Late at night.

Squad after squad of soldiers carrying torches searched through the mountain forest.

The blazing torches lit the pitch-black woods with a crimson glow.

A pale-faced young man walked in the middle of the procession, carrying a long saber that was nearly a head shorter than himself.

All of this was witnessed by another young man, hidden far away.

Chen Qing’s heart sank.

His senior martial uncle must be in trouble.

Otherwise, the Shenfu Sect Master wouldn’t be searching the mountain with such a large force.

A wave of frustration washed over Chen Qing.

He now faced two choices: either return to Ling Province and inform Cangsong Taoist, or stay behind and search for Jiu Zhen True Man.

But either choice came with immense risk.

He knew Cangsong Taoist’s temperament well; the man might just push him out to take the fall.

But if he stayed... even Jiu Zhen True Man had suffered a great loss at the hands of the Shenfu Sect Master. How could he possibly be his match?

Chen Qing’s gaze wavered.

"To hell with it."

The ruthless nature he’d honed in the Jianghu was stirred. Since neither path was easy, he would take a third!

Chen Qing turned and vanished into the darkness.

He decided to head south and become a Ghostwriter. That was far better than being schemed against and killed.

He was sick of the Celestial Profound Sect’s rules anyway. He had always been one of the Jianghu People, so returning to it wasn’t so bad.

Besides, if he didn’t leave now, he might lose his life, and that simply wasn’t worth it.

...

The sky began to show the pale light of dawn.

"Sect Leader, we haven’t found any trace of the Daoist."

Divine Mansion Army Vice Commander Liu Li reported.

Bai Yuan’s eyes were cold. "Keep searching."

"Yes, sir!"

’This is the best time to hunt down that old Daoist. I have to seize this opportunity, or finding him again will be nearly impossible.’

As he walked, his mind kept replaying the words from the beast hide that had been in the Raccoon Demon’s mouth.

’I don’t know if immortals exist in this world.’

’But it seems someone once attained the Dao through martial arts, reaching a height comparable to immortals.’

’And the Divine Mansion seems to be the grotto-heaven that person left behind.’

’This beast hide must be an artifact from within the Divine Mansion. I just don’t know why it was stuck in the Raccoon Demon’s teeth.’

"All things in heaven and earth are composed of the minuscule; within the minuscule lies the cause, and the cause can be passed down to one’s descendants..."

Line after line of text from the beast hide appeared in Bai Yuan’s mind.

In modern terms, it meant the human body is composed of cells, cells contain genes, and genes are inheritable.

As a transmigrator, Bai Yuan was utterly shocked.

’This isn’t a Cultivation Technique at all, it’s clearly an ancient scientific research paper!’

From the hide, Bai Yuan learned that the Murong Family’s Blood Rolling Technique was part of this very Cultivation Technique.

It stimulated the power of cells, and even the power of genes!

’The Murong Ancestor Master probably really did go to the Divine Mansion and received a great fortune there. That must be why the Murong Family has produced geniuses for generations.’

’This is simply a heaven-defying method!’

’Refining blood, refining bone... these are all inferior methods. Refining cells and genes is the true path to invincibility! And to reach that ultimate level, one must cultivate a sufficient number of different Cultivation Techniques.’

Bai Yuan couldn’t help but recall Old Dong’s words.

’Perhaps the corpse Old Dong encountered really was the Murong Ancestor Master.’

’The practice of cultivating ten thousand techniques might have originated from the Divine Mansion.’

’After all, the two concepts are almost identical. How could there be such a coincidence in the world?’

’Perhaps I’m walking a path to ultimate power.’

Bai Yuan’s gaze grew colder.

The more profound the Divine Mansion seemed, the more determined he was to kill that old Daoist.

’This secret must never get out!’

’Otherwise, the Divine Mansion Sect, and even the entire Ling Province, will become a public enemy. Escaping unscathed would become an extravagant hope.’

...

「Divine Mansion Sect, the Cold Pool.」

This was a peculiar place on Shenfu Mountain. The pool was only three zhang wide but a thousand chi deep, and its water was bone-chillingly cold even in the sweltering summer.

This place was on the edge of Shenfu Mountain, so aside from a few disciples who came specifically to cool off, very few people were willing to come here.

Deep within the Cold Pool, there was a figure.

An old Daoist, his skin and flesh split open all over, was sitting cross-legged at the bottom of the Cold Pool.

The old Daoist’s eyes were shut tight, as if in a state of feigned death.

If anyone from a Daoist Sect saw this, they would be astonished, for this was a sign of mastery in the Turtle Breath Technique. Very few experts of the Daoist Family could reach such a realm.

Perhaps due to Emperor Zhenwu, the Daoist Sects often revered turtles.

This Turtle Breath Technique was a Cultivation Technique created by Daoist ancestors who emulated old turtles entering hibernation.

Many Jianghu People mistakenly believed Turtle Breath was a technique for holding one’s breath. In truth, it was a Supreme Dharma Gate for healing by entering a profound, death-like state.

And Jiu Zhen True Man was using the Turtle Breath Technique to recover from the wounds inflicted by the Raccoon Demon.

Not only that, but the Cold Pool was also the perfect place to hide from the Divine Mansion Sect’s pursuit.

It was because he was hiding in the Cold Pool that Bai Yuan had been unable to find any trace of him.

Although Jiu Zhen True Man had been miserably defeated this time, he felt increasingly excited.

He had searched the world over and finally found traces of an immortal on Shenfu Mountain. How could he not be excited?

’Once I recover my strength, I’ll annihilate the entire Divine Mansion Sect and turn Shenfu Mountain into my private domain. Then I’ll surely find a way to deal with that great demon.’

Just as he was healing with his Turtle Breath technique, his heart suddenly trembled.

