Immortality Begins With Internal Breathing

After eating and drinking their fill, the group paid a visit to Leisure Pavilion as well. By the time Lin Zheyu returned to his courtyard, it was already noon the following day. Having finally taken the chance to unwind, he felt completely refreshed, both physically and mentally. Even the frustration he had been carrying over his inability to cultivate the long-awaited shamanic arts had eased considerably.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The sharp whistle of a blade cutting through the air echoed across the courtyard as Lin Zheyu began his daily Limit Cultivation Method. More than two hours later, he finally came to a stop, breathing heavily.

[Heaven Rewards the Diligent]

[Name: Lin Zheyu]

[Origin Force: 904]

[Skills: Heaven-Deceiving Art (Perfection), 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%)]

Lin Zheyu looked at the data displayed in his mind and thought to himself, Over 900 units of Origin Force... It's time to enter seclusion for a while. I need to create my martial cultivation technique as soon as possible and raise my strength."

All he wanted was a peaceful, stable life, cultivating at his own pace while pursuing Immortality. He had never expected it to be so difficult.

"I just hope Great Wei's patriarch is all right," Lin Zheyu said, shaking his head.

When the sky fell, the tallest people were supposed to hold it up. If Great Wei's patriarch truly had run into trouble, then things would become dire indeed. If even the tallest pillar had fallen, Great Wei would have little hope left. Setting those thoughts aside, Lin Zheyu calmed his mind and cleared away the distracting thoughts in his heart.

Lin Zheyu found a comfortable spot and sat down cross-legged before taking out the bone talisman Qiong Yun had given him. This talisman was not only the core of that inheritance secret realm, but also contained the vast collection of cultivation texts and knowledge accumulated by the Suhe Tribe.

Holding the bone talisman in his hand, he extended his spiritual sense into it. In an instant, an endless sea of knowledge, brilliant as a sky full of stars, unfolded within his consciousness.

"As expected of the library of a once-glorious shamanic tribe. The sheer volume is truly astounding," Lin Zheyu exclaimed.

Even with the formidable spiritual soul he now possessed, fully digesting and absorbing all of this knowledge would take well over a century. After all, this was the accumulated legacy of a shamanic tribe that had produced a terrifying expert like Qiong Yun. Before him, it might even have given rise to cultivators of an even higher caliber.

"This is Master Qiong Yun's greatest treasure," Lin Zheyu said with heartfelt admiration.

Casting aside every distracting thought, Lin Zheyu immersed himself completely in that boundless ocean of knowledge. Although he had inherited the shamanic arts, he had only just condensed his natal shamanic pattern and was still a novice at initiation. Because of the limitations imposed by the world's environment, he could no longer continue cultivating or comprehend more advanced shamanic arts.

Instead, he could only deepen his understanding through the knowledge preserved within the bone talisman, gradually unraveling the mysteries and profundities of the shamanic arts so that he could incorporate them into martial cultivation and create an unprecedentedly powerful martial cultivation technique.

Time passed quietly, and the days slipped by one after another. Lin Zheyu became completely engrossed in that endless sea of knowledge. Aside from pushing himself beyond his limits once every few days, he spent all of his remaining time immersed in study, soaring through that vast ocean of accumulated wisdom.

***

More than three months later, an unexpected visitor arrived in Yanwu City.

"Have that brat named Xiao Yu come out. I have business with him," Woo Jin said coldly.

He and Woo Tongyu had waited inside that demon god barrier for more than three months, hoping to catch the expert who had killed Woo Yiyan and Woo Shuo, but the person never appeared. In the end, the two of them had even ventured into the demonic river themselves to search for any trace of the culprit, only to find nothing at all.

After returning to the Woo Family, they used one of the family's secret treasures to divine the whereabouts of the expert marked by the bloodline curse. To their surprise, the divination yielded nothing at all. That was highly abnormal. There were only a few possible explanations. Either the expert was already dead, had entered a special secret realm where all traces of his aura were completely concealed, or had somehow removed the bloodline curse altogether. Whichever the case, even the Woo Family had no way to deal with it in the short term.

Now, Woo Jin could only place his hopes on Xiao Yu. He did not believe Xiao Yu was the expert who had killed Woo Shuo and Woo Yiyan. With Xiao Yu's strength, he simply was not qualified. However, Woo Jin was convinced that Xiao Yu knew something. In his view, the deaths of Woo Yiyan and Woo Shuo were almost certainly connected to Xiao Yu.

