The Forbidden Path to Immortality - Chapter 165

Chapter 1: The Body

Warm light streamed into the room through the window lattice, bringing with it the lazy, casual air of the afternoon. Behind the small desk, Shui Dielan leaned back, one hand supporting her chin, her eyes half-closed, as if she were dozing off. On the couch to the side, Yin Sanren remained seated cross-legged, his head drooping,

as if lost in thought. Li Xun, on the other hand, stood still in the center of the room, eyes closed, face raised, breathing softly. As his breath continued to flow in and out, the air within the room undulated and swayed, completely merging into the realm he was expanding from within.

The three figures’ individual postures might have seemed normal individually, but together, they looked utterly bizarre. Anyone standing outside would have been stunned by the crisscrossing web of energy within.

Within the confined space, the vast energy was divided into three sources, with thousands of energy shifting with each breath, yet the overall trend was towards mastery.

Within this trend, Li Xun simply focused on slowly advancing his own cultivation method, starting with the most basic principles.

He first used authentic Xuanmen Qi to circulate the Qi, moving up and down the towers. When his merit reached perfection, a sudden, profound change occurred. Netherworld Yin Fire, emanating from the bottomless Dark Ring in his chest, slowly spread through his meridians and inflated his acupoints and pores.

This process continued nine times. At the deepest point of the Dark Ring, a tiny gap opened, revealing the boundless expanse of the Nine Netherworld. A drop of pure Nine Netherworld Earth Qi merged with the Netherworld Yin Fire, fueling a raging fire. As the Yin Fire reached the site of his technique, Li Xun’s heart pulsed again.

A burst of demonic blood ignited, and simultaneously, his heart contracted violently, reducing it to a tiny, dust-like blood core.

Instantly, his entire body transformed, his internal organs dissolved, and the resulting fiery essence merged with the violent, murderous intent of the Dharma. This combined with a fierce and domineering force, devouring the vital energy nurtured by the previous two techniques.

This is also a crucial reason why Li Xun’s Blood Shadow Demon Body, despite its limited use of slaughter and gathering resentful spirits, has yet achieved great success.

While in the Blood Shadow Demon Body state, Li Xun developed an almost instinctive craving for the surrounding vital energy. The bloody, poisonous fire emanating from his skin was like a hungry beast, restlessly eager to devour the pure, abundant vital energy of the other two within the room.

Li Xun, the beast’s master, allowed it to leap and roar, yet held the reins firmly, appearing to be at ease.

In this state, the energy radiating from Shui Dielan and Yin Sanren remained perfectly stable, and instead became even more harmonious with Li Xun’s aura.

This state persisted for some time. As the sun’s shadow shifted slightly westward, Shui Dielan sighed, slowly opened her eyes, and said, “Alright!”

Li Xun gathered his energy but did not open his eyes or speak immediately. Recently, he had not been able to clearly review his many techniques, and he had gained considerable insights, so he needed to rest for a while.

Shui Dielan remained unmoved, still slouching in her chair, her eyes glancing sideways. “Hey, how are you feeling?”

Yin Sanren raised her head, the shadow cast by the sunlight and the window lattice dimming half her face slightly, yet her expression remained surprisingly calm and serene.

She seemed oblivious to the hostility in Shui Dielan’s words, smiling faintly. “There are only three sects’ techniques, no so-called bone and meridians to connect the heart, yet they are able to reveal meridians through the transformation of various auras. This method of using the existing to overcome the existing is extremely clever. I believe the master is well aware of this, so he only reveals the meridians and deliberately omits the tangible application of the method.”

Shui Dielan’s expression remained unchanged, though her brows furrowed slightly at the word “master.” After Yin Sanren finished speaking, she hummed and said, “I have no contact with Zhong Yin and I don’t know what he’s thinking. The connection here has to be guessed by you, an acquaintance.”

Yin Sanren saw that Shui Dielan was deliberately putting on airs but just smiled: “Purely speaking of technique, it has been naturally integrated into the instinct and blood, so there is no need to deliberately exert force to make the veins open. The three sects’ magic formulas are naturally combined into one, and there is obviously no benefit to each other. It’s just that…”

She paused for a moment and changed her tone: “It’s better to control people with the law than to control the law with people. Dragons ride on clouds, tigers create wind. It is natural for dragons and tigers to cause wind and clouds. But if there are dragons and tigers because of wind and clouds, then… it’s not beautiful, right?”

As she spoke, she greeted Shui Dielan with her eyes and kept a very low posture.

