The Path to Immortality: Starting with an Analysis of Basic Concepts

At that time, let alone gaining widespread support.

He will likely also be burdened with the blame for someone who relied on divine pronouncements and betrayed his faith. In the "Great Yu," where the bond of "sworn brotherhood" outweighs the bond between parents and spouses, he will have no place to stand.

A variety of thoughts flashed through my mind in an instant.

Coming to his senses, Zhu Yu looked at the noisy crowd and raised his hand, saying, "Brothers and sisters, please hear me out."

Although the words were spoken softly, they resonated clearly in everyone's ears.

The sworn brotherhood remained intact, and everyone still listened to his words. As his voice faded, they all turned their gazes toward him.

Zhu Yu pondered for a moment, then said, "Before setting off, I spoke with the Grand Elder. He said that the 'Peerless Sect' is our backing, and if we are unable to establish ourselves, we can return to our sect."

Upon hearing this...

Everyone's eyes lit up, and they looked on expectantly.

As the bond of sworn brotherhood gradually subsided, Zhu Yu felt a little relieved and solemnly said, "My brothers and sisters all know how significant our sworn brotherhood is. The sect leader's dispatch of us to suppress bandits in Taihu Lake is both a training exercise and a way to avoid disaster."

He paused, then said meaningfully:

"Once we have digested this 'fruit,' the world is vast, where can't we, brothers and sisters, go?"

This statement came out.

Upon further reflection, everyone realized that this was indeed the case. The "reputation" that Zhu Yu had just shared with them was enough to be equivalent to half a year of arduous cultivation, and this was only half a day later, so the news had not yet spread completely.

Wait for the news to spread.

It is easy to imagine how enormous the "popularity" that would gather would be.

read this.

As everyone gradually calmed down from their initial anxiety, they stopped thinking about how terrifying "Taihu Lake" was. Their minds were now filled with thoughts of rapidly improving their cultivation and roaming the martial world freely…

There were also intelligent but suspicious people who, after all Zhu Yu's words, ultimately decided that they still wanted to go to "Taihu," a place rife with bandits, cults, and rebel organizations, and put themselves in a dangerous situation.

One of them hesitated for a moment, then shouted:

"If that's the case, why don't we find a secluded place to cultivate ourselves quietly? Why bother venturing into the perilous 'Taihu Lake'..."

Zhu Yu frowned and looked in the direction of the voice. The speaker was a boy with an effeminate appearance, and the information about him came to mind.

His name was You Mang, and his cultivation was at the peak of the "Divine Word Realm". He was one of the few among his eight hundred brothers and sisters who had a chance to compete for the position of "True Disciple".

His manifested divine words are rather unique, called "evil heart." According to him, the effect is to perceive the good and evil of others, but Zhu Yu is skeptical of this.

Just as I was about to explain, a loud shout suddenly rang out.

"Shut up!"

These words not only startled You Mang, but also surprised the others. When they came to their senses, they looked in the direction of the voice and saw "Hou Guang," who looked like a skinny monkey, with a flushed face, wide eyes, and trembling with excitement.

Everyone knew "Hou Guang," but they wondered why this guy, who always had a smile on his face, had suddenly gone mad.

You Mang snapped out of his daze, his narrow eyes narrowing. "Mud monkey, who are you talking to!?..."

In the past, a mere squint from him would have been enough to make Hou Guang bow and apologize. But to his surprise, Hou Guang not only didn't back down, but instead pushed through the crowd, walked up to him, pointed at his nose, and shouted:

"You treacherous insect...do you know no shame?"

You Mang was taken aback. When he came to his senses, his expression became even more unpleasant, and his narrow eyes flashed with a dangerous light.

After speaking, Hou Guangyan stopped looking at him and instead surveyed his surroundings, shouting loudly, "Do you all know anything about shame?...

"what?"

The crowd fell silent for a moment, then glared angrily at him, some even cursing and rolling up their sleeves, shouting to teach him a lesson.

Hou Guang, thin and small, puffed out his chest, glanced disdainfully at the crowd, clasped his hands in a fist salute to Zhu Yu, and said:

"Don't forget, we owe all our great 'opportunity' to our eldest brother. Without him, ask yourselves honestly, could you have gained so much 'prestige'? Not to mention, our 'prestige' will only continue to grow!..."

As he spoke, he said indignantly:

"My brother has his reasons for leading us to suppress bandits in Taihu Lake. Look at you all, you know the danger and want to run away. If my brother were in danger, would you all run away too?"

"I seem to disapprove of such faithless and ungrateful people. It would be better to sever all ties. I, Hou Guang, am ashamed to be associated with you!"

As he spoke, he flicked his sleeve, forcefully pushing aside the people who were trying to get closer, muttering to himself:

"Enjoying endless benefits while being unwilling to take any risks? There's no such logic in this world..."

He walked up to Zhu Yu, and to Zhu Yu's astonishment, suddenly knelt down on one knee, his face full of reverence, and clasped his hands in a fist salute, saying:

"I, Hou Guang, will follow Brother Hou's lead. Wherever Brother Hou tells me to go, I will go. Whoever Brother Hou tells me to kill, I will kill! I, Hou Guang, will follow Brother Hou for the rest of my life."

in the crowd.

