Mortal: The Path to Immortality

One day, a powerful purplish-red beam of light fell from the sky, carrying a scorching wave of air, and crashed down at the entrance of the "Sealed Sea Fire Abyss".

The light dissipated, revealing an old man in black robes whose body was faintly emitting purplish-red demonic flames.

His face was gloomy, and his body exuded the spiritual pressure of the Nascent Soul level—this person was the renowned Nascent Soul mid-stage cultivator of the Demon Flame Sect, the "Blood Torch" Ancestor.

The Qi Refining stage disciple who usually guarded the entrance to the Fire Abyss had never seen such a scene before. His face turned pale, his legs went weak, and he scrambled forward, bowing deeply in gratitude.

"Disciple...Disciple greets Senior! I was unaware of your presence and have failed to greet you properly. My apologies!"

"In the past two days, have any suspicious cultivators escaped from this secret realm? Tell me in detail," Blood Torch Ancestor asked in a low voice, standing with his hands behind his back.

He coldly stared at the Qi Refining disciple kneeling before him, head bowed in fear.

The other person seemed intimidated by his imposing manner and was somewhat frightened. He stammered, his face full of hesitation and fear, as if he was still desperately trying to recall.

A hint of impatience flashed in the eyes of the Blood Torch Ancestor, and he coldly snorted:

"Forget it, relying on you useless people is too slow. I'll take a look myself."

"Huh?"

The Qi Refining disciple had just subconsciously raised his head and let out a surprised cry when he saw the black-clad old man in front of him grab at the air with his withered right hand.

An irresistible, immense suction force instantly lifted him off the ground, and by the time he realized what was happening, he had already been pulled in mid-air in front of the Blood Torch Ancestor.

"ah--!!"

A heart-wrenching scream immediately echoed at the entrance to the Fire Abyss.

With a blank expression, the Blood Torch Ancestor stretched out his five fingers and grabbed the Baihui acupoint on the top of the Qi Refining disciple's head, forcefully casting the "Soul Searching Technique" without any scruples.

As the memories flashed before his eyes, Blood Torch Ancestor's cold gaze finally sharpened slightly.

Through this disciple's spiritual memories, he clearly saw:

Two days ago, only one cultivator wearing a mask and tight-fitting clothes, using an extremely fast escape technique rarely seen in the Foundation Establishment stage, emerged from the Fire Abyss just before the secret realm closed, and then flew south.

"The time when Yu'er's natal soul lamp went out was exactly two days ago. The time and place match up perfectly."

The Blood Torch Ancestor released his force with his palm, casually tossing aside the Qi Refining disciple in his hand, whose eyes were wide open and who had already lost his breath, like a dead dog.

Blood Torch Ancestor's face was grim. He summoned the purplish-red demonic flames once more, transforming himself back into a streak of light, and charged southward with murderous intent.

......

one year later.

The night sky was clear and bright, with only a few stars and a bright moon. A streak of blue and green light swept across the mountains, hurtling southward at full speed.

During that year, Lu Nanzhu almost completely isolated himself from the world of cultivation.

He fled all the way to the border of Dongyu Kingdom, where he found a remote mountain and carved out a simple cave dwelling.

During those days, he stayed indoors all day, except for routinely refining pills to improve his cultivation, and he devoted all his energy to comprehending the cultivation methods of the Taiyi Muhua Scripture.

Unfortunately, the spiritual energy of that place was extremely thin. Fortunately, he had various elixirs to aid him, but even so, his cultivation progress this year was not particularly remarkable, and he was still some distance away from reaching the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

With the agreed-upon reunion day with Han Li approaching, in order to ensure that the boy truly fulfilled his promise on time, Lu Nanzhu made a special trip to the secluded valley where Qi Yunxiao and his wife lived in seclusion when passing through the territory of Yuanwu Kingdom.

Inside the bamboo house, Qi Yunxiao and his wife were pleasantly surprised to see Lu Nanzhu's sudden visit.

Xin Ruyin poured Lu Nanzhu a cup of spiritual tea and said with a smile:

"Since you have an appointment with Senior Han, then I will not hide it from you. Indeed, Senior Han took away the diagram of the repaired ancient teleportation array from me several months ago."

Qi Yunxiao, sitting to the side, nodded in agreement, but then, as if remembering something, he said:

"Senior, have you noticed the unrest in the Yuanwu Kingdom these past two days? The entire Yuanwu Kingdom has been turned upside down by the people of the Demon Flame Sect."

Lu Nanzhu paused slightly in his teacup, raised an eyebrow, but did not speak, only gesturing for him to continue.

Qi Yunxiao sighed and continued, "I heard that he was the beloved grandson of the Blood Torch Ancestor of the Demon Flame Sect, and he met with misfortune in the Sealed Fire Abyss a year ago."

