Longevity by Grinding Skills

Chapter 431: Chapter 431: The Taoist Sect’s Trump Card

The ancient bronze bell atop Qingwei Mountain rang nine times, its sound waves, infused with Bi Yuan’s True Qi, echoing back and forth among the Thirty-Six Peaks.

The old monsters hidden away in Grotto Heaven Blessed Lands opened their murky eyes. For three Supreme Elders slumbering in Cold Jade Coffins, the frost on the lids suddenly shattered. For two withered old men meditating beneath a waterfall, the water around them instantly reversed its flow and surged upward. Seven other powerhouses, scattered across various secret, spiritually rich locales—some practicing alchemy, others observing the stars—all ceased their activities in unison.

The first to appear was an old man in a purple robe who stepped out from an Earth Vein Fire Eye, his body entwined in dark red chains.

They were "Sealing Vein Chains," forged from Thousand-year Profound Iron. Each chain pierced his vital acupoints, forcibly locking in the Essence Qi that was on the verge of dissipating.

The wrinkles on his face were deep enough to kill a mosquito. His sparse white hair was barely held in a Daoist topknot with a Jade Hairpin. The chains clattered as he walked, making him look exactly like a zombie that had just crawled out of an ancient tomb.

Xu Yunfan watched, a brow slightly raised. ’These people have reached the apex of the Martial Dao,’ he thought, ’but the shackles of heaven and earth prevent them from breaking through to the next realm. If they could just step beyond the Ninth Realm and become Land Immortals, they might live for another hundred years.’

This Daoist master had already reached the two-hundred-year limit of his lifespan.

"Sect Leader, you rang the bell nine times. Can it be that the Celestial Demons are arriving ahead of schedule?"

The purple-robed elder’s voice was as raspy as two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together. He exuded an unbearable aura of decay, as if he might die at any second.

Xu Yunfan’s Martial Arts Celestial Eye opened slightly on his forehead. As a divine light swirled within it, he peered into the secrets of the purple-robed elder’s body. Within that withered frame, his vitality and blood qi had been compressed to an extreme degree, condensed like a pill. This "Blood Pill" circulated on its own through his flesh and acupoints. Wherever it passed, it released a minuscule amount of vitality to nourish his decaying body, keeping the physical shell from failing completely.

This "Blood Pill" was like an oil lamp on the verge of going out, using an almost profane method to lock in the final spark of life, unnaturally extending his lifespan to this very day.

The world of the Martial Dao had no shortage of prodigies with astonishing talent, and they had devised all sorts of methods.

Bi Yuan was about to answer.

Just then, a streak of cyan light shot into the sky from the Sword Tomb on the rear mountain.

The newcomer was an old woman with the stature of a dwarf, standing less than four feet tall, yet she carried a giant bronze sword strapped diagonally across her back that was taller than she was.

Her face was covered in a spiderweb of cyan lines. This was her "Sword Intent," formed by refining Sword Qi into her very flesh and blood; such patterns only appeared when the intent, carried by her True Qi, had suffused the tiniest capillaries of her body.

The most unsettling part was her eyes—they had no pupils, just blank white orbs.

’Junior Martial Uncle Qingming’s "Blind Sword Heart" has actually reached such a realm.’

Bi Yuan nodded slightly.

This Supreme Elder, known as the "Sword Fool" three centuries ago, had blinded herself fifty years ago in pursuit of the realm of Human-Sword Unity, refining her Sword Intent into her very optic nerves.

Although she was "looking" at Xu Yunfan, she was actually perceiving the world through her Sword Intent.

A mound of earth suddenly bulged from the ground, and an old man who looked like he was made of clay emerged from it.

His entire body was covered in a shell of dry, cracked earth, and he shed fragments with every step.

This was the result of cultivating the Taoist Sect’s Thick Earth Wu Gen True Skill. He was using the now-surging Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to connect himself to the Earth Veins, absorbing Earth Qi to slow the aging process.

As he came to a stop in the morning light, the earthen shell on his face flaked away, revealing ashen-gray skin beneath that looked remarkably like an excavated bronze artifact.

"COUGH, COUGH... My Turtle Breath Technique was interrupted. I’ve just lost three years of my life..."

As the clay-shelled elder spoke, a muddy, fishy smell puffed from his nostrils.

Xu Yunfan fought back a wave of nausea, noticing that roots had sprouted from the soles of the man’s feet and burrowed into the ground. He clearly hadn’t moved in a very long time.

