Immortality Begins With Internal Breathing

A satisfied groan echoed through the great hall. ”Mmm... That felt amazing!”

Lin Zheyu’s eyelids fluttered as he gradually awoke, stretching with satisfaction. It had been a long time since he had slept so peacefully. The mental strain he endured had pushed him close to his limits. Usually, this exhaustion would cause him to sink into a nearly deathlike sleep, but it wouldn’t be truly restful due to his mental fatigue. However, thanks to the three masses of grayish energy, he felt a warm comfort during his sleep, reminiscent of being in his mother’s womb. He had never experienced such deep comfort before.

I’m back? How long was I asleep this time? Lin Zheyu wondered as he looked around the familiar hall.

He twisted his body slightly. Perhaps because he had been lying there for too long, he actually felt a trace of stiffness. Given the strength of his current physique, that was almost unbelievable. Puzzled, Lin Zheyu carefully examined his condition.

My body has changed slightly... though it’s barely noticeable.

Lin Zheyu found the subtle transformation rather strange. Had his perception not been so exceptionally sharp, he probably would never have noticed such an elusive and mysterious change.

Heavenly Eye, open!

With a thought, the Heavenly Eye within his sea of consciousness snapped open. Its emotionless pupil meticulously examined every inch of his body, inside and out. Lin Zheyu had the distinct feeling that something about his body was different, yet he could not pinpoint exactly what. Although the change brought him no harm and actually made him feel remarkably comfortable, anything beyond his control left him deeply uneasy.

A long while passed.

What’s going on? The golden energy inside my body... seems to have changed! Lin Zheyu thought in surprise.

The golden energy was born from every part of his flesh, tendons, membranes, and bones. Unlike blood qi, it was an extraordinarily mysterious form of energy. Even now, Lin Zheyu had yet to unravel all of its secrets. And now...

Using the golden Heavenly Eye, Lin Zheyu discovered that the golden energy was nourishing and subtly transforming his body at an incredibly slow pace. This had never happened before. His powerful physical body had always been the source of the golden energy, and it served as its vessel.

All this time, the golden energy had only grown stronger as his physical body became more powerful and underwent further transformations. His body always improved first, and the golden energy followed afterward. By all logic, it should have been impossible for the golden energy to nourish his body in return and gradually strengthen it instead.

Could this be the influence of the shamanic pattern? No, that’s impossible. Putting aside the fact that the shamanic pattern is incomplete, even a complete shamanic pattern acts directly on the physical body. It wouldn’t first affect the golden energy and then have that energy nourish the body in return.

Lin Zheyu’s mind raced as every event since entering this inheritance secret realm flashed through his thoughts. Yet no matter how he analyzed it or how carefully the Heavenly Eye observed, he could not determine the cause of this transformation.

Could some unknown change have occurred while I was asleep? Lin Zheyu frowned slightly.

He slowly raised his head and looked toward the enormous statue of the Shamanic Clan expert deep within the hall. Viewed through the Heavenly Eye, the statue seemed subtly different from when he had first entered. It appeared far more lifelike. As Lin Zheyu gazed at it, he could not shake the feeling that someone was watching him.

Lin Zheyu could not help but speculate: ”There’s definitely something strange about this statue!”

Was it manipulating things behind the scenes?

He pondered for a moment, tempted to walk over and touch the statue. However, the instant that thought arose, he sensed a surge of space-time power descending upon him. His vision blurred for a moment, and in the next instant, he vanished from the great hall.

”What powerful spiritual perception. He actually managed to sense my presence!” Qiong Yun said in surprise as he looked toward the spot where Lin Zheyu had disappeared.

Even though he was nothing more than a remnant soul, the essence of Qiong Yun’s soul existed on a level far beyond anything Lin Zheyu could imagine. Moreover, that colossal statue was no ordinary sculpture. It had been formed from his own body ten thousand years ago!

”What an interesting little fellow. Unfortunately, he was born a little too late. Had he appeared ten thousand years earlier, then even with the world’s great upheaval and the decline of the Shamanic cultivators already underway, someone with his talent might well have reached the same realm I once attained. What a pity... Such a remarkable aptitude has come at the wrong time,” Qiong Yun said regretfully.

