Mortal: The Path to Immortality

Seeing the two sides start fighting, in order to avoid being caught in the crossfire, Lu Nanzhu quickly pulled Xin Ruyin away and ran far away.

Elder Lin snorted coldly, showing no sign of panic in the face of the combined attack from two cultivators of the same level.

With a wave of his right hand, a circular magic weapon, entirely blue-yellow in color and engraved with mountain and river patterns, flew out.

The ring spun rapidly in the air, instantly creating countless afterimages, and a heavy earth-attribute spiritual energy spread out in an instant.

"Clang! Clang!"

A series of rapid metallic clanging sounds rang out. The twelve throwing knives struck the yellow light shield activated by the circular magic artifact, and were actually bounced back by the impact.

Seeing this, the third leader changed his gesture and commanded the throwing knife to slash down in the air again, but it still could not break through the seemingly thin light barrier.

Luo Jin then flew away, creating distance between himself and the Third Master, and released flying needle magic weapons from the other side to attack Elder Lin.

Elder Lin noticed this and waved his left hand, throwing out several earth-yellow talismans that transformed into miniature stone shields in mid-air, accurately intercepting the flying needles one by one.

At this moment, the three seemed to be testing each other's strength. Even so, the aftershocks of spiritual energy generated by the collision of magical artifacts in mid-air shattered all the boulders surrounding the altar.

Elder Lin, relying on his mid-stage Core Formation level magical power advantage, managed to fight two opponents with ease.

Seeing this, Luo Jin's eyes flashed, and he had an idea. He decided to use his real skills.

He retrieved the needle-shaped magic weapon, made hand seals, and his body was enveloped in a frenzied surge of purplish-black corpse energy.

Dozens of purplish-black flying needles were released again, but each needle tip burst out with several dazzling needle rays.

In an instant, the sky was filled with thousands of solid, tiny beams of light.

Even more surprisingly, each needle-like ray was connected to a thin thread formed of spiritual energy at its tail.

These fine strands of spiritual energy intertwined to form a massive "net of heaven and earth." As Luo Jin moved his fingers, the net rapidly closed, enveloping the space within a radius of several tens of feet.

The defensive light shield that Elder Lin had erected using his natal ring magic artifact was being continuously cut by these spiderweb-like fine threads and gradually crumbled.

These spiritual threads were not only sharp, but also carried a trace of corpse energy. This corpse energy, following the convergence of the spiritual threads, began to erode Elder Lin's body.

Elder Lin felt that his magical artifact was becoming increasingly difficult to control, and his spiritual power was also becoming somewhat sluggish. His expression finally darkened.

"Trying to trap me with such tricks? Dream on!"

Elder Lin suddenly took out a jet-black bone whistle from his storage bag and blew it forcefully.

"Buzz—!"

The rock strata deepest in the crevice suddenly trembled violently, and then with a loud "boom," a giant centipede, more than thirty feet long and covered with a dark brown carapace, burst out of the ground.

"A centipede?!" The third leader recognized the spirit insect and looked horrified.

Elder Lin stood atop the spirit insect and coldly said, "You do have some knowledge. My 'Dragon Serpent' has just advanced and it's time to replenish its resources. Let's start with the two of you!"

This insect is Elder Lin's natal spirit insect—a level-five demon beast called "Centipede Dragon".

This insect has a hundred legs shaped like sickles, and each pair of legs shimmers with a metallic luster.

As soon as it appeared, a thick, yellowish-brown smoke spewed out from its enormous mouth.

The fog carried a strong corrosive toxicity, which corroded the solid ground into a thick swamp.

The centipede twisted its massive body, its hundred legs moving in unison, like countless sharp blades churning wildly in the air.

Under the combined destruction of the sharp feet and the poisonous fog, Luo Jin's painstakingly laid "net of heaven and earth" collapsed instantly.

Luo Jin and the third leader hurriedly flew away to avoid the "Centipede Dragon's" sharp blades and poisonous mist.

At this moment, the tide of battle began to turn in Elder Lin's favor.

Although the third leader kept wielding his golden sword and slashing at the "Centipede Dragon's" body, he only managed to create a series of sparks, failing to even pierce the dark brown carapace.

Elder Lin stood atop the dragon's head, surrounded by a circular magic weapon.

The continuous flow of earth-attribute spiritual energy from underground, through the dragon's body, was transmitted to Elder Lin, making him almost invincible.

Despite using all their magical treasures and techniques, Luo Jin and his companion failed to break through Elder Lin's defenses. Instead, they were constantly being attacked.

Seeing that his previous moves had not worked, Luo Jin suddenly stopped on a flat surface while dodging the attack.

He stomped his foot, and the ground rippled like water.

"rise!"

As Luo Jin chanted his incantation, four ancient-looking, black coffins burst from the ground and landed with a thud.