Shui Dielan glanced at her, her bright eyes turned and she smiled back: “Fellow Daoist Yin (Baidu) is right. The imprint of this technique is too deep and it is integrated with the flesh, blood and mind. Even if you don’t want to use it, you can’t. If my guess is correct, when Zhong Yin taught this technique that day, he should have used the method of ‘heart perception’, right?”

Li Xun opened his eyes and glanced at the two women. He felt that the atmosphere in the room was a bit strange, but he was soon impressed by Shui Dielan’s accurate judgment: “Yes, at that time Zhong Yin locked me with sword energy and forced me to comprehend the essence of this technique under the pressure of the sword every day.”

“It’s strange to say that at that time he also taught me a few hundred words of magic formula for me to memorize, but over the years, the magic formula has gradually been forgotten, but the application of this technique has become more and more proficient day by day. In the end, all kinds of changes can be caused by just a thought, and everything goes as expected.”

“Now I think about it, although there has been great progress, I know the results but not the reasons. It’s just like the correspondence between people and the law without distinguishing the primary and the secondary.”

Shui Dielan raised an eyebrow and looked at him: “The problem has been found. What do you want to do?”

Li Xun had thought about these things on the way here, so he was mentally prepared.

“Zhong Yin built a high platform and sent me up there. He built it from the foundation to the frame. If he means well, that would be great. But if he’s really scheming, it might collapse any day. I’m just thinking about finding a new place to stay, or at least getting down from the platform safely.”

“You’re quite open-minded.”

Shui Dielan glanced at him sideways and then turned to look at Yin Sanren: “This technique of opening the heart through bones has never been recorded in the Tongxuan Realm. It should have been created by Zhong Yin. But no matter what the idea is, there must be a source so that it can be unraveled and gradually resolved. What have you discovered?”

Yin Sanren shook his head slowly and asked: “Where is Shui Xianzi?”

Shui Dielan was getting up and resting her chin on the table with her hand and knocked it: “I always feel that there is a shadow of “The Myriad Aspects of Heavenly Demons” in it. That’s why it is so consistent with “The Blood God Son” which also belongs to the way of the Heavenly Demon. However, this supreme Heavenly Demon magical power cannot be cultivated by a specific method. It has too many branches. It is still difficult to find an exact source.”

In terms of knowledge, Yin Sanren is already one of the most knowledgeable people in this world, but compared with Shui Dielan’s tens of thousands of years of experience, there is still a distance. At least the Heavenly Demon laws she knows are definitely not as many as Shui Dielan knows. But she has a plan now.

Seeing Shui Dielan frowning and thinking hard, she said softly, “The master really practiced the three doors simultaneously in Songjing in the mortal world. Although Zhong Yin had seen him at that time, he only knew that he was secretly practicing the “Record of the Netherworld.” “

As Shui Xianzi said, the art of connecting the bones and meridians to the heart contains the veins of the myriad aspects of the devil. Only in this way can the Xuanmen Heart Sutra and the heavenly magic sects such as the Blood Shadow Demon Body be perfectly integrated. Although the “Record of the Netherworld” is evil, it is a top-grade internal practice of the side sect. It is pure and harmonious and has nothing to do with the various methods of the devil.”

“Even if the art of connecting the bones and meridians to the heart was tailor-made for the master by Zhong Yin, it must have been practiced after the master returned to the mountain and was seen by Zhong Yin as practicing “unmoving evil thoughts”, so it can only be more than a month at most. Although Zhong Yin is a genius, it is ridiculous to say that he can create such a miraculous skill in more than a month…”

She stopped talking, but her unfinished meaning was already very clear.

Shui Dielan, awakened from her dream, immediately came to her senses. She slammed the table and shouted, “That’s right! Besides, given his status at the time, it seems he wasn’t worthy of Zhong Yin’s attention… Then this bone meridian heart-opening technique wasn’t tailor-made for him, but should have been created earlier and for a different purpose.”

At this point, Shui Dielan asked Yin Sanren, “You’ve fought Zhong Yin before, can you tell what kind of magic he practiced?”

Yin Sanren shook his head. “Zhong Yin’s cultivation is flawless and perfect. If he practiced side techniques, he would never have reached that level. I have some good judgment.”

Neither woman was surprised that Zhong Yin, the foremost of the righteous, would refer to the practices of the celestial demons. On the contrary, it would be strange if he, a peerless master, didn’t draw inferences from other practices. However, Yin Sanren’s commentary changed things.

“Since he doesn’t practice demonic techniques, who did he go to such great lengths to develop this technique? Qing Yin?”

