The Forbidden Path to Immortality - Chapter 174

Chapter 1: Promise (Part 1)

Li Xun paused directly above the entrance to a winding path. Until now, this area was merely a mountainous landscape of unusually lush trees. No one had yet noticed the vast spatial rift several miles underground.

The Green Emperor’s elder departed, carrying his vast, thousand-mile-wide trunk silently away.

There were no dazzling displays of light or sound, just as he had lived here for tens of thousands of years, quietly and understatedly. There were only three or five onlookers, including Li Xun, Shui Dielan, and Tian Zhi, and two others further away who were keeping a watchful eye.

“Kunpeng is so petty!”

Li Xun, knowing the identities of the two, would have been even more disapproving of their behavior. But he was even more curious about their relationship.

The old demon Kunpeng was undoubtedly extremely biased regarding the relationship between demons and human cultivators. Fatty Ji’s ability to play to his will likely stemmed from a considerable conflict of interest, not only due to his impressive flattery skills.

The Four Sects Alliance and the East Sea Demon Alliance were quite interesting…

Putting that thought aside for now, Li Xun turned back and glanced at Tian Zhi from beneath her hood.

Like a series of accidental collisions, the female cultivator quietly turned her head away. Li Xun didn’t react. This was the fourth time this had happened in just a quarter of an hour.

It had been like this ever since Li Xun half-heartedly revealed his other identity, Venerable Tianzhi. Li Xun couldn’t fathom the female cultivator’s true intentions, but he found her unusual demeanor quite amusing.

It turned out that revealing one’s true colors and shocking someone felt quite satisfying. He was already looking forward to shocking even more people with this method.

Shui Dielan, standing nearby, also noticed Tianzhi’s change and glanced at Li Xun with a smile, but remained silent. Li Xun smiled back and said, “Let’s go back.” As soon as

he finished speaking, all three of them were shocked.

Almost in unison, they turned their heads to the northern horizon. Over a hundred miles away, the waves on the sea suddenly intensified in momentum. The old demon Kunpeng’s murderous intent was hidden in the surging waves, rising and falling.

A long, crimson rainbow pierced the northern sky. As the people’s pupils took in the crimson hue, the newcomer appeared, accompanied by the resounding sound of thunder and lightning.

The heat wave nearly singed her hair. Li Xun frowned. A barrier formed from her body, shielding her from the devastating aftermath of the piercing air.

Her crimson skirt fluttered like a dancing flame, scorching and blinding. For a moment, Li Xun couldn’t even see the other person’s face, captivated by the blazing light. The

captivation lasted only a moment before Li Xun quickly recovered, frowning and gazing directly into the other person’s eyes.

Her blood-red pupils flickered slightly, scanning the faces of the three people in turn. Her gaze was as fierce as fire and as sharp as a knife. Even knowing there were at least three masters of her own level nearby, she didn’t falter in the slightest, giving the impression that if even the slightest spark was aroused, she would unhesitatingly ignite it into a raging conflagration!

Li Xun, however, showed no fear. Instead, feeling the loss of face, his words were particularly blunt. “Yuanjun, you’ve been so busy, I wonder how many people you’re going to kill?”

Li Xun’s words were the spark of a sudden attack. Without a second thought, the demon phoenix launched its killing blow.

Its attack was a powerful Hundred Tribulations Fire. The blaze, shimmering with a purple glow, instantly drained the air from a ten-mile radius. The flames swept across the surrounding forest, towering trees ten feet tall and thick, instantly transforming them into a blanket of white.

“This woman is crazy!”

Li Xun cursed silently, and without hesitation, he summoned Youyi to protect him. He then grabbed Shui Die Lande’s arm with his backhand and flew backward. As for Tianzhi, he didn’t need to worry about her.

Youyi’s majestic figure flashed from the void, meeting the gushing flames head-on. His pure black robe trembled like waves, shrouded in a dark bloody glow. With a muffled roar, the Blood Demon Heart Transformation Technique unleashed its full power. His sturdy body swelled by three times. A single punch struck, yet it felt like a hurricane rising from the ground.

In that instant, the intensity of the battle was catapulted to the pinnacle of this realm.

A thunderclap exploded in the air, and the mountain below trembled uncontrollably. Rocks and earth, already scorched by the intense heat, tumbled down, and dozens of twisted cracks appeared on the bare mountainside, tearing and extending at a visible rate. A hundred

miles away, the sound of the tide suddenly rose, but to Li Xun and Shui Dielan, it was a different kind of sound.

