Immortality Begins With Internal Breathing

Boom!

Lin Zheyu casually swung his right hand. A yao directly in front of him exploded into a cloud of flesh and blood. The sudden scene drew the attention of the surrounding yao. They let out furious roars and scanned the area for any unusual aura, but found nothing. Moments later, they swarmed forward and devoured every scrap of their fallen companion's flesh.

Meanwhile, Lin Zheyu stood quietly nearby, observing the entire process up close. Under the influence of the Heaven-Deceiving Art, he seemed to have merged into the void itself. The yao could not merely fail to sense his aura; they could not even see him. To them, it was as though he had become completely invisible.

A fragmented formation alone can produce such effects. If this were the complete Heaven-Deceiving Formation, just how terrifying would its power be? Could it truly deceive Heaven itself? Lin Zheyu wondered inwardly.

According to the records, the Heaven-Deceiving Formation possessed terrifying power far beyond simply concealing one's aura or hiding one's form. It could alter a person's aura, obscure the workings of Heaven, and perhaps even deceive Heaven itself.

I'll need to test it against some real experts and see what level of cultivator the current Heaven-Deceiving Art can deceive, Lin Zheyu thought to himself.

After all, the Heaven-Deceiving Art had been derived from a formation rather than being a true formation itself, so there was still a considerable gap between the two. Back when he captured the Martial Alliance traitor Shi Weiping, Wu Di had only recently comprehended the Minor Heaven-Deceiving Formation, yet it had already been capable of deceiving the senses of ordinary Golden Core realm cultivators.

Since then, the Minor Heaven-Deceiving Formation had been refined and improved by Wu Di. Later, Lin Zheyu further optimized it using the insights he gained from studying the fragmented Heaven-Deceiving Formation with his golden Heavenly Eye. The result was far beyond what the original incomplete formation could achieve.

If constructed with high-grade materials, Lin Zheyu was confident that a complete Minor Heaven-Deceiving Formation would be impossible for most cultivators below the Nascent Soul realm to see through. Even Nascent Soul realm cultivators might not necessarily be able to penetrate its concealment.

Unfortunately, he did not know anyone of that caliber well enough to test it on. Moreover, the Heaven-Deceiving Art he cultivated was still noticeably weaker than a fully deployed Minor Heaven-Deceiving Formation. Exactly how large that gap was would require testing against powerful cultivators.

With that thought in mind, Lin Zheyu shot out of the node's rift. The tide of rushing yao never noticed him mixed among them. Some even blundered directly into him by accident, only to be casually slapped to death. At present, this space-time node could support at most peak Foundation Establishment realm yao. Creatures of that level were no different from ants in Lin Zheyu's eyes. A single slap was enough to kill dozens. Such was the vast power gap between the Golden Core and Foundation Establishment realms.

Within the barrier saturated with dense demonic qi deep beneath the sea, the sounds of battle echoed without end. Powerful yao continued to pour from the node's rift in an endless stream. By now, however, the sea clan experts had nearly completed the formation intended to seal the rift. Pillars of azure light rose into the sky around the opening and converged in the void, forming a vast and intricate formation.

Under the influence of the formation, the node's rift gradually shrank. At the same time, a world-destroying Heavenly Dao aura surged upward at an astonishing rate. Whether opening or closing a space-time node, such a feat was nearly impossible through a cultivator's own power alone. Both processes relied on the will of the Heavenly Dao. Opening a node drew upon the will of the Heavenly Dao from the demon realm, while closing it invoked the will of the Heavenly Dao belonging to this world.

The roars of yao echoed continuously. As the rift narrowed, even powerful peak five-pattern yao could no longer safely cross into this world. The moment they appeared, terrifying, world-destroying lightning descended and blasted them into ash.

Boom!

The terrifying thunder exploded across the heavens. Even Lin Zheyu was startled as he watched a powerful yao reduced to drifting ash before his eyes. He remained hidden among the yao horde and did not dare leave immediately, worried that the world-destroying lightning might strike him as well. After waiting for quite some time and repeatedly confirming that no sense of danger arose within him, he finally relaxed slightly.

