Immortality Begins With Internal Breathing

Chapter 691: Chaos Erupts (I)

In the Eastern Sea, within the Chaotic Star Sea, countless factions and families of varying sizes were scattered across the region, locked in fierce competition. One enormous island belonged to the Hidden Moon Sect. The entire sect was composed of several powerful families, with the Xu Family among them.

At that moment, Xu Chi stood anxiously outside an underground secret chamber, his eyes filled with worry. The other families were pressing the Xu Family harder and harder, and had already begun seizing their subordinate forces and resources. Were it not for their fear that Xu Chi's grandfather might go mad and launch a bloody retaliation before his death, they would have acted even more brazenly.

"Why hasn't grandfather emerged from seclusion yet? Could something have happened to him?" Xu Chi looked worriedly toward the entrance of the secret chamber, where the heavy stone door remained tightly shut.

Had his grandfather's soul lamp not still been burning, Xu Chi would have suspected that the old man had already passed away. Just as he was hesitating over whether to force open the chamber, his brow furrowed slightly. The worry vanished from his face, and he resumed his usual calm and composed demeanor. His figure blurred as he left the area and appeared outside.

"What kind of behavior is this, rushing around in a panic? Speak. What happened?" Xu Chi reprimanded the man before him.

"Father, something has happened at the largest spirit herb garden managed by the Xu Family. The Qian Family is using the problems that occurred there last time as an excuse to contest control of the garden at the sect meeting," the young man said anxiously after taking a long breath.

That spirit herb garden was the fruit of generations of labor by the Xu Family. Only through the painstaking care and cultivation of their ancestors had it grown to its present scale. Among the great families, the Xu Family held the largest share, receiving three-fifths of the garden's profits. If they lost control of it, their fate within a few years was easy to imagine.

"Damn it. They have already seized so many of our resources, yet they are still not satisfied and have set their sights on the spirit herb garden! Spread the word that the ancestor will soon emerge from seclusion and that his injuries have improved. Keep the clan members calm. I will ask one of the ancestor's old friends to intervene," Xu Chi said solemnly.

After giving his instructions, his figure blurred and vanished from the spot. At the same time, Xu Chi reached a decision. The situation had already deteriorated beyond repair, so it was time to activate the emergency plan and force open his grandfather's cultivation chamber. Regardless of whether it adversely affected his grandfather, the situation could hardly become much worse.

Before that, however, I need to arrange a time with Fellow Xiao. I wonder whether he has been free recently... Xu Chi thought. Having made his decision, he took out a communication talisman and sent Wu Di a message.

***

In the demon cave, within the courtyard where Lin Zheyu resided, the hideous corpse of a yao over three meters tall lay motionless on the ground. He stood beside it with his right hand pressed against its body, pouring out vast quantities of blood qi to stimulate the demonic patterns within it.

More than ten minutes later, purple-black demonic qi flowed down his arm and entered the yao's body, replacing the blood qi as it stimulated the demonic patterns. At the same time, the Heavenly Eye within his sea of consciousness opened, observing how the yao's demonic patterns changed under the stimulation of different energies.

Time passed slowly. Immersed in studying the yao's demonic patterns, Lin Zheyu suddenly raised his brows. With a turn of his right hand, a specially made communication jade talisman appeared in his palm. This type of talisman could function in an environment saturated with demonic qi, such as the demon cave. After checking the message within, a trace of surprise flashed through his eyes.

"Any time is fine? And the sooner, the better? This fellow..." Lin Zheyu shook his head speechlessly after reading Wu Di's reply.

When he had not asked, Xu Chi had shown no sign of urgency whatsoever. Yet the moment he inquired, the answer was that any time would do, and the sooner, the better. Unfortunately, Xu Chi might be available at any time, but Lin Zheyu was not.

"Forget it. I should secure the recommendation slot first. I'll find an opportunity to speak with Senior Wang and ask him to arrange for someone else to replace me for a while," Lin Zheyu said helplessly.

Judging by the time, it was nearly his turn to guard the formation node again. After putting away the items in the courtyard, Lin Zheyu deactivated the courtyard's protective formation and headed toward the first formation defense line.

There, dense demonic qi had formed terrifying tides that surged throughout the defensive line. Following the invasion from the demon realm more than a month ago, the first formation defense line had been battered into ruins by the yao, leaving breaches everywhere. Surging demonic qi poured in through the cracks around the node, and the first formation defense line could no longer block such a dense influx. It rampaged freely within the formation, corroding the already devastated formation restrictions.

More than a month had passed, yet the formation restrictions devastated during the previous invasion from the demon realm still had not been repaired. The formations here were of an extremely high grade, and the grand formation was extraordinarily complex. It had been difficult to construct and was even harder to restore.

Moreover, this was not the only area of the demon cave where the formation restrictions had suffered severe damage. In other places, they had also been damaged or even breached outright during the invasion. Those areas were in even greater need of urgent repairs.

There were simply too many damaged formation restrictions for the experts capable of repairing them to handle. They could only work through them one by one according to urgency and importance. Although this grand formation had suffered severe damage, it could still barely function, so there was no chance it would be given priority.

For now, Lin Zheyu and the others could only continue using it and wait until the experts capable of repairing such a complex formation became available.

After entering the grand formation, Lin Zheyu made his way toward the formation node guarded by Wang Zhengtian. Ji Haozhong had taken over the other formation node and lasted another twenty days or so before Zong Linjing replaced him.

When Lin Zheyu arrived outside the formation node, he glanced at Wang Zhengtian, who was immersed in cultivation. The senior was the same as ever, a cultivation fanatic through and through. He waited for roughly half a day before Wang Zhengtian finally emerged from his cultivation.

"You're here. Don't you want to rest a little longer?" Wang Zhengtian asked with a smile as he looked at Lin Zheyu.

Although he was curious why Jing Xinyue had summoned Lin Zheyu, Wang Zhengtian showed no intention of asking, as though it had never happened.

"There's no need. By the way, Senior, I have some matters to attend to and will need to leave for a while," Lin Zheyu said casually as he stepped into the formation node.

"You need to leave as well? Hmm, Ji Haozhong only applied for a transfer a few days ago. He has guarded this place for several years, so it is indeed time for him to leave. If you wish to leave too, you may have to wait for some time, until another Shackles realm martial artist becomes available," Wang Zhengtian said after a moment of thought.

Lin Zheyu cupped his hands in thanks. "Then I will wait a little longer. I will have to trouble you to make the arrangements."

"No need to be so polite. Also, this space-time node has been acting strangely quite often lately. Something major may be about to happen, so do not become so absorbed in cultivation that you let your guard down," Wang Zhengtian cautioned.

At the same time, he added inwardly, Perhaps you will be able to leave before a replacement even arrives.

"I will keep that in mind," Lin Zheyu replied with a nod.

Wang Zhengtian stepped out of the formation node and looked toward the space-time node, a grave expression appearing in his eyes. As an expert who cultivated both Immortal Dao and martial cultivation, his spiritual intuition was also extraordinary. Having guarded the first formation defense line for many years, Wang Zhengtian had likewise sensed that something was amiss. A faint sense of danger had arisen in his heart as well.

Something is not right. It seems this space-time node will undergo another abnormal change very soon. I only hope this place is merely meant to draw the attention of the other experts, rather than serve as the true point of attack, Lin Zheyu thought.

On the previous occasions when beings comparable to Deity Transformation realm experts had successfully invaded from the demon realm, several space-time nodes had shown abnormal activity at the same time. However, there had only ever been one true point of attack. The others merely served to divert the attention of the experts guarding the demon cave.