The Forbidden Path to Immortality-Chapter 94

In the blink of an eye, Li Xun had already been in this mountain valley for over ten days, and by now, he’d gotten a decent sense of the place.

This valley, known as Tenghua Valley, was one of the secret domains belonging to the Shadow-Devouring Soul Sect. While it wasn’t as important as the sect’s main headquarters, it was still an incredibly well-hidden location.

The valley was protected by layers upon layers of restrictive formations, both inside and out. More than that, the entire mountain range, spanning thousands of li, was shrouded in a special kind of fog, created by all kinds of secret techniques, that allowed the sect to sense any spiritual sense. The level of protection here couldn’t have been more thorough. That Li Xun had even managed to stumble upon this place... he couldn’t tell if it had been sheer luck or terrible misfortune.

What puzzled him most was this: the valley lay only about a hundred li from where he had been cultivating. The yin qi in that site was extremely dense. So dense, in fact, that it should have long since drawn the attention of the sect. Yet for thousands of years, the Shadow-Devouring Soul Sect, a sect extremely sensitive to yin qi, had never once taken notice. Could this, too, have been fate?

In recent years, Tenghua Valley had all but become Madam Yan’s private retreat. She spent most of the year here cultivating in seclusion.

As one of the twelve elders of the sect, Madam Yan’s position was second only to the sect master, Underworld Flame Yama. Her status was high and her temperament, especially for a member of a demonic sect, was unusually kind and gentle. As a result, she enjoyed a solid reputation among the disciples.

So when she suddenly broke tradition by accepting a male disciple, it wasn’t exactly a scandal, but it certainly caused a stir. Every one of the twelve elders, including the sect master himself, formally congratulated her and even sent gifts for the new disciple.

For Li Xun, these past ten days had been incredibly pleasant. He spent his time wandering the valley at will, occasionally visiting senior brothers or sisters, and now and then discussing cultivation with Madam Yan. No one restricted his movements. If anything, he felt more like a guest than a disciple.

Before he knew it, the day known as Instruction Day had arrived.

In theory, Instruction Day was when a senior master like Madam Yan would give formal teachings to their disciples. But in practice, it meant much more.

Within the Shadow-Devouring Soul Sect, most disciples rarely had a chance to receive direct guidance from elders; only the inner circle ever did. Everyone else was left to train on their own, and over time, the gap in strength between disciples could grow enormous.

To address this, the sect had established a rule: on the first day of every month, the sect master and the twelve elders were required to publicly share their cultivation insights with the broader disciple body. This event became known as Instruction Day.

The goal was simple. To narrow the widening gap and ensure that no disciple fell too far behind. It was a wise move on the part of the sect’s founders, who clearly understood that too great a divide among disciples would eventually weaken the entire sect in the future.

But for Li Xun, it didn’t mean much. Now that he had a proper master, he wasn’t about to waste his energy for nothing.

Madam Yan was a powerful cultivator, known for mastering two of the sect’s core arts: Devouring Shadows and Corpse Puppet Control. Coincidentally, Li Xun’s specialty in Soul-Driving, Spirit-Refining, Mind-Binding happened to be the foundational method for the latter.

Having a skilled master at last, he didn’t waste a moment. Over the past few weeks, he’d brought up every bottleneck and issue he’d hit in his cultivation, and Madam Yan had answered them all. By this point, he had little use for public lectures.

So with no urgent matters to handle, and while the rest of the disciples were still busy preparing for tomorrow’s event, Li Xun quietly slipped away and resumed wandering the valley.

Calling it "wandering" might’ve been a stretch. There wasn’t much to see in this fog-covered, mist-shrouded place. What truly fascinated him wasn’t the scenery, but the elaborate barrier formations scattered throughout the valley.

These formations were some of the most sophisticated examples of the Shadow-Devouring Soul Sect’s mastery of arrays and restriction arts. For someone like Li Xun who’d never had real-life examples to study, they were a treasure trove of knowledge and research value.

Starting in the morning, he spent close to four hours tracing the shifts and connections of the qi mechanisms. Eventually, he located one of the central nodes. From that moment on, he was completely absorbed, completely unaware of how much time had passed.

It wasn’t until a soft cough echoed nearby that he was pulled out of his focused state.

Frowning, Li Xun wiped away the mess of notes and markings he’d scribbled across the ground, then turned around only to find himself face to face with none other than Ying Cai’er, one of Madam Yan’s personal disciples... and someone he had previously fought.

Her cultivation wasn’t high enough to truly impress him, but he had to admit. When it came to looks, she could easily stop any man in his tracks.

