Cultivating Immortality Through a Hundred Lifetimes: I Possess the Heavenly Book of Merit

Yu Yan's divine sense could detect that they had taken to the air.

And it's extremely fast.

Although the five senses are deprived, the divine consciousness can still perceive some subtle changes.

The concentration of spiritual energy in the surrounding area was changing, sometimes strong and sometimes weak, as if it were passing through different zones. Occasionally, violent tremors would occur, as if it had struck some kind of barrier.

Yu Yan was silently calculating in his mind.

About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea has passed.

From the moment he was deprived of his five senses until now, if he were walking normally, he wouldn't have been able to travel very far in that short time. But if he were flying, the distance would be hard to say.

Is it really that far from the courtyard in the woods to the ancestral hall?

Or are they taking a detour?

Just as he was thinking this, the surrounding spiritual energy suddenly stopped.

Immediately afterwards, the force that bound his entire body quickly subsided.

Vision, hearing, and touch were instantly restored to normal.

Yu Yan opened his eyes and found himself standing in an open space.

The surrounding area was a dense forest composed of withered vines and old trees, deep and quiet, with crows occasionally flying by, making eerie cries.

A faint chill emanated from within, causing Yu Yan and Zhou Yan to shiver.

The three black robes fell off their bodies and flew back into Elder Lin's hands.

Elder Lin put away his black robe and glanced at the three of them expressionlessly.

"arrive."

His voice remained hoarse and brief.

Yu Yan looked around, secretly surprised.

arrive?

Is this the Lin family dungeon?

But when he looked around, the place was desolate and didn't look like an ancestral hall at all.

Lin Shi seemed to see his confusion and explained with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Yu, don't worry, the ancestral hall is still inside."

He pointed deep into the dead tree.

Yu Yan looked in the direction he was pointing, but still saw nothing.

Elder Lin, a man of few words, simply said "Follow me" and then walked forward on his own.

Yu Yan and the other two quickly followed behind him.

As you walk through the withered vines, the path under your feet becomes increasingly difficult.

The withered vines seemed alive, occasionally wrapping around one's ankles, requiring effort to break free. The cawing of crows echoed all around, reverberating through the silent, dense forest, sending chills down one's spine.

After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Elder Lin suddenly stopped.

He took out a jade slip from his pocket and tossed it into the air.

The jade slip flew into the air and hovered above everyone's heads, emitting a faint glow.

The next moment, something unexpected happened.

The air ahead suddenly distorted, as if an invisible hand was tearing something apart. Then, a massive barrier appeared out of thin air, rising from the void.

The barrier was completely transparent, yet faint runes could be seen flowing within it.

It's like a giant curtain, enveloping everything in front of it.

Through the barrier, you could vaguely see what was inside, but not clearly.

Elder Lin made hand seals and chanted incantations.

The barrier seemed to be torn apart by an invisible hand, slowly spreading out from the middle to both sides, revealing a narrow passage.

At the end of the passage, a temple finally came into view.

It was an ancient building, constructed entirely of bluestone, with upturned eaves and corners, exuding a magnificent presence.

Two lanterns hung in front of the ancestral hall, their eerie blue flames casting a bleak light on the surroundings.

Two cultivators stood at the entrance, dressed in the same gray robes as Elder Lin, their faces expressionless, their gazes sharp as lightning. Their auras were deep and restrained, indicating they were also at the Foundation Establishment stage.

The three of them walked to the front of the ancestral hall. The two guards glanced over, their eyes lingering on Lin Shi's face for a moment, then shifting to Yu Yan and Zhou Yan before looking away without saying a word.

Elder Lin stopped and turned around to look at the three of them.

His gaze was serious, and his tone was more solemn than ever before.

"Once you enter this door, you must abide by the rules."

He stared at Yu Yan and Zhou Yan, and said, word by word, "The ancestral hall enshrines the ancestors of the Lin family. No one is allowed to make noise, be rude, or touch anything at will."

"Someone is watching you. If you do anything disrespectful to your ancestors, don't even think about leaving here."

His voice was hoarse, yet it carried an undeniable air of authority.

Yu Yan and Zhou Yan felt a chill run down their spines and quickly nodded.

Lin Shi also suppressed his smile and nodded solemnly.

Elder Lin glanced at them, turned around, and stepped into the ancestral hall.

The three followed him across the threshold.

The ancestral hall was dimly lit, with only a few ever-burning lamps casting a yellowish glow. The air was filled with the scent of sandalwood and a hint of aged wood.

Directly in front of you are rows of memorial tablets.

From high to low, from large to small, they are densely packed together, numbering in the hundreds.

Before each memorial tablet, an ever-burning lamp and three sticks of incense were lit. The flickering candlelight and wisps of incense enveloped the entire ancestral hall in a solemn atmosphere.

Lin Shi walked to the memorial tablet and bowed three times respectfully. Yu Yan and Zhou Yan followed suit and bowed as well.

Amidst the rising smoke, Yu Yan noticed an inconspicuous entrance in a corner of the ancestral hall.

It was the entrance to a tunnel, pitch black and bottomless. There were no guards at the entrance, only an iron gate, which was ajar.

Elder Lin walked to the entrance of the tunnel and pushed open the iron gate.

"Get out of here."

He went in first.

Yu Yan and the other two followed him into the tunnel.

The tunnel was narrow, allowing only one person to pass at a time. Luminous pearls were embedded in the walls on either side, emitting a soft, glowing light to illuminate the path. Stone steps led downwards, one after another.

The further down you go, the more damp and cold the air becomes.

After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the tunnel finally came to an end.

Suddenly, everything became clear.

It was a huge underground space, several tens of feet square. The walls were inlaid with countless luminous pearls, illuminating the entire space as if it were daytime.

Right in the middle was a prison cell.

But the prison cell was completely different from what Yu Yan had imagined.

There were no iron bars, no chains, and no instruments of torture.

It was a spacious stone chamber, with luminous pearls embedded in the walls, and even a spirit-gathering array slowly operating.

Inside the stone chamber was a stone bed, a stone table, and several stone chairs. The stone table was laden with fine wine and delicacies, as well as several jade bottles, faintly emitting the fragrance of elixirs.

A person was sitting on the stone bed.

The man had disheveled hair and wore a wrinkled white undergarment, sitting cross-legged on the bed.

He kept his head down, muttering to himself in a low voice, making it impossible to hear what he was saying.

His eyes were vacant and his gaze unfocused, as if he had no idea that someone had come in.

Zhou Yan was utterly stunned by what he saw.

He had imagined that dungeons would be dark, damp, and filled with torture instruments, but he never expected them to be like this.

This is hardly like being in jail.

He's clearly in seclusion, cultivating his spiritual practice!

If he could, he would want to be treated like that too!

Lin Shi walked to the front of the stone chamber and quietly looked at the people inside through the unlocked iron gate.

His gaze was complex, and there was no smile on his face as he simply stared.

After a long silence, he slowly spoke:

"Brother, I've come to see you."

The person in the stone chamber did not react, still keeping their head down and talking to themselves.

Lin Shi waited a moment, then called out again:

"Brother?"

There was still no response.

Lin Shi sighed, turned around, and looked at Yu Yan and Zhou Yan.

His signature smile reappeared on his face, but this time it carried a hint of something more ambiguous.

"Fellow Daoists, please excuse my poor attempt."

He gestured with his lip towards the stone chamber.

"This is my elder brother, Lin Jiu."

Zhou Yan opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but couldn't say anything.