The Forbidden Path to Immortality - Chapter 204

Part 2 Episode 19 The Dust Settles Chapter 7 Cause and Effect

The dim light of the sky penetrated into the cave, and a cool breeze blew, blowing away the remaining murderous intent in the sky. Only the quiet night was left slowly flowing.

Shui Dielan struggled twice before she stood up. Beside, Qing Yin was curled up, probably still wandering in a nightmare. When she looked again, she saw Li Xun lying on the ground, motionless.

She was startled and leaned over, but saw Li Xun with his eyes open, staring at the sky, his mind blank, as if he had lost his soul.

Seeing Li Xun like this, Shui Dielan smiled slightly. She relaxed a little, and without caring about her demeanor, she just sat cross-legged on the ground, her chin resting on her knees, imitating Li Xun’s daze.

However, just as she took this posture, her wrist tightened, and it was Li Xun who stretched out his arm and grabbed her hand. Shui Dielan turned her face again, and her eyes met Li Xun’s. Their eyes met, and both of them smiled.

With a little help, Li Xun sat up, but then, without warning, he suddenly stretched out his arms and pulled Shui Dielan heavily into his embrace. Startled, Shui Dielan instinctively struggled, but could muster no strength, so she let him go.

Li Xun held her so tightly that their body temperatures, heartbeats, and the agonizingly complex emotions all blended together, making it difficult to distinguish one from the other.

After a while, Li Xun muttered in Shui Dielan’s ear, “Thank you.”

It was gratitude, but not formality. In fact, beyond these simple words, he could not find a more precise way to repay Shui Dielan’s kindness.

When Qing Yin’s initial sword strike came, the supreme forbidden technique gathered the calamity of heaven and earth, severing all hope of life, and the venomous oath he had vowed to align with the heart of the dark underworld to kill his soul. It was a dead end, and he had no chance of survival.

The reason he could still embrace the beauty here was not only due to his strong willpower and the awakening of the demon phoenix through the blue phoenix’s feathers, but also largely due to the “heart knot” at work.

This oath poison, planted in him by the water butterfly orchid, bound the two’s lives together. If one died, the other would die. For a cultivator who yearned for freedom, it would be a deadly chain, and he might die without a clear explanation at any time. But today, it was this chain that saved him.

The peerless sharpness of the Slashing Sky Divine Sword could have cut Li Xun down with a single blow, but it couldn’t cut the water butterfly orchid several miles away. The life of this man and woman was connected, a mutual flow of life. While this might not have been possible at a distance, the distance of several miles was enough for the water butterfly orchid to transmit a trace of life force, leaving Li Xun with a glimmer of hope under the sword’s blade.

From then on, it was Shui Die Lan who, despite all odds, maintained the vital energy channel between the two of them, allowing Li Xun, despite extreme resistance, to repeatedly activate his Blood Shadow Demon Body and withstand the unparalleled sharpness of the Sky-Slashing Divine Sword, ultimately achieving that incredible comeback.

However, such displays of intimacy were not Li Xun’s style. He quickly released her hand, slightly distanced himself. He then noticed that Shui Die Lan, far from embarrassed, stared at him with wide eyes, which actually startled him.

“Uh, there are a few things we haven’t resolved yet,” he said, hastily rising to his feet, but not forgetting to pull Shui Die Lan up with her.

Once again, their skins touched, and the feeling was quite wonderful and very tempting. Li Xun was not the kind of person who would put on airs. He felt good, so he was reluctant to let go. Instead, Shui Dielan took the initiative to pull her hand away and gave him a few rolls of eyes: “I’m a little tired and need to rest.”

Li Xun knew that she was not in good condition, so he nodded in agreement and asked if she needed any help. His attitude was very attentive. At this time, Shui Dielan picked up the shelf, smiled and patted the dirt off her body, obviously not caring: “Just take a long sleep, why bother so much?”

With the joint efforts of the two, the previous awkwardness was quickly dissipated, but new emotions were brewing, and the atmosphere was still quite weird. In the end, Shui Dielan pushed him: “Aren’t you going to cause trouble for someone… Don’t let her run away.”

Li Xun grinned: “So what if she runs away?”

Having said that, he still said hello and leaned over to pick up Qingyin, turned around and left. After taking two steps, he felt touched and turned back, but saw Shui Dielan still standing there staring at him. There was a strange power in that look that startled Li Xun slightly.

Seeing him turn around, Shuei-Lan smiled again and waved at him. She turned away, waved, and then walked off in another direction, her relaxed and leisurely demeanor captivating.

