Lin Zheyu slowed down. Although he intended to befriend the other party, he remained extremely vigilant. After his earlier experience with Wu Yi, immortal cultivators had not left a good impression on him. He did not want to lose his life because of a moment of carelessness.

What kind of strength does this person possess to detect my location from such a distance? Is this due to a massive difference in strength, or do immortal cultivators have a powerful advantage in perception through spiritual sense? Lin Zheyu pondered silently.

Within his body, vast true origin surged through his meridians. The true origin flowing into the meridians of his legs had already transformed into cyan energy, providing the strongest support for lightness and movement techniques. The moment he sensed danger, Lin Zheyu would immediately flee at full speed.

The man's speed was very fast. The instant he entered Lin Zheyu's perception range of a little over one hundred meters, Lin Zheyu's expression shifted slightly.

Damn it, this guy really has ill intentions!

Lin Zheyu cursed inwardly as the true origin he had been holding in reserve erupted at once.

Boom!

A thunderous roar echoed as Lin Zheyu's speed skyrocketed. In an instant, he turned into a streak of light and vanished into the darkness.

"Uh... What the hell?"

The man who had just been about to strike was startled by Lin Zheyu's sudden burst of speed. His mouth hung slightly open as his eyes widened at the figure disappearing from sight, his gaze filled with astonishment.

What incredible speed. That guy must have a powerful flying dharma artifact on him, the man thought to himself.

In the instant he lost focus, the cry of the Demon Screechbird sounded again from behind him. The terrifying screech invaded the man's mind. His body staggered, and he nearly fell to the ground.

"Damn it, this is going to cost me dearly. I'll fight you to the end!" The man gritted his teeth and quickly recovered from the dizziness. A talisman suddenly appeared in his hand. With a flick of his right hand, the talisman shot forward and stuck onto the Demon Screechbird King.

With a thought from the man, the talisman exploded instantly. Towering flames and thunder filled the entire sky.

I need to leave immediately. I can't stay here any longer, the man thought to himself.

His body moved and shot into the distance. Such a massive disturbance here would soon attract even more powerful yaos.

"Good heavens!"

Hiding in the distance, Lin Zheyu clicked his tongue as he watched the towering flames and thunder. Fortunately, he had run quickly. If he had taken that attack, he would at least have been lightly injured and lost more than half of his true origin.

That person just now did not seem to belong to the Directorate of Celestial Observation. In this era, there should be no wandering cultivators. Could he be from some other ancient immortal cultivation sect that possesses a blessed land? Lin Zheyu pondered.

He had the thought of following the man and trying to build a connection with him. However, from their brief encounter just now, that fellow appeared crafty and difficult to deal with.

"Forget it. If I can encounter one, I will encounter another sooner or later." Lin Zheyu shook his head slightly and abandoned the idea of befriending him.

As long as his strength continued to rise and he ventured into those dangerous places filled with opportunity, he would eventually encounter immortal cultivators again.

In the sky, the cry of the Demon Screechbird King rang out again, shrill and mournful. The explosion of that talisman earlier had not completely killed it. A yao of such strength would need to be cut into hundreds of pieces or destroyed with even more powerful true origin energy before it could be completely eradicated.

These yaos have such terrifying recovery abilities. If my own recovery could reach that level...

He had once imagined cultivating many life-preserving techniques similar to the Tortoise Breath True Technique, hoping to use their special true intent to give his true origin powerful regenerative abilities. It did produce some results, but not much. It did not even reach 80% of the powerful recovery possessed by yao martial artists, let alone compared with yaos.

However, the path taken by yaos might serve as a reference for my own future. If the Immortal Dao does not prove ideal, then I simply will not open the Bridge of Heaven and Earth and will instead walk the path of bodily martial cultivation.

He held serious doubts about opening the Bridge of Heaven and Earth to advance to the Martial Innate realm. Once someone reached that stage, the body's natural protective barrier would be damaged. In places where Baleful Yin force was dense, the influence of Baleful Yin force on the body would become far greater.

Lin Zheyu needed to carefully weigh the benefits and drawbacks of opening the Bridge of Heaven and Earth before deciding. With his current strength and spiritual power, he already possessed the ability to break open the Bridge of Heaven and Earth and connect with heaven and earth. He simply chose not to.

The cries of the Demon Screechbirds gradually faded into the distance. Lin Zheyu waited for quite a while before quietly revealing himself again and moving toward the demon river he had discovered earlier. It had not been easy to find a demon river containing such pure Baleful Yin force, and he had no intention of letting it go.

He was currently in dire need of spirit stones, and Baleful Yin force was a decent substitute. However, the proportion of energy within Baleful Yin force that could actually be absorbed was not very high. Lin Zheyu needed to find Baleful Yin force that was sufficiently pure before he could make use of it.

The sound of rushing water grew closer and closer. Lin Zheyu carefully restrained his aura and moved upstream along the demon river. The concentration of Baleful Yin force around him rose rapidly, and from time to time, the roars of powerful yaos echoed in the distance.