The most chilling arrival was a black shadow that stepped out from a mural in the Ancestral Hall. It was a misty, humanoid figure without a physical body, formed entirely from condensed Incense Fire Wish Power.

This was the "Divine Traveling Dharma Body" of the Taoist Sect’s previous Sect Leader. His physical body had perished a century ago, and he relied solely on the incense offerings of his followers to prevent his consciousness from dissipating.

Wherever the black shadow drifted, the grass and trees instantly withered, as it continuously absorbed their vitality to sustain its existence.

Xu Yunfan frowned slightly, his gaze sweeping over the black shadow like a bolt of lightning.

He was no stranger to this form created from Incense Fire Wish Power. The Ming Venerable, once worshipped by the Incense and Candle Sect, had been the same. Corroded by the muddled thoughts and wishes within the incense fire of its countless followers, it had degenerated into a state of neither life nor death. By the time Xu Yunfan reached the Land Immortal Realm and casually crushed it, its consciousness had long since devolved into chaos, making it no better than a walking corpse.

However, this former Sect Leader of the Taoist Sect was completely different.

The Wish Power swirling around the black shadow was as pure as fresh-fallen snow. Within its hazy features, one could still vaguely discern the graceful, immortal-like bearing he once possessed.

Even more astonishingly, when Xu Yunfan swept his Foundation Establishment Stage Divine Sense over the figure, he caught a glimmer of lucidity within its empty eye sockets.

It was by no means the madness that came from being polluted by incense fire, but rather a profound lucidity that had settled after a century of worldly change.

’The Taoist Sect truly lives up to its reputation as a great sect. Only through such devout worship and incense offerings could such a pure Incense Fire Dharma Body come to be.’

As if sensing Xu Yunfan’s scrutiny, the black shadow slowly raised its head. Its lips twisted into something that was not quite a smile, and it gave Xu Yunfan a solemn nod.

This simple gesture caused all the candles in the hall to flicker in unison, casting twelve shadows of varying shades upon the blue-green stone floor—just like the grand era when the twelve branches of the Taoist Sect jointly ruled the world.

Today, however, was even more magnificent.

The Great Zhou had already named the Taoist Sect its National Religion.

Twelve Ninth Realm Grandmasters were gathered in Qingwei Hall, and the air was thick with the mixed smell of decay and alchemy.

Xu Yunfan let out a soft sigh, the corner of his eye twitching slightly.

’The Taoist Sect is really laying all its cards on the table for me to see.’

He looked at these "living fossils"—one had seven useless Soul-Stabilizing Beads hanging from his neck, another had Life-extending Threads wrapped around his waist, and one old Daoist master even had three Golden Needles inserted into his skull, the ends still trembling faintly.

’This isn’t the profound heritage of the Taoist Sect,’ he thought. ’This is a horde of old zombies that just crawled out of their coffins!’

"Venerable Seniors."

Bi Yuan’s voice was tinged with emotion. "This is my disciple, Xu Yunfan. He has already successfully achieved Foundation Establishment in the Upper Realm. The Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm... I’m sure you have all heard of it. You have not lived this long in vain. If you go there, you will certainly be able to live a second life!"

Twelve gazes stabbed toward him in unison.

The "Clayman" Supreme Elder suddenly began to cough violently. His earthen shell cracked open, revealing blackened organs within. "COUGH, COUGH... This boy has the aura of a coiling dragon and snake about him... Can it be..."

"The True Martial Demon Suppressing Scripture," Xu Yunfan said. "It is the very technique cultivated by the Divine Martial Daoist Master. The continuation of the Martial Dao. Or, one could say, the root of all martial arts in the world."

Xu Yunfan opened his palm, and a Dao Pattern of an intertwined tortoise and snake manifested in the air.

The snake pattern was like lightning, its coils revealing a peerless sharpness—an avatar of relentless slaughter. The turtle shell was profound and heavy, as stable as a mountain when dormant—the master of flawless defense.

The auras of the two entangled. The tortoise’s head took hold of the snake’s tail, and the snake’s body wrapped around the tortoise’s legs. As Yin and Yang cycled, they condensed in the void to form the Black Tortoise Dharma Aspect.

The tortoise’s shell seemed to bear the heavens and carry the earth; the snake’s eyes pierced the darkest depths and illuminated the most minuscule details. Where their necks intertwined, a cyan starlight burst forth. This was unmistakably the external anomaly that manifested upon cultivating the *True Martial Demon Suppressing Scripture* to the stage of Great Success.

In an instant, the stagnant air of decay around the twelve old monsters was suddenly revitalized.

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