Immortality Begins With Internal Breathing

Lin Zheyu had only just arrived at this outpost and had been brought straight to the meeting before even registering. The registration itself was merely a formality. Under Zong Linjing's guidance, he recorded his information, received a talisman token granting access through the city's grand protective formation, and was assigned living quarters. All Martial Alliance cultivators were housed together.

Zong Linjing pointed toward a courtyard in the distance. "That's where Senior Wang lives."

Most of the Martial Alliance residential area stood empty, with only a handful of martial artists scattered about. Under normal circumstances, Martial Alliance martial artists took turns guarding the sectors under their responsibility. However, due to a prolonged manpower shortage, they had scarcely had any opportunity to rest. Fortunately, their powerful physiques and abundant vitality allowed them to endure the strain, at least for a time.

"It's currently Senior Wang's shift. He's been on duty for more than half a year now. Once you've settled in, the two of us will take over so Senior Wang can finally come back and get some rest," Zong Linjing said.

Senior Wang's situation was one of the main reasons she had chosen not to join the operation. With the Martial Alliance so short on manpower and lacking enough experts capable of holding the line, Wang Zhengtian had spent most of his time stationed at the front to deal with unexpected crises.

Now that Lin Zheyu and Zong Linjing had arrived, having two Shackles realm martial artists on guard together would be enough to hold the enemy off for a short while if danger arose, buying time for reinforcements to arrive.

"Let's take over tomorrow," Lin Zheyu suggested with a nod.

Other than carrying out missions, standing guard, and hunting yao, he had little else to do. The depths of the demon cave were exceedingly dangerous, leaving the entire town nearly deserted and eerily quiet. There were virtually no places for entertainment, and aside from cultivation, there was little to occupy one's time. That was precisely why those Golden Core realm experts had gathered to plan a counteroffensive into the demon realm. To them, it was one of the few forms of entertainment available.

"Tomorrow it is," Zong Linjing agreed.

After returning to his courtyard, Lin Zheyu glanced around the quiet, empty grounds without much concern. With a thought, he activated the courtyard's formation. He then casually found a place to sit cross-legged. Another thought later, a bone token flew out from the Primordial Chaos Pool. It was the bone talisman Qiong Yun had given him.

His spiritual sense entered the bone talisman, immersing itself in the boundless ocean of Shamanic Dao knowledge. Earlier, while reverting from his yao form back into a human body, he had once again experienced the formation of his natal shamanic pattern, giving him a deeper understanding of shamanic patterns.

At their core, shamanic patterns were formed by weaving together fundamental traces that embodied the essence of Dao resonance and the laws according to intricate principles. Their structure was exquisitely precise and possessed an inherent beauty, something the crude divine patterns Lin Zheyu had created could not hope to match. Since he could not integrate those fundamental Dao resonance traces into his divine patterns, Lin Zheyu had no choice but to change his approach.

Instead of copying the patterns themselves, he planned to draw upon their intricate structure to reconstruct the divine patterns within his body. However, his current understanding of shamanic patterns was still insufficient. He needed to search through the vast body of knowledge left behind by Master Qiong Yun, finding everything related to shamanic patterns and absorbing it until it became his own.

***

Time passed quietly. A day later, Lin Zheyu slowly opened his eyes, emerging from cultivation. After putting away the bone talisman, he gave a gentle wave of his right hand. Blood qi flowed into the formation, and the courtyard's protective formation opened at once.

"My apologies for keeping you waiting, fellow friend." Lin Zheyu rose to his feet and cupped his fists toward Zong Linjing, who was standing outside the courtyard.

"It wasn't that long. It was less than fifteen minutes," Zong Linjing replied calmly.

Lin Zheyu smiled. He was already used to Zong Linjing's personality and paid it no mind. The two left the courtyard and headed toward the space-time node. This particular node was a stable one, its passage fully opened. A formation engraved around the node served to hold back the invading yao from the other side. However, besides this space-time node, there were many more scattered throughout the depths of the demon cave.

Their duty was not only to repel the yao invading through this space-time node, but also to fend off the yao pouring out from the other nodes. Martial artists possessed far greater resistance to demonic qi than immortal cultivators, so the Martial Alliance was assigned to defend the first line of defense closest to the space-time node, where the concentration of demonic qi was astonishingly dense.

