Mortal: The Path to Immortality

In the heart of the forbidden area, in a secluded valley surrounded by strange rocks, the spiritual energy is abundant.

"Look there!"

The cultivator surnamed Han from Spirit Beast Mountain parted the bushes and pointed into the distance.

Several disciples from Spirit Beast Mountain who were following them looked in the direction the finger was pointing, and their breathing became rapid.

In the center of the valley, a dozen powerful cultivators were besieging a giant, black-bodied demonic bird with wingspans of several meters—the second-tier demonic beast, the Shadowless Kite.

Beside the giant eagle, there grew a golden spiritual plant with three crimson fruits the size of longans.

"Dragon Blood Fruit!" exclaimed the disciple beside him. That was a rare spiritual fruit that could help demonic beasts advance in rank.

At this moment, the Shadowless Kite let out a sharp cry, its body shrouded in black mist, and with each flap of its wings, it brought up countless black feather arrows as sharp as blades.

In the blink of an eye, several cultivators who were caught off guard were reduced to mangled corpses lying in the stream of the secluded valley.

"Gentlemen, this beast is guarding the sacred fruit and refuses to leave. If this drags on any longer, something unexpected may happen."

"Show us your hidden skills, everyone!"

Having said that, the brocade-robed cultivator from the Hidden Moon Sect turned grim, flipped his right hand, and a talisman radiating astonishing spiritual energy and bearing a pattern of a giant red and black scythe appeared in his palm.

As spiritual energy was poured in frantically, a giant red and black scythe several meters long suddenly condensed in the air.

Taking advantage of the giant eagle's inattention, the giant scythe transformed into a blur and slashed heavily across its back.

The wind and waves created by the giant scythe phantom's swing scattered nearby rocks and the cultivators present everywhere.

"Hey——!"

Jueyingyuan let out a scream as a deep, bone-revealing wound was cleaved open on its back, and blood was gushing out uncontrollably.

Knowing it was no match for the dragon blood fruit, a fierce glint flashed in its eyes. It suddenly lowered its head and bit the dragon blood fruit, its black light turning blood red.

"Oh no, it's about to use its Blood Burning Escape Technique!"

"Stop it! If it gets away, we won't be able to find it again, given our speed!"

Under the shocked and angry gazes of the cultivators, the giant kite transformed into a streak of black and red light, instantly breaking through the encirclement and flying towards the distant mountain peak.

Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, Lu Nanzhu stood at the cave entrance, gently stroking "Mancang" in his arms, quietly watching the spiritual light rising from the distant valley.

"They fought really fiercely. I'm glad I didn't go and join in the fun."

Just as he was congratulating himself on his "wise decision," "Mancang" in his arms suddenly went berserk and crawled into the spirit beast pouch at his waist.

Just as he was still wondering, a sharp cry came from afar.

Lu Nanzhu suddenly looked up and saw a small black and red dot rising in the sky above the valley. In just a few breaths, it rapidly expanded into a huge object with a strong bloody smell, getting closer and closer to him.

"Damn it, what did this guy do here?!"

"Bang—!"

Faced with the giant eagle's charge, Lu Nanzhu had no time to react and nowhere to dodge. He merely swayed his body to reduce the impact area. He then took out several "Golden Armor Talismans" and affixed them to his "Azure Scale Armor." He managed to withstand the impact.

Jueyingyuan crashed heavily onto the platform at the cave entrance, while Lu Nanzhu was knocked into the cave. He barely managed to survive by using the friction of the ground to absorb the impact.

Jueyingyuan seemed to be avoiding something, or perhaps searching for something, and entered with one wing drooping.

Upon seeing people inside the cave, it furiously swung its remaining, still-movable right wing, slashing at Lu Nanzhu like a giant sword.

Instead of retreating, Lu Nanzhu advanced, using his agile movements to dodge Jueyingyuan's slash. At the same time, he snapped his twin blades together again, the spinning blades flying out like halos, leaving several bloody streaks in their wake.

While using his telekinesis to control the spinning blades to harass the giant eagle, Lu Nanzhu also wielded his demonic sword to fight it.

Seeing that the giant eagle was running out of energy, he made a hand seal with his left hand, and several "tethering ropes" glowing with blue light precisely wrapped around the giant eagle's neck and right wing.

"Bang!"

The giant eagle, already severely injured and with its spiritual energy nearly depleted, was pulled by the rope and collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lu Nanzhu plucked a few exceptionally tough feathers from its wing and put them into his storage bag.