Looking at Hou Guang, who was so full of loyalty, Yu Lou's heart skipped a beat. This fifth brother was too insensible. His second brother hadn't even spoken yet, how could he speak first?

Without considering the danger of Taihu Lake, he hurried forward.

But in the end, they were still a few steps too slow.

Liu Peisan, Dang Qing, Li Ling, and You Mang, who surprised him, also came before Zhu Yu, knelt on one knee, and said in unison:

"I will follow my elder brother's lead without question!"

Yu Lou hurriedly shouted, "Me too, me too! I'll listen to my elder brother! It's just the bandits of Taihu Lake. As a dignified inner disciple of the Wushuang Sect, what am I afraid of..."

At this time.

The rest of the group also realized that "Zhu Yu" was their true opportunity, and they had just been too disrespectful to him. What if they had angered him and he decided to sever ties with them?

With this in mind, even though he was worried about the trip to Taihu Lake, he hesitated for a moment and suppressed his thoughts of leaving. Taihu Lake was dangerous as it was, but as Yulou said, they were inner disciples of the Wushuang Sect; were they really inferior to trashy bandits without any lineage?

Everyone knelt down on one knee in unison and shouted:

"The younger brother will follow the elder brother's lead without question."

The sound was loud and clear, reaching all sides of the boats and ships.

Inside the cabin.

"White Dragon King" Dong Biwu withdrew his senses, picked up the teapot, took a sip, and sighed softly:

"They've really never experienced hardship..."

Adjacent rooms.

Dong Qing'er smiled broadly and murmured, "This is the true man of Qing'er..."

Lin Lu stood by the window, watching the waves rise and fall on the river, his face calm.

The accompanying guards looked puzzled, wondering what had gotten into these people.

deck.

"Get up quickly..."

Zhu Yu seemed to have just recovered from his shock. He stepped forward to help up his "Fifth Brother" Hou Guang, and then helped up his "Third Brother" Liu Peisan, his "Fourth Brother" Dang Qing, his "Eighty-Eighth Brother" Li Ling, and his "Seven Hundred and Ninety-Nineth Brother" You Mang one by one.

Then, looking at his brothers and sisters, he reached out to help them up and said urgently:

"Brothers and sisters, what's going on? Get up quickly. Let's discuss this together. There's no need for this, no need for this..."

Hou Guang shouted, "No need to discuss it, we will all listen to our elder brother."

Liu Peisan and Li Ling gave him strange looks, Dang Qing casually flicked his bangs, and You Mang narrowed his eyes slightly, then called out without hesitation:

"We'll all obey our eldest brother. Announcement: Update coming soon, please stay tuned!"

When the rest of the group saw Zhu Yu looking at them, they had no choice but to shout loudly, "We'll do whatever our eldest brother says!" even though they were thinking to themselves.

"Good, good, good..." Zhu Yu shouted excitedly, "If we brothers and sisters are of one mind, we will surely be able to break through any obstacle."

"Its sharpness can break gold!"

The crowd echoed loudly in agreement.

Zhu Yu repeatedly said "yes," and after the crowd's excitement subsided, he said, "Brothers and sisters, please be careful. I know that 'Taihu Lake' is treacherous, but it has both dangers and opportunities..."

As he spoke, he took out the map that Dong Qing'er had given him from his sleeve.

"Brothers and sisters, come over here..."

Upon hearing this, everyone crowded around, those who couldn't see listened carefully to Zhu Yu's explanation. As he spoke, the worry in their hearts gradually faded, and when they learned about the substantial profits from occupying the "water vein," they quickly became excited again.

As for the three martial artists of the "Qingfeng Village" who have reached the "Dao Fruit Realm".

They completely disregarded the fact that while martial artists at the "Golden Body" or "Dharma Aspect" realms might hesitate, these were just three amateur martial artists at the "Dao Fruit" realm, and they weren't afraid of them at all.

It would be a joke if the eight hundred inner disciples of the "Peerless Sect" couldn't even defeat three mere amateur "Dao Fruit Realm" martial artists.

Everyone chimed in with their own unique ideas.

Some say it was poisoning, some say it was a sneak attack, some say it was burning, etc...

As the saying goes, "Three cobblers with their wits combined are better than one Zhuge Liang."

In no time at all.

The group then discussed and came up with a general plan.

The divine words were used by someone skilled in stealth to infiltrate Qingfeng Village and poison it. Together with someone skilled in water, they eliminated the outer guards. Finally, Zhu Yu led the group to surround and kill the three leaders of Qingfeng Village who were at the Dao Fruit Realm.

To ensure that nothing unexpected happens.

When clearing out "Qingfeng Village", people should also be kept on guard around the perimeter.

Seeing the enthusiasm of his brothers and sisters, Zhu Yu immediately decided to do it this way. After checking for any shortcomings, they happily dispersed, chatted for a few minutes, and then immersed themselves in their practice.

