Immortality Begins With Internal Breathing

The roars of yao rose and fell without end. Deep within the demon cave, demonic qi had reached an astonishing level of density. It was even more concentrated than in the region of the demon realm Lin Zheyu had previously entered.

The air was saturated with a thick scent of bloodshed. Deafening roars and the sounds of brutal slaughter echoed incessantly. Everything here served as a warning to those who entered.

Lin Zheyu sighed in admiration and muttered, ”As expected of the Bloody Trial Ground. The number of powerful yao here is no less than in the demon realm itself.”

His powerful perception spread outward. Not long after entering the depths of the demon cave, he discovered a powerful six-pattern yao.

A terrifying sword light suddenly flashed from the darkness and shot straight into the yao’s head. The yao did not even have time to scream before its entire head exploded with a thunderous bang. In the distant void stood a tall, slender man. He stood proudly in midair like an unsheathed divine sword. With a casual wave of his right hand, the sword light returned to his grasp.

At the same time, the headless body of the yao flew toward the man, as if bound by invisible chains and. Lin Zheyu had encountered a similar sword intent before. This was the Soaring Sword Intent of the Soaring Sword Sect.

Back when Lei Yunshu had invited him to visit Lei Family City, he happened to witness the earth-shattering battle between Mu Jianli, the Soaring Sword Sect’s prodigy, and Lei Yuanxi, the genius of the Lei Family.

Lin Zheyu gave the man a brief glance but had no intention of making his acquaintance. Without slowing down, he continued deeper into the demon cave. The farther he went, the more he felt an inexplicable sense of oppression. The difficulty of mobilizing rules was increasing at an astonishing rate. Before long, he was forcibly squeezed out of the void and could no longer maintain the technique of merging his body with it.

Lin Zheyu was somewhat surprised. ”This stretch of void has actually been eroded and assimilated by the demon realm to such an extent!”

Gradually, he discovered that rules were becoming increasingly difficult to wield. Using them required an astonishing amount of energy. It was not only the cultivators of this world who were heavily restricted here. Lin Zheyu found that even the yao themselves were subject to powerful limitations. They, too, had great difficulty using their demonic patterns to harness rules.

”This truly is the perfect hunting ground for yao!”

After gaining a clearer understanding of the rules governing the depths of the demon cave and the Bloody Trial Grounds, Lin Zheyu’s eyes could not help but brighten.

His cultivation path required more than drawing inspiration from systems such as the Immortal Dao, Shamanic cultivators, and the barbarians. He also needed to draw nourishment from the yao system. In fact, the creation of the Primordial Golden Body itself had originated, by a fortunate coincidence, from demonic arts.

Even later, after Lin Zheyu created the Martial Divine Pattern Secret Manual and separated the golden runes from demonic patterns, transforming them into divine patterns, the connection between the two remained inseparable.

Currently, aside from the Shamanic cultivator system he used as a reference, the knowledge and insights he needed most came from the demonic pattern system.

Hunting yao in the Bloody Trial Grounds is a long-term task for every faction in Great Wei. Once the matter of the rule fragments and the Shamanic Clan ruins is settled, perhaps I can stay here for a while.

Had this place not been so dangerous and unsuitable for pushing his limits to accumulate Origin Force, Lin Zheyu would have come here long ago. His obsession with creating the Limit-Breaking Art stemmed precisely from this goal. He wanted to be able to enter that mysterious state and obtain Origin Force even while in perilous environments, such as the demon realm or the Bloody Trial Grounds deep within the demon cave.

Unfortunately, despite so many attempts, he had never succeeded, which left him deeply regretful. He always felt that success was just within reach, yet no matter how he experimented, the corresponding data for the technique never appeared within his consciousness. He did not know which crucial step had gone wrong, nor what vital component might still be missing.

”The opportunity surrounding the rules is about to begin. I’ll head over first.” Lin Zheyu cast aside the distracting thoughts in his mind.

A pair of wings covered in magnificent scales suddenly spread from his back. With a powerful flap, his figure transformed into a blur and vanished from the spot. At this depth, using rules was almost impossible. Every trace of rules he mobilized required an enormous expenditure of energy. It simply was not worth the cost.

***

About fifteen minutes later, deep within the demon cave, fierce winds howled, and black gales shrieked across the land. The cold, deathly aura of destruction merged with the black winds and swept outward in every direction.

Unlike places protected by powerful barriers, such as the demon god barrier, there was no such isolation here. Every region near the space-time node was affected by the Wind of Annihilation.

A world-ending aura, reminiscent of the apocalypse itself, spread outward from the space-time node. The oppressive pressure was so immense that nearby cultivators and yao could barely breathe.

The moment any yao above six-pattern or any cultivator above the Golden Core realm sensed this aura, their expressions changed dramatically. One after another, they fled the region at top speed as though escaping for their lives.

