Aspiring To The Immortal Path

In a small grove of trees, Xi Canhen sat on a large rock. Steam was rising from all over his body. As spiritual energy circulated through his body, various images appeared, appearing vaguely like soaring dragons and leaping tigers.

But whenever the energy reached the Central Courtyard Point, it became difficult to go through and complete the circuit.

At this moment, in a flash of spiritual light, the energy stopped cold at the Central Courtyard Point and dissipated. Xi Canhen stopped his meditation and resentfully waved a fist. "It's still no good!"

After several days of cultivation, Xi Canhen had still made no breakthrough. Let alone opening a Spirit Eye, he hadn't even been able to complete a basic Major Circuit Heaven.

Frustration only further motivated him. "I don't believe it! Today, I'm going to push through this obstacle no matter what!"

He once more sat down and started again.

As the spiritual light in his body grew stronger, spiritual energy surged at the Central Courtyard Point again and again, each time bringing with it a burst of pain. He pushed through the pain, and when he felt the Central Courtyard Point actually loosening up, he became delighted and pushed with all his power.

He was no student of an academy, nor did he have the guidance of a teacher, so he knew nothing about the risks of cultivation. Thus, he felt no fear and simply pushed through any obstacles he encountered.

The Heaven-Howling Dragon Tiger Mantra was an extremely dangerous cultivation method, and many people had died while cultivating it. Although one would be able to reach Violet Palace without a problem once one successfully cultivated it, with a potential for enormous combat power, only an extremely small number of people had actually managed to cultivate it.

Wang Juemie's group harbored mysterious motives, and in order to avoid their sect's secret arts leaking out, they had gone to great effort to find this Heaven-Howling Dragon Tiger Mantra.

If some outsider obtained this mantra, they would most likely be cautious, electing to not force their way through if they ran into any difficulties. But the Heaven-Howling Dragon Tiger Mantra actually required courageous advance and a mind free of extraneous thoughts. Thus, even if the three elders of the Stone Gate Sect had gotten their hands on this mantra, they wouldn't be able to cultivate anything out of it, nor was there any fear of them passing it around.

But nobody could have expected that this Heaven-Howling Dragon Tiger Mantra which had been given as early payment would end up in Xi Canhen's hand.

And this kid just so happened to start cultivating the mantra without knowing a single thing, inadvertently aligning with the requirements of a courageous advance and a mind free of extraneous thoughts.

Xi Canhen had a tenacious personality, and though the process of pushing at the Central Courtyard Point was extremely painful, Xi Canhen endured it all. Just like that, the restrained Central Courtyard Point was gradually pushed open.

A moment later, spiritual energy rushed through like flood waters out of a sluice gate.

"Success!" Xi Canhen excitedly shouted.

As he shouted, he threw up blood.

His body swayed, and then he tumbled from the rock and fell onto the sleeping tiger's body.

The little tiger woke up in a daze and saw Xi Canhen lying on him, blood flowing from his mouth.

The tiger froze.

He had just woken up, and he didn't know what Xi Canhen had been through that left him so severely wounded. He instinctively believed that they were being chased and looked around, but he didn't see any sign of anyone. The little tiger didn't know what to do, only that he couldn't let Xi Canhen die. Thus, after some thought, he decided to bite a small wound in his foreleg and move it up to Xi Canhen's mouth, delivering a drop of his blood into Xi Canhen's mouth.

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Fiend tiger blood was a powerful supplement that could restore lost energy and blood, and ever since he had eaten that glistening yellow object, the little tiger's blood and energy had grown stronger. The problem was that Xi Canhen wasn't lacking in energy and blood. He was just suffering from rampant spiritual energy.

The most common way of dying from the Heaven-Howling Dragon Tiger Mantra was spiritual energy going out of control, causing the cultivator to die a violent death. Adding more blood and energy only made the spiritual energy run wilder, like adding oil to a fire!

This man and tiger both lacked experience, one cultivating without understanding a thing and the other giving treatment without a clue. As a result, Xi Canhen's blood energy began to erupt out of his body. Xi Canhen's life now stood at the precipice of death.

The ignorant little tiger saw him overflowing with blood energy and didn't seem to care at all. On the contrary, smug with satisfaction, he lay back down and went to sleep.

After some time, Xi Canhen gradually woke up.

He sat up and found himself to be full of energy and vitality. When he attempted to circulate spiritual energy, he found that everything flowed smoothly without the slightest obstacle, even when it flowed through the Central Courtyard Point. "Success! I really did it!"

Xi Canhen had no idea that he had probably experienced the greatest miracle in the world on that night.

The Heaven-Howling Dragon Tiger Mantra was an extremely dangerous cultivation technique, and the little tiger had only increased the risk.

But in these situations, the rampant spiritual energy, rather than tearing him apart, had widened his meridians. This was truly a one-in-ten-thousand situation.

Xi Canhen had managed to ignorantly force his way through an almost certain-death situation, and because of the tiger blood expanding his meridians, Xi Canhen would face much less risk when cultivating the Heaven-Howling Dragon Tiger Mantra in the future. Not even Xi Canhen realized that he had just set off on a cultivation path that was unique to him…

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The back of Stone Gate Peak, Shi Jingzhai's residence.

Liang Xingbang said, "We've found him. He's in a forest about a hundred kilometers away. He received a stab to the back and died on the spot, and his possessions were taken."

Shi Jingzhai asked, "Do we know who did it?"

Liang Xingbang replied, "No, but based on the situation at the time, it was probably someone who was rather weak."