After all, he was human, and not a yao. Back at the unopened node suppressed by the Demon-Suppressing Army, he had been able to pass through freely. There was no reason this node should be any different. With that realization, the last of his worries eased somewhat.

Passing through the node fissure, Lin Zheyu moved about like a transparent phantom. He strolled leisurely past the sea clan experts, yet not a single one noticed his presence. Even those sea clan members with exceptionally keen senses, the same ones who had previously seen through his disguise among the yao, failed to detect anything unusual.

So this is the merfolk race? They're certainly beautiful, but how exactly do they reproduce? Lin Zheyu wondered with amused curiosity as he passed right in front of a merfolk woman, studying her exquisite features from close range. The sensation of moving unseen among others, like an invisible man hidden in plain sight, was genuinely exhilarating.

"Bili, do you feel that something is off?" the merfolk woman asked, her delicate brows knitting together as unease flickered across her face.

An inexplicable sense of discomfort had arisen in her heart. As a Golden Core realm expert of the merfolk race, she possessed exceptionally powerful sensory talents, yet despite her careful perception, she could detect nothing out of the ordinary.

"I don't think so. The formation has already taken shape, so even if someone wanted to sabotage it from the shadows, they're too late now," the sea clan woman named Bili replied, shaking her head.

The merfolk woman nodded softly. Her powerful spiritual sense spread outward, while spirit power quietly circulated within her body. At the same time, an invisible ripple radiated from her and swept across the surrounding area.

"Oh?" Lin Zheyu was somewhat surprised and thought, Could this merfolk woman possess an unusually powerful spiritual intuition? She actually sensed that something was wrong.

From his perspective, she was only an early Golden Core realm cultivator, hardly someone he needed to fear.

Let's see whether her secret art can actually discover me, Lin Zheyu thought. He remained motionless where he stood while blood qi quietly circulated through his body and golden energy gathered beneath the surface, ready to erupt at any moment. If she truly managed to uncover his presence, he would immediately make his escape.

Amid the sounds of brutal battle, the invisible energy ripples emanating from the merfolk woman reached Lin Zheyu, brushing against his body. Yet under the influence of the Dao resonance generated by the Heaven-Deceiving Art, the ripples showed no reaction whatsoever. They simply flowed around him as though he were not there, continuing to spread outward.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" the merfolk woman suddenly shouted. A powerful aura erupted from her body, and several formidable sea clan experts immediately raced toward her location at astonishing speed.

They actually noticed something! This is way too flawed... Lin Zheyu cursed inwardly. His figure swayed slightly, and the Earth Shrinking Technique carried him more than ten kilometers away in an instant.

"Monica, what happened?" A burly sea clan expert landed beside the merfolk woman with a heavy splash and asked with concern. Moments later, several more powerful auras rapidly converged on the area.

"I'm not sure. But I suspect a terrifying existence has infiltrated our ranks!" Monica replied, her brows tightly furrowed and her expression grave.

Her secret art had indeed picked up traces of something unusual, yet no matter how she probed, she could not locate the source. Whoever it was possessed tremendous strength and cultivated an exceptionally powerful concealment technique.

"A powerful existence? Even you can't locate them?" the sea clan expert asked in surprise.

Monica's voice was solemn as she said, "I can't find them. To be honest, I can't even be certain they're truly here. My secret art detected nothing unusual at all, yet I can't shake this sense of unease."

The surrounding sea clan experts exchanged glances, their expressions growing serious. Cultivators placed great trust in their intuition. The fact that their secret arts revealed nothing while their instincts still warned them of danger was deeply unsettling.

"Report this immediately and prepare the emergency contingency plans..."

More than ten kilometers away, Lin Zheyu hovered quietly in the sea. His golden Heavenly Eye remained open, and with its assistance and his powerful senses, he continued monitoring the group of sea clan experts.

So that's how it is. It seems the Heaven-Deceiving Art is still incredibly effective, Lin Zheyu muttered inwardly.