The old demon Kunpeng was clearly having a hard time holding back. He sobbed from afar, riding on the waves and the sea breeze: “The demon phoenix has come here alone. If we can seize this opportunity to slay her, it would be like severing Gu Yin’s arm!” “

Do you think everyone else is stupid? “

Li Xun suppressed the curse in his heart, pursing his lips and refusing to respond.

Although he had witnessed the deaths of the two great demons, Qingluan Demon Luohou, he would never assume that simply amassing manpower could slay a master of this caliber.

The unique environment of the Nine Nether Devouring Realm and the Netherfire Yin Famine’s relentless determination to fight to the death were the key factors in defeating the two demons. Both of these factors were present on the shores of the East China Sea. Old Kunpeng simply wanted to use others as pawns.

Seeing no news from this side, Old Kunpeng seemed a little embarrassed and stopped talking. Even the sound of the waves surging with demonic power faded considerably.

But at this moment, Li Xun had a new thought.

Judging from the demon phoenix’s mentality, it was clear that she was on the verge of madness. If she was truly determined to fight to the death, leaving her on the shores of the East China Sea would be impossible…

No, no. Not everyone can withstand the demon phoenix’s

desperate attack. Despite their strong forces, if that happened, they would probably be defeated by the demon phoenix by more than half. The Demon Phoenix Ancient Sound Loose Cultivator Alliance was a threat to the entire Tongxuan Realm. Why should his group bear the brunt of it?

Thinking of this, Li Xun laughed. This was probably exactly the thinking of the Tongxuan sect masters. It was because of this mentality that they had allowed the Loose Cultivator Alliance to expand to its current size.

But then again, when things reach their limit, they must react. When an unmanageable situation arises, the opposing side must act…

Go with the flow, act with wisdom and intuition. Avoid direct confrontations like the one just now.

“Stop!”

Li Xun’s tongue lashed out, forcefully intervening. The impact wasn’t enough to begin with, but it happened at the right moment. The mountain

, already crumbling from the shockwave, collapsed with a tremor. The ripples in the earth’s veins shifted, affecting the spatial fissures hidden miles below. A slight tremor affected the vast expanse, and then an incalculable, elusive aura emanated from the space. Through the sealed leylines, it transformed into the purest form of strength. The surge filled every corner of a thousand miles and expanded outward at a terrifying speed.

At that moment, Li Xun’s eardrums nearly shattered. He only vaguely heard a muffled boom. Beneath the crumbling mountain, a volcano seemed to lie buried. With the lid lifted, the immense energy accumulated over eons erupted with a roar!

A shockwave several miles in diameter shot straight into the heavens. The pure earth energy squeezed against each other, giving the gushing column a pale yellow sheen, casting an earthy veil over the already dark sky and earth.

The battling You Yi and the demon phoenix were swept apart, each tumbling for dozens of miles, unable to stop. The shockwave, connecting heaven and earth, served as a perfect barrier, and even with the demon phoenix’s furious killing intent, it couldn’t descend for a moment. It could only hang suspended in mid-air, feeling the turmoil that threatened to alter the very fabric of the world.

The column of energy from the sky lasted only two breaths before its force died, its peak having already soared nearly a hundred miles above the ground.

A violent tremor emanated from the distant horizon. Beneath the darkened sky, a yellowish halo emanated from the center of the tremor, echoing the movement on the ground. In an instant, it spread thousands of miles away, even to the outer seas, where waves crashed and rolled endlessly. Since

ancient times, pure energy has risen to form the sky, while turbid energy has sunk to form the earth. Only when the clear distinction between heaven and earth is clear and turbid can a stable world exist, capable of survival. But at this moment, in one corner of this world, the earth’s energy surged upward, and the clear and turbid reversed. Even if it was only for a moment, the aftermath would be difficult to dispel.

At this moment, countless highly skilled cultivators felt a sense of resonance, but faced with the unfolding events of heaven and earth, they could only watch with frustration.

Shui Die Lan disliked the thick earthy air that permeated the world, finding the earthy smell too strong and the atmosphere too mixed. She covered her mouth and nose lightly and whispered, “Now everyone knows there’s something fishy going on here. But we’re the only ones who know about ‘Winding Path

to a Secluded Place’. Do you want to…” Li Xun shook his head slightly. The situation was changing too quickly, rendering the pre-arranged arrangements ineffective, ultimately leading to a pointless contest of strength. In terms of overall strength and mobilization capabilities, the Loose Cultivator Alliance was the most respected. If the tempting bait of ‘Winding Path to a Secluded Place’ was thrown out, the situation would be out of control, and that would be exactly

what Gu Yin wanted. “Wait. If it weren’t for Elder Qing’s explanation, I wouldn’t have been able to figure out what was going on even if I’d been left here for ten years. Let them study it. We’ll reveal the answer once our arrangements are complete… Aren’t you trying to deal with Rama? We can use this as a tactic.”

