The Forbidden Path to Immortality - Chapter 152

Chapter 4 Questions

The demonic phoenix gave it no chance to breathe, waving its wide sleeves as it struck with another powerful palm strike. A city-incinerating flame instantly engulfed the puppet’s body and wings. Then, with a burst of ripples of energy, the puppet, unable to struggle, was shattered by the demonic phoenix’s palm force.

The fiery force ignited the surrounding Yin Qi, creating a cloud of flames that spread out, enveloping both Yaofeng and Qingying.

Qingying jerked her head slightly to avoid the blast of flesh and blood, only to finally feel the pain in her shoulder. Having just elbowed Wuyou, she was now concerned about Wuyou in her arms. Helplessly, she used her shoulder to block the puppet’s sudden attack. The puppet’s lacerations still made her feel sick at the thought.

Looking down, she saw Wuyou, the little girl, clutching the cat in her hands, winking at her. Undeterred by the previous attack, she had remained huddled obediently in her arms, causing no trouble. Qingyou smiled, lowered her head, and lightly touched the girl’s forehead. Just as she was about to speak, a warning suddenly struck her, but a moment later

, the demonic phoenix’s voice reached her ears:

“Be careful!”

At first, the sound was muffled and hoarse, but as it spread, the surrounding cacophony of roaring flames, surging lakes, and collapsing earth and rocks was swallowed up. The chaotic mix suddenly seemed perfectly harmonious.

The sound lingered, yet it felt as if the surroundings had suddenly gone silent.

The sensory illusion fed back to everyone, leaving them all bewildered. At that moment, another sharp note suddenly pierced the eardrums. Its high pitch seemed to tug at one’s heart and soar to the clouds.

A sudden scream erupted, and Wuyou, who had just been smiling and blinking, suddenly clutched her head, crying and struggling in agony. Such violent movements immediately disrupted Qingying’s entire rhythm.

Even the cat intervened. She swung from Wuyou’s arms, stretching out her short forelimbs and squeaking, trying to grab something. But who could care less about him now?

Qingyou and Yaofeng were both horrified. Knowing they were facing a formidable enemy, they couldn’t help but turn their full attention to it. Qingyou, completely unmoved by the enemy, turned back to embrace Wuyou, his true energy penetrating into her to check her condition.

No one would let go of this opportunity!

A grayish-white shadow shot out from the shattered, burning puppet’s remains. Initially only the size of a baby, it shed its flesh and blood, then, surging in the wind, stretched beyond the reach of anyone. The shadow flickered, then vanished in an instant.

Li Xun’s body tensed, his pupils shrinking to the size of pinholes. Beside him, Madam

Yan cried out in pain, her body nearly being crushed. Li Xun turned back without apology, but instead shouted, “What’s hidden in the puppet?” Madam Yan, dazed, instinctively struggled to free herself from his grasp. Her voice pierced, “Puppet! She’s hiding a puppet master!”

Anyone else would have been bewildered, but Li Xun understood perfectly. His heart sank, and he said grimly, “Did my sister teach her the art of exorcising corpses?”

“Impossible. She can’t master it…” Madam Yan muttered.

Li Xun frowned slightly, his voice lowered. “Didn’t you teach her [Soul Reincarnation]?”

“No, absolutely not—”

This stuck at the crucial point. Madam Yan denied it repeatedly, like she was clinging to a lifeline. But mid-sentence, she suddenly sensed something was wrong and looked over in surprise. She must have been puzzled by Li Xun’s understanding of the key.

Before she could comprehend it, a ripping sound rang out in the air, and Qingyang’s clothes ripped and blood splattered. A heavy blow struck her old wound again. If her nearly indestructible body hadn’t forced her to move out of the way before the blow struck, her entire arm would have been ripped off.

Even so, her injuries were extremely severe, causing Lin Wuyou’s cries to shriek even more sharply. It was unknown what kind of pain the little girl was in. She was no longer her usual clever and obedient self, but screamed and kicked wildly in Qingying’s arms, disturbing her, causing her to panic and spit out a mouthful of blood in anger.

As the blood and energy spurted out, the atmosphere resounded with a

resounding roar. Just as Qing Wan’s blood and energy surged, the old and new were no longer flowing. The external sound waves effortlessly penetrated her flesh, directly impacting her internal organs. Qing Ying’s body trembled violently, and several streams of true energy were diverted into other meridians. The

powerful backlash caused blood to flow from all seven orifices of her face. This was the terrifying power of “Sound Killing.”

