Immortality Begins With Internal Breathing-Chapter 274: Ancient Yao (II)

"Do not worry. They won't be in mortal danger. It seems that the Nine Nether Sect conquered the Southern Barbarian Region for the sake of population and to gather faith. Ordinary people generally will not face mortal danger... but when you see them again, things may no longer be the same. Anyone who has undergone the Nine Nether Sect's indoctrination and comes to worship the Nine Nether Demon God will suffer heavy effects on their mind," Li Yanming said as he shook his head. Having grown up in the Li Family, he knew far more about the world's hidden matters than Lin Zheyu.

"Brother Yanming, how much do you know about the Nine Nether Sect? Could you tell me more? Before, as I travelled through the Southern Barbarian Region, I once saw the Nine Nether Sect taking in refugees. They had opened up a place to live deep in the mountains and carved a gigantic wooden statue... of that supposed demon god. It looked extremely mysterious, and if one stared long enough, it was almost as if it were real! It was terrifying beyond words. What kind of power could produce such phenomena?" Lin Zheyu asked as he returned to his original seat.

The Southern Barbarian Region had already fallen, so worrying about it would change nothing. Even Great Wei could not hold it. With his current level of strength, going there would only amount to throwing his life away. What Lin Zheyu truly worried about was what would happen if Great Wei could not even defend the Central Plains.

"The Nine Nether Sect, huh...? To be honest, my brother, I don't know that much about this evil cult either." Li Yanming drained his cup in one gulp and refilled Lin Zheyu's. The two clinked cups before he continued. "The Nine Nether Sect is a powerful sect that has existed since ancient times, although the exact date can no longer be verified. They worship the Nine Nether Demon God and the thirty-six demon kings beneath that demon god.

"As long as one is devout enough, one can receive that very demon god's blessing, which increases one's strength or extends one's lifespan. It's extremely mysterious. The phenomenon you saw around the demon god statue was probably just a projection of the Nine Nether Demon God's power under the effect of faith. Fortunately, it seems that the demon god statue you encountered had only been erected recently. Otherwise, you would not have been able to escape at all.

"The more faith power it is nourished by and the longer that nourishment lasts, the more wondrous the demon god statue becomes. Legend says that every fully matured demon god statue is basically a clone of the Nine Nether Demon God," Li Yanming said.

"Does a terrifying existence like the Nine Nether Demon God truly exist in this world?" Lin Zheyu asked with a slight frown.

"Of course it does. However, those kinds of things have nothing to do with us. As long as Great Wei exists, we will not be threatened by the barbarian tribes, yaos, demons, ancient yaos, or forces like the Nine Nether Sect."

Li Yanming smiled, showing little worry in his heart.

"But even the Southern Barbarian Region has fallen. Won't they be coming for the Central Plains next?" Lin Zheyu inquired.

"What does the Southern Barbarian Region even amount to? It was originally ceased from the Nine Nether Sect a long time ago, but it's nothing special. On the other hand, Great Wei's population, military strength, and resources are all concentrated in the Central Plains. The population and resources of the Southern Barbarian Region do not even amount to one percent of what's here, so what's there to worry about?" Li Yanming argued as he shook his head.

"So Great Wei will just watch as the Southern Barbarian Region falls into the hands of the Nine Nether Sect without doing anything?" Lin Zheyu asked.

"Who knows," Li Yanming said with a light laugh. "How could matters like this be for small figures like us to speculate on or decide?"

"Sigh, that is indeed the case. Our strength is still far too weak." Lin Zheyu sighed and drained his wine.

His originally pleasant mood vanished without a trace because of this sudden news. If he had not come to this exchange conference, he likely would not have learned of it until several months later.

"Brother Yanming, there's no need to pour more," Lin Zheyu said as he stopped Li Yanming from refilling the cup. "I'm not in the mood anymore. I will go out for a walk. You stay and sit a while longer."

After leaving the teahouse and looking at the golden sunlight, he suddenly felt that the sun was unusually glaring today.

I'm still far too weak. The Nine Nether Demon God, the Ancient Yao Clan, the northern barbarians, the western yaos and demons, and the eastern sea clans. Great Wei looks to be in grave danger...

Sometimes, ignorance was bliss. Ordinary people only knew of Great Wei and martial artists. Most had never even heard of yaos or demons, let alone ancient yaos, sea clans, or barbarian tribes.

"I hope Master, my senior brothers, and Young Master Xu will all be fine. I cannot remain idle anymore. I must raise my strength as quickly as possible. Otherwise, if one day even Great Wei falls and my strength is still insufficient, I will only become wild grass in chaotic times, trampled by anyone," Lin Zheyu said silently to himself.

His good mood was ruined by the sudden news, and he no longer felt like leisurely drinking tea and listening to stories. He had originally planned to relax for a few days at the martial cultivation exchange conference after staying at the Li residence for over two months. Now, he had no mood for it at all. A sense of urgency filled his heart.

