The Forbidden Path to Immortality-Chapter 270

Yin Wanderer hadn’t even finished speaking when the night sky, dark as ink, suddenly lit up. A streak of fiery red shot in from the line where sea met sky, coming in fast. Li Xun had braced himself, but he still didn’t have time to lift the Jade Bixie to his chest before the red light rushed right at him. A warmth, like mildly heated water, slipped straight into his body.

Li Xun let out a stifled grunt, forcing down the surge of blood and qi that had been singed by the blaze of pure light. He cursed his luck under his breath.

Li Xun let out a stifled grunt, forcing down the surge of blood scorched by that Great Bright Flame. Inside, he was cursing his rotten luck.

Of course he recognized the messenger flying sword. It wasn’t really a flying sword at all. It was a phoenix feather, one of the rarest things in the world.

And there was only one person anywhere who would ever use something that precious as a message carrier.

The message on it was short, just a few lines: “Things are lively up north. Where did you run off to? Hey, be careful, ok? I stole this from my mom to give to you, so keep it hidden!”

Even Yin Wanderer couldn’t help cracking a thin little smile when she saw those words.

Li Xun chuckled bitterly. He formed a quick seal to block out the uncomfortable aura clinging to the phoenix feather, then handed it to Yin Wanderer for safekeeping. Watching as Yin Wanderer carefully stored the treasure away, Li Xun began to contemplate the true intentions behind that message from afar.

Just as I thought. The two Sword Sects are tearing into each other, and plenty of people have gathered to watch the fireworks. And someone has already noticed that ‘Spirit Bamboo’ isn’t there. If anyone would ask about it, odds are it’s Gu Yin. What’s she scheming this time?

He mulled it over for a moment, but nothing came together. Even so, he said, “We need to pick up the pace. Why don’t you take me part of the way… hold on.”

Something hit him all at once. “I think we glossed over something. You said Gu Yin has some kind of subversive plan. But why?”

Yin Wanderer blinked, struggling to keep up with his quick jumps in thought. After a brief hesitation, she said, “You mean…”

“I mean, if she has some grand, all-encompassing plan and has pulled together such a huge force, there has to be a clear goal behind it. Why go through all that trouble? What does she want out of it? That should be the real key.

“Is it for her cultivation? Doesn’t fit. To boost her sect’s reputation? Way too much. To unite the entire Tongxuan Realm? Please. So what is she after?”

Yin Wanderer frowned, thought for a while, and finally started to say, “I think it’s—”

A sharp clang suddenly echoed across the sea, loud enough to carry from several li away. Both Li Xun and Yin Wanderer stiffened in surprise, though Yin Wanderer reacted first. “Not from the surface. It came from the seabed. The sound just pushed through the water....”

She had already slipped into the void.

Li Xun thought about changing clothes, then shrugged it off. He yanked the hood of his cloak tighter, burying his whole face in shadow.

Another loud CLANG rang out. This time it was much closer. Li Xun could feel that the sound carried a strange force that rattled the mind. And within the range of the sound waves, it clearly had a way of detecting and locking onto the aura of living beings.

Li Xun’s brows knotted hard. Some days, trouble really does come knocking all on its own.

That thought had barely crossed his mind when the sea exploded about twenty or thirty feet away. Someone shot straight up from the water and vanished into the clouds in the blink of an eye.

Right behind him, another person burst out of the sea. This one looked a bit chubby and didn’t even spare a glance in Li Xun’s direction. He lifted a bronze bell the size of a human head and drove his fist into it.

Li Xun’s face went tight; every muscle in his body snapped taut in the same heartbeat.

A massive peal of the bell rolled out in all directions. Half a breath later, a second wave followed, then a third right after that.

The bell’s ringing was strangely off. The three waves of sound didn’t travel at the same speed at all. The first was the slowest, the last was the fastest, and when all three stacked together they let out a deep, humming boom in the air. The volume dropped a little, but the shock that hit the mind was a hundred times stronger than before.

One of those waves even slipped straight into the body, shaking bone, flesh and organs in a way that felt downright uncanny.

Sensing trouble, Li Xun stopped caring about anything else. His blood-qi flared to life, meeting the invading vibration and pushing back on its own. He opened his mouth and let out a fierce, cutting howl that cracked the air like thunder.

His howl slammed into the bell’s ringing, and the ocean below dipped a few inches on impact. Sound met sound, and he managed to shield himself, although it made the fat man stop and turn in surprise.

The instant Li Xun touched the bell’s power, he'd realized the ringing was actually being held back and concentrated.

The truth was that the bell was a top-grade magical artifact. And the fat man wielding it just wasn’t strong enough to fully rein it in. That was why its leftover shockwaves spilled out.

Now that he understood what was going on, Li Xun didn’t want any more trouble. He was about to pull his voice back and retreat when a muffled roar suddenly erupted from under the sea.

HNGH! HNGH!

The roar was massive and heavy. And even out at sea, it felt like a huge mountain rising out of the water. The bell’s ringing shattered on the spot, scattering like broken shards. Even Li Xun’s own howl was knocked back at him, throwing his qi and blood into turmoil.

But this time, Li Xun didn’t even think about resisting. That roar was simply too familiar to him.

