Longevity: Comprehending the Heart Method

She, however, had fallen into a deep slumber after expending too much power.

Who would have thought that this one sleep would last for five thousand years!

As she was lost in her memories, Song Changsheng couldn't help but speak up. "You didn't launch a sneak attack on us when we were both on our last legs just to tell us all this, did you? What is your real motive?"

His voice jolted Yushu from her reverie. She floated before Song Changsheng and said, intrigued, "Do you truly not know what I wish to do?"

Song Changsheng's heart sank. Of course he knew what Yushu wanted. He had only asked out of a desperate, foolish hope. But now it was clear. She was truly planning Possession!

"Figured it out? How clever. No wonder you broke through to the Purple Mansion realm at your age. A pity you arrived too late. I have already found a more suitable candidate. In a little while, I'm afraid you'll just have to suffer a bit."

With that, Yushu's Divine Sense projection let out a string of bell-like laughter, then turned and floated toward the sprawling altar.

Hearing Yushu's words, Song Changsheng felt no relief. Instead, a terrible premonition flooded his heart. He yelled, "A more suitable candidate? What do you mean by that?!"

Yushu had no intention of answering him. With a light wave of her hand, the center of the altar split open, a crack widening as the two halves pulled apart.

A coffin carved from Jade Marrow slowly emerged, hovering in mid-air. The altar then sealed shut beneath it.

A hazy beam of light descended from Yushu's Nascent Soul and into the jade coffin. Guided by the light, a figure in a pale green dress rose stiffly to her feet.

The moment he saw the figure, Song Changsheng felt his heart clench violently.

"Yuechan!"

Staring at the weak, pale face in the air, the color drained from Song Changsheng's face. Who else could it be but Zhuang Yuechan?

"Yuechan, Yuechan..."

Song Changsheng called her name again and again, but there was no response. If he couldn't still clearly sense the life force within her body, he would have suspected Yushu had already killed her.

"What did you do to Yuechan?" Song Changsheng demanded, his voice low and heavy.

"Oh, so you know each other? This must be fate.

Rest assured, she is perfectly fine right now. And soon, she will be even better, because I am about to bestow upon her a heaven-sent opportunity!" As she spoke, Yushu broke into a fit of hysterical laughter.

Song Changsheng was both shocked and enraged. Blood rushed to his head as he roared at Yushu, "Whatever you're planning, do it to me! Don't you touch her!"

"Junior Sister! Junior Sister! Damn it, you crazy bitch, let her go!" Niu Dazhuang's face turned grim. He never imagined that Zhuang Yuechan had already fallen into this woman's clutches.

From the looks of it, she was even planning to steal the nest. If he could have endured everything that came before, this was the last straw.

"How dare you speak so insolently to me!"

Yushu's tone grew frigid. Niu Dazhuang was instantly lifted into the air. He flew to the apex of the hall before being mercilessly slammed back down, carving a shallow crater into the floor.

An injury of this degree was nothing to Niu Dazhuang, but the feeling of being manipulated like a puppet on a string left him with a profound sense of helplessness.

"If this were back in my day, I would have torn out your tongue and then utterly annihilated your Divine Soul!

But now... you all have another use," Yushu said with a sinister sneer.

Then, without any visible action from her, Song Changsheng and the others flew uncontrollably toward the altar, each landing in a different spot.

"You're going to sacrifice us?"

The Purple Demon saw through Yushu's plan at a glance. He had, after all, intended to do the same to Song Changsheng and Niu Dazhuang. It was a pity he had misjudged them so badly. Not only had he been defeated by the two, but now he was about to become someone else's sacrifice. 'How unpredictable the world is,' he thought.

Song Changsheng and Niu Dazhuang began to struggle violently, but it was to no avail. The Restriction in their bodies showed no sign of loosening.

They could only watch helplessly as Yushu manipulated the altar, causing it to activate. The intricate patterns on its surface began to glow with a pure white light. At its center, a small cluster of eerie blue flames flickered to life, resonating with Yushu's distant Nascent Soul.

RATTLE!

Three pitch-black chains materialized from thin air. Like three sinister vipers, they plunged directly into the men's chests, burrowing into their Middle Dantians.

"Offer up... your Mana!"

As Yushu's icy words faded, Song Changsheng and the others felt an immense suction force from the chains in their chests, greedily devouring the Mana within their Dantians.

The Mana was forcibly ripped from their Dantians. The immense pain was no less than having their tendons torn out and their marrow scraped, causing all three to let out shrill, agonizing cries.

As a continuous stream of their Mana flooded into the altar, the light on its surface grew ever brighter, and the patterns upon it seemed as if they were about to spring to life.

In an instant, a thick pillar of light shot skyward, illuminating the subterranean palace as brightly as day.

"The Transformation Grand Array is complete!"

At this sight, Yushu's Divine Sense projection grew incredibly excited. She reached out to gently caress Zhuang Yuechan's bloodless cheek, her voice hazy and dreamlike. "Soon, we will merge into one. From now on, you will be me, and I will be you... inseparable..."

Her plan for Zhuang Yuechan was not as simple as mere Possession. If that had been her only goal, she would not have needed to go to such great lengths all those years ago.

Possession, after all, was an unseemly method. To beings like her, a Physical Body was just a vessel, one that would need to be replaced before long. In her eyes, that was merely a way of clinging desperately to life.

That was why, before she entered her final decline, she had specifically sought out this auspicious location and established the Transformation Grand Array.

By using this Grand Array, she could fuse her Divine Soul with someone else's, legitimately inheriting everything from them and achieving a true "rebirth."

However, her first attempt had failed. Halfway through the fusion, she had Fallen into Demon, and all her work was for naught.

Afterward, Yushu analyzed the event and identified several reasons for her failure.

First, she had been too hasty.

Second, her target's Cultivation was too high, and their will to resist was too strong for her to suppress.

Third, her target was male while she was female; their Divine Souls, one yang and one yin, naturally repelled each other during the fusion.

Having learned a painful lesson from her last attempt, Yushu was much smarter this time.

When she awoke, quite a few Cultivators had already entered the Golden Profound Cave. She didn't act rashly, but instead observed them in secret.

After a careful selection process, she finally chose Zhuang Yuechan.

The reasons were simple.

Female, young, low Cultivation, and high aptitude.

Every point perfectly matched her criteria. There could be no better candidate.

So, she employed a little trick and lured Zhuang Yuechan, who was being hunted at the time, to this place.

Then, to acquire sacrifices to activate the Grand Array, she deliberately left a trail of subtle clues to lure others here.

Who would have thought that the people she had chosen would be completely wiped out by Song Changsheng, the Purple Demon, and their companions?

This was beyond her expectations. She had been hoping for a flock of sheep, but a pack of wolves had arrived instead.

However, despite the unexpected turn of events, the outcome was still favorable.

The wolves ended up tearing each other apart, giving her the perfect opportunity to strike while they were weak.

"I will take you to heights you could never have dreamed of reaching in this lifetime."

With that, Yushu swiped a finger through the air, and a bloody gash instantly appeared between Zhuang Yuechan's eyebrows.

A gentle ray of light descended from the Nascent Soul, passing through the gash and into Zhuang Yuechan's mind.

A pained expression instantly appeared on Zhuang Yuechan's face. She could feel a powerful force and memories that weren't her own flooding into her Sea of Consciousness.

Seeing this, Song Changsheng's eyes widened in fury. He let out a hoarse, desperate roar: "Stop!"

...

PS: I've been in training for two days, so this chapter was written in a bit of a hurry. If there are any typos or oversights, I'd be grateful if my fellow Daoists could point them out.