Even after using her secret art, the merfolk expert had been unable to detect his existence. Her suspicion stemmed entirely from a cultivator's powerful intuition rather than any actual discovery. The Heaven-Deceiving Art was undoubtedly formidable, but Lin Zheyu had also identified a weakness. He could not get too close to other cultivators. Otherwise, their instincts would begin to pick up on something being wrong.

"If only I could obtain the complete Heaven-Deceiving Formation..." Lin Zheyu murmured softly.

If he could obtain the complete Heaven-Deceiving Formation, his ability to conceal his aura would become unimaginably powerful. He might even be able to deceive cultivators several major levels above him.

"Heh..." Lin Zheyu chuckled softly. His thoughts had wandered a little too far ahead.

The ancient Heaven-Deceiving Formation had long since been lost. All that remained were fragmented remnants. It was entirely possible that even a powerful formation sect like the Heaven-Deriving Sect no longer possessed a complete version.

For Lin Zheyu, the most practical path forward was to seek out other aura-concealing formations, restrictions, or even uniquely gifted yao. By drawing inspiration from them, he could continue refining and improving the Heaven-Deceiving Art. That was the most realistic approach.

Early-stage Golden Core realm cultivators are no problem at all. Next, I'll test it against mid-stage Golden Core realm cultivators, then late-stage, and finally those at the peak... Lin Zheyu thought to himself.

Against early Golden Core realm cultivators, he could stand directly in front of them without being discovered. Those with exceptionally sharp intuition might sense that something was amiss, but they still could not detect his presence. As for mid-stage Golden Core realm cultivators and those even stronger, he would need further testing to determine how much distance he needed to maintain in order to remain undetected.

The seawater churned within the barrier. With a thought, Lin Zheyu decided there was no reason to remain any longer. Activating the Earth Shrinking Technique, his figure flickered and vanished from the barrier in the blink of an eye.

***

The Chaotic Star Sea.

Lin Zheyu strolled leisurely across the sea's surface, carrying an air of carefree confidence. With the Heaven-Deceiving Art mastered, his chances of survival had risen dramatically. He now possessed a reliable means of dealing with the strange secret arts and abilities employed by other cultivation systems. At last, he was no longer merely a crude martial cultivator who relied on brute force alone.

Now I just need to wait for the latest location update from Lin Xian's side. But what exactly is inside this box, and why must it be delivered to Feng Xuanji? Lin Zheyu wondered as he turned the elegant black box over in his hands.

The palm-sized box had been given to him by Lin Xian, with instructions to hand it over once he found Feng Xuanji. Within his sea of consciousness, the golden Heavenly Eye suddenly opened. Brilliant golden radiance shone from its emotionless pupil. This was far from the first time Lin Zheyu had examined the exquisite black box with the Heavenly Eye, yet the ability that had never failed him before revealed nothing. It was as though the box were completely ordinary, concealing no secrets whatsoever.

As he examined the black box with the Heavenly Eye, the azure-glazed bracelet on his wrist once more issued a warning. Lin Zheyu frowned slightly.

Hm? Someone's trying to deduce my location again? What a persistent nuisance. Should I set a trap and wipe them all out in the Chaotic Star Sea? Lin Zheyu pondered as a trace of killing intent flashed through his eyes.

He was certain that no tracking mark had been placed on him. If there truly was one capable of escaping the perception of the golden Heavenly Eye, then he would simply have to accept it. But a cultivator powerful enough to plant such a mark would have no need for schemes like this in the first place. Since no tracking mark existed, his pursuers could not determine his location in real time.

That meant he could lay a trap and lure them into revealing themselves. Then, using the Heaven-Deceiving Art, he could silently approach and strike with a single lethal blow. Even a peak Golden Core realm cultivator might not survive such a sudden assassination. Of course, everything depended on whether the Heaven-Deceiving Art could deceive the senses of a Golden Core realm cultivator at that level.

I should continue testing the limits of the Heaven-Deceiving Art...

With that thought, Lin Zheyu vanished from where he stood.