Shui Dielan noticed Li Xun’s unusual silence and took the opportunity to glance over. “Hey, what kind of mental method is your senior-master Qing Yin practicing?”

“Huh? Oh, what did you say?”

Li Xun was clearly distracted, and quite seriously.

Seeing his absent-minded attitude, Shui Dielan said unhappily, “We’re here to help you, but you’re wandering off into the void. What are you thinking about?”

“I’ve got some feeling in my mind that I can’t quite place.” Li Xun relaxed his frown and smiled. “What did you say just now?”

“Regarding your beautiful Qingyin, I remember you mentioned that the technique she practiced was…”

“Taixu Yuanhua Shenguang. It’s one of the sect’s four techniques and three secrets, alongside the Lingxi Jue, and is the least practiced technique.”

Li Xun responded casually, his expression still uncertain.

Shui Dielan was genuinely surprised by his expression, and her face grew serious. “Is the feeling so strong? Is some kind of calamity coming?”

At Li Xun’s level, due to his extremely sharp spiritual perception, all senses of reality and illusion cannot be ignored. Just like when he was uneasy on Zuowang Peak because of the Slashing Sky Divine Sword, he never knew whether this was the beginning of a calamity or the opportunity for a major breakthrough.

However, the concept of perception is profoundly elusive. Everyone says that being able to sense the heart of heaven and avoid danger is easy, but how many people in the entire Tongxuan world can actually achieve it?

Seeing him tangled up in the tangled threads, Shui Dielan tentatively suggested, “Is it about the bone meridians connecting the heart?”

“No, no,”

Li Xun lowered his head, trying to concentrate. “It should have appeared earlier. It didn’t appear suddenly. I think the clues appeared when I was organizing the sect’s methods, but I was so focused that I filtered them out. Or maybe even earlier?”

Since he said that, it meant he had grasped some clues. Shui Dielan immediately shut up and made room for him.

Li Xun pondered for a long time, but made no progress. He sighed in frustration and looked up, only to see Yin Sanren.

Yin Sanren’s temperament had calmed down. The rebelliousness he had shown since regaining his spiritual consciousness had faded after Li Xun’s repeated attacks, and this time, he had become as still as stagnant water.

More importantly, this was calmness, not depth. Li Xun’s perception of the Youxuan puppet was even clearer, as if stripped of its complexity. He wondered if this was due to his own progress, or something else entirely.

As he thought about this, he suddenly felt a strange look from Shui Dielan beside him, realizing he’d been distracted again. He gave a wry laugh, and was about to say something when his heart skipped a beat. His eyes blazed, and he stared at Yin Sanren’s face for a long, unmoving moment.

Both women noticed something was amiss. Shui Dielan called out, “Have you figured it out?”

He nodded, then shook his head again. Under the bewildered gazes of the two women, he suddenly reached forward and touched Yin Sanren’s face. Shui Dielan frowned slightly, her gaze tracing the point where their skin met, remaining silent.

Feeling the warm, smooth touch against his fingertips, Li Xun’s perception grew clearer. He pondered for a moment, then snapped his fingers with his other hand, summoning Youyi once more.

The two Youxuan puppets faced each other, and a hidden network of energy suddenly emerged.

Yin Sanren had been calmly allowing Li Xun to flirt with her until her expression faltered slightly, and she asked, “But this?”

Li Xun nodded slightly, but before he could say anything, Shui Dielan, who was standing beside him, erupted in discontent. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I didn’t do anything, but I did see a ghost.” Li Xun withdrew his hand, his gaze darting back and forth between the two puppets for a moment, his confusion only deepening.

“Both are here, so what’s the other one? I can’t summon it…”

He was scratching his head for a moment. Yin Sanren leaned forward slightly on the couch and whispered, “Why don’t we use the Ghost Path to open the Netherworld? Youyi and I will work together, and Master will control Shui Xianzi’s blockade. It shouldn’t have any impact on Wuyinxuan.”

Shui Dielan, already sensing something, asked curiously, “Is there something wrong in the Nine Netherworld?”

Li Xun glanced at Shui Dielan and shook his head. “She’s still injured, so it’s not appropriate for her to come into contact with the Nine Netherworld’s energy.”

This was his response to Yin Sanren.

Shui Dielan had long understood the implication of his words, and the corners of her lips curled up, but she quickly pulled them down, slamming her fist on the desk with a thud, and said angrily: “You two dogs surnamed Li, if you keep talking in secret like this, get out of Wuyinxuan!”