"Someone weak was able to kill a courier of the Seven Absolutions Sect?" Shi Jingzhai snorted.

Liang Xingbang bitterly smiled. "It was because this courier was nothing more than a meager Spirit Disciple. It's very normal to fall prey to a sneak attack."

Shi Jingzhai rapped on the table. "That's the problem. When exactly did the Seven Absolutions Sect decline so much that they couldn't even send out a Spirit Master? Such an important shipment, but they only used a Spirit Disciple to send it over?"

"Perhaps they didn't take it very seriously."

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"They don't take three million seriously?"

Liang Xingbang opened and closed his mouth a few times, but all he ultimately said was, "We don't have too much time left."

Shi Jingzhai fell silent.

The death of Lin Fan's group was undoubtedly an alarm bell for Shi Jingzhai and company. Although Tang Jie was gone, this had only increased the pressure from him.

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No one knew when a True Person from the Basking Moon Sect would arrive, and in the face of a behemoth like the Basking Moon Sect, the Stone Gate Sect was powerless to resist. Let alone the entirety of the Basking Moon Sect, any one of the 19 Celestial Chiefs could massacre the entire Stone Gate Sect.

And given how the Basking Moon Sect worked, it was entirely possible that the three of them could be captured and interrogated, perhaps even have Soulscour used on them.

This was precisely why they needed to send off the goods before this happened. Otherwise, if it stayed with them, not only would they not get the profit they expected, it would serve as evidence that would sign their death warrants.

Shi Jingzhai gritted his teeth and said, "Yes, we don't have time. Since we've already started, we have to work until the very end. No matter what the Seven Absolutions Sect is thinking, we just have to let them take the goods. Hah, it seems we'll have to let someone else enjoy that mantra and that ten-thousand-year bezoar."

This time, the Seven Absolutions Sect had prepaid three million, and besides the Heaven-Howling Dragon Tiger Mantra, the most valuable thing had been the ten-thousand-year bezoar.

This was a bezoar left behind by a fiend bull who had lived for more than ten thousand years, equal to a peak Violet Palace existence, the essence it had collected over its lifetime and a true supreme treasure. Back then, the Seven Absolutions Sect had gathered three of its Violet Palace Lords and chased the bull fiend for three years before finally killing it. They had obtained 108 catties of ten-thousand-year bezoar, a truly priceless treasure.

Wang Juemie had joined together with eighteen disciples in paying out a large sum of contribution points and spirit coins to get six catties, but no one could have expected that it would ultimately be eaten by the little tiger. In eating it, he had saved decades to perhaps a century of cultivation, and also made it so that the Stone Gate Sect had made nothing from this initial deal.

"We have to track it down. If it's as I expect, it was that kid with the Crystallized Sandworm who did it," Liang Xingbang harrumphed. "He's the only one in that region."

Shi Jingzhai nodded, and then he suddenly grimaced. "Old Liang, about that kid: don't you think he's rather suspicious? Last time when Wanniang went to see if the Seven Absolutions Sect knew anything, she came back and said that the matter of the Crystallized Sandworm really was the Seven Absolutions Sect's doing. If that's the case, this kid should also be from the Seven Absolutions Sect. But if he was, why did he attack the courier?"

Liang Xingbang was startled. "That's true. It doesn't make sense. Could it not be him, then?"

Shi Jingzhai shook his head. "I'm still not sure, but I feel like something strange is going on. If it's really the Seven Absolutions Sect using the Basking Moon Sect to make us lower the price, they wouldn't have so frankly confessed, as that would be bullying us too much. Also, that kid said he was going to Canglong Prefecture, but it's been many days now, and he's still in that area in the middle. What's going on there? His mission is done, so even if he's not going to Canglong Prefecture, he should be turning around and heading back to Duskland. What's the point in lingering in the area? And some days ago, Tang Jie was here and meeting with many of our disciples, impeding our actions again and again and preventing our people from pursuing that kid. Rather than that kid having a connection to the Seven Absolutions Sect, it's more like he has a connection with Tang Jie. How can we explain that?"

This salvo of questions made the color slowly drain out of Liang Xingbang's face, and his plump face became somewhat grave. "Old Shi, you're right. It looks to me like something really is going to go wrong with this deal."

"You're saying…" Shi Jingzhai prompted.

Liang Xingbang grunted and quietly said, "When strange things are happening, evil is afoot. I'm sure that someone is lying here. The key here is that we first have to find out who our opponent is."

"Is it not the Seven Absolutions Sect or the Basking Moon Sect?"

"Perhaps we have to add one more."

Shi Jingzhai was startled, and then his face became rich with expression. "Yu Wanniang?"

Liang Xingbang sinisterly said, "She was the one who brought back the news, she was the one who contacted the Seven Absolutions Sect, and she is the one with the most outside connections. She's the one who's doing all the talking, so if this woman sold us out…"

Shi Jingzhai gasped. "She wouldn't dare!"

"That's not for us to say. I think that we should make a few back-up plans."

The two of them got together and engaged in a whispered discussion.

A few moments later, Shi Jingzhai said, "Let's do that. Whether we live or die, it will all be decided when we meet at Sunset Valley in three days!"

"Right, what do we do about that kid with the Crystallized Sandworm?" Liang Xingbang asked.

Shi Jingzhai impatiently said, "What else? Just send a Spirit Master over to exterminate him."

It looks like Xi Canhen and the little tiger ended up swiping all the stuff the Stone Gate Sect was supposed to receive! But it looks they're also going to have to deal with a tougher opponent now…