Ten thousand years had gone by, transforming the world completely. Compared to that ancient time, the cultivation environment for Shamanic cultivators had become even more brutal, so much so that their inheritance had nearly disappeared. Even after assisting the young man, Qiong Yun couldn’t hold much hope for him given the current situation. All he could do now was to do his best and leave the rest to fate, safeguarding a single seed of the Shamanic Clan for humanity, hoping it might someday thrive again.

”This great calamity seems unimaginable in scale. One misstep, and this world may be completely devoured by the demon realm. But before its final destruction, the world’s environment will undergo another dramatic transformation. Fortune and disaster go hand in hand. From the brink of death comes new life... Perhaps this child will find a great opportunity amid the coming world-ending catastrophe and carve out a path of his own.”

Qiong Yun gazed into the distant void. His eyes seemed to pierce space itself, reaching beyond the secret realm to behold the aura of the great calamity quietly gathering outside.

***

As Lin Zheyu surveyed the solemn and majestic hall, understanding dawned on him: The third trial? This is... a shrine dedicated to the Ancestral Shamans?

The hall was even grander than the one before it, occupying more than three times the space. Although its style clashed completely with the present age, exuding a rugged, primitive air, its solemn majesty made it clear that this was a sacred place where a deity was worshipped and venerated.

At the very center of the shrine stood a massive altar. Beyond it towered a colossal divine statue over a hundred meters tall, as though supporting heaven itself. The statue depicted a woman with a human upper body and a serpent’s tail. She had seven arms extending from her back and two in front of her chest, the front pair holding soaring serpents. Her figure was slender and graceful, and her deep, penetrating eyes seemed capable of seeing through all things and comprehending every mystery.

Her gaze was so lifelike that it seemed fixed upon eternity itself, as though it could pierce through the layered veils of time and space and look beyond the mists of the future. Her pupils were immeasurably deep, appearing to contain the vastness of an entire universe. Standing before the statue, with its overwhelming momentum, solemn majesty, unfathomable presence, and ancient, powerful aura, Lin Zheyu felt profoundly insignificant.

Ancestral Shaman Houtu! Realization surged through Lin Zheyu’s mind.

He walked before the statue and bowed deeply with utmost reverence. This was likely the final trial. What surprised Lin Zheyu, however, was that the statue before him belonged to Ancestral Shaman Houtu.

”The universe from my previous life must be closely connected to this world. Once I become strong enough, I may even have a chance to return to my original world,” Lin Zheyu murmured softly.

What worried him was that by the time he became powerful enough to return, his original world might already have changed beyond recognition, with his family and friends long gone. If that happened, there would be no point in going back.

”Phew... Let’s begin the third trial.” Lin Zheyu let out a long breath, cleared his mind of distracting thoughts, and steadied himself.

Unlike earlier trials, Lin Zheyu immediately grasped the nature of the third trial upon entering this place. It was the Blessing of the Ancestral Shaman, who are the foundational origin of all Shamanic cultivators. The level of blessing received and the extent to which an cultivator could absorb an Ancestral Shaman’s origin would influence future success. This concept encapsulates the idea of compatibility, especially an individual’s compatibility with the Blessing of the Ancestral Shaman.

With that in mind, Lin Zheyu stepped forward and entered the center of the altar before the statue of Ancestral Shaman Houtu. To commune with Houtu, all he needed to do was stand upon the altar, recite the sacrificial prayer, and sincerely worship the Ancestral Shaman’s statue. The prayer was written in an ancient language whose script and pronunciation were completely unfamiliar to him.

However, upon entering this place, the insight that had entered his consciousness had imprinted both the meaning of the entire prayer and its pronunciation directly into his mind. Strange, awkward syllables flowed from his lips one after another. As Lin Zheyu recited the sacrificial prayer, a vast, majestic, and primordial aura emanated from the altar.

Lin Zheyu’s spirit rapidly surged, as though it had undergone a sublime transformation. He sensed an indescribable aura. The statue of Ancestral Shaman Houtu seemed to come alive as an earthy yellow radiance spread from it, enveloping him. This was the Blessing of the Ancestral Shaman!