The Forbidden Path to Immortality
Chapter 84

A single misstep, and his soul would’ve been torn apart by the raging Nine Netherworld Earth Qi inside the pearl—shattered just as thoroughly as if it were under the cruel hands of the two Wanderers. There wasn’t much of a difference, really.

And yet, he pulled it off.

Which meant that, for the next half hour, a powerful new 'master' had stepped onto the chessboard; one strong enough to disrupt the death trap set by the two Wanderers.

As Li Xun gradually got used to the sensation of wielding such immense power, he turned his attention toward the scene unfolding thousands of feet below, around the Shapeshifting Yin Pit.

His new body was slowly descending, inching closer to the boundary of the two Wanderers’ alert perimeter.

Down in the pool, the grand technique of Yin-Yang Reversal Alchemical Refinement was now in full swing. The icy waters, once embodying the state of “extreme Yin birthing Yang,” had already flipped into “extreme Yang birthing Yin.”

Once the Shapeshifting Yin Pit's water fully reverted to its original state, a perfect cyclical exchange of Yin and Yang would be achieved, reaching the ultimate extremity of Heaven and Earth's Yin and Yang, and reverting to the chaos of the primordial beginning.

Only then would the Shapeshifting Yin Pit become what it was truly meant to be.

After that, with the two Wanderers gathering the earth qi from various directions to refine them with Primordial Refining Technique, the Li Xun in the pool would, at that very moment, be fully refined into the purest “Reversion Cinnabar Liquid."

And with that, Li Xun would cease to exist in this world.

Only then would come the final step: Heaven Origin Refinement. That was when they’d dissolve Qing Luan into the Shapeshifting Yin Pit’s waters, fusing her entire life’s cultivation into the Reversion Cinnabar Liquid. Through this process, every bit of her rich and profound essence she’d cultivated over tens of thousands of years gets completely absorbed into the elixir without a trace of reservation, and without the slightest impurity, ready to be consumed and shared by the two Wanderers.

This had always been their grand plan. If everything went according to script, they would refine nothing less than a miracle elixir of ascension that could let you ascend in broad daylight.

But Li Xun had no intention of letting them succeed.

At this point, the Yin-Yang Reversal Alchemical Refinement had reached its climax. The once-clear waters of the Shapeshifting Yin Pit were now thick and murky, but you could still catch a faint, glowing shimmer beneath the surface.

The two Wanderers, standing about a hundred steps apart, exchanged a serious look. Then, at the same time, they raised their hands and slammed them down hard on the ground.

The dense earthly qi that had been ‘imprisoned’ for quite some time suddenly erupted with a roar.

This was a massive force, drawn from hundreds of li around Songjing, tapping into the spiritual energy of more than a dozen mountain ranges. The pressure it created was so intense, its The scale of its effect might even reach thousands of li beyond.

With power this overwhelming being forcibly pulled in, there was no way it would stay calm. But under the restrictive formation carefully set up by the two Wanderers ahead of time, that nearly unstoppable fury was gradually worn down, its sharp edges dulled, and it was guided along a fixed path into the Shapeshifting Yin Pit.

Inside the pool, the waves churned violently. But no matter how wild the surging energy became, or how high the muddy water splashed, it never spilled past the edges. It was as if an invisible wall held everything tightly in place.

Li Xun stood stunned. It was only here, at this moment and place, that he could truly feel the kind of terrifying, god-like control these two Wanderers had wrestled from the laws of nature.

Each surge in the Shapeshifting Yin Pit barely splashed a few feet high, but looking from above, dozens of li out, you could see mountains crumbling and hills collapsing as the reverse flow of earth qi twisted the landscape. Earth’s upheaval stirred the heavens, and the very balance of the heaven and earth’s primordial energy fell into chaos.

In the bleak winter sky, dark clouds loomed thick, while faint arcs of lightning slithered through them. Thunder rolled, one wave after another.

The Taikang River had bent from its path. A hundred li from Songjing, a wall of floodwaters, no longer restrained, surged forward toward the capital on a newly carved route.

Songjing’s walls were already ancient history. The palace and every structure within had become rubble. And in fifteen minutes, a cataclysmic flood would swallow what was once the imperial city.

By the time Li Xun snapped out of the shock from the chaotic shift in the world around him, the Shapeshifting Yin Pit had already surged into a second wave of intensity.

He knew that there was no more time to hesitate.

Just as the second phase of the Earth Origin Refining Technique was set to start, the moment they prepared to refine Li Xun’s physical body, a flawless, slender hand silently appeared and pressed gently against the back of Blood Wanderer.

