Chapter 116: Mystic Arts Obtained
Chapter 116: Mystic Arts Obtained
“If that’s the case, then there’s nothing left to discuss!”
Fei Lian shook his head with a cold sneer. Did this person before him really think he was a fool?
“It matters not. The mystic arts in your possession aren’t indispensable to me. After all, it’s not me being tortured and imprisoned here!”
Lin Yuan chuckled, but his eyes held a sliver of chilling coldness.
He was no pushover. Since this person had discovered his tracks and their deal had fallen through, only one path remained.
Fei Lian clearly sensed the icy killing intent radiating from Lin Yuan.
A chill flashed through his own heart – if he made one wrong move, the other would surely kill him.
Fei Lian did not fear death. But dying so miserably, locked away like this, was something his heart struggled to accept.
His voice grew low and deep.
“I can pass on both mystic arts techniques. But you must swear an oath upon your Dao Heart! Once you master them, come and free me immediately! Otherwise, may your Dao Heart rebel against you, bringing a terrible death!”
“Impossible!”
Lin Yuan’s gaze was utterly cold and detached.
A cultivator’s clear Dao Heart was essential for bold progress and vital breakthroughs. To bind an oath using the Dao Heart? Better to do without those mystic arts.
Seeing a flash of fierceness in Fei Lian’s eyes, Lin Yuan spoke calmly.
“To me, those two mystic arts are merely the icing on the cake. But my intervention for you? That would be life-saving aid when you’re freezing to death!”
“You have no choice left. You have to trust me!”
“This is your only sliver of hope!”
Lin Yuan didn’t speak further. Pale blue magical power swirled in his hand, and the edge of the Heavenly River Gui Water Sword began to coalesce in his grip.
Fei Lian lowered his head, deep in thought. But moments later, he raised it again. He truly had no room left to choose.
“Fine! I believe you! As long as you kill that bastard Scarlet Chain, what’s giving you the mystic arts?”
He proceeded to verbally recount the cultivation methods for both mystic arts techniques.
As long as the Scarlet Chain Demon God didn’t profit, in this desperate strait, passing them to this man was acceptable.
Lin Yuan listened intently, simultaneously guarding against any tricks from this imprisoned god.
Fei Lian, expression cold, articulated ancient Demon Script characters, recounting the mystic art cultivation methods aloud.
Lin Yuan concentrated on listening while mentally deducing and verifying them. In moments, he confirmed there were no hidden traps.
Shortly after, Lin Yuan committed both sets of mystic arts to memory and drifted fluidly away from the fiery cavern.
Behind him, bound with dark chains, Fei Lian watched Lin Yuan’s departure with a chilling gaze. Lowering his head, his eyes held nothing but ferocity and ice.
But in the next instant, he suppressed it all, his expression turning numb and indifferent. He seemed oblivious to the agony of the magical chains binding him. Faint traces of fiery red light appeared around his feet, silently seeping into his body. Vast demonic energy surged, and wisps of it actually pushed back against the invisible magical chains restraining him.
Part of the chain’s glowing magical inscription flickered, visibly damaged.
However, the invisible chains soon shone brightly once more, suppressing the demonic energy and the damage.
…
Back inside his mountain cave, Lin Yuan reappeared near the Earth-Sundering Pearl. He glanced at the forming Innate Spiritual Treasure.
His remaining time within the Primordial World was dwindling, and this treasure was still far from being ready to emerge.
“At least with that Scarlet Chain guarding it… temporarily, it should be fine,” he calculated silently.
His focus shifted to the two newly acquired sets of mystic arts.
Their potential power was formidable, and they were incredibly difficult to cultivate. But once mastered, they would significantly increase his combat abilities!
…
Back in the Main World, atop a nameless peak within the southwestern mountains.
A streak of silver light flashed faintly. Immortal radiance shimmered where it landed, solidifying into an elegant, calm figure wearing deep black robes. An aura of profound mystery enveloped him, and his surging Innate Magical Power pulsed powerfully. Behind him hung a vast, intensely golden halo of Xuanhuang Virtue.
His journey through the Primordial World, establishing the Earth Immortal Lineage and the tradition of Divine Immortals, had generated a continuous flow of this supreme merit.
He didn’t have much else, but his reserves of Virtue Merit had swollen back to their earlier, majestic abundance.
The instant his form solidified, Lin Yuan’s brow twitched.
As he fully materialized, an anomaly immediately manifested in the surrounding space. Faint streaks of dark-red light enveloped his entire figure!
An intangible essence of karmic fire surged violently from the depths beneath his feet. An endless torrent of the Karmic Red Lotus Fire power rushed straight for his Mud Pill Palace, flooding into his internal organs and spreading through every limb and joint.
His own magical power was particularly vulnerable. Upon contact with the Karmic Red Lotus Fire, it instantly ignited, the flames burning hotter and fiercer.