Li Xun sighed and spread his hands, saying: “What do you want me to say? This kind of pure induction thing can only be understood but not expressed in words… Besides, didn’t you understand it?”

Without waiting for Shui Dielan to get angry again, he immediately got to the point: “The method of opening the Ghost Road is not bad, but I still need to prepare first. After all, this is Wuyinxuan and it is easy to set up a forbidden formation.”

“You also heard it just now. In your current state, you are not suitable for contacting the Nine Netherworld Earth Qi. When the Ghost Road is opened, you just sit behind the desk and don’t move. The forbidden method will help you block it.”

Shui Dielan sneered: “It’s a waste of effort.”

Even so, she did not move. The unhappiness on her face disappeared in just a few breaths. She just leaned back in the chair and watched Li Xun arrange things in the room with a smile.

Li Xun’s speed was truly remarkable. In just half a minute, he had completed a delicate and exquisite forbidden spell. After a brief test, he nodded to Yin Sanren, signaling the two puppets to gather their energy.

Neither puppet utilized their own abilities, merely harnessing the physical properties of the Youxuan puppets to channel the vast amount of Yin Qi for Li Xun’s use. Therefore, the Ghost Path spell was essentially performed by Li Xun alone.

He placed his hand on his chest, carefully monitoring the operation of the Bottomless Dark Ring. Once the Yin Qi accumulated by the two puppets had reached a certain limit, he calmly began his technique. A wisp of divine consciousness passed through the Bottomless Dark Ring, connecting with the boundless expanse beyond.

However, after a few breaths, the surrounding temperature gradually fluctuated, alternating between hot and cold, like two whirling winds swirling through the room.

Li Xun raised his hands to his chest, palms facing each other, fingers spread apart, a dark hole slowly expanding in the center of the spherical, empty space.

Under the sudden surge of pressure, the furniture in the room all jumped. Soon, the forbidden patterns on the walls and floor lit up, like channels channeling the squeezed Nine Netherworld Qi back into the ever-flowing earth veins deep beneath the earth. Under

the dual control of Li Xun and the forbidden technique, the once silent Ghost Road was now confined to the limited space of the room.

Li Xun slowly released his hands and stepped back two steps. A roughly formed rift in the void slowly expanded. As the rift opened, his sight pierced through it, reaching the vast space beyond. The previously vague and uncertain sensations struck his heart with unprecedented intensity.

He squinted, his eyelids twitching violently.

A faint green light first shone in the deep space. After a few breaths, the faint spark of light, like a spark, spread out. In an instant, the torrent of Nine Netherworld Qi transformed into a beam of light that pierced the void, instantly filling the room with a dazzling green light, illuminating the beards and eyebrows of men.

His throbbing eyelids burned. Li Xun suddenly struck out, slamming a powerful punch into the crumbling spatial barrier, sending half his arm plunging into the crack. Then, lowering his waist, he slid back with a powerful pull, shouting, “Get out!” The Nine Netherworld’s energy surged two levels higher. With a crack, the desk in front of Shui Dielan split in two. The walls of the room trembled, and furnishings fell to the floor. Following closely behind was a torrent of shimmering azure light.

The combined forces of the two forces shattered the window frames, shattering with a bang and scattering everywhere. Finding a way to vent, the force surged forward, weaving into a slate-gray torrent, roaring like a startled stinging dragon, and surging into the vast expanse outside.

Li Xun was certain his right hand had grasped its target. Without even glancing down, he raised his free left hand to his chest, glaring, and shouted, “Fixing the Spirit!”

The spell of word-spiriting merged instantly with the densely-veined forbidden techniques. Wuyinxuan’s hidden arrangements were now revealed, the unbridled torrent of vital energy crashing headfirst into the intertwined web of energy, instantly shattered and channeled into the ground, leaving no room for resistance.

With a long sigh, Li Xun handed over the task of concluding the spell and closing the rift to the two puppets. Suddenly, Shui Dielan’s nearly hoarse voice reached his ears: “That…”

Shui Dielan could no longer maintain her unwavering composure. She leaned forward slightly, as if to stand, but froze mid-stride, staring at the limp figure behind Li Xun.

The piercing green light emanated from this figure, now much fainter, and the outline of its form could barely be discerned.

Li Xun lowered his head. Though prepared, he still held his breath the moment the figure came into view. His right hand, clenched tightly, seemed glued to the man’s shoulder, unable to loosen.

A man in a green shirt, her long black hair flowing in the faint green light, looked like a beauty carved from jade, eyes half closed, in the deepest slumber.