Jiu Zhen True Man’s eyes shot open.

’Someone is using the Celestial Inference Technique on me!’

It was a mystical premonition, something only a Divination Master like him could sense.

’Who could it be?’

Jiu Zhen True Man’s heart leaped in alarm.

’Performing a divination on me at a time like this... could it be Cangsong Taoist?’

Jiu Zhen True Man’s eyes turned cold. Few in the world understood the Divination Technique, and even fewer in Ling Province—you could count them on one hand. The possibility of it being Cangsong Taoist was high.

However, Jiu Zhen True Man had no intention of gambling with his life.

He kicked off with his feet, using the buoyancy to slowly swim toward the surface of the Cold Pool.

But just as his head broke the surface, swarms of vicious flying insects lunged at him.

Gu!

Ordinarily, these Gu insects would be no threat to Jiu Zhen True Man, but he was at his weakest now and didn’t want to get entangled with them.

He swept away the Gu insects before him with a flick of his sleeve and shot off in a chosen direction.

But he had been running for less than a quarter of an hour when a man holding a long saber blocked his path.

Jiu Zhen True Man’s eyes narrowed.

The young man not far away was the same person who had bumped into him on the small hill and poisoned him.

He recognized this young man: the Shenfu Sect Master, Bai Yuan.

What surprised him, however, was that the person who had just used the Celestial Inference Technique to divine his location was this very same young man.

He hadn’t expected someone as young as Bai Yuan to know the Divination Technique.

After all, even in the Celestial Profound Sect, all those who understood this art were old men like himself.

In their youth, who wouldn’t be single-mindedly focused on breaking through to the next realm? Who would waste time on such unorthodox side-paths?

The reason he knew it was Bai Yuan who had performed the divination was the aura of backlash radiating from him.

A cold sneer appeared on Jiu Zhen True Man’s lips. "Do you really think you can kill me?"

He was heavily injured, true, but wasn’t this young man before him also an arrow at the end of its flight?

’The injuries from a backlash aren’t so easy to endure...’

Jiu Zhen True Man forced himself to gather a breath of energy and struck out with a palm toward Bai Yuan’s head.

At his realm, it made no difference whether he had a weapon or not. Moreover, as a Daoist Sect Martial Artist who focused most on Inner Strength, this single palm strike was enough to shatter stone and break metal!

Bai Yuan’s fingers tightened and re-tightened on his saber’s hilt.

This showed just how weak he truly was right now.

The Celestial Inference Technique from the Four-Nine Book had pinpointed Jiu Zhen True Man’s location, but it had also afflicted him with a severe backlash. He could barely even hold his saber steady.

But his Lightweight Technique was still the fastest in the Divine Mansion Sect.

’As long as I can stall Jiu Zhen True Man until the Firearms Team arrives, I’ll win.’

But at that moment, both of them simultaneously looked toward a cluster of bushes.

A figure slowly emerged from the thicket.

Seeing the person’s face, a hint of joy appeared on Jiu Zhen True Man’s. "Nephew Chen, quickly, help me kill this villain!"

The man was none other than Chen Qing, who had been preparing to flee south.

Chen Qing’s expression was extremely ugly.

"Damn it!"

He cursed Bai Yuan and Jiu Zhen True Man countless times in his heart.

’Of all the places to run, they had to run right to me.’

He had already resolved not to get involved, to play dead and flee south to live in anonymity. But because Bai Yuan had ordered the Divine Mansion Army to surround the mountain, he had no choice but to hide on Shenfu Mountain for the time being.

But as luck would have it, he ran right into Bai Yuan and Jiu Zhen True Man, and what’s more, they had discovered him.

Chen Qing had originally hoped to reap the fisherman’s profit, but he never expected to be dragged into the conflict after all.

A man as calculating as Jiu Zhen True Man had, of course, already guessed why Chen Qing was hiding here.

But now that both he and Bai Yuan were heavily injured, Chen Qing could very well become the deciding factor in this fight.

"Yes, Senior Martial Uncle."

Chen Qing’s gaze turned vicious.

’Since I’ve been dragged into this storm, my only way out is to kill Bai Yuan.’

’Of course, if possible, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill Jiu Zhen True Man as well.’

’The old man has most likely already seen through my intention to abandon him and run away.’

As Cangsong Taoist’s most prized disciple, with a wealth of experience in Jianghu battles, Chen Qing’s combat prowess was naturally formidable.

He whipped out the Long Sword at his waist and charged at Bai Yuan.

To ensure nothing went wrong, Jiu Zhen True Man also pounced from another direction.

The two of them formed a pincer attack on Bai Yuan.

Three zhang... two zhang... one zhang... three chi!

Chaotic Blood Hidden Tiger Saber!

An incomparably brilliant saber strike slashed ferociously toward Chen Qing.

The long saber easily shattered the Long Sword in Chen Qing’s hands and, in the same motion, severed both his legs at the knees.

"AHH!"

Chen Qing collapsed to the ground, the intense pain nearly suffocating him.

Seeing this, the corners of Jiu Zhen True Man’s mouth turned up slightly. He would take advantage of this opening to execute both of these traitors at once.

But then, something unexpected happened.

Bai Yuan didn’t dodge or evade his palm strike, but instead lunged fiercely toward Chen Qing at the side.

Jiu Zhen True Man’s palm landed on Bai Yuan’s back, followed by a sickening sound of cracking bones.

At the same time, Bai Yuan grabbed hold of Chen Qing.

Chen Qing’s pupils shrank. A terrifying poison was injected into his body through the force of the grip, and in a mere instant, he melted into a pool of blood.

Enhancement Points +1657

Bai Yuan rolled over to face Jiu Zhen True Man, a wide grin spreading across his lips.

"Add the points!"