After leaving the teahouse, Lin Zheyu headed toward the area where techniques were being sold. As a martial cultivation exchange conference, many people were selling all kinds of techniques, prescriptions, and secret methods here. Those who could enter this place were all people of status, so genuine techniques were not restricted.

However, Lin Zheyu did not have much silver on him—less than 80,000 taels of silver. Of the original 100,000 plus taels of silver, more than 30,000 of it had been spent forging the tungsten gloves.

After arriving at the market area, the place was extremely lively. Many martial artists had set up stalls, selling techniques, medicinal pills, and weapons they no longer needed. Lin Zheyu altered his appearance and walked through the crowd. Whenever he saw someone selling a technique, he would step forward to take a look.

"Friend, how much does this technique cost? Is its concealment effect good? Can it hide me from the probing of a Grandmaster realm expert?" Lin Zheyu stopped at a stall and picked up a booklet describing the manual as he asked.

"Tsk... Friend, you must be joking. What kind of figures are Grandmaster realm experts? How could anyone possibly hide from their perception?" The stall owner snorted with a laugh.

Lin Zheyu glanced at him without surprise, put the technique down, and turned to leave. Powerful concealment techniques were very hard to find, and most never reached the true technique level. Techniques at the true technique level were mainly combat-oriented, after all. Even if there were concealment-type techniques, their effects were not as strong as imagined. Most were only useful against martial artists below the Grandmaster realm.

According to what those stall owners said, Grandmaster realm martial artists had reached a terrifying level of achievement in martial cultivation. Only martial artists who could found sects and create entirely new sects were qualified to be called Grandmasters. Hiding from a powerhouse of that level was extremely difficult.

Lin Zheyu continued strolling through the market. He found many interesting techniques, including body-refining, lightness techniques, hidden weapons, and poison techniques. He even saw techniques that enhanced total blood qi. However, after asking about the prices, he abandoned the idea of buying them. A technique that increased total blood qi required 1,000,000 taels of silver to purchase. Lin Zheyu did not even have 100,000 taels on him.

"This Blood Qi realm technique is quite interesting. How much does it sell for?" After visiting more than twenty stalls, Lin Zheyu discovered a technique that caught his interest.

The technique was called the Furnace Tempering Body Technique. It was not a true technique, but a body-refining technique at the Blood Qi realm that could also be cultivated at the Marrow Refining realm. According to the description, its inspiration came from the Furnace Transformation formed after six qualitative changes of blood qi. After six qualitative transformations, blood qi became immensely powerful, transforming into a furnace to temper the physique.

This technique was derived from that inspiration and allowed martial artists without six blood qi transformations to strengthen their physiques as much as possible, and enabled martial artists with more than six transformations of blood qi to possess even stronger physiques.

"Excellent eye, sir. This is an extraordinary technique. Even among the many body-refining techniques, it ranks highly. The more times blood qi undergoes qualitative change, the better the effect. The Furnace Tempering Body Technique can be said to be a must-practice technique for genius martial artists. It is essential for geniuses to leave their peers behind and stand out..."

Seeing business arrive, the stall owner spoke nonstop.

"Stop. Just tell me the price. This kind of technique is good, but it is time-consuming and laborious. The cultivation process also causes great harm to the body and requires time to recover. How precious is a genius martial artist's time? How could they practice a technique like this?" Lin Zheyu said with impatience showing on his face. He clearly looked ready to turn around and leave if the price was too high.

"Haha. Sir, you truly have a discerning eye. The cultivation process of this technique is extremely violent and does indeed damage the body, but its effects are beyond doubt. Sir, you can buy it to train deathsworn underlings or martial artists whose latent potential has been exhausted," the stall owner said with a smiling face, still extremely enthusiastic.

He closely watched Lin Zheyu's expression and saw his impatience growing, as if he were about to turn and leave. He hurriedly said, "8,000. 8,000 taels of silver in total."

"5,000. Any more and I will not buy it."

Lin Zheyu then put down the technique description and pretended to turn to leave.

"Fine, 5,000 it is. I am selling it to you at a loss. Take a look and see if there are any other techniques you like. If there are, I will give you a better price together."

The stall owner gritted his teeth and put on an expression of heavy loss.

It seems that I didn't haggle enough...

Seeing how readily the stall owner agreed, this thought immediately flashed through Lin Zheyu's mind.

He had originally wanted to call out 3,000 taels of silver. However, because he thought that techniques sold at a martial cultivation exchange conference should all be rather extraordinary, he hesitated and called out 5,000 instead. However, it seemed that the stall owner might have even sold it for 2,000.

Forget it. This technique is indeed quite suitable for me. If I can surpass the ninth transformation of blood qi, the effect of this technique will become even stronger, thought Lin Zheyu, comforting himself.

"Sir, would you like to take another look? I also have prescriptions, medicinal pills, weapons, soft armor... Hey, sir, sir, slow down..."

Hearing the voices from behind, Lin Zheyu could not help but quicken his pace. Out of sight, out of mind.