Shui Die Lan sneered but remained silent.

Then, she surveyed the utterly shattered forest and said with some concern, “After this, earthquakes and tsunamis will continue until the deep cave below stabilizes. I’m afraid the area around the East China Sea will be uninhabitable for decades.”

Her implication was that even Wuyin Xuan would be affected.

Li Xun nodded, but wasn’t overly concerned. After all, Shui Dielan was still an amateur, unlike her, who had personally fine-tuned every forbidden technique at Wuyin Xuan and possessed unparalleled confidence in her own cave.

While this earth vein was thick, due to natural fractures, it couldn’t compare to Wuyin Xuan’s solid foundation. Li Xun even considered taking this opportunity to open up a connection with the earth vein here, bringing the deep cave leading directly to the Nine Netherworld under Wuyin Xuan’s control.

This would provide the ultimate guarantee for his envisioned forbidden technique design, ‘using the Nine Netherworld earth veins as its foundation and the water veins and fire orifices as its source of transformation.’

Li Xun shook his head. The towering pillar of heaven had vanished. The powerful earth energy in the sky also exploded, its aftermath mingling with dust and water vapor, drifting down.

From dozens of miles away, the demon phoenix seemed dazed. Li Xun strained his eyes, but couldn’t quite make out its true form. Just as he was wondering, the demon phoenix had shaken off its strange state and raised its head.

Even from a distance of dozens of miles, Li Xun could still sense its sharp gaze, but this time, he didn’t want to engage in a tit-for-tat confrontation.

He crossed his arms over his chest, forced You Yi to retreat, and remained silent. The power of the demon phoenix’s gaze gradually weakened, until she slowly flew over. The burning murderous intent she had previously possessed had subsided, but as she drew closer, Li Xun could almost hear the resentful roar welling up within her.

“If possible, this woman would destroy all three realms.”

She had truly gone mad. Li Xun couldn’t articulate the feeling within her, and that slight emotion vanished in a fleeting moment.

She simply watched with a cold gaze as the demon phoenix approached until she was a short distance away.

“What’s down there?”

Yao Feng’s words seemed somewhat rational, but Li Xun felt her limited rationality crumble with each syllable. If he had the will, he would only need to throw another spark, and another earth-shattering, life-threatening battle would ensue.

Putting aside this foolish thought, Li Xun smiled and said, “Why doesn’t Yuanjun find this familiar? What’s the difference between the rifts leading to the Nine Netherworld that you and I saw during the Nine Netherworld Eclipse?”

He not only explained the origin of the spatial rift but also hinted at Qingluan’s situation.

Yao Feng, of course, understood. She gave Li Xun a cold glance, but after that, her gaze could no longer be averted.

Li Xun couldn’t help but feel uneasy. He saw Yao Feng’s pupils fixed on his gaze, like two red-hot iron needles pressed against his chest, and his chest felt a chill in response to her gaze.

Li Xun almost immediately realized that the two feathers must have sensed something. The shocking vibrations during Qingluan’s ascension might simply be a notification to her only true friend in this world… or perhaps, lover?

With a cold sneer, Li Xun knew concealment was futile, so he simply reached into his chest and slowly pulled out the two feathers.

The moment the green feathers were completely exposed to the air, Li Xun clearly heard a nearly desperate groan. However, just as Li Xun tried to see the demon phoenix’s expression, a red light flashed before him, enveloping him with a molten heat. The murderous intent within pierced his very bones, forcing him to retreat.

After retreating a few feet, he suddenly had a sudden inspiration. With a loose grip, the two feathers flew away.

The green feathers, swept by the flames, didn’t turn to ash, but instead shone with a faint blue light. Then, a slender, white hand reached out from the flames and gently grasped the two feathers.

The flames faded, and Li Xun stopped moving. He suppressed the thought of calling You Yi back and said calmly, “This is a relic left behind by Fairy Qingluan. I think

it would be most appropriate to entrust it to Yuanjun.” His words were pure nonsense. As for more concrete details like the Qingluan’s transformation into a feather, he could certainly share them, but seeing the demon phoenix focusing all its energy on the feather, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

He had a feeling the demon phoenix would glean far more detailed and intuitive information from the feather than he could describe.