Immortality Begins With Internal Breathing

A few breaths later, Lin Zheyu abruptly opened his eyes. Golden light flashed through them before fading, revealing bloodshot eyes beneath.

He slowly exhaled a long breath of turbid air, as though trying to expel the lingering remnants of the terrible agony still haunting his spiritual soul.

[Heaven Rewards the Diligent]

[Name: Lin Zheyu]

[Origin Force: 1,280]

[Skills: Heaven-Deceiving Art 4.0 (Dormancy), Seven Absolute Sabers (Seventh Stage: 100%), Earth Shrinking Technique (Third Stage: 100%), Primordial Golden Body (Fourth Stage: 100%), Eight Desolations World-Suppressing Art (First Stage: 0%), Primordial Chaos True Art (Fourth Stage: 63%), Martial Divine Pattern Secret Manual 11.0 (Dormancy)]

”The fourth stage is only a little over halfway complete. Time waits for no one!” Lin Zheyu frowned slightly as he examined the data in his mind. The obscure aura he had sensed atop the city wall flashed through his thoughts.

It seems this is my only option. Lin Zheyu’s thoughts stirred as he came to a decision.

He pressed his right hand against his chest and pulled sharply, causing a miniature Primordial Chaos Pool to appear in his palm. Lin Zheyu intended to store the demonic lake’s chaotic energy within the Primordial Chaos Pool and take it back with him. That way, he would no longer need to enter the node’s void so frequently.

However, the Primordial Chaos Pool was ultimately a dharma treasure of the Shamanic Clan. Operating a dharma treasure required energy, and ordinary energy would not suffice. It needed a higher-grade energy similar to chaos origin energy.

When it was merely used to store objects or suppress the bodies of yao, its consumption was negligible. However, storing the violent and chaotic energies of the laws within the demonic lake, which contained the wills of two worlds, would place an astonishing burden on the Primordial Chaos Pool. Even so, Lin Zheyu had calculated that it would still be more economical than cultivating by directly consuming the chaos origin energy within the pool.

Nevertheless, this method would still consume a vast amount of chaos origin energy. Lin Zheyu would never have made such a decision unless absolutely necessary. Now that he sensed an approaching crisis, however, he had little choice. With a thought, he partitioned off another enormous void within the Primordial Chaos Pool.

Immediately afterward, the violent and chaotic energies of the laws within the demonic lake formed a vortex and poured madly into the Primordial Chaos Pool. As the turbulent energy surged inside, Lin Zheyu could feel the rate at which the pool’s chaos origin energy was being consumed rapidly increasing.

Time slowly passed. More than ten minutes later, the Primordial Chaos Pool had been filled with an immense quantity of energy from the demonic lake. Only after Lin Zheyu estimated that it was enough to cultivate the Primordial Chaos True Art to Perfection did he stop.

The energy within the demonic lake consisted of incomparably violent and chaotic energies of the laws created by the collision of two worlds, making it impossible to use normally. Lin Zheyu could only harness it while using Origin Force. Even simply storing it within the Primordial Chaos Pool required a vast expenditure of chaos origin energy to prevent it from corroding the pool’s internal void.

This should be enough. Even if I enter the node’s void again, I had better choose a different location next time, Lin Zheyu thought.

His figure shifted as he leaped out of the demonic lake. The instant he emerged, Lin Zheyu sensed a powerful and terrifying aura speeding toward him.

A seven-pattern yao!

Lin Zheyu frowned slightly as a faint sense of danger arose within him.

This seven-pattern yao ranked among the strongest of its level and belonged to the Shadow Dragon race, granting it astonishing powers of concealment. Unfortunately, it could not hide from Lin Zheyu’s Heavenly Eye.

The moment he left the demonic lake, he discovered its presence. Lin Zheyu had no intention of fighting it. Powerful blood qi surged through him, forcibly dispersing the violent and chaotic energies of the laws within the void. Activating the Earth Shrinking Technique, he instantly vanished and fled toward the node fissure without looking back.

The Shadow Dragon narrowed its eyes in the darkness as a thought flashed through its mind.

Damn it! This fellow’s perception is incredibly powerful. He may even be the one who killed Xi’er!

The Shadow Dragon race was extremely small in number, so the death of every member was an enormous loss. Moments ago, a yao lurking within the node’s void had reported that another lone human had entered and effortlessly slain a powerful yao. It therefore suspected that this man was very likely the same human who had killed one of its fellow Shadow Dragons last time.

A terrifying aura erupted. The seven-pattern Shadow Dragon completely abandoned its disguise and unleashed its full strength, releasing the aura of a seven-pattern yao. In an instant, the entire node’s void underwent a tremendous change. The appearance of an aura at the seven-pattern Nascent Soul realm destabilized the node’s void. The chaotic and violent energies of the laws raging through the void grew even more terrifying. Different energies collided with one another, unleashing an apocalyptic aura of destruction.

”You will not escape! Die!” the Shadow Dragon roared.

The strange voice resounded within Lin Zheyu’s mind as an intense sense of danger surged from behind him. The Heavenly Eye within his sea of consciousness had already been activated to its limit, so he detected the yao the instant it unleashed its power.