The terrifying aura of destruction continued to build at an astonishing rate. If they failed to leave quickly, they would be drawn in by its influence, causing the rules within their bodies to spiral out of control.

When that happened, their strength would be severely affected and suppressed to the peak Foundation Establishment realm. No Golden Core realm cultivator wanted to experience such a thing.

Being killed by a Foundation Establishment realm cultivator after having their strength suppressed would be embarrassing enough, but what truly worried them was the mysterious connection between the destiny aura and the destruction aura. If they were affected by it, the cultivation realm they had painstakingly built could suffer unpredictable consequences.

Soon, rain carrying a shocking chill began to fall from the sky. The cold seemed capable of penetrating everything and was powerful enough to freeze the soul itself.

As time passed, the rain grew heavier and heavier. The collision and fusion of two worlds generated a terrifying impact, shattering countless rules. The fragmented energies condensed into dense clouds overhead, and from those energy clouds, droplets slowly formed and fell from the sky.

Each raindrop contained terrifying world-ending energy. The conflicting rule energies born from the collision of the Dao resonances of two worlds were all concentrated within them. Teams composed of talented cultivators quickly entered the formations that had already been prepared and began hunting yao and Annihilation Wraiths.

At that moment, a tall figure clad entirely in purple-black scales flapped the wings behind his back and entered the rain-covered region. Like an invisible phantom, he weaved between yao and cultivators alike, yet not a single one noticed his arrival.

Rain imbued with violent and corrupted rule energy fell upon Lin Zheyu, producing crisp tapping sounds. A faint gleam flickered across his scales, but they remained completely unaffected.

Lin Zheyu was no longer the weak martial artist he had once been. With the strength of his physical body alone, even early Golden Core realm cultivators would struggle to inflict serious injuries upon him.

Lin Zheyu raised his head and looked toward the terrifying aura gathering within the void, a faint smile appearing on his face as he muttered, ”It looks like coming early is not as good as arriving at the perfect moment. The timing couldn’t be better.”

With a powerful flap of his wings, he shot toward the node’s rift. He skillfully traversed the endless void within the node and entered the demon realm on the opposite side. The demon realm looked almost identical to the other side, with the same terrifying world-ending aura rapidly gathering there.

The difference was the sheer number of yao present. Lin Zheyu even saw large numbers of yao above six patterns unleashing terrifying roars as they charged toward the talented cultivators who had entered the demon realm.

Looking at the densely packed army of yao, Lin Zheyu revealed a faint smile. ”Mm, it’s certainly lively. As expected of a powerful space-time node capable of supporting the passage of Deity Transformation realm experts.”

These yao were almost entirely mindless cannon fodder, with only a small number belonging to the intelligent breeds. Their strategy was simple: the vast hordes of expendable yao would first wear down the stamina of the talented cultivators who invaded the demon realm, and once those cultivators had been sufficiently exhausted, the intelligent yao would emerge from hiding and strike at the opportune moment. Unfortunately for them, they had encountered Lin Zheyu.

Intelligent yao were Lin Zheyu’s preferred targets, as defeating them brought the richest rewards from the Heavenly Dao. He swiftly summoned a long saber, shimmering with a cold, deadly light, and, in a blur, rushed toward a six-pattern intelligent yao in the distance.

Everywhere he passed, yao collapsed soundlessly, their bodies reduced to mangled heaps of flesh and blood. What was truly bizarre, however, was that none of the surrounding yao could detect the enemy’s aura. Even the distant six-pattern intelligent yao could not sense its attacker’s existence.

Watching entire swaths of yao collapse without warning while being unable to detect even a trace of the enemy, the six-pattern yao felt a chill creep into its heart.

What’s going on? Among the cultivators who entered the demon realm this time, there’s actually such a terrifying monster? Fuck this, I need to run!

The yao made its decision instantly and turned to flee. After entering this region, its strength had been heavily suppressed to the level of a five-pattern yao, but it couldn’t bear to die to a cultivator originally weaker than it.

Yet before it had even covered ten meters, its eyes suddenly widened. The world began to spin.

A frigid flash of light streaked through the void like lightning. In the blink of an eye, the massive body of the six-pattern yao was reduced to scattered chunks of flesh and blood.

Terrifying saber lights continued to flash through the darkness. Lin Zheyu had long since fully integrated the Heaven-Deceiving Art into the fourth stage of the Primordial Golden Body. Under the Heaven-Deceiving Art’s powerful concealment effects, neither yao nor cultivators could see the one wielding the blade.

All they could see were flashes of terrifying saber light. Wherever those flashes passed, yao were instantly reduced to piles of flesh and blood, their lives extinguished before they even understood what had happened.

A talented cultivator in the distance could not help swallowing nervously when he witnessed the scene.

He muttered to himself, ”I thought I was already quite strong, but what the hell is this? Could this be some genius disciple from one of the top-ranked sects who’s just here for amusement?”