Lu Nanzhu sensed the sound of a magical artifact cutting through the air in the distance and made a tough decision. He took out a small inkstone from his storage bag and placed it on Jueyingyuan's head, which was dripping blood.

The giant eagle's eyelids drooped, showing no intention of resisting.

......

A moment later, several cultivators landed on the platform at the cave entrance on their magical artifacts.

The brocade-robed cultivator, the Han-surname cultivator from Spirit Beast Mountain, and the others who arrived later followed the bloodstains splattered on the ground and entered the cave.

Looking at the still-burning campfire on the ground and the feathers scattered everywhere, everyone frowned.

"The mark of the 'Mountain-Opening Scythe' talisman disappeared right here," the brocade-robed cultivator said with certainty, looking at the marks on the ground.

"It's obvious that someone has lived in this cave for a long time, and there's a faint medicinal fragrance." The cultivator surnamed Han from Spirit Beast Mountain also carefully explored the cave.

"Someone beat us to it," said a cultivator carrying a greatsword. "To be able to subdue and kill a heavily wounded level-two demonic beast in such a short time, and then disappear without a trace... this person is definitely not simple."

"This person is truly cunning! All our efforts have been for nothing!" the brocade-robed cultivator complained, angrily pounding the cave wall with his hand.

"The best we can do now is to split up and search the area. I think this person shouldn't have gone too far," the greatsword cultivator suggested to the others.

"That's all we can do. Let's set off quickly!" With that, the dual-sword cultivators of Huadaowu were the first to unleash their magical artifacts and fly out of the cave.

The brocade-robed cultivators and the giant sword cultivators from the Hidden Moon Sect exchanged glances, unwilling to linger, and left the place one after another.

In an instant, the once crowded cave was now only occupied by the Han surname cultivator from Spirit Beast Mountain, Luo Jin, and a few other disciples and followers.

The air inside the cave seemed to freeze for a moment, making it feel suffocating.

The cultivator surnamed Han stood still, sniffing the air, trying to detect some scent in the cave.

Then, he walked to a certain spot inside the cave, slowly squatted down, and picked up some soil with his fingertips, which contained a few specks of golden powder.

He sniffed it lightly and said calmly, "This is... Spirit Control Powder."

Then, he turned and stared at Luo Jin:

"Luo Jin, I remember you inquired about 'Spirit Control Powder' before entering the forbidden area, didn't you? Is this related to you?"

Luo Jin swayed slightly, raised his head, and carefully explained:

"Senior brother is joking. There are quite a few fellow disciples in this forbidden area who use the Spirit Control Powder, and I just happen to be one of them."

"A coincidence?" The cultivator surnamed Han suddenly stood up, pressing closer and glaring fiercely at Luo Jin. "Luo Jin, are you hiding something from me? I have a feeling you're hiding some secret."

"Big brother, why waste words with him? If this kid is stubborn, just beat him up! He deserves to be taught a lesson!" a disciple chimed in.

The cultivator surnamed Han suddenly sneered, grabbed Luo Jin by the collar, lifted him into the air, and slammed him hard against the cold stone wall.

"Luo Jin, do you think that just because your sister became that elder's furnace, he'll protect you? That you can disobey me like that?! Tell me! Does what happened here have anything to do with you?!"

Upon hearing these words, Luo Jin's pupils dilated suddenly, and his fingernails dug deeply into his palm as he clenched his fist.

"What? Don't want to share your 'secret'?" The monk surnamed Han said with a gloomy face, throwing Luo Jin to the ground beside him.

"Brother, Old Li is right! This guy deserves to be taught a lesson. Same old rule, leave him to us, and we'll make sure he's completely subdued."

"Who knows, maybe we can squeeze out some more treasures? Hehehe!" Another follower chimed in.

Hearing the shrill laughter of the crowd, Luo Jin slowly stood up and patted the dust off his body with his bloodied hands.

"I originally planned to wait until your cultivation improved before taking your lives. Unfortunately..." Luo Jin changed his previous timidity, raised his head, and coldly looked at the people in the cave.

"Oh ho! What? With your cultivation level, you think you can kill us? Hahaha! You overestimate yourself!" The cultivator surnamed Li laughed from the side.

Luo Jin glanced at everyone, sneered, took out a long, purplish-black needle from his storage bag, and plunged it into his arm.

A moment later, a plume of black smoke rose from Luo Jin's back and transformed into a human figure about ten feet tall.

"Boy! Why do you call me? Is there new blood offering?" A sinister male voice came from the humanoid shadow.