The evil wind was nearby, yet it watched helplessly as Qing Ying suffered another wound. Her fury was completely raging. However, she was still not engulfed by the impact. As soon as she saw the trick, she knew who was behind it.

“Gu Yinmi, get out here!”

She screamed, and the sound spread in all directions. This also utilized the art of sound killing. While its sophistication was inferior, its aura and power were far superior.

The invisible sound waves, like an underwater volcano erupting, pushed the surrounding dense Nine Netherworld Qi, wave after wave, to surge and slam in all directions.

Whether the nearly indiscriminate attack could injure the enemy was secondary. The key was to defeat the opponent’s fatal move targeting Qingying. Under the chaotic sound waves, Qingying suppressed her injuries and fiercely

swallowed Wuyou, shielding her and flying back toward the evil wind.

“Yes, it’s Guyin, that’s her, that’s her.”

Amidst the mighty sound waves, Madam Yan’s pale face flushed with a sickly red, and her body showed an unusual agitation.

She finally broke free from Li Xun’s hold, looking around, her lips unconsciously muttering with the surging sound waves: “Sister Guyin, get out here, get out here!”

Li Xun pursed his lips, his gaze fixed on the battlefield in mid-air.

Qingying, suffering internal and external injuries, and having to consider Lin Wuyou’s safety, could only show her back, leaving her with almost no chance of retaliation. The opponent, fixated on this point, even abandoning his most skilled sonic killing technique, pursued Qingying and attacked.

At that moment, Li Xun finally caught sight of the person. However, due to the intense friction caused by the surging Nine Netherworld Qi during high flight, his figure was hazy and blurred, its features blurred by the refracted light.

Though the man pursued closely, the distance between Yaofeng and Qingying was too close. In the blink of an eye, their figures intersected, and Yaofeng swept past Qingyang like a blazing cloud of fire.

Their protective true energy made contact. Instead of repelling the collision, it blended seamlessly. A humming and shimmering sound emanated. With a resounding clang, the man who attacked again was deflected by the combined energy shield of the two demons, revealing his position. A

hissing demonic wind whistled through the atmosphere, his robe sleeves fluttering, and a torrent of flames poured down like a nine-sky waterfall, instantly engulfing the man. The resulting tsunami of vital energy swept across much of the sky, plunging the sealed environment, which had just begun to ease, once again into a boundless inferno.

Li Xun unleashed his protective true energy to block the wave of fire. Suddenly, a feeling struck him, and he turned to look at Youli. His scarred face was livid, his hands clenched into fists behind his back, his body motionless. Li Xun understood his feelings at that moment; the feeling of powerlessness was never pleasant.

With a sigh, he turned back, ready to extract more information from Madam Yan, but as his gaze shifted, a red figure passed by. He froze, then suddenly remembered something. He narrowed his eyes, scanning the air, and quickly caught sight of his target again.

“Cat?” Li Xun reached up and touched the “Soul-Breaking Shuttle” in his arms through his bodice. Qin Wanru had sent it over a few days ago. He had only admired his cheap senior sister’s thoughtfulness, but now he was simply grateful.

“What a great opportunity…”

Just as he was thinking, a flash of golden light caught Li Xun’s attention. It was the glimmer of light from the cat’s flight, so fast that it was almost shimmering golden threads, striking against the gray and fiery red background.

But that was all Li Xun saw. The cat was incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, it passed through the blazing wall of fire and disappeared into the burning jungle.

Li Xun, no longer concerned about Madam Yan’s position, suddenly shifted, circling in a wide circle and flying towards the cat’s hiding place.

As he moved, the air erupted with a resounding explosion, a massive force spreading outward from the epicenter. More than ten ripples, seemingly tangible, formed within the thick tide of Yin Qi. After spreading to a certain extent, they vibrated with a humming tremor, turning everything they touched into a terrifying dust.

Li Xun was caught in the ripples’ area, and for a moment, he was frantic. The Bottomless Dark Ring instantly spun thousands of times before dissipating the terrifying force.

The tremors triggered a storm of Yin fire that churned back and forth within the sealed realm, disrupting Li Xun’s newly generated intuition.

With a low curse, he raised his head and saw Demon Wind standing proudly in the void, its body shimmering with flames, occasionally emanating from it. Slender streams of flame swirled around it, a waveless, awe-inspiring presence. However, before her stood a man worthy of her equal.