The Demon Flame Sect's higher-ups are furious and have issued bounties everywhere for the killer. Even the markets frequented by independent cultivators have been plastered with wanted posters.

At this point, a hint of curiosity flashed in Qi Yunxiao's eyes:

"Tsk tsk, I wonder which senior dared to make such a move? Daring to assassinate a sect's prodigy. Under the heavens, life and death are unpredictable, and the lives of sect prodigies are not much tougher than those of us rogue cultivators."

After listening, Lu Nanzhu simply chuckled noncommittally and downed the spiritual tea in his cup.

He didn't offer much explanation, and after a hasty farewell to Qi Yunxiao and his wife, he left without lingering for a moment.

During this frantic journey, the border patrols became noticeably stricter due to the uproar caused by the bounty offered by the Demon Flame Sect.

As Lu Nanzhu passed through several checkpoints, he happened to run into several groups of Foundation Establishment cultivators of the demonic path who were searching and interrogating people.

Lu Nanzhu would naturally show no mercy to these fools.

To prevent them from using communication talismans to inform the sect afterward and causing unnecessary trouble, he killed them without saying a word.

The talismans and puppets were used in turn, and both instantly annihilated the opponent, burning the corpse to destroy all traces. They truly achieved the goal of eradicating evil completely and leaving no trace.

However, while casually interrogating one of the leading demonic cultivators, Lu Nanzhu unexpectedly received some news that surprised him:

In order to merge the entire sect into the Demonic Spirit Control Sect, the higher-ups of Spirit Beast Mountain actually decided to marry off their disciple Xiao Suxin to Le Anran, the nephew of Elder Kuang of the Spirit Control Sect.

At this moment, as Lu Nanzhu was flying away, the familiar figure who used to visit him in the Abandoned Spirit Valley couldn't help but appear in his mind.

A strange sense of emotion welled up in his heart, and he felt a little worried about Xiao Suxin's current situation amidst the power struggles within the sect.

However, after only a few breaths, Lu Nanzhu shook his head with a self-deprecating smile.

He was just a Foundation Establishment cultivator who was being hunted by Nascent Soul cultivators all over the world and could barely stay in Tiannan. Yet he still had the leisure to worry about a Core Formation cultivator. He was truly ignorant of his own limitations.

In the desolate night sky, the only sound was the whistling wind.

As Lu Nanzhu sped across the Gobi Desert, his mind wandered off into the distance due to his earlier rambling thoughts.

He subconsciously slowed his escape, raised his head, and looked at the bright full moon hanging in the sky through his mask.

The cool moonlight spilled onto the sand below. The evening breeze swept across the sand, creating ripples of silver.

"The moonlight tonight... is truly beautiful."

He gritted his teeth, forcibly cutting off those distracting thoughts from his mind, and regained his senses.

The light emanating from his body suddenly surged in the night. He sped towards the agreed-upon abandoned mine.

Just as Lu Nanzhu was focusing his mind and traveling at full speed, he looked up while flying at low altitude and saw four streaks of light flashing across the sky, one in front and the other three following closely behind.

Lu Nanzhu skillfully concealed himself among the strangely shaped rocks in the mountain hollow.

However, as the four people in the air drew closer, he used his extraordinary divine sense to discover that the situation above was not a "one-on-three" fellow disciples traveling together, but a thrilling "three chasing one".

Three male cultivators at the early stage of Core Formation were relentlessly pursuing another female cultivator at the same stage. The woman, dressed in plain clothes and with a pale face, was none other than Xiao Suxin, whom he had been thinking about.

Judging from the unsteady appearance of their escape light, it seemed that several Core Formation cultivators had suffered serious injuries.

Even though they were all flying at full speed, in Lu Nanzhu’s opinion, their current speed was not even as fast as when he was fully activating “Stepping Heaven Song”.

Seeing that Xiao Suxin, who was injured and about to collapse, was about to be caught up by the three people behind her, Lu Nanzhu could no longer suppress his impulse.

He barely hesitated for a moment before reaching into his storage bag, pulling out a bottle of homemade spiritual liquid, and taking several large gulps.

As his magical power gradually recovered, Lu Nanzhu fully activated his escape technique "Step to Heaven Song," transforming into a streak of blue and green light that shot towards Xiao Suxin high in the sky without warning.

High in the sky, the chase continues.

"Fairy Xiao, I have always been sincere towards you and have long admired you."

"Although I am not from a noble family, in the entire Yuling Sect, if the fairy wants to find a Daoist partner, there is indeed no one more suitable than me." Among the three, the handsome Core Formation cultivator who was at the forefront was currently chasing after them while using telepathy to persuade Xiao Suxin ahead.

