Twin Dimension Yin-Yang Mirror: Attaining immortality through the martial path
Chapter 349 - 314: Mental Shackles, Seizing the Initiative

Chapter 349: Chapter 314: Mental Shackles, Seizing the Initiative

Zhou Ping’an’s gaze was profound as he looked towards Li Yuanzhen, slowly extending his left index finger, from which a halo of seven colors flowed.

If he had not yet achieved the Completion of the "Five Desires Demonic Cultivation," not having reached the realm of Spirit and Flesh Unification, he could only use the Soul Consciousness at his brow to probe with his Mental Strength into Li Yuanzhen’s body to explore the truth.

But now, there was no need for that.

Every inch of his skin, every hair, was branded with his Soul Consciousness, birthing spirit within them.

When his fleshly finger touched down, it was essentially the same as the blending of souls.

As the luminous halo on the fingertip reached Li Yuanzhen’s forehead, before Zhou Ping’an could continue his actions,

Suddenly, the "Fire Phoenix" of Frost Country opened her eyes.

A pair of eyes, completely pitch-black, devoid of any whites.

Like the swirling halos of a vortex, slowly revolving as if to drag everything into it.

In the office reception room, the light seemed to be sucked in, plunging once more into the profound depths of the night.

Tang Tang couldn’t help but let out a soft gasp.

Wanting to turn around and retreat,

She discovered that she could no longer control her body.

Despite wanting to leave the room, her feet moved with a consciousness of their own, slowly stepping towards Li Yuanzhen.

Her eyes, staring fixedly at the black vortex within Li Yuanzhen’s eyes, could no longer be diverted.

"Break!"

A light shout rang in her ears.

Tang Tang’s heart skipped a beat, and her mind suddenly became exceptionally clear.

It seemed as though all joy and sorrow, desires and emotions, had been swept away.

With no thoughts or desires in her heart, an empty stillness spread within, as if she had returned to her childhood, back to the cradle.

Ignorant of everything, like a blank piece of paper.

Naturally, there was neither temptation nor fear.

She halted her steps, and it took three full breaths for her to come back to her senses.

A feeling of emptiness filled her heart.

She turned to look back at Zhou Ping’an.

She saw her junior fellow disciple had already retracted his finger.

And in front of him, "Fire Phoenix" Li Yuanzhen seemed to awaken from the deepest of dreams, her eyes regaining their spirit, tears dripping from her eyes.

Li Yuanzhen wiped away her tears, looking around as if still unclear about the situation.

When she saw Zhou Ping’an and Tang Tang, the bewilderment and helplessness in her eyes slowly disappeared, dropping a weight off her heart.

"Thank you, Officer Zhou, for rescuing me. This is already the second time," she said.

She got up and deeply bowed to the floor, her face full of shame.

What a way to repay a debt.

She had accomplished nothing but incurred losses, even jeopardizing herself in the process.

The most frustrating part was that she had no idea how she’d been controlled by somebody else.

For a moment, her heart was filled with loss.

"Don’t rush to thank me. You should remember some things by now. Tell me, what exactly happened," Zhou Ping’an said, extending a hand to help her up.

He stimulated the pathogen and death energy inside her body, turning it into a rich vitality.

Watching the once gaunt body regaining its vitality and Qi-Blood, and her complexion also looking a lot better, he then spoke up.

Tang Tang also timely took out some bread and biscuits from a drawer nearby, silently pouring a cup of warm water and setting it before Li Yuanzhen.

"There isn’t much to say, actually," said Li Yuanzhen in a disheartened tone.

"After I was rescued by Officer Zhou from Green Water Villa that day, I knew it would likely provoke retaliation from the Eternal Life Group.

Immediately, I had the remaining members of the Fire Phoenix Squad disperse and go into hiding. I myself left the city and hid in a safe house outside, hoping to wait out this period. But unexpectedly, as soon as I returned to the safe house, I was ambushed."

Remembering that in the safe house she was inexplicably knocked out without a sound and later tortured for information, a deep hatred and embarrassment welled up inside Li Yuanzhen.

It was too humiliating.

The things one is reluctant to recall are precisely the ones that must be confronted.

Li Yuanzhen recounted the events one by one.

As she spoke, a strange yearning arose within her.

Since Officer Zhou could save her from certain death, he must surely have a way to counteract those bizarre methods.

Moreover, she had witnessed firsthand how Zhou Ping’an had effortlessly dispatched two A-rank experts from the Eternal Life Group.

Such a profound master right in front of her.

What need was there for a bicycle?

It would be better instead to...

"Please take me in, sir. From this day forth, I, Li Yuanzhen, am willing to offer everything I have to become a blade in your hand, striking wherever you point," she offered.

"You sure know how to conduct business," Zhou Ping’an laughed.

The Fire Phoenix, despite her extreme physical weakness, which hadn’t yet recovered,

was by no means foolish.

She clearly saw that sooner or later, those people from the Eternal Life Group would have to confront him, thus she proactively offered allegiance.

It was an act of expressing gratitude.

And possibly an opportunity for revenge.

Two birds with one stone.

As for herself, and the little she commanded, they were, of course, not worth much in the eyes of Zhou Ping’an.

"Offer everything?" Tang Tang snickered as she overheard from the side.

Looking Li Yuanzhen up and down with curiosity, she found that, despite her current disheveled appearance, the distinctive temperament of the other party was still very comforting to behold.

She glanced at Zhou Ping’an with a humorous tone, saying, "She’s quite a beauty, junior brother. Why not take her in as a retainer?"

The so-called "retainer" was obviously said in jest.