Sensing the increasingly dense Baleful Yin force, Lin Zheyu quickly stopped. "This will do. If I go any farther, it will be easy to lose my life."

The demon river here had already formed a certain scale. It was about two meters wide, and its depth was unknown. Occasionally, strange creatures drifted down along the current. The liquid of the demon river was extremely viscous and flowed very slowly. Yet during its movement, it produced strange splashing sounds that were even louder than those of much larger streams outside. Lin Zheyu observed from the side for an hour, and no particularly powerful yaos appeared.

I will test the effect first.

He did not dare to place his hands directly into the viscous liquid, fearing unknown yaos might lurk within it. Using his long saber, Lin Zheyu dug two small pits beside the demon river and diverted the liquid into them. He placed one hand into each pit. The moment his hands entered the liquid, a piercing chill struck him. Grayish true origin surged out and condensed into a thin protective film covering his skin, and the cold immediately eased.

Use 1 unit of Origin Force to cultivate the Sacred Evolution Spirit Nurturing Art.

As the thought was transmitted, Lin Zheyu's spirit instantly blurred and sank into the mysterious consciousness space. He feared that the usable energy contained within the demon river might be too little, so he chose the Sacred Evolution Spirit Nurturing Art, which consumed relatively less energy. The second stage of the Sacred Evolution Spirit Nurturing Art required the use of true strength.

While using his powerful physique to nourish and strengthen his spirit and spiritual soul, he also used true strength to temper the spiritual soul and refine away impurities. Through endless cycles of cultivation, Lin Zheyu's previously stagnant spiritual soul began to improve rapidly once again. His true origin was far stronger than ordinary true strength, and the tempering effect it produced on his spiritual soul was even more terrifying.

Within the sea of consciousness, the previously loose sphere of spiritual soul light did not grow larger during repeated tempering. Instead, it gradually shrank. Yet this sphere representing his soul became increasingly condensed, emitting faint spiritual fluctuations.

In the outside world, a vast mysterious energy surged forth, flowing through his arms and into the viscous liquid. Under the influence of this mysterious energy, a continuous stream of energy was extracted from the thick liquid and infused into Lin Zheyu's body. After several breaths, Lin Zheyu's spirit withdrew from the consciousness space, and he slowly opened his eyes.

[Heaven Rewards the Diligent]

[Name: Lin Zheyu]

[Origin Force: 33]

[Skills: Phantom Flash Soul-Chasing Steps (Third Stage: 89%), Sacred Evolution Spirit Nurturing Art (Second Stage: 100%), Primordial Wuji True Technique (Third Stage: 59%)]

"It worked!" Lin Zheyu looked at the data within his consciousness, the corner of his mouth rising into a delighted smile.

The second stage of the Sacred Evolution Spirit Nurturing Art was not difficult. With Lin Zheyu's current martial cultivation level, he used less than 1 unit of Origin Force to cultivate the second stage to Perfection. However, this did not mean the technique had reached its limit. Achieving Perfection in the second stage simply meant he had fully mastered it. To strengthen his spiritual soul, he would still need to continue circulating the technique in the future to nourish and temper it.

Lin Zheyu sensed his condition. His true origin had fully recovered to its peak and flowed rapidly through his meridians, producing a rumbling sound.

The demon river flows very slowly, and the duration of enhancement using Origin Force is very short. If I use too much Origin Force at once, the mysterious energy produced by Origin Force may not be able to extract enough usable energy from the liquid within its range. I should enhance it one unit at a time.

He looked at the data within his consciousness, somewhat uncertain. If he wanted to improve his strength, enhancing the Primordial Wuji True Technique would be the best choice. However, in this pitch-black environment, the Perception Domain was his only reliance for exploration. If he could strengthen his spirit and spiritual soul and expand the range of his Perception Domain, the situation where that unknown immortal cultivator discovered him while he could not detect the other party would not happen again.

I will enhance the Sacred Evolution Spirit Nurturing Art first. Once my spiritual soul grows stronger, the divine sense I condense in the future will also become more powerful.

In such a dangerous environment, powerful perception played a greater role in detecting and avoiding danger. After making his decision, Lin Zheyu placed his hands back into the viscous liquid. Just as he was about to begin enhancing again, his brows suddenly furrowed. True origin erupted instantly, and he retreated swiftly as a massive fish covered in bone spikes and sharp protrusions suddenly burst out of the thick liquid.

A tremendous crash sounded as the monstrous fish slammed into the spot where Lin Zheyu had been standing. Its savage spikes pierced the soil and blasted a massive crater.

Whoosh!

Lin Zheyu seized the Purple Thunder Demon-Slaying Blade beside him, and a blade flash streaked through the air.

The blade struck the monster fish and collided with the bone spikes covering its body, producing a sharp metallic sound.

What incredible defense. If these bone spikes could be harvested and forged into armor...

The unknown immortal cultivator he had encountered earlier also seemed to intend to hunt Demon Screechbirds to refine dharma artifacts or medicinal pills.

"The appearance of this space-time node might also be a great opportunity for immortal cultivators," Lin Zheyu murmured.