"Senior, Fellow Xiao is currently in seclusion. How about we notify you once he comes out?" Lin Xian said with a polite smile, though a trace of disdain flickered across his eyes.

Do you think the Martial Alliance is still what it used to be, forced to live at the mercy of the three ancient, esteemed martial families? Who are you putting on that arrogant act for? Lin Xian grumbled inwardly.

Lin Xian was one of the Martial Alliance's veterans. When he first joined, the Martial Alliance had only recently broken away from the control of the three ancient martial esteemed families. Back then, its members were frequently bullied by those families, and the humiliation they endured had been unbearable.

Woo Jin snorted coldly. "Hmph! If he stays in seclusion for ten years, am I supposed to wait for him for ten years? Send someone to notify him immediately. Tell him to come out and see me. I have a few questions for him."

His expression was arrogant and overbearing, his tone that of someone ordering servants about at will. It was clear that he did not regard the Martial Alliance with the slightest respect.

The moment the words left his mouth, a terrifying aura erupted from Woo Jin, bearing down upon Lin Xian. Lin Xian's expression changed drastically. His body trembled uncontrollably as cold sweat beaded across his forehead and trickled down his cheeks.

"You... old... bastard!" Lin Xian gritted out the words through clenched teeth, forcing them despite the overwhelming pressure.

Woo Jin snorted coldly. "You're courting death! The Martial Alliance has become increasingly outrageous. Without the Woo Family keeping you in line, you've forgotten even the most basic respect due to your betters. Since Qin Hu doesn't know how to discipline you, I'll do it for him."

As an expert comparable to the Nascent Soul realm, Woo Jin ranked among the strongest in all of Great Wei. Combined with his former status as one of the Martial Alliance's masters, his immense power had long made him treat Martial Alliance martial artists as though they were his own servants.

Woo Jin swept his right hand through the air, unleashing a terrifying blast of force that roared toward Lin Xian's chest. Lin Xian's face went pale as every instinct screamed a warning. He tried to move out of the way, but beneath Woo Jin's crushing pressure, he could not move so much as a finger.

Bang!

Suddenly, Woo Jin felt a powerful hand clamp down on his shoulder and forcibly pull him back two steps. At the same instant, a massive fist shot past him and smashed into his attack, stopping it cold.

A calm voice sounded beside Lin Xian. "I was wondering who it was. So it's you, you old bastard. Get back to your Woo Family. Otherwise, don't bother going back at all. Let that old bastard Woo Tianlei come and ransom you himself."

As the words fell, an overwhelming aura spread outward, effortlessly canceling the pressure weighing down on Lin Xian.

Feeling the pressure lift from his body, Lin Xian let out a sigh of relief and bowed respectfully. "Greetings, Senior Xia!"

The newcomer was none other than Xia Ping.

"Heh!" Woo Jin cast Xia Ping a sidelong glance as he said, "You're welcome to try. The last time we fought, I spared your life for Qin Hu's sake. If you lose again this time, you won't be leaving alive."

Xia Ping narrowed his eyes, his gaze turning icy. He and Woo Jin had never gotten along. The two had become enemies in their youth, and more than thirty years ago they had fought a fierce battle. Faced with Woo Jin's bloodline powers, Xia Ping had been completely outmatched and quickly forced onto the defensive. Had Qin Hu not appeared in time to save him, Xia Ping would likely have died that day.

Xia Ping replied calmly, "That's exactly what I was hoping for. It's been decades since we last met. Let's see whether your strength has declined."

Powerful auras surged from both Xia Ping and Woo Jin, colliding head-on in the middle of the hall. The shockwaves produced by their clash were terrifying. Lin Xian was forced back several steps until he reached the edge of the hall, yet the overwhelming pressure still bore down upon him.

Lin Xian said unwillingly, "So terrifying! I can't even withstand the pressure from the clash of their auras alone."

He was only in the early Shackles realm. Compared to these two experts, who had already surpassed the Shackles realm and forged their own paths, the gap was simply too immense. Both Woo Jin and Xia Ping possessed strength comparable to Nascent Soul realm cultivators of the Immortal Dao. Between the Golden Core and Nascent Soul realms lay an enormous chasm. To a Nascent Soul realm expert, killing a Golden Core realm cultivator was as effortless as crushing an ant.