After the Shadow Dragon erupted with the formidable strength of a seven-pattern yao, its presence soared to a terrifying level even as it destabilized the node’s void.

Its figure flickered and vanished from the spot, teleporting roughly one kilometer forward. The Shadow Dragon repeatedly used the same ability, causing the distance between it and Lin Zheyu to shrink at an astonishing rate.

So fast! Is this the short-range teleportation available at the Nascent Soul realm?! Lin Zheyu’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Though the myriad Great Daos followed different paths, they ultimately reached the same destination. Regardless of the cultivation system, it seemed that anyone who reached a level equivalent to the Nascent Soul realm of the Immortal Dao could develop an ability similar to short-range teleportation. Even seven-pattern yao from another world were no exception.

This was an ability that powerful beings naturally mastered once their comprehension of the laws of heaven and earth reached sufficient depth. Lin Zheyu, however, was different. His cultivation was still only equivalent to the Golden Core realm. His combat strength rivaled the Nascent Soul realm solely because he had established an unprecedentedly profound foundation at every stage of cultivation.

His comprehension of the laws of heaven and earth had not yet reached the Nascent Soul realm, nor had he developed a similar short-range teleportation ability. However, the Gods and Demons Extinguished saber technique could produce a comparable effect.

”Heh.” Lin Zheyu gave a cold scoff, without the slightest trace of fear on his face.

With a thought, the immense golden energy within his body surged, and golden scales instantly covered him from head to toe. At the same time, the Primordial Chaos Pool appeared in his hand. A layer of hazy gray energy spread from it and enveloped his entire body. By the time he finished preparing, the yao behind him had already caught up.

It then unleashed a terrifying roar. The sound transformed into invisible energy and attempted to invade Lin Zheyu’s sea of consciousness. It was a special secret art that attacked the soul. Unfortunately, such an attack was completely ineffective against Lin Zheyu. When the soul attack struck the ocean-like expanse of golden energy within his sea of consciousness, it merely stirred up waves of golden energy.

Lin Zheyu abruptly spun around and gripped the Primordial Chaos Pool in his right hand, wielding it like a brick as he smashed it viciously against the Shadow Dragon’s head. A terrifying force of impact surged through him, sending his body flying backward through the node fissure and out of the dark void.

When the Shadow Dragon saw Lin Zheyu escape unharmed, it unleashed a heaven-shaking roar, its eyes filled with boundless savagery.

Outside the space-time node, violent energy fluctuations surged from the node fissure. A golden figure shot out from the fissure and crashed heavily to the ground. Zong Linjing and Ji Haozhong were both startled by the sudden turn of events, but relaxed slightly when they sensed that Lin Zheyu’s aura was stable and he had suffered no serious harm.

”Are you all right?” Zong Linjing asked with concern.

Lin Zheyu rose to his feet and smiled. ”I am fine.”

The golden scales covering his body had already withdrawn the instant he was blasted out of the space-time node. Neither Zong Linjing nor Ji Haozhong had seen them clearly.

”Do not force yourself if you are injured. I can continue holding out for another few days,” Ji Haozhong said sincerely.

”I really am fine. Martial artists are tough and durable. We are not injured that easily,” Lin Zheyu replied with a smile.

Even without using the Primordial Chaos Pool, Lin Zheyu estimated that he would not have suffered any serious injuries. The Shadow Dragon’s primary attack had been that secret soul attack art, but it had never expected Lin Zheyu to be completely immune to it.

”That’s good. What did you encounter in there to leave you in such a sorry state?” Ji Haozhong asked curiously.

”I ran into several powerful yao and was chased out in a panic. What rotten luck.” Lin Zheyu waved his hand, looking annoyed and unwilling to say more.

”We already warned you, yet you still went inside. Something seems wrong in the demon realm lately. I suspect they will launch another invasion before long. The next time you enter, you had better go with other cultivators so you can watch each other’s backs,” Ji Haozhong warned. He transferred control of the formation node to Lin Zheyu, stretched his body, and walked out of the formation after giving that final warning.

Within the core formation node of the second formation defense line, a white-haired, white-bearded elder wore an intrigued expression.

The elder stroked his white beard. ”Interesting, very interesting. A Shackles realm martial artist actually managed to escape from a seven-pattern yao. Moreover, he enters the space-time node so frequently that he must be hiding some unknown secret. It seems this young fellow has quite a few secrets of his own!”

The corners of his lips curved into a faint smile. The elder was another expert of the Shi Family and one of Shi Tianyun’s seniors. He was responsible for guarding the Heaven-Scorching Grand Formation at the second defense line. Previously, he had promised Shi Tianyun that, should an opportunity arise, he would preserve Xiao Yu’s corpse so it could serve as a vessel for nurturing Shi Tianyun’s Netherfrost Flame. Unfortunately, Wang Zhengtian had arrived too quickly that time, leaving him no opportunity to act.

Later, while guarding the formation node, the elder had begun observing the martial artist named Xiao Yu in his spare time. The more closely he watched, the more mysterious the young man appeared, as though he concealed many fascinating secrets.