Her pale, crystal-clear face was strangely calm, only her jade-like hands clasped before her chest, fingers intertwined in a strange hand seal. The only source of her energy was there; otherwise, there was no trace of

her aura. Shui Dielan finally stood up, seemingly regaining some composure, though her voice remained unusually soft, like the faintest breath. “Qingluan?”

Li Xun’s face was indescribable. He turned to Shui Dielan and replied hoarsely, “Yes, it’s Qingluan.”

The nearby Yin Sanren approached to check Qingluan’s pulse.

Shui Dielan hesitated briefly before approaching, staring blankly at Qingluan’s calm and serene face. Suddenly, she turned and glared at Li Xun, “What’s going on?”

“Didn’t I tell you?”

“You told me?”

Shui Dielan fretted, taking deep breaths to calm herself. After a moment, she added, “Don’t tell me you left her like this!”

“How is that possible!” Li Xun said with a wry smile. “This is within the Nine Netherworld… I just told you, don’t you remember?”

Seeing Shui Dielan’s furrowed brow, Li Xun was also confused. The two stared

at each other, unable to recall what had been said. Fortunately, Yin Sanren sighed softly, drawing their attention.

Seeing that she had already examined Qingluan’s condition, Li Xun asked, “How is it?”

Yin Sanren shook his head, “Life is extinguished, only the indestructible body remains…”

Before he could finish his words, Shui Dielan pushed him. “Let me see!”

Only Yin Zhonghua could tolerate this rude action now. She smiled faintly, lowering her eyes and stepping back. Li Xun glanced at her without saying a word, his attention returning to Shui Dielan. For a moment, the room was eerily quiet.

As his investigation deepened, Shui Dielan’s restless aura slowly subsided, gradually returning to her usual demeanor. However, Li Xun felt it was more like a kind of resigned dejection.

Seeing her like this, Li Xun had already formed a conclusion, but he still had to ask: “What happened?”

“Dead…”

Shui Dielan raised her head slightly, a long sigh trailing off, before she cast her gaze upon Li Xun’s face and pronounced her final verdict: “Dead as hell! At least that’s how you see it.”

What did he mean? Li Xun looked at her with some concern, then hesitated for a moment before speaking: “Are you okay?”

“It wasn’t me who died, how could I be?” Shui Dielan replied listlessly. Perhaps Li Xun’s gaze had pierced something in her nerves, and she straightened up and glared back fiercely. “What are you looking at? Haven’t you seen the rabbit die and the fox mourn?” The

sudden outburst of emotions was undoubtedly the best outlet. As soon as she finished speaking, she pressed her hand to her forehead and laughed to herself.

When she spoke again, Shui Dielan had regained her composure and agility as the peerless demon she once was. She lowered her head to observe Qingluan’s condition, but her words were directed at Li Xun: “Is it okay to tell me the situation again?”

Li Xun put aside his doubts and hummed. He also sensed that, due to Zhong Yin’s pressure, he had misplaced the crucial matter of the Nine Nether Devouring Realm, neglecting it.

Now, he needed to focus on it again. Reconstructing the somewhat disorganized clues and recounting the events at hand was undoubtedly a good idea.

So, after a brief mental refresher, he meticulously recounted the events leading up to and after the Nine Nether Devouring Realm, tying them to the entanglement between Yu Sanren and Gu Yin.

From Netherfire Yama’s arrangements to Gu Yin’s subsequent reactions, he gradually reconstructed the massive event.

Throughout this process, Li Xun also sensed a significant difference in the focus of Shui Dielan and Yin Sanren.

Of course, Shui Dielan was most concerned about Qingluan’s death and the events surrounding the Demonic Hollow. She also had a very negative impression of Gu Yin, but she merely sneered at any matters related to him.

Yin Sanren, on the other hand, was quite interested in many aspects of Gu Yin, especially the rigid theories of the various sects. It felt like great minds think alike.

Li Xun spent a full hour recounting the events.

When he stopped talking, Shui Dielan immediately followed up, asking, “Even if Qingluan was swallowed by the Nine Netherworld, why would she have followed you here?”

“The Nine Netherworld isn’t a one-to-one correspondence with this world. The corpse-exorcism puppetry technique allows you to summon distant puppets through the Nine Netherworld, regardless of distance, but the cost is extremely high…”

Li Xun suddenly stopped talking, staring blankly between the two puppets.

Shui Dielan snorted, wondering what he was thinking about, but she carefully lifted Qingluan and laid him flat on the bed inside. Before she could pull away, she heard Li Xun clapping his hands and shouting, “Yes, that’s right. The source is still in Songjing!”