He was tall and imposing, his clothes a dull grayish-white, even stained with the silver-gray fluids of Madam Yan’s puppet. But he kicked empty air with his hands behind his back. His expression was as indifferent as a towering cliff. He paid no attention to the raging sea of fire, his demeanor shone with a solitary, cold, and detached air.

It was indeed him!

Li Xun spat, and was about to curse again, when he suddenly realized how treacherous the situation before him was. Despite the man’s impressive presence, he was nothing more than a hollow shell, a walking corpse.

“Gu Zhi Xuan Yu San Ren… Hey!”

Li Xun sneered, his gaze darting back to the fiery forest where the cat had vanished.

While the puppet’s spiritual consciousness still had its combat instincts, such orderly advances and retreats required someone to guide it. As a master of this art, Li Xun doubted that he could control it so effortlessly even through the barrier of ancient sounds. Then…

With his wits about him, he launched himself once more, lunging towards the burning jungle on the other side. The intense heat wave rushed towards him, but was split by his protective energy and flowed in both directions.

Another loud explosion echoed in the air, followed by a series of gas explosions, one wave after another. The demonic wind and the puppet collapse engaged in a head-on clash. Li Xun, unperturbed, plunged into the sea of fire with undiminished speed.

Entering the forest, the distance between him and the cat narrowed noticeably, and Li Xun had regained his sense of its vital pulse. He smiled faintly, and was about to turn and fly when his heart suddenly tightened.

A dark shadow had appeared earlier, as if leaping from a dream, then in a flash, it merged into the twisting shadows of the flames.

Li Xun’s eyes could not follow the demonic shadow’s trajectory. However, an all-too-familiar, fierce aura pierced his mind like lightning, creating a striking mark for him.

It was… in front of Qing Jia!

Its massive body practically clung to Qing Yang, its size practically swallowing both her and Lin Wuyou whole. Without any buffering force from their protective energy, the fiercest collision clashed, and the demonic shadow’s hideous features were reflected in the cascading lightning.

“Mo Luo Hou!”

Li Xun’s voice uttered between his teeth. In the sky, the two great demons engaged in a fierce clash. To everyone’s surprise, the earth-shattering attack was silent. The void at the center of the collision suddenly collapsed, and Mo Luo Hou’s figure seemed to merge with the rift in the void, his massive body instantly vanishing.

“Shadow Devouring Technique!”

Li Xun’s cheek muscles twitched. Undoubtedly, Mo Luo Hou was unleashing the purest Shadow Devouring Technique.

He displayed the so-called “Void Devouring Breath” technique to its fullest potential. Even You Li, who had practiced this art his entire life, would likely not be able to match it.

Qing Ying, wounded and caught off guard, suffered a heavy blow. She swung her hand blade, but it slashed through the collapsed void. As she tried to retract her force, she felt a sudden surge of twisting force, radiating through her outward palm. In the blink of an eye, it spread across and directly impacted the Qi channels.

At this moment, Mo Luo Hou’s true power was revealed!

Qingying’s expression instantly darkened.

The power of the Shadow Devouring Technique was fully unleashed. It wasn’t just Na Yi’s agile movements, but also a terrifying killing technique.

The entangled force penetrated her body, taking advantage of the momentary fluctuations in her energy channels, piercing through her vital essence acupoints and then lashing out with all its might.

Qingying groaned, her face involuntarily bent downward, a tinge of green and red mingling. The yin and yang in her body were completely disrupted. In the process, she lost 20% of the vital essence she had nurtured for tens of thousands of years, damaging her foundation far more severely than the severe blow she suffered outside the capital.

In the void, Mo Luo let out an excited howl. As the Void Extreme Sun Rat, she possessed the innate ability to devour the essence of others, and this ability perfectly complemented the Shadow Devouring Technique. Both the Nine Nether Ancestor of the past and Qing You of today suffered a heavy loss when caught off guard.

Although her innate intelligence was far less clear than that of a human, her ferocity and sharpness, grounded in her animalistic nature, far surpassed any contemporary master. Her massive body pressed forward, leaving Qingying no chance to breathe.

Seriously wounded and holding Wuyou, Qingying was truly bound, even her chances of escape were blocked. Within three rounds of fighting, she was struck by the mighty palm of the Demon Hou, causing her meridians to vibrate and shift, further exacerbating her injuries.