Zhu Yu did not return to the cabin, but sat down cross-legged on the spot. Just as he was about to absorb the human hope contained in the "Dragon Pearl" for cultivation, he saw Yu Lou walk forward with a conflicted expression.

He asked in confusion, "Brother Yulou, is something the matter?"

Yu Lou shook his head repeatedly, took a few breaths, and replied, "Brother, I didn't mean to question you just now, I was... I was..."

"Alright, brother, there's no need to explain. I know what you mean." Zhu Yu stood up, patted his shoulder, and said gently, "Don't overthink it. Our brotherhood will only get better from now on. Go and cultivate. 'Taihu Lake' is indeed dangerous; it'll be good to increase your strength."

"Okay, brother, I'll go cultivate now..."

Yu Lou said happily.

"Go."

Zhu Yu waved his hand, looked at the way he walked with such a swagger, shook his head with a smile, sat cross-legged on the ground, took out the "Dragon Pearl" and put it in his mouth, absorbing "human hope" to open the "acupoints".

Sunset and moonrise.

A foul wind swept by, waking Zhu Yu from his meditation. He exhaled a breath of turbid air, opened his eyes, and a streak of crimson blood flashed across his eyes.

He sensed the hundreds of acupoints in his body responding to each other, and the flow of Qi and blood became more refined, so he nodded in satisfaction.

He spat out the "dragon pearl," put it into his sleeve, and used it to draw upon people's prestige.

Speaking of "popularity".

In just one day, his popularity had increased nearly tenfold compared to the daytime level, and it continued to rise like a gushing stream.

Obvious.

The news that he had sworn brotherhood with eight hundred men is gradually spreading.

However, this time Zhu Yu did not rush to distribute the spoils to his brothers and sisters. Instead, he planned to distribute them after conquering Qingfeng Village. At that time, the surge in popularity would surely boost the confidence of his sworn brothers and sisters.

Taking this opportunity

If he had announced his next goal, this situation would likely never have occurred.

Just as he was thinking this.

A gasp of surprise rang out.

"Look, what's that?... "

Zhu Yu looked in the direction of the sound and saw a pale-faced, chubby boy pointing at the river. Following his finger, he saw darkness ahead, with faint, firefly-like lights appearing.

"Um?"

Zhu Yu strode to the railing of the boat, his eyes flashing with a blood-red light. As he looked out, the darkness receded, and the world turned into a blood-red expanse.

On the river, the glowing lights were not anything else, but flags shimmering with light. Beneath the flags were nearly a hundred ships inlaid with iron armor. Upon closer inspection, one could see that they were covered with densely packed secret patterns engraved by sorcerers.

This is no longer an ordinary ship, but a ship resembling a magical artifact.

Zhu Yu's expression changed slightly, and he looked at the "flag". In the dim light, a pattern of a tiger-like beast came into view. Just then, the tiger-shaped beast in his sight shone brightly.

"roar…"

A domineering tiger's roar resounded in his mind, containing intense killing intent, surging towards his soul.

The fake soul enveloping the "Dao Foundation" dimmed slightly. Zhu Yu's expression changed instantly, and he quickly looked away. As he felt the "roar" gradually weaken and the baleful aura dissipate, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Coming to his senses, he frowned, his eyes filled with seriousness.

"The 'Soul of the Array,' is this the Zhenwu Guard of the Great Yu...?"

"Well…"

At that moment, several muffled groans came from the side.

Zhu Yu turned his head and saw the chubby boy who had exclaimed earlier and several others covering their heads, their faces full of pain, and bloodstains flowing from the corners of their eyes.

Seeing others gather around the railing, he quickly called out:

"Don't look! Those are 'Zhenwu Guard' ships on the river. Be careful not to be harmed by their 'array spirit' aura..."

Yu Lou, Liu Peisan, and the others, who were originally preparing to examine the area, immediately restrained their qi and blood. Dang Qing, the reckless one, still used his one eye to examine the area, resulting in a stream of bloody tears flowing down his face...

Zhu Yu was about to say something when he suddenly felt a gentle breeze. "White Dragon King" Dong Biwu appeared beside him, his face serious, his brows furrowed, and he muttered to himself, somewhat puzzled:

"The Zhenwu Guard from Guanjiang Estuary, what are they doing here...?"

"Hmm?" Zhu Yu looked over in confusion.

"White Dragon King" Dong Biwu didn't explain, but waved his hand at Zhu Yu, "Take your brothers and sisters back to the cabin."

Zhu Yu didn't ask any more questions. He glanced back at the approaching fireflies, helped up his brothers who had been attacked by the "array spirit," and invited everyone into the cabin.

Shortly thereafter.

Zhu Yu vaguely heard a low growl like a cow mooing, and then the boat trembled and creaked, as if some enormous creature was dragging it from outside.

With a slight thought, he went to the window of an empty guest room, leaned down and looked out. He saw that it was dark outside, but upon closer inspection, he saw fine, hair-like golden patterns.

"This is…"

He was puzzled for a moment, then his eyes turned bloodshot as he looked at it again.

next moment.

A large, millstone-sized, dark black scale covered with mysterious golden patterns came into view.