There was no sound, no wind. Just a hand, and then…

A blinding burst of red light exploded.

A furious roar rang out.

Qin Wanru’s delighted laugh echoed as she floated backward… only for her laughter to twist into a gasp of alarm.

“Demon spawn!”

Yin Wanderer had somehow already flown ten yards away. Her similarly graceful hand pressed downward into the air. In an instant, the temperature plummeted. Tiny shards of ice began dancing in the air, each glimmering flake flying in intricate, arcane paths. Cutting off every escape route.

Over a hundred bursts of true breath fired in sequence, each one stirring up fiercer gales than the last.

“Master!”

Qin Wanru cried out in her most innocent, pitiful voice.

It broke through Yin Wanderer’s frigid composure, letting a flash of murderous intent escape her eyes. And it made the Blood Wanderer abandon all hesitation.

With a mad laugh, he whipped his crimson sleeves together, unleashing a sweeping veil of blood-colored light that painted the world red.

In that life-or-death moment, Qin Wanru’s true strength showed.

She drew Li Xun’s jade sword with a clear ring, slicing dozens of nearly perfect circles in the air. From those circles, powerful swirling currents formed, spinning wildly at ten times the normal speed.

The atmospheric fury grew even more violent, and the Yin Wanderer’s cold chilling tide was forcibly disrupted by the sword’s momentum, twisting and wildly dancing in the mid-air. Inevitably, it collided with the energy barrier Blood Wanderer had set up.

Countless flashes of lightning flickered and pulsed, casting shifting shadows across the three faces. This was, in essence, the three of them clashing midair in an intricate manner. Their true breaths clashing and swirling together in a chaotic mess.

Qin Wanru's cultivation was the weakest of the three and took the hardest hit in this struggle. In just a breath, she let out a soft cry as Azure Jade was violently twisted and flung through the air. It nearly twisted into a knot but then snapped back with a ringing crack, landing crookedly in the ground.

The flow of energy shifted instantly. The two Wanderers reacted right away, redirecting their fierce true breaths toward the weakest point. The air screamed in agony as the two very different energies clashed and twisted together, forming a dragon of blue and red light that surged forward and swallowed Qin Wanru whole.

“Master!”

Before being swallowed, Qin Wanru still wore that same wide-eyed, innocent expression. But if you looked closely, something in it had changed, ever so slightly.

Yin Wanderer’s heart stirred, and suddenly her true breath showed a slight change.

Amid the screaming howls of the raging air currents, countless crisp sounds of bones breaking rang out. Qin Wanru was like a torn rag doll, swept along by the violent airflows, flying at least five li before crashing heavily to the ground.

Blood Wanderer let out a cold sneer, his stride never slowing. With a sudden lurch, he threw a punch. Not at the air or a distant enemy, but aimed squarely at Yin Wanderer.

Yin Wanderer didn’t dare take it head-on. With a flick of her horsetail whisk, her figure vanished, reappearing several li away.

“Wei Bufan." Her voice echoed icily through the air.  "You may be a pig, but the rest of us aren’t. The Earth Origin Refining Technique isn't even complete. Why would I start a fight now. Have I gone mad?”

Blood Wanderer doubled over laughing, as if he'd just heard the best joke in the world.

“Even the Beauty Yin gets clever sometimes, huh? So you’re admitting you were going to make a move anyway? And you think that pathetic excuse and sacrificing a disciple will make me believe you? Please! The only reason you didn’t strike from behind is probably 'cause by then, you won’t even get the chance!”

Yin Wanderer’s killing intent surged, turning her gaze a deep, abyssal blue. Like the chill of a glacial pit. Anyone ordinary who even glimpsed it might have their blood freeze solid on the spot.

She was furious to the extreme. But at the same time, she stayed frighteningly clear-headed. Because she knew her disciple Qin Wanru better than anyone else. Something about all this didn’t sit right. It reeked of manipulation. Someone clearly wanted to drive her and Blood Wanderer into a life-or-death fight. And if that was the goal...

The more she thought about it, the less she wanted to make a move.

“I’m not heartless like you," she said coldly, "killing a disciple at the first sign of trouble. Let me tell you something. Wanru isn’t just some pawn. She’s the heir I’ve been grooming for years to take over our sect. She’s also my blood niece! I’d never hurt her. And she wouldn’t go insane and betray me either. Wei Bufan, use that brain of yours.”

Her rare willingness to speak so plainly made Blood Wanderer hesitate. He knew her well enough to tell she was being sincere. That blood relationship with Qin Wanru… it sounded plausible. But how was he supposed to explain that surprise strike from Qin Wanru?