Her features were flawless, delicate yet captivating. She had a quiet allure that grew more striking the longer one looked at her. Especially when she smiled; those eyes held a mix of beauty and pride, tempered with a touch of reserve. In just a glance, one could feel how exacting her standards were when it came to men. And how supremely confident she was in her own charm.

Under such a gaze, most men would feel the urge to conquer, to prove themselves. Her posture, her curves, her effortless grace, every detail stirred that primal impulse. She was, in short, a born enchantress.

At the moment, she was watching him with a sweet smile, showing not a hint of guilt for interrupting him. It only underscored how spoiled and self-assured she was. But with looks like hers, it was hard to even be annoyed.

Even the murky gray mist that typically hung over the valley seemed to fade away around her, as if it too acknowledged that such beauty could not be veiled.

Li Xun let his gaze roam over her openly, without the slightest pretense. Then his eyes shifted to the figure standing behind her.

Another female cultivator, graceful and attractive in her own right, met his gaze with a bright, cheerful smile. A silent greeting.

That must be Ye Ru, he thought. He’d seen her once before, back when he first arrived.

She wasn’t a direct disciple of Madam Yan like Ying Cai’er, but within the valley, her name was fairly well known, largely thanks to her charm and looks.

She lacked Ying Cai’er’s dazzling beauty, but she was undeniably pleasant to look at. More importantly, she didn’t carry the same haughty air. Instead, she exuded warmth and gentleness, her poise and refinement more akin to a noblewoman raised in a proper household. In fact, at a glance, she bore a subtle resemblance to Madam Yan herself.

This didn’t seem like a random encounter.

Li Xun put on a friendly smile and greeted them. "What a surprise to see you both here. Quite the coincidence, isn’t it?"

"Coincidence?" Ying Cai’er raised an eyebrow, her lips curling into a smirk. "Hardly. Sorry to say, Junior Brother Hundred Ghosts, we’re here to trouble you today."

"Trouble me?" Li Xun’s brow twitched slightly. "Is there something I can help you with, Senior Sister?"

Ying Cai’er walked a few steps closer, hands behind her back, her smile gentle. "Oh, it’s nothing too serious; just that I need you, a top expert who’s already reached the Melting and Forging Void stage, to do us a favor I’m sure you can handle."

"A favor?" Li Xun’s mind stirred as he quickly pieced together the recent situation. He already had a good ideaof what this was about.

Playing dumb wouldn’t work here. He needed to show enough awareness to keep control of the situation. Enough sincerity to appear cooperative, but not so much that they could take advantage of him.

With a smile, he said, "Ah... I think I understand now. This has to do with tomorrow’s Instruction Day, doesn’t it? Senior Sister Ying won’t be needing my help... so that leaves Senior Sister Ye."

Ying Cai’er’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, then narrowed with a curious look. "You’re a clever one, aren’t you? And quite full of yourself too."

Though her words held a hint of disapproval, there was something else layered beneath. A flicker of interest. Clearly, Li Xun’s calm, composed demeanor had caught her attention.

It was common knowledge within the Shadow-Devouring Soul Sect that Ying Cai’er had a certain weakness for handsome male cultivators. Even though Li Xun was still new to the sect, he’d heard the rumors.

And now, seeing that gleam in her eyes, Li Xun couldn’t help feeling a bit smug, but also deeply cautious.

He gave a calm smile, keeping up his air of ’arrogance’ as his eyes turned to Ye Ru. He took a moment to look her over. Sure, he was appreciating her beauty, but more than that, he was sizing up her cultivation level.

Li Xun knew very well that for someone like Ye Ru, who wasn’t an inner-circle disciple, taking "Instruction Day" so seriously—even going as far as asking others for help—wasn’t without reason. After all, there was an important rule on Instruction Day that couldn’t be ignored, beyond just listening to the elder’s teachings.

The rule might’ve seemed a bit "stingy," but it was also quite clever.

On Instruction Day, no matter who the disciple was, closeness to the elder, or level of cultivation, everyone was allowed to ask only one question. Just one, and it couldn’t be vague or superficial.

You couldn’t ask something like, "How do I cultivate Netherworld Qi to the Melting and Forging Void stage?" That would never fly. Instead, it had to be something like, "When circulating NetherYin Qi through such-and-such acupoint, how should I withdraw my force to break through?"

Li Xun found the whole setup fascinating. It wasn’t just a chance for disciples to ask for guidance. It was also clearly a way for the elders to evaluate them.