Watching the internal struggles of her formidable foe was not a pleasant experience for Li Xun. A cloud of doubt hung over his head like a dark cloud: “How could the Demon Hou be the Demon Hou? Didn’t the demon wind say her primordial spirit and essence were sealed in the golden pill mud?”

He pursed his lips, and a series of related scenarios flashed through his mind.

Lin Wuyou took the golden bead from Madam Yan’s chest and handed it to Qingyou. Then… the cat; and the glittering golden thread.

The cat had stolen the golden bead!

“Yes, that’s right.” Li Xun lightly struck his forehead with a fist, then, after a moment of composure, suddenly spread his divine consciousness net towards the spot where the Demon Hou had just emerged. “Even if we can obtain the Golden Pill Divine Mud, we must bring back the Demon Hou’s physical body. So she’s somewhere…”

A sudden sensation disrupted Li Xun’s divine search. He turned back in shock, gazing at the battlefield in the sky. Over there, the Demon Phoenix and the Jade Wanderer puppets remained entangled, their superiority uncertain for the time being. But the Demon Hou had suddenly ceased its oppressive attacks. Ren Qingyou staggered back.

Like a frightened beast, she stopped hunting, ears pricked, bloodshot eyes fixed on a single point.

That was the Void Rift, the origin of the “Nine Nether Devouring Realm.”

Due to the fierce battle just now, she and Qingying were already near the Void Rift. The thick darkness here had unnoticedly spread over a radius of over ten feet. Yet, for some unknown reason, it had transformed from its previously calm and profound state to a surging, oscillating wave-like pattern, revealing the profound instability of the space beneath it.

Mo Luo Hou and Qing Ying were at the very edge of this darkness, threatened to be trapped at any moment.

In mid-air, Mo Luo Hou’s bloodshot eyes flashed with a fierce gleam, as if he had witnessed something horrific. His almost ethereal form slowly moved backwards, and the tips of the long, pitch-black spikes on his shoulders began to emit grayish-white smoke that lingered around him. His cautious demeanor was unusual.

A swirling yin energy surrounded the drooping darkness, ignited by scattered sparks, erupting into a massive burst of flames that swept past Mo Luo Hou and Qing Ying.

The intense jolt of vital energy disrupted the relatively balanced situation, and both demons reacted instinctively.

Qing You flew into the air. Mo Luo Hou shifted sideways, and the distance between them instantly widened. This clearly exceeded Mo Luo Hou’s acceptable limit and contradicted his mission. His bloodshot eyes flickered, scanning back and forth between Qing Ying and the void rift, a look of hesitation.

The ignited yin fire swept past like a gust of wind, rushing off into the distance.

A gurgling sound emanated from Moruo’s mouth, but ultimately, the pressure of the command prevailed. She spun, her bloodshot eyes fixed on Qingying, who was about to eat her, and then launched herself forward. Suddenly,

a sudden change occurred!

Two long ropes suddenly flew out from the expanding wave of darkness. Gray and insubstantial, yet fierce and eerie, Moruo’s throat soared only a few feet before it was firmly clamped down and stomped on. The force of the former pulling downward, the latter spurring upward, combined to produce a muffled, crunching sound that was so pronounced that even Li Xun could hear it.

Moruo’s throat let out a sharp scream, and a cloud of gray-white smoke rose from its massive form, rustling with a rustling sound as it made contact with the surrounding air.

The smoke suddenly ignited a faint blue spark, and flames spread along the ropes, trembling wildly as if alive, like two struggling snakes.

Li Xun exclaimed in amazement. Beneath the wave of darkness, this must be the Nine Netherworld. How could such a bizarre thing still exist there? Seeing the shape of the long rope, a fragment of memory flashed through his mind, but before it could crystallize, his heart skipped a beat.

He jerked his head, his vision expanding in response, his mind more specifically withdrawing its lock on a specific location.

The familiar pulse of life, like a burning beard in the darkness, burned into the web woven by his mind.

Without hesitation, Li Xun abandoned the battle in the sky and charged forward. Through the blazing flames and smoke, he almost saw the figure he had expected.

“Gu Yin…”

Without any warning, Li Xun lost his balance and twisted his body, clinging to a nearby tree trunk. The tree had already been charred by the raging fire, and the impact instantly reduced it to a cloud of ash that choked Li Xun’s throat.