After passing through layer upon layer of defenses, Lin Zheyu and Zong Linjing finally reached the city's central district. The defenses here were extraordinarily tight. The countless formations and restrictions alone were enough to broaden his horizons. He looked around curiously, studying the powerful formations protecting the node, his eyes gleaming with excitement. This truly was an excellent place.

Not bad. Guard duty here certainly won't be boring, Lin Zheyu thought to himself.

His aptitude for formations was only average, or perhaps slightly above average at best. However, his Golden Heavenly Eye more than made up for it. With its ability to perceive the underlying essence of things, and while standing inside an active formation, Lin Zheyu could rapidly comprehend the mysteries behind it. His spiritual Heavenly Eye made studying completed formations vastly more efficient. It was through this very method that he had quickly mastered the Minor Heaven-Deceiving Formation Art in such a short time.

"You're interested in formations?" Zong Linjing asked curiously after noticing Lin Zheyu carefully examining the surrounding formations and restrictions.

Martial artists were, almost without exception, regarded as rough warriors. Even among those seeking the path beyond the Shackles realm, almost none chose a path involving formations or restrictions. Mastering formations and restrictions was already an extraordinarily difficult discipline for immortal cultivators, let alone for martial artists.

"A little." Lin Zheyu nodded with a smile and said, "I've been wondering whether it's possible to integrate formations and restrictions into martial cultivation, creating something akin to shamanic patterns or demonic patterns, a system of law-bearing runes unique to martial artists."

Zong Linjing looked at Lin Zheyu with an odd expression.

"Your ambitions are certainly lofty, fellow. I wish you success." After a moment's thought, Zong Linjing found herself at a loss for what else to say and could only offer her encouragement.

"Haha..."

Seeing her expression, Lin Zheyu chuckled without taking it to heart. Without Origin Force, accomplishing such a feat would have been nothing more than an impossible fantasy.

Lin Zheyu came to a stop and looked ahead. "We're here."

Outside the space-time node, a remarkably handsome young man with refined features floated cross-legged in midair.

"Senior Wang... Hmm... He really does look young," Lin Zheyu remarked with admiration.

For a martial artist to possess such refined, handsome features, it was no wonder so many women were drawn to him.

Senior Wang took an Everlasting Youth Pill when he was young. Don't be fooled by his appearance. He looks like a man in his early twenties, but he's actually more than a decade older than Senior Xia Ping, Zong Linjing transmitted silently.

The two stood silently in the distance, watching the young man suspended in the air. An indescribable aura radiated from his body. His eyes remained closed as he appeared to be cultivating a special technique.

A burly figure emerged from the darkness, smiling as he cupped his fists toward the two of them. "Fellow Zong, you've finally arrived. This must be Fellow Xiao Yu. I've heard much about you."

The man was Ji Haozhong. Aside from Lin Zheyu and Zong Linjing, he was the last Shackles Realm martial artist stationed in the demon cave on behalf of the Martial Alliance.

"You're too kind, fellow friend. I am Xiao Yu. Greetings, Fellow Ji. You've worked hard." Lin Zheyu returned the salute with a smile.

"It's been a long time, Fellow Ji," Zong Linjing greeted him with a smile.

Ji Haozhong shook his head with a bitter smile. "It really has. If you two hadn't arrived soon, I wouldn't have been able to hold on much longer. Fortunately, Senior Wang is strong enough to shoulder most of the burden. Otherwise, I never would have lasted until now."

A flash of savage violence flickered through his eyes before his powerful blood qi quickly suppressed it. After remaining here for so long, even a martial artist found it difficult to withstand the erosion of the demonic qi and the yao will.

"By the way, Senior Wang is..." Lin Zheyu asked, looking curiously at Wang Zhengtian floating in the air.

"Oh, Senior Wang is cultivating a rather special technique. It won't interfere with anything, though. If an emergency arises, he'll awaken immediately. Well then, I'll leave this place in your hands. I need to hurry back, get some rest, and purge the yao will and demonic qi from my body. This place is yours now." Ji Haozhong waved his hand and walked out beyond the formation.

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