After all, you could tell a lot about a disciple’s cultivation just by the kind of question they asked.

And when a disciple posed the question, it shouldn’t be just a random one pulled out to go through the motions. He had to choose a key issue that connected to many other problems he’d encountered, so that by understanding this one principle, he could grasp a hundred others.

Framing questions with this goal in mind was a true test of a disciple’s ability to think holistically and grasp their own cultivation base.

In this sense, every Instruction Day became a quiet competition of intellect and preparation. The more thoughtful and self-aware disciples would always stand out.

It was a kind of invisible selection process.

No one who walked the path of cultivation was a fool. They all understood what was really going on.

That’s why someone like Ye Ru, who didn’t have much confidence in her ability, was seeking help before Instruction Day. She hoped to ask something good enough to catch the elder’s attention.

Li Xun had all this running through his mind, but none of it showed on his face. Calm and composed, he let his eyes scan Ye Ru again, slowly and deliberately from top to bottom.

Then, with a slight nod, he gestured for her to extend her hand and checked her pulse.

The calmer he appeared, the more pressure she felt.

Ye Ru was by no means an inexperienced novice. She’d been cultivating for over a hundred years and had seen her share of life.

But for some reason, under this man’s gaze, she couldn’t help feeling uneasy. His eyes seemed to cut straight through her, seeing everything inside. Like every tiny change in her body was laid bare before him.

She had only ever felt this way in front of a few elders. That mix of fear and anxiety crept up on her, making her body tremble ever so slightly. Her limbs were already going soft.

Her intuition wasn’t wrong. Everything happening within her, from physical reactions to the slightest stirrings of her heart, had already fallen completely under Li Xun’s control.

Ever since he began practicing Soul-Driving, Spirit-Refining, Mind-Binding, his mental cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds. Among its techniques, the mind-shaking and soul-stirring ones were particularly refined. When merged with the Heartblood Wheel Eye, an ability he developed from cultivating Blood God Child, the result was seamless. Even when he used it casually like now, the effect was still impressive.

And it was exactly because of this that Li Xun had realized why Madam Yan had never taken a liking to Ye Ru.

Objectively speaking, this woman’s talent was solid. Her constitution was excellent, her qi mechanism flowed with agility, and her true breath cultivation was pure and refined. In fact, Li Xun thought that if he hadn’t just spent 81 days intensively cultivating the Nethermyst Shadow Body, receiving the rebound benefits from his two Nethermyst Puppets and greatly advancing his cultivation,, he might be on par with her right now.

If she could continue cultivating step by step, then within thirty years, she could likely reach the Melting and Forging Void level.

But in Li Xun’s eyes, that would probably be her ceiling.

The reason was simple: her willpower was too weak.

All he’d done was glance at her, nothing more, and she was already struggling to hold herself together. With a mental state that fragile, how would she ever fend off the heavy internal demons that would plague her later on the path of cultivation?

And if she were ever trusted with secrets as a close disciple, who could guarantee she’d hold firm when it truly mattered?

At that thought, Li Xun’s brow furrowed slightly. But he quickly smoothed it out, flashing a relaxed smile.

"Senior Sister Ye," he said gently, "your foundation is solid, and your cultivation is quite refined. It’s just that at a few critical points where you need to gather qi and break through, you’ll have to put in some extra effort.

He paused, then added meaningfully, "Especially around the Seventeenth Ghost Meridian. Your Yin Fire flows outward easily but struggles to contain, causing blockages that affect more than ten nearby meridians. Why not bring that up with Madam Yan?"

Ye Ru was an expert herself, so she immediately recognized the insight behind the problem. For a moment, she was both surprised and impressed. After a brief pause, she rose and gave him a respectful bow in thanks.

Watching her maintain her graceful posture and composed manners despite the rush, Li Xun felt a stir in his heart. She didn’t seem like someone with weak mental resilience at all!

He glanced subtly at Ying Cai’er and gave her a small, hidden signal.

Ying Cai’er didn’t know what he meant, but decided to play along. Grinning, she grabbed Ye Ru by the arm and teased, "Ye’er, don’t thank him. He’s a man; give him a little face and he’ll float up into the clouds! What did he do, really? Looked at you, touched your wrist, and said a few half-clear things? Not worth all that gratitude!"

Without waiting for a reply, she pulled Ye Ru along and walked off.

Ye Ru could only offer a polite, slightly apologetic smile as she was whisked away.

Li Xun narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched the two women disappear into the fog. After a moment’s thought, he turned back to the formation in front of him and resumed studying the restrictions.