For the moment, Li Xun couldn’t care less about his disheveled appearance. He struggled to stand, but couldn’t help but touch his forehead with his left hand. In that instant, he felt like he’d been lashed with a whip. Beyond the excruciating pain, his eardrums screamed, and the blood vessels beneath his skin pulsed violently, seemingly tearing apart the flesh.

The pain showed no sign of fading. Instead, it radiated from his forehead for a moment. His face, skull, forehead, and spine were all consumed by relentless agony. The Niwan Palace, located between his eyebrows, was particularly throbbing with the pain, which stretched his middle and lower Dantian, and

then to acupoints throughout his body. Even Li Xun, known for his fortitude, couldn’t help but groan softly. But the pain didn’t diminish his spiritual perception. Even with his head exploding with pain, he could still discern the steady patter of footsteps amidst the relentless roar of the flames.

“Damn it…”

Li Xun cursed inwardly, maintaining composure and raising his head.

Snow drifted from his skirt amid the swirling flames. His gaze drifted upward, his eyes moving across the slender figure, the cat curled on his shoulder, and finally his intrigued gaze.

“Hundred Ghosts Taoist?”

The firelight made it impossible to tell if Gu Yin’s face was still pale, but her husky tail still gave a hint.

Li Xun looked at her, suddenly finding it difficult to respond in this situation. Finally, he spat out a mouthful of black ash with a “Puh.” He forced himself to stand. Just then,

You Xi’s desperate cry reached the distance. His voice fragmented amid the rumbling and exploding tide of Yin Qi until he cried out a second time. Li Xun could only discern what he was shouting: “The Grandmaster is angry!”

The sharp, trembling tail of the syllables soared into the air, accompanied by a pain that had been agonizing for a moment. For a moment, Li Xun almost thought his skull had been ripped open.

With a painful groan, he stumbled and nearly fell to the ground. His once clear mind was blurred by the pain.

Li Xun struggled to open his eyes and see through the shaky vision. Gu Yin raised his head and gently stroked the cat’s soft fur, his gaze fixed on the sky above the lake.

The flames before him pierced the void, the heat scorching the air, causing it to squirm endlessly. Yet, she stood like a white lotus in the raging sea of fire, standing tall and proud, dazzlingly so.

Li Xun shook his head, forcing himself to calm down. He faintly heard a cold voice: “In a moment of impulsiveness, I was poisoned. Even in the afterlife, the death of this old man, Jiuyou, under the thunderbolt is not in vain.”

Gu Yin’s words, perhaps unintentional, pierced Li Xun’s mind.

He muttered a curse, and understanding dawned on him. The bone-veining and heart-connecting technique naturally began to flow. In an instant,

his Qi channels shifted from the Nether Sect’s techniques to a Blood Shadow Demonic Body, and even his bones and muscles underwent numerous changes. A true, qualitative change. The sharp pain in his head receded like a tide. If it weren’t for the faint feeling of his tense scalp, Li Xun would have thought it was just a dream.

The qualitative change drew Gu Yin’s glance, and the corners of her lips curved slightly. Still gazing upward, Li Xun snorted, a lingering sense of confusion welling up. He followed Gu Yin’s gaze upward.

The state of the Demonic Hou was noticeably different from before. Its massive body struggled to curl up, its hands reaching out to grasp the long ropes around its ankles. The natural bloodstains on its taut skin became increasingly glaring. In the swirling smoke around it, countless faint blue flashes of electricity flickered endlessly, as if wrestling with an invisible enemy.

The Demonic Hou’s appearance was clumsy, but Li Xun couldn’t smile. At the edge of the expanding darkness, You Xi and several other elders had already fallen to the ground, their lives uncertain. The Heavenly King Umbrella above them continued to rotate, but its rotation had slowed noticeably, and the barrier it had drawn out began to ripple.

On the lake’s central island, Madam Yan and You Li also slumped to the ground. The former was already unconscious, on the verge of collapse. Only You Li remained relatively conscious, though veins bulged from his forehead, and

sweat dripped down, revealing he

was in great pain. They had not escaped the pain Li Xun had just endured, and perhaps even more so. In the blink of an eye, the Ghostly Shadow Devouring Sect’s remaining fighting force had dissipated.

Madam Yan, struggling to hold on, finally lost her last bit of consciousness and collapsed. A moment later, a cloud of blood exploded on the lakeshore, shattering the head of an elder. Blood and blood hadn’t yet hit the ground when another cloud of red and white droplets splattered everywhere. In an instant, everything was reduced to ash in the tide of yin energy.