! I must bring this information back!”

Offending a Shackles realm expert was already unwise. Offending one with monstrous talent was even worse. Ning Shiyi had to bring this information back as quickly as possible and have the family dispatch stronger martial artists to eliminate this future threat before it could fully mature. Otherwise, once he grew stronger, the consequences would be troublesome indeed.

A cold sneer spread across Lin Zheyu’s face. ”Trying to run? Stay right here for me!”

Golden energy surged violently through his body. Splendid golden scales instantly emerged from beneath his skin, and his frame rapidly expanded.

Lin Zheyu stomped down violently. Behind him, a pair of wings clad in golden scales unfurled.

With a powerful beat of his wings, he shot toward Ning Shiyi like a bolt of golden lightning. The closer he drew, the stronger the Graywood Space-Stabilizing Umbrella’s effects became. Its suppression of the spatial laws intensified with every meter. But so what?

The wind screamed around him as Lin Zheyu accelerated to an unbelievable speed. Thunderous booms echoed continuously across the island. Combined with the terrifying explosive force of his body and the wings on his back, his speed reached an astonishing level.

A look of disbelief flashed in Ning Shiyi’s eyes when he saw Lin Zheyu’s transformed golden body. ”Damn it, what kind of monster is this guy?”

He had seen similar techniques among the barbarian tribes’ totem warriors. Various martial and immortal cultivation techniques had been developed by imitating barbarian totem arts, but their power was generally mediocre. However, Xiao Yu’s technique was anything but ordinary. It was downright monstrous.

”Hmph!” Ning Shiyi snorted coldly and abruptly turned around. Milky-white energy erupted from within him. Vast waves of gray mist surged outward, instantly blanketing the space within a five-hundred-meter radius.

”Die!”

Terrifying killing intent erupted from Ning Shiyi’s eyes. The saber in his hand transformed into a heaven-shattering streak of cold light. Carrying dense rule power, it slashed toward Lin Zheyu with explosive speed.