Li Xun was amused yet baffled. He scratched his head and finally turned around. But at that moment, an indescribable feeling welled up from deep within him, like the ebb and flow of a tide, sweeping away something deep within. A

sudden sense of emptiness washed over Li Xun, quickly filling his throat and escaping. “Hello…”

Li Xun tried to speak to Shuei-Lan again, but the echo was too hollow. He turned abruptly. Fragments of starlight and moonlight fell across his vision, and the shadows of the giant trees were pierced through with gaps through which the wind danced. Everything was silent, almost dead.

Shuei-Lan was gone.

“Where are you?” Li Xun’s heart pounded. He raised his voice, calling out.

This time, the sound waves were absorbed by the dense jungle, not even bothering to echo.

Li Xun was stunned for a moment, then took a deep breath and walked step by step to the path that Shui Dielan had just walked. There was still no response. He pressed his chest, forcing himself to remain calm. He spoke again, his voice higher, but it was trembling, almost inaudible: “Hello…”

The call died down, and the surrounding jungle was eerily silent. All living things in it held their breath, and there was no sound.

Li Xun suddenly realized that after knowing Shui Dielan for so long, he didn’t even have a proper name to call her. It was like the subtle relationship between the two of them, almost there, not noticeable on ordinary days, but now it felt so pale and powerless.

The last call faded from the forest, and Li Xun stood there in a daze, suddenly lost.

In the darkest hour before dawn, the moon was low and the stars were sparse. This was the highest point in the Wuyin Cave Heaven. The mountain rose sharply and was quite steep. An octagonal pavilion was built on the cliff. Looking down from the pavilion, through the clouds and mist, one could vaguely see the winding paths of the bright lake and the small pavilion by the clear water. There was the core of the cave heaven.

Li Xun climbed to the top of the mountain, but it was already occupied.

Yin Sanren stood by the pavilion, occupying the best viewing point, overlooking the magnificent scenery with a sense of calmness and otherworldliness.

Li Xun ignored her, tossed Qingyin down, sat on the stone bench in the pavilion, and said, “Wine!”

In the Wuyin Cave Heaven, there was a jade liquid immortal wine left by previous owners. It had been stored for hundreds or thousands of years and was considered the world’s finest treasure.

Yin Sanren glanced back at him without a word. She vanished, then reappeared carrying a jar of immortal brew. She hadn’t brought any other drinking utensils. The jar, the size of a human head, sat unsealed before Li Xunfu, its aroma filling his nostrils.

Li Xun glanced sideways. Although he had shattered the shackles of the Bone Meridian Heart-Connecting Technique, no longer able to utilize any magical powers other than those of the Blood God Son, and the Corpse-Exorcism Puppetry Technique had been rendered useless, even Youyi had been reduced to ashes, with no possibility of resurrection, Yin Sanren remained different.

She had long since been able to maintain her mortal form and become self-sufficient. The ineffectiveness of the Corpse-Exorcism Puppetry Technique had freed her from nearly all her constraints, and she could even be considered an independent being.

Unfortunately, a single, fundamental chain hung heavy on Li Xun’s mind.

That was the fundamental choice of life or death.

With this in mind, unless Yin Sanren really wanted to die, there was no need for her to hide anything in front of Li Xun. If she really wanted to die, why would she appear in front of him?

Therefore, in Li Xun’s eyes, Yin Sanren was still transparent.

But at the moment, his own thoughts were also transparent in Yin Sanren’s eyes.

He did not speak, but just grabbed the jar of wine and poured it down. The wine splashed over his head and choked into his throat. After it was cold, it was a burning sensation.

In a blink of an eye. The jar of immortal wine was poured out, but nine out of ten of the wine that poured into his throat was splashed on his body. But it didn’t matter, as long as Li Xun felt that he was drunk.

When drunk, he went wild. He glanced at the empty wine jar and suddenly threw it to the ground. With a crisp shattering sound, he coldly asked, “Where’s Yingning?”

Yin Sanren replied slowly, “She’s nowhere to be found.”

Li Xun laughed heartily. This answer was both expected and unexpected. “She escaped?”

Yin Sanren remained silent, but Li Xun continued to laugh. “Why would she run away?”

As he spoke nonsense, Li Xun suddenly felt dizzy. The effects of the immortal brew took over, and he was truly tipsy.

He stared at Yin Sanren and suddenly felt like laughing. That poor little girl who had lost her parents and nearly become someone else’s elixir, the little girl who had always looked at him with admiration and affectionately called him Master, had just run away like that?

That jade token. It was the one Qin Wanru had given Yingning. It had flown out in Yin Sanren’s place at the crucial moment, then turned to dust before the Slashing Sky Sword. If it had been Yin Sanren who had flown out… maybe… At least it was possible. Li Xun wouldn’t have been beheaded by a single sword, nearly annihilated.