The light in his blood-red eyes flickered on and off, countless scenarios racing through his mind. He wasn’t afraid of most possibilities. But if someone was hiding in the shadows, waiting to profit from their fight, that was something to worry about.

But then again… what were the odds?

Who could possibly know their plans so intimately? And not just that; who could control Qin Wanru, who wasn’t weak by any means? She hadn’t stepped outside the imperial city for a long time, practically living under the watchful eyes of the two Wanderers. Under such circumstances, someone who could manipulate her without them noticing probably hasn’t even been born yet!

No. Impossible.

With that, Blood Wanderer made up his mind. He slowly withdrew his aura, casting a glance toward the direction where Qin Wanru had fallen.  “Fine," he said with a smirk. "Let’s say I believe you. But what about her?”

Yin Wanderer’s brows knit slightly. She knew the priority now was keeping Blood Wanderer calm. Thinking back to the secret move she’d just used, she decided to take the higher road. “Let’s finish the Earth Origin Refining Technique…" she said generously. "We can talk about Wanru’s situation afterward.”

Strangely, the moment those words left her lips, her heart skipped a beat. Something about this felt off. But before she could fully register what was wrong…

Blood Wanderer laughed and said coldly: “Sure… now die.”

As the final word dropped, countless blood-red threads, thinner than spider silk, exploded from his body in every direction.

Yin Wanderer’s body jolted. She shot into the air. A long blood-red chain, as thin as a pinky finger wrapped around her ankle like a serpent. It let out an eerie, ghostly wail the moment it touched the air. The chain was densely sealed with countless trapped souls. So many that it made your skin crawl.

Yin Wanderer’s eyes were now brimming with undisguised killing intent. Because she recognized this weapon all too well.

The killing intent in Yin Wanderer’s sharp eyes was no longer hidden. Because the chain wrapped around her ankle was none other than the legendary weapon of terror that Blood Wanderer relied on to dominate the world: the Crimson Ghost Chain. Once that chain appeared, it meant only one thing; this fight was going to the death.

The Blood Chain held billions of resentful souls accumulated over thousands of years, each giving off tiny flickers of energy. Its dark red color drifted and fluttered in the night. It was both beautiful and eerie.

Each flicker of energy represented the deep-seated venomous hatred that these souls had harbored for millennia. Further steeped and amplified by the Blood God Qi, its nature has become utterly sinister. To say it clings to the bone and seeps into the marrow would be no exaggeration.

Even someone as powerful as Yin Wanderer had to tread carefully in the face of such a weapon.

In moments like this, Yin Wanderer’s true ability shone through. She acted as if the deadly chain around her ankle didn’t exist at all, soaring higher and faster through the air. Within seconds, she had reached a height of over a hundred zhang.

Suddenly, a sharp twang echoed through the night. The Crimson Ghost Chain had reached its full length. It snapped taut in midair, stretched to its hundreds of zhang limit. Just how Blood Wanderer managed to hide such an immense weapon on his person was anyone’s guess.

But Yin Wanderer knew the answer well.

The Crimson Ghost Chain wasn’t made entirely of material metal. The vast majority of it was condensed from vengeful souls. That was why its forms were ever-changing, nearly limitless. This form, stretching for li, was merely one of its most mundane manifestations.

In the blink of an eye, Yin Wanderer’s toes twisted like a spirit serpent, gracefully landing atop the taut chain. Her movements were fluid, almost ethereal; but the force she channeled into the chain was anything but soft. In the span of a breath, her surging true breath slammed into the Crimson Ghost Chain over three thousand times!

li away, Blood Wanderer’s face flushed slightly under the strain. With a flick of his broad sleeve, the Crimson Ghost Chain suddenly writhed like a serpent withdrawing its fangs. After a few spasmodic twitches and twists, it recoiled into his sleeve, vanishing without a trace.

That exchange left both Wanderers injured.

A black scorched ring appeared on Yin Wanderer’s silk stocking, and the flesh beneath was torn and burned. Worse still, she’d been infected with Blood God Qi, which could cause endless trouble later. Blood Wanderer, on the other hand, had suffered internal injuries from her swift and decisive counterattack. He wasn’t feeling great either.

Across the expanse of several li, their eyes locked in a cold, unflinching stare.

.... 

How do you think this is going to end? First person to guess it right before the next chapter drops gets a free month of Patreon access, lol. We’re already up to chapter 123 over there.

A. One of the Wanderers dies, and the other finds out what happened and comes after Li Xun.

B. They end up fighting to the death. Li Xun finally gets his freedom.

C. Something else? I'm all ears.