The coffin lid flew off, and four "Hundred-Refined Corpses," their bodies entirely dark red and covered with inch-long white hair, leaped out. These four refined corpses were not ordinary puppets; a faint intelligence flickered in their eyes.

Luo Jin knew that Elder Lin had used the "Centipede Dragon's" ability to continuously draw upon the earth-attribute spiritual energy of this place for defense. In a direct confrontation, Elder Lin would be no match for him.

He took out the "Snow Queen Incense" from his storage bag, breathed a flame at it, and caused it to emit a fragrant aroma, which attracted Elder Lin's attention.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, since you want this treasure, then come and take it. I'll take my leave now!"

Luo Jin let out a wild laugh, abandoning the entanglement, and transformed into a streak of light, carrying Xue Kui Xiang as he soared into the sky, heading straight for the sliver of night sky at the top of the crevice, as if fleeing in panic.

Elder Lin narrowed his eyes upon seeing this. His primary objective for this trip was this Snow Queen Incense; how could he stand by and watch Luo Jin escape with the treasure?

He turned and channeled his spiritual energy into the stone tablet on the high platform, instantly making the barrier of the ruins even brighter.

"Want to leave? Leave your things behind!"

Elder Lin had no time to think. He leaped up from the top of the centipede dragon's head and transformed into a beam of light, giving chase.

This was exactly what Luo Jin had set up.

As Elder Lin flew away, the four corpse puppets also joined the battle against the "Centipede Dragon".

They scattered and took up positions in the four cardinal directions, surrounding the enormous centipede dragon in the center.

The eyes of the four reanimated corpses shone brightly, and almost simultaneously they raised their dark red hands and formed hand seals.

In an instant, a burst of blood-red mist erupted from the rippled ground, gradually outlining a formation pattern on the ground.

The red array of light gradually trapped the "Centipede Dragon".

The four corpse puppets also kept emitting corpse energy. The spirit insect seemed to sense the threat and struggled incessantly, but it was unable to break through the array's protective barrier.

Seeing this golden opportunity, the third leader's previously hesitant expression turned ruthless. He knew that if they didn't severely injure the insect now, they would both be in trouble once Elder Lin reacted and came to their aid.

He held nothing back, frantically pouring all his metal-elemental magical power into the twelve golden swords. The golden light surged by ten feet, transforming into a sky full of sword light, which, in conjunction with the blood-red array of the Hundred-Refined Corpse, frantically slashed at the belly of the Centipede Dragon, which was not yet completely covered by its carapace.

......

Elder Lin was chasing Luo Jin when he suddenly heard a mournful cry coming from deep within the crevice in the ground.

He immediately sensed something was wrong, feeling that his spirit pet might be in danger, and decided to quickly deal with the person in front of him.

He gathered his spiritual energy and quickly approached Luo Jin, who was flying away, preparing to deliver the final blow.

Just then, the light in the crevice gradually dimmed, as the moon in the sky was slowly being obscured by a shadow.

A lunar eclipse is coming!

At the same time, Elder Lin suddenly felt as if the spiritual energy within his body had solidified, making it difficult to mobilize. His divine sense was also gradually weakening, and he could see the range of his perception getting closer and closer.

He was greatly alarmed, as he had never encountered such a situation before.

Suddenly, Luo Jin stopped running, turned to Elder Lin, held the Snow Queen Incense in his hands, and said with a smile:

"Fellow Daoist Lin, do you feel your spiritual energy is not flowing smoothly? What's wrong? Still trying to steal my Snow Queen Incense?"

Elder Lin looked at Luo Jin in surprise, but said nothing.

"The Twin Cicada Heart Sutra, such a superior method of dual cultivation, has been turned into a technique of sexual exploitation by you! What a waste!" Luo Jin, hovering in the air, put away the Snow Queen Incense and continued speaking.

"Practicing this technique in this way will inevitably lead to a weak spirit and soul."

Normally, with no unusual celestial phenomena, one can still circulate spiritual energy within the body. However, on this night of a lunar eclipse, without the assistance of the power of 'moonlight,' the divine sense finds it difficult to control the spiritual energy within the body.

What? Didn't the person who gave you the technique warn you?

Elder Lin was terrified. Without uttering a word, he transformed into a streak of light and tried to flee. However, before he had flown far, he was blocked by a protective array barrier.

It turns out that when Luo Jin and his group arrived here, they had also hastily set up a formation on the cliff face in order to "catch a turtle in a jar".

Just as Elder Lin was still wondering about this person's identity, Luo Jin used his natal purple-black flying needle magic weapon to seal Elder Lin's limbs and bones.

"Ah—! Ah—!"

Finally, amidst a pitiful pleas for mercy, Luo Jin finished off Elder Lin, whose strength had been severely damaged.