"Yes, Fairy Xiao. The high-ranking elders of Spirit Beast Mountain and Spirit Control Sect have tacitly approved of your marriage to Brother Le."

If you insist on going against the wishes of the sect elders, aren't you afraid of ending up as an enemy of the sect and having nowhere to stand in Tiannan?"

Another Core Formation cultivator dressed in blue echoed him telepathically, his tone carrying a hint of threat.

However, what greeted the two of them was only Xiao Suxin, who was flying away at full speed ahead, her silent back view.

Suddenly, a peacock blue beam of light shot out from below, its speed startling the three Core Formation cultivators from the Yuling Sect who were chasing it.

Without the slightest hesitation, the streak of light rushed straight toward Xiao Suxin, whose magical power was almost exhausted.

"Uh!" Xiao Suxin exclaimed softly.

The next moment, as Lu Nanzhu approached her, he shifted his body and smoothly carried her in a "princess carry," pulling the Core Formation Fairy into his arms.

Immediately afterwards, the peacock blue light emanating from his entire body flashed wildly.

Xiao Suxin was shocked to discover that the surrounding scenery was rushing backwards—the two of them had increased their flying speed by a huge margin in that instant!

She had already seen through Lu Nanzhu's disguise with her divine sense. Considering how hard he had tried to help her, she decided not to hold these "rude" behaviors against him.

Perhaps because her magical power had been almost completely depleted, Xiao Suxin closed her eyes, feeling somewhat exhausted, and weakly leaned against his chest to rest.

The two remained silent, leaving a long streak of peacock blue light in the night, completely leaving the three behind them behind.

Meanwhile, a hundred miles behind.

Watching helplessly as the fairy Xiao, whom they were about to win over, was snatched away by a reckless ghost who appeared out of nowhere, Le Anran and the other two chased after him for a while, but could only watch as the blue-green light shrank smaller and smaller until it completely disappeared from their divine sense.

The three of them had no choice but to stop in mid-air, and Le Anran's face was particularly gloomy.

"Who...who was that guy just now? He clearly only looked like a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but how come his skill in this escape technique is so high that even we Core Formation cultivators couldn't catch up to him at full speed?"

The blue-robed monk stared in the direction where the two had long since disappeared, muttering to himself in disbelief.

Turning his head and catching a glimpse of Le Anran's unpleasant expression, the blue-robed cultivator's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly changed his words to make amends:

"Hmph! If we hadn't fought fiercely with Fairy Xiao just now and sustained injuries, we would never have let this brat escape so easily! He's lucky today!"

Le Anran turned her head and stared at the blue-robed cultivator with a cold look in her eyes, as if to warn him: If you can't speak properly, then shut up. Don't bring up things that are hard to talk about!

Seeing the atmosphere becoming somewhat tense, the black-clad Core Formation cultivator quickly stepped forward to defuse the situation:

"Brother Le, the invitations for the 'Dual Cultivation Ceremony' have already been sent out. The most urgent task is to find Fairy Xiao as soon as possible, otherwise we may have difficulty explaining to the elders of the sect."

The black-clad cultivator paused, then calmly analyzed, "Further north lies the Yuanwu Kingdom. We can utilize our sect connections to request assistance from fellow Daoists of the Demon Flame Sect. As for our side..."

A sly glint flashed in his eyes: "If we really can't find Fairy Xiao in the end, we can always come up with a different story when we go back to report."

It is said that when Xiao Suxin was in the Spirit Beast Mountain, she already had a mysterious Daoist partner who was deeply hidden. This person's strength was unfathomable. Today, he ambushed her on the way and forcibly abducted her.

When the sect blames us, they can directly question Spirit Beast Mountain about why they deliberately concealed the truth. That way, the responsibility won't fall entirely on us.

"Brilliant!" Upon hearing this, the blue-robed cultivator clapped his hands and exclaimed in praise, "In this way, since it was Spirit Beast Mountain that deliberately deceived us first, I suppose the Supreme Elders of the Spirit Control Sect will not be too harsh on us."

"Now that things have come to this, we have no choice but to do as you say. Let's go and contact our fellow Daoists in the Demon Flame Sect for help with the search," Le Anran said with a deep sigh and a furrowed brow.

In the eyes of those high-ranking Nascent Soul stage cultivators, this marriage between the two sects was nothing more than a political charade, and perhaps not that important.

But for Le Anran himself, he truly loved Xiao Suxin and sincerely wanted to marry that gentle fairy and make her his cultivation partner.

Afterwards, each with their own thoughts, the three transformed back into three streaks of light and continued their search in the direction of Yuanwu Kingdom.