Immortality Begins With Internal Breathing

Chapter 532: Cultivation Paths (II)

An incomparably terrifying golden saber light slashed forth. In an instant, the winds and clouds changed color as the world dimmed into darkness, leaving only that blinding golden radiance.

The energy barrier covering the entire region let out cracking sounds as the Tu Family's renowned grand formation was completely shattered by Lin Zheyu's single strike. He raised his head toward the distant sky and faintly sensed energy fluctuations several kilometers away. Clearly, the cultivator who had remained hidden fled immediately upon realizing the situation had turned bad.

They really do run fast. These esteemed family disciples truly possess a wide range of life-saving dharma treasures. If Tu Yuan hadn't taken the initiative to reveal himself and attack, and had instead hidden behind the formation like that other person, killing him so easily might not have been possible, Lin Zheyu silently mused to himself.

Although his martial cultivation senses were powerful, they were not spirit divine abilities and naturally came with significant limitations. This formation was considered one of the Tu Family's top formations, perfected in nearly every aspect. It was only natural that Lin Zheyu's martial perception could not easily detect those who had merged themselves into the formation and hidden behind it. The fact that he had sensed something suspicious and realized the danger in time was already impressive enough.

"One escaped... That could become troublesome. The Tu Family is still considered a mid-to-upper-tier power in the immortal cultivation world." Lin Zheyu frowned slightly.

Still, he was not overly concerned. Death and injury were common in conflicts between cultivators, and this time it had been Tu Yuan who initiated the attack. Even if the Tu Family brought the matter before the Martial Alliance, they would gain no advantage from it. At most, they could only scheme in secret and send people to hunt him down.

As for that, Lin Zheyu could hardly care less. One more debt made little difference when he already had Woo Yixuan and those old monsters from Soaring Cloud Pavilion eyeing him. What did one more Tu Family matter? In any case, he had already decided that he would not leave the Martial Alliance anytime soon. At the very least, he would wait until opening the three great divine repositories first.

A breeze swept past as Lin Zheyu waved his right hand, causing Tu Yuan's corpse to vanish instantly. With a flick of his left hand, several formation flags shot outward and rapidly established a defensive formation. At the same time, eight demonic spirit stones appeared in his palm.

Use 1 unit of Origin Force to cultivate the Spirit Martial Universe Secret Art—Beginner!

The massive blood qi energy he had exhausted from his frantic journey and fierce battle recovered to its peak in an instant.

A few breaths later, Lin Zheyu abruptly opened his eyes. With a swift wave of his right hand, the formation flags on the ground flew back into his grasp. Without wasting a moment, blood qi surged through his body as Dao resonance tied to spatial laws spread around him. He stepped forward with his right foot, and his speed instantly soared to its absolute limit before he vanished from sight. To avoid complications arising from delay, he decisively used Origin Force to recover himself before continuing his journey at full speed.

Very soon, pushing himself without regard for the strain, Lin Zheyu finally arrived at the Martial Realm's teleportation formation. No further accidents occurred along the way. However, trouble awaited him at the formation itself. In order to return to the Martial Realm as quickly as possible, he had chosen the nearest public teleportation formation rather than one that led directly to Yanwu City. Yet the moment he stepped out of the formation, someone blocked his path.

"Stop right there! He's finally appeared! Hurry and notify my lord, tell him that..." The leading Foundation Establishment realm cultivator's face lit up with joy the moment he saw Lin Zheyu appear, immediately leading his men over.

"Get lost!" Lin Zheyu snorted coldly and slashed out with his saber before the man could even finish speaking.

The razor-sharp saber light split through the void, carrying overwhelming saber intent infused with terrifying rule force.

Aaagh!

Several miserable screams rang out. Faced with such a fast saber strike, the leading Foundation Establishment realm cultivator had no chance of dodging and could only hurriedly raise his dharma artifact to block it. But Lin Zheyu's blade was simply too sharp, and the rule power contained within his saber intent was far too terrifying. Even though he had held back, these people were still utterly incapable of resisting it.