In reality, if it weren’t for the water orchid and the heart knot, Yin Sanren would have been his last hope, a hope easily erased by a single jade token.

At the time, the token was undoubtedly in Yingning’s possession.

In a previous, unique situation, Li Xun had already pieced together the story. He knew the token Qin Wanru had given Yingning was likely the work of Qingyin or Zhongyin. It clearly bore their stamp; only these two knew him so intimately.

It didn’t matter; Li Xun had long been numbed by their schemes. Indeed, he had never imagined Qin Wanru and Yingning would be part of the scheme.

Was this a betrayal?

Perhaps this was the only thing Li Xun couldn’t understand, and he longed to know the answer. However, drunken, he didn’t want to think, and only sighed in confusion.

So similar! Like his younger self, he also wore a mask, pretending to be weak, but in reality, he lurked in the shadows like a venomous snake, waiting for the right moment to suddenly bare his fangs and deliver a fatal blow. The only difference was luck!

Li Xun should have been furious, but if he had died then, he would have lost the right to be angry. Now that life and death had changed, he no longer felt angry.

He turned to look at Yin Sanren, the puppet whose life and death were at the mercy of the woman. He was still staring at the cliff. Although he didn’t take the initiative to check, he could sense the complex emotions in the woman’s mind.

If… if he died, before his spiritual consciousness faded, would he look at the little girl the same way Yin Sanren looked at him?

Thinking of this, Li Xun laughed again. He patted his thigh and motioned the beauty to sit on it. He did not force her, and Yin Sanren was very obedient. The two of them sat together, and Li Xun spoke softly: “Just now, I almost lost my life, which is equivalent to you almost losing your life. In other words, your disciple and I almost took our lives. We can be said to be in the same boat…”

This should be a joke, but Yin Sanren was quiet and did not respond.

Li Xun ignored her and kept counting on his fingers. It seemed that he was talking in a clear and logical manner, but in fact, he was talking nonsense: “Last year, I saved Yingning because of what my senior sister told you about the ‘Ruyi Jade Infant’. Now it seems that there is a problem. Back then in Songjing, Qin Wanru should have died, but she didn’t. There is a problem!”

“Also, in Songjing, before you became a puppet, you suddenly helped me and killed Xue Sanren. Now it seems that there is a problem too.”

“Also, the way your sister died at the foot of Razor Peak was also very strange. Of course, you have also damaged several parts of your memory. Now it seems that there are even bigger problems… Yes, there were no problems before, but now it has become a problem!”

As he said that, he laughed out loud, but did not want to think about it any further, because he really didn’t care: “The sky is high and the earth is far away. If you want to hide between the three realms, it is not easy to find someone. How many enemies did Zhong Yin really kill in his lifetime? So, there is no rush, no rush…”

“I think that those two couples will definitely be involved with me in the future, so why bother with them now?”

He suddenly tightened his face, glanced at Yin Sanren, and smiled in the next moment, reaching out to stroke the beautiful woman’s jade cheek. He leaned his face over so that their skin was touching, his chin resting on the female cultivator’s shoulder, and his ears were rubbing against each other, very intimately: “It is certain that they will be involved. In two days, I will go to destroy the Mingyang Sect and kill all the men. The women will be used to practice the Liuyu Yangyin Transformation that you, uncle, taught me

. When I meet my senior sister and my disciple, we will compete to see whose is more authentic, okay?” “By the way… speaking of which, I haven’t had the chance to eat the good disciple you trained specially for me. What a pity!”

Although he said it was a pity, he was very happy, and kept whispering, suppressing his laughter. It sounded shrill and weird, like crazy. Laughing, he stood up again. Yin Sanren dodged first, watching him stumble two steps, holding onto the pavilion pillar. He extended his hand and pointed at the small lake below the cliff.

In the center of the lake lay the central pavilion, where a n*ked Lin Wuyou lay.

“She’s a lovely girl, too, and so is her mother! Now, we can finally stop bothering anyone… Remember, if Qixia comes asking for someone, don’t let her in until she’s completely undressed!”

With a powerful wave of his hand, he nearly fell over. Li Xun shifted halfway and looked back at Yin Sanren. It struck him then that Yin Sanren’s gaze was suspicious.

“Why are you looking at me?”

Li Xun stared intently. Ming Bairen didn’t meet his gaze, silently looking away. The more she acted like this, the more annoyed Li Xun became. He strode over and grasped the female cultivator’s collar: “Yin Chonghua, Uncle Master Ming, you don’t take the title ‘Uncle Master’ seriously, do you?” ” What’s that look in your eyes, huh?”

“Look at a madman’s eyes, huh.”