“Old Kunpeng, don’t push this too far!” 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Up above the waves, the fat man lifted the bronze bell. The treasure buzzed in response to the roar, almost like he was using it to shield himself.

His voice, sharp and trembling ever so slightly, accidentally confirmed Li Xun’s suspicion.

Li Xun wasn’t exactly calm either. Goddamn it, how the hell did he forget? If Old Kunpeng called himself the King of the Eastern Sea, of course he lived in the Eastern Sea. After getting wounded, where else would he go except back to his own lair?

Sure enough, right after the fat man yelled, the sea suddenly heaved and churned. A man even larger than the fat man by a full size rose from the water. His body was wide and massive, and his frame was big too, which made him look far sturdier than the fat man. Standing there on the surface of the sea, one hand resting casually at his waist, he swept his gaze over the fat man first, then turned and stared straight at Li Xun. His eyes were cold, full of killing intent.

Li Xun felt that the old demon’s gaze cut straight through the shadow of his hood and saw him completely.

Unpleasant as it was, he couldn’t help but respect the demon’s depth of cultivation. After all, not just anyone could suffer the kind of crippling injury he’d taken in Yemo Heaven and still radiate this level of pressure.

Old Kunpeng’s cold gaze stayed on Li Xun for a moment before he finally turned his head and looked straight at the bell-holding fat man.

That fat man had been mouthing off just fine a second ago, but the instant Old Kunpeng showed himself, he froze up. Couldn’t squeeze out even half a word.

Now, with Old Kunpeng staring right at him, he actually stumbled back a step and instinctively raised the bronze bell to shield his chest.

Kunpeng laughed. He wasn’t even showing his true form, yet his laughter rose and fell in perfect rhythm with the tides. The entire sea was heaving and surging, a truly spectacular sight."

Intimidated by such an overwhelming aura, the fat man’s face twisted like he was about to burst into tears. He was mumbling some incoherent crap under his breath. Li Xun couldn’t help but snicker quietly at the sight.

For someone whose cultivation was clearly strong, the guy was scared out of his wits. Who knew this world still had someone so spineless?

“You say I went too far? Funny how you forgot to mention sneaking into my cave. What exactly were you planning to do?”

Old Kunpeng actually looked eager to argue with the man. But the fat man shrank back again. He stammered for ages before blurting out something completely off the mark: “You can’t kill me!”

Old Kunpeng chuckle. “And why can’t I kill you?”

“Because, because...” The fat man just babbled without thinking, his eyes darting all over the place. Anyone could tell he was hunting for a chance to bolt.

He had an incredible talent for turning fear into pure comedy. Li Xun couldn’t help cracking up at his antics and, forgetting to make his escape, stayed on the sidelines, laughing as he watched the show.

But when the fat man’s gaze accidentally slid over him for the third time, something suddenly clicked in Li Xun’s mind. A chill rushed up from deep inside him. No. This is way too much.

He had solid cultivation and an incredible magical artifact. Someone like that would be considered valuable anywhere.

But if he were really this spineless all the time, someone would have taken advantage of it and killed him eight hundred times over. How could a man that scared slip into Old Kunpeng’s lair to stir up trouble?

And there was something strange about the way he looked at people…

That thought made Li Xun raise his guard immediately. For the first time, he took a proper look at the guy.

With a closer look, Li Xun realized his caution wasn’t unfounded. The man’s panic had completely hidden how striking his outfit actually was.

The guy himself was pale, round, and looked harmless enough, nothing special at first glance. But on his thick right wrist hung a string of prayer beads; on his thumb gleamed a jade ring; and he wore a tight lake-green robe along with thin-soled boots decorated with cloud patterns. Every piece gave off a faint spiritual glow. None of it was ordinary.

People say you shouldn’t flaunt your wealth. Someone walking around dressed head to toe in priceless magical treasures like he did wouldn’t have survived this long without some serious skill.

The fat guy rattled off at least seventeen or eighteen excuses. When he finally wore Old Kunpeng’s patience thin, he finished with a dry little threat: “My junior brother has already gone back to report. If… if you dare kill me, he’ll spread the word everywhere so you never know a moment’s peace!”

This time, Old Kunpeng didn’t laugh. Li Xun’s face grew tense as well.

The silly, lighthearted mood over the water vanished. The fat guy seemed a bit lost, staring blankly at Old Kunpeng.

After a long moment, Old Kunpeng’s cold expression slowly loosened. And he broke into a wide grin.

“Your junior brother?”

The fat guy clearly sensed something was off, but he still stuck to his act, his chubby face full of confusion.

The next moment, the sea exploded again. A water column shot nearly thirty feet into the air and blasted outward in all directions. In that roar, every bit of the fat guy’s disguise was completely washed away.

A man was flung out of the water column and slammed onto the surface of the sea. The force of the launch was so great that he skipped across the water seven or eight times before finally losing momentum and coming to a stop not far from the fat man’s feet.

The man struggled a few times on the surface, but couldn’t even keep himself afloat. After a few bubbling gulps, he sank.

Wasn’t this the same junior brother who had supposedly “run off to report” just moments ago?

Shock flashed across the fat man’s round face. Right after that, every trace of slyness and fear vanished like clouds swept away by a strong wind.