The sounds of shattered dharma artifacts rang out one after another as several figures were blasted backward. A horrifying wound split across each of their bodies, gruesome beyond compare. They immediately circulated spirit power to stop the bleeding, yet the residual energy lingering in the wounds was incredibly difficult to handle. No matter how hard they tried, they could not stop the blood from flowing.

Lin Zheyu did not even spare them a glance, nor did he care whether they lived or died. He had already shown mercy. They would not die, but if they were not treated in time, there was a high chance their cultivation would regress, and their foundations would be completely ruined.

Not long after, Lin Zheyu finally returned to Yanwu City. Only then did the tension in his heart finally ease. As the headquarters of the Martial Alliance, Yanwu City's safety was beyond question. As long as one did not betray the Martial Alliance, remaining here was exceedingly secure.

Lin Zheyu walked directly to the mission exchange counter and said, "Hello, I'm here to turn in my missions."

The person handling the mission exchange was a middle-aged man who had already opened one divine repository. After opening it, he appeared far younger, yet the temperament he had cultivated over the years still gave him a mature aura.

The middle-aged man glanced over the missions Lin Zheyu had accepted, and a trace of surprise flashed through his eyes. "Very well, Fellow Friend. Please wait a moment."

Many people had accepted the mission to hunt down the traitor Shi Weiping, yet none had managed to complete it. He had not expected this newcomer, who had only recently joined the Martial Alliance, to finish it so quickly.

At this rate, I'll probably have to start calling him Senior soon. The thought flashed through the man's mind before the surprise in his eyes quickly vanished, and he began verifying the missions.

After confirming everything was correct, the middle-aged man said with a smile, "The four missions total one thousand and eighty points. They've already been transferred to your account, Fellow Friend. You may verify them."

"Many thanks!" Lin Zheyu sent his spiritual sense into the Spirit Resonance Sphere and checked his updated points through the Martial Alliance information platform linked to it.

When leaving the Martial Realm, Lin Zheyu had only accepted three missions, since each person could hold at most three simultaneously. However, those three missions were not enough to earn a thousand points. While tracking Shi Weiping's trail, he had conveniently picked up another mission along the way to push the total past one thousand.

"I'm back. Fellow Bai, are you free to meet up?"

"I've returned. I wonder if Fellow Zong is still in Yanwu City..."

Lin Zheyu sent messages one by one to Bai Lin, Zong Linjing, and Qiu Kun before beginning to browse the latest news within the Martial Alliance, especially information related to the election for vice alliance leader of the Martial Hall and Azurewood Hall.

There's still a little over a month left. I'll continue studying formations during this time, Lin Zheyu thought to himself.

As his research deepened, Lin Zheyu became increasingly invested in formation arts, while also growing more interested in the Dao resonance patterns contained within totems and demonic patterns. At present, aside from storing the golden energy within his sea of consciousness as a defensive barrier, the only way he could utilize it was through the golden runes covering his body, converting that energy into combat power.

If he wished to fully unleash the might of the golden energy, then he would need to focus his efforts on the golden runes and delve deeper into their latent potential. In fact, this could very well determine the future path of his martial cultivation after the Shackles realm. Formation restrictions originated from the Immortal Dao, totems came from the barbarian tribes, and demonic patterns came from the yaos. In a sense, Lin Zheyu's martial cultivation path was a fusion of the Immortal Dao, barbarian totem arts, and yao paths. Its latent potential was unimaginably vast.

It's said that the Shamanic Clan also possesses shamanic patterns, powerful Dao resonance markings condensed after shamanic cultivators reach a certain level of cultivation. If those could also be integrated into martial cultivation, perhaps it would be possible to forge an unprecedented martial path!

However, the Shamanic Clan's inheritance was exceedingly rare and could only be obtained through true transmission. Any related cultivation methods available outside the clan were incomplete. Acquiring them would not be easy. Still, it might not be necessary to personally obtain the Shamanic Clan inheritance.

The current Martial Alliance leader cultivated both shamanic and martial paths simultaneously, seeking to merge shamanic arts into martial cultivation and forge a true shamanic martial path. Perhaps that would be a good place to start. Within the Martial Alliance, the atmosphere for martial exchange was extremely open. As long as one's realm was high enough and they earned the other party's recognition, they could freely exchange insights.