Those outdated customs didn’t exist anymore in these times.

Perhaps among some traditionalists, there were still practices of collecting retainers and private favorites.

But Zhou Ping’an clearly had no such interest.

And even if he did,

He wouldn’t show it in front of Tang Tang.

He pretended not to hear, "Let’s not talk about the matter of switching allegiances, let alone offering up everything. What you’ve just mentioned, the person interrogating was very targeted, asking about my affairs in great detail. Moreover, they also mentioned the General’s Tomb and Madame Zhao Yue..."

"Yes, that person was very confident, not afraid to reveal their own information. When he asked questions, he even gave away some of his own secrets..."

"He mentioned [Eden] and the Adjudicator several times. Based on this, we can infer that there must be relics and treasures on the West Coast similar to those found in the General’s Tomb.

"They’ve gained many benefits, hence, they’ve turned their attention here, wanting to explore deeper secrets, or perhaps, to snatch treasures."

Zhou Ping’an nodded.

He had no suspicions that Li Yuanzhen was making up false information to deliberately push him to the opposition of the Eternal Life Group.

Because, when he had just begun treating Li Yuanzhen.

As soon as his finger touched her.

An image of a pitch-black suit of armor appeared in his mind.

Behind the armor, wings spread, though it was unclear how many pairs there were.

Emitting a faint black light.

As if it wanted to tug at his mental strength and soul.

If Zhou Ping’an’s flesh hadn’t been so consolidated, and his spirit and flesh unified, he might have been caught off guard by that absorbing force.

Sensing something wrong.

Zhou Ping’an, in the first moment, gathered his seven emotions and six desires, tightly guarding his Qi-Blood and mental strength, causing the other’s strike to hit a wall.

Then, he summoned the Red Lotus Karmic Fire visualized in his Sea of Consciousness, and sent it burning along that black qi.

It was like pouring oil on fire.

The shadow of the wings behind the armor, upon being touched by this flame, instantly turned to ash.

At the same time, the remaining 180,000 Wish Power Threads accumulated in his Sea of Consciousness quietly consumed more than a thousand.

One can imagine how evil and powerful that shadow in Li Yuanzhen’s mind must have been.

’Fortunately, I have been very cautious, not trying to probe before I made my breakthrough to the Completion of the Five Desires.’

Zhou Ping’an thought to himself.

He also didn’t bother to feel distressed about the loss of over a thousand Wish Power Threads.

When he resisted and broke the black-winged armor brand on Li Yuanzhen, it was not without gain.

He thought for a moment, brought his hands together, and with a hundred Wish Power Threads, a faint red chain appeared in his palm. The chain was not too solid, and with a thought, like a Spirit Snake, it lunged at the two Police Security officers, Yuan An and Zhang Zhihe, who were mentally frantic.

A wisp of light smoke rose.

The bodies that had been continuously twitching suddenly tensed and then relaxed.

Their eyes slowly opened, and their expressions returned to calm.

"Very good."

Zhou Ping’an was very satisfied.

Perhaps due to the absence of a certain ritual.

The mental restraints on Yuan An and the others were much weaker than the winged armor accompanying Li Yuanzhen.

This could be told from the amount of mental strength spent.

However, the fact that the other party could employ such magical techniques.

He had underestimated the danger of this world.

He had originally thought that the enemies he faced would at most be some opponents whose genetic transformation was not completely successful.

But now, he realized from the few tricks that were exposed, that his enemies had not only science but seemed to have delved into the realm of theology as well.

’This makes things quite difficult.’

Just thinking about the unknown terror and strength of the mysterious realm.

Zhou Ping’an felt that he mustn’t act recklessly.

After all, no one knew what kind of methods the other party had mastered, or if they would be even more difficult to deal with.

"What is this?"

Tang Tang’s eyes were wide with astonishment.

Everything she had seen tonight was challenging her world view.

Originally, she thought it was amazing enough that novels could mirror reality, that cultivation could make one stronger, and even lead to a transformation, increasing lifespan.

Before she could settle down from the excitement.

And gradually accept a different world.

She didn’t expect to see things like theology and Immortal Techniques unfold before her eyes.

The black vortex of just moments ago.

And the fiery red chains that appeared in Zhou Ping’an’s hands.

If you told her this was martial arts, she would never believe it.

"It’s just a use of mental strength, nothing so miraculous. When you reach this realm in your cultivation, you’ll be able to do it too," Zhou Ping’an said indifferently.

But he didn’t mention that he too had just learned and used it on the fly.

Honestly, he rather liked seeing the composed and level-headed senior sister’s emotional reaction.

The sight of the senior sister losing her composure was particularly amusing.

...

The world outside the window was bathed in red.

Dawn had finally broken.

Zhou Ping’an took a deep breath of the cool morning air, feeling refreshed.

He immediately decided.

Some matters had to be moved up the agenda quickly.

He couldn’t just keep waiting.

He had initially thought about sitting back and watching others struggle, waiting for the wilderness and the Hongguang Group to slowly excavate that site and activate all the dangers before observing and looking for an opportunity to enter the fray.

But now he discovered that things were far from simple.

Suspected experts from the Eternal Life Group had come to Dongjiang, not lingering in the city, but heading straight for the Outside the West City Gate, clearly not just to go through the motions.

They must be aiming for something.

Most likely.

Their target was the "Zhao Yue Ruins."

"Senior sister, contact Professor Wang to clarify the life and deeds of Madame Zhao Yue as soon as possible," Zhou Ping’an urged with a sense of urgency in his heart.

He had a feeling that the people outside the city might make a big move.

........................