The tit-for-tat response brought a heavy punch. Yin Sanren didn’t resist and was knocked to the ground. Li Xun then pounced on her. After two slaps, still not satisfied, he tore at her clothes. But after a while, he suddenly lost interest and collapsed into the soft jade and warm fragrance, stunned, and slowly fell asleep.

When he was awake, he didn’t want to think, but in his dreams, he couldn’t stop his thoughts from flowing.

He dreamed of the pure vitality that permeated after being shattered by the Slashing Sky Divine Sword; he dreamed of the dreamlike world that unfolded when the sword’s lightning flashed; and of course, he also dreamed of the deadly lightning that suddenly withdrew as the blood shadow demon body was about to collapse.

Similar scenes formed a monotonous circle, repeating endlessly. It was like a continuous accumulation of huge rocks, layer by layer, piling up on him, weighing him down and making him breathless.

This dream was not good…

A vague thought flashed through his mind, and suddenly someone in the dream laughed, “…I don’t understand one thing. You’re using the method of transforming a butterfly into a dream… the body of a hundred illusion butterflies, and this butterfly is reversing its state. What’s

wrong with that?” “A cocoon, taking a chaotic and unclear state, giving birth to all things. What’s wrong with that?”

“Push forward, what’s in front of the cocoon?”

“In front…”

In front?

Li Xun suddenly woke up, his face wet and uncomfortable. He wiped his face, only to find that the question in his dream had been brought back and answered: “In front of the cocoon, of course, is… that thing!”

He reached up to cover his forehead, choking twice in his throat, but he didn’t know what sound came out. Moreover, he wanted to laugh, but the shadow of his arm couldn’t hide the smile lines at the corners of his mouth: “That thing!”

If it really was that thing, then he understood why Shui Dielan avoided him. Yes, that woman had a good reason… Now, he shouldn’t be dreaming, but it felt like he was deep in a bottomless dream. If this was just a trick of the dream god, then let Shui Yuan not wake up!

Sleep! Sleep a little longer.

After an unspecified amount of time, Li Xun suddenly saw a flash of golden red before his eyes, followed by a wave of tremors that shook him awake

. His soft, veiled dream ripped apart, he dazedly opened his eyes, only to find that daybreak had already arrived. Beyond the octagonal pavilion, a rising sun, a brilliant crimson shrouded in a dazzling halo, was visible.

However, someone with Li Xun’s cultivation could discern more: “That’s not the sun!”

Beside him, Yin Sanren whispered, “Probably another wave of physical tribulations.”

“Body tribulations?”

Li Xun squinted, observing the halo surrounding the sun. The halo was slowly shrinking, while at its core, a blazing beam of light surged forth.

From his perspective, it looked like a beam of light projecting from the center of the sun, initially only the thickness of a little finger. As it extended beyond the halo and made contact with the outside world, an unimaginably high temperature ignited the surrounding air, setting off a boundless sea of fire.

A thunderous soundwave pierced the barrier of the Mist Hidden Cave Heaven. Simultaneously, the beam of light, now expanded to its full extent, like a giant pestle from Skanda, slammed heavily into the sky above the Southeast Forest Sea.

Li Xun clearly heard the sound of shattering glass. The entire space collapsed in an instant, and the sudden darkness seemed to swallow everyone’s soul. But soon, a pale flame filled the void, followed by a shockwave. A huge ripple could be seen, spreading wildly from the point of impact of the “giant pestle.”

This blow was beyond the Mist Hidden Cave Heaven’s endurance. Amidst the roaring sound, the shockwave swept through the cave, both inside and outside. The octagonal pavilion where Li Xun was staying shook, and most of the glazed tiles were torn off, seemingly ready to collapse at any moment.

But no one in the pavilion moved. Li Xun even closed his eyes.

The power of the Jiesha was only superficial. The truly shocking message was hidden within this earth-shattering impact, disappearing in the blink of an eye with the scorching wind.

After the blow, the terrifying Jiesha quickly retreated.

The Mist Hidden Cave Heaven was isolated from the outside world again amidst the groans, but during this gap, an extraordinary person was wiped out from this world.

It was a memorable moment, and nothing more.

Li Xun was silent for a moment, and touched a piece of broken wine jar beside him. There was still some residual wine in it, he picked it up, and threw it out of the pavilion again.

“Oh, enjoy!”

The fragments fell off the cliff, and not even a sound was transmitted. The crystal droplets that fell flashed colorfully in the sunlight, like thousands of rainbows, appearing and disappearing.

“It’s over… But, remember she said that she couldn’t see tomorrow’s sun, didn’t she see it now? Women’s words really can’t be trusted!”

He laughed twice, stretched out his arms to cover his eyes, turned over, and fell asleep again.

First published in 69 Chinese