“The second of the Three Calamities… the Fire Calamity has arrived!” Lin Yuan murmured inwardly. Though not afraid, a flicker of surprise crossed his features.
His cultivation speed truly surpassed that of an ordinary Scattered Immortal. The Fire Calamity had struck so soon!
This Karmic Red Lotus Fire was a manifestation of karmic burdens accrued over countless lifetimes as a Scattered Immortal. It stemmed from the Root of Reincarnation. First, it ignited his Innate Magical Power. Then, it would spread to the myriad apertures of his perfected immortal body, burning the essence, qi, and spirit within until all turned to ashes.
If the Wind Calamity targeted the soul, the Fire Calamity assaulted the cultivated power within. Only by overcoming it would a Scattered Immortal’s power truly undergo a metamorphosis, distinct from that of the Primordial Spirit stage.
But the Karmic Red Lotus Fire born from this calamity was notoriously difficult to survive.
Ordinary Scattered Immortals at this stage relied on fire-repelling treasures, sought rare heavenly materials – ultimate treasures like the Heavenly One True Water, known to suppress this karmic fire – or simply forged artifacts imbued with their own Virtue Merit. Merit was the greatest counter to the Karmic Red Lotus Fire.
Standing there, Lin Yuan remained impassive. He made no move to wield his colossal Virtue Merit power. Instead, he willed a transformation within. Pure Immaculate Innate Magical Power flowed through him, not just resisting but actively absorbing and countering the Karmic Red Lotus Fire surging from the Root of Reincarnation.
This ferocious method to withstand the tribulation was truly astonishing.
The Innate Yin-Yang power within Lin Yuan was overwhelmingly potent!
The Fire Calamity began to recede.
His Innate Magical Power, tempered repeatedly by the Karmic Red Lotus Fire, seemed purified of impurities. It clearly became more vibrant, agile, and extraordinarily pure.
It was like a cocoon breaking for a butterfly, a profound metamorphosis.
“Easier than expected!” Lin Yuan’s expression eased.
Progressing through the Scattered Immortal realm usually demanded immense, painstaking effort for the slightest advancement. Being able to traverse the Primordial World, possessing such a treasure trove as that, truly made his accumulation far easier than most immortals.
However, the tempering by the Karmic Red Lotus Fire had significantly consumed his Innate Magical Power reserves.
Under such circumstances, a typical practitioner might need years, even a decade, to recover their power and stabilize their realm through seclusion.
Lin Yuan didn’t need such cumbersome methods. His Inner Scene Earth Gate stored boundless Innate Spiritual Qi. It wouldn’t take long to effortlessly restore his power, and perhaps even greatly advance his cultivation.
He was now a mere half-step away from the Earth Immortal stage.
Just then, Lin Yuan frowned slightly. Leveraging the clarity granted by surviving the Fire Calamity, he sensed a faint anomaly.
Were it not for mastering the art of Inverting Yin and Yang, growing sensitive to celestial machinations, he might have missed it entirely.
His expression shifted thoughtfully as he contemplated the discovery. Decisively, he summoned his escape light and sped back toward the Chengyuan Immortal Sect.
A few days after his return to the Chengyuan Immortal Sect, Lin Yuan received urgent correspondence from the Lin Family.
Lin Min, far away in the Divine Capital of the Great Zhou, was in grave peril. The situation demanded immediate action.
With no other choice, Lin Yuan immediately set off towards the Divine Capital, seat of the Great Zhou Imperial Court.
…
Near the residence, within a Daoist temple just outside the Divine Capital.
The Divine Capital sprawled across the land like a slumbering dragon. Its aura, the Dragon Qi Law Restriction, was immensely majestic and oppressive. Common practitioners couldn’t even dream of flight here; even working minor spells was heavily restricted.
“Is everything ready? Lin Yuan is heading towards the Divine Capital!” Inside the temple, a gaunt old man who resembled a withered reed stared into a mirror. He glanced sideways and uttered a cold, dark chuckle.
“Grestly honored god, have no fear! Our Five Passages Sect’s Soul Shackling Arts are no mere decoration!” A raspy voice emanated from someone else in the room.
The grey-robed figure watched in the mirror caught sight of a malevolent idol upon an altar nearby. The effigy radiated a murky, corrupt aura capable of dimming the very fortune of the heavens, utterly terrifying.
Beside the altar stood two more, sickly-looking grass effigies, both stained ominously crimson.
Each effigy bore the birth names and dates of a life force tethered to it – etched in blood: One read Lin Min. The other: Lin Yuan.
The blood-soaked effigy marked with Lin Min’s details was already riddled like a grim pincushion, covered in black ritual needles. It pulsed with a bloody aura. Within its dim glow, one could almost perceive a tiny, struggling, phantom figure desperately writhing.