The Forbidden Path to Immortality-Chapter 253

Li Xun had seen corpses of that kind before. So mangled they were almost unbearable to look at. And he’d be damned if his own body ever made someone look at him with that same expression.

Holding his breath as best he could, he forced himself to think clearly.

Lucky or unlucky, who knows… but I happened to come in right when the ‘Nine Nether Tide’ was at rest. Good news is I don’t have to deal with being soaked in all that corrosive yin qi. Bad news is, the Curse-Spirit isn’t suppressed right now either. According to that old bastard, once I get into the Yin-Transforming Pool the thing can’t really threaten me... but still, maybe I should wait a bit. A little suffering is better than getting drained dry.

The so-called Nine Nether Tide was a strange phenomenon created by the unique structure of the Yin-Transforming Pool.

The reason the Yin-Transforming Pool was considered a sacred place of the sect wasn’t really because of that tiny pool barely a few meters across. The true secret lay in the special “Primordial Yin-Transforming Jade Liquid” stored within it. With its unique properties, that liquid “anchored” the only stable passage between this world and the Nine Netherworlds Domain.

Because of that passage, the sect could draw an endless supply of precious Nine Netherworld Earth Qi. An incredible resource for building a solid foundation and advancing cultivation. For the disciples, nothing else came close.

But that same passage also meant that whenever the energy of the Nine Netherworlds Domain rose or fell, the primordial qi in this realm would fluctuate along with it.

Under the seal of the stone cover, all that fluctuation was contained to the area around the Yin-Transforming Pool. The smaller the range, the stronger the turbulence became. In the sect’s records, this phenomenon was known as the “Nine Nether Tide.”

They had to wait for the tide for a reason: that surge of pure Nether energy was extremely harmful to the ancestor's spirit, which no longer had a physical body.

Whenever the tide hit, the Patriarch’s Curse-Spirit would instinctively focus on protecting itself. Sometimes it even fled into the passage connecting the underground palace, just to stay safe.

And that... was when the opportunity appeared.

Time crept by, and Li Xun was ready for everything. He kept his eyes locked on the spot right above the Yin-Transmuting Pool. Finally, even with just his vision, he could see it: the empty air there began to ripple like a spinning vortex. The void twisted in on itself, eerie and unreal.

So that’s the passage. If I go through it, I'll end up in the Nine Netherworlds Domain. That utterly silent, lifeless world...

The strange sight stirred a few odd thoughts in him, but they flickered out just as quickly. The air around him suddenly grew heavier, harder to breathe. Sensing the shift, he lowered his body and moved cautiously.

A strange, piercing howl broke out. Though it was just in a room about thirty feet across, the sound stretched endlessly, like it was rolling across a vast, empty wasteland.

The sound drew closer. And in the next moment, a violent shockwave slammed through, instantly filling the entire stone cave. The walls of the cave began to glow, and countless carved symbols etched into the rock started to flicker and pulse.

The air temperature shot up. Li Xun caught the smell of something burning over his head. It felt like flames were licking his body, scorching his skin and sinking deep into his organs.

Gritting his teeth, he activated the Bottomless Nether Ring, pouring every ounce of strength he had into resisting the oncoming surge.

At the same time, he’d squeezed his body down as small as it could go, pressed almost flat to the ground. In a posture no human should be able to take, he slipped across the floor like liquid. He wasn’t moving fast, but the few yards he needed to cover passed in no time.

Up above, the raging torrent had eased a little here, letting Li Xun catch a glimpse out of the corner of his eye. Beneath the lip of the pool lay a thin veil of mist. Though the whole room was filled with roaring wind, this fragile haze didn’t move an inch.

Li Xun tilted his head and looked up again. The ancestor's spirit that had been looming over him only moments ago was nowhere to be seen.

A spark of relief lit in his chest, and he let his body slip straight into the Yin-Transmuting Pool. The world around him instantly fell into complete silence.

Li Xun’s whole body was surrounded by a layer of icy liquid. Strangely, looking down from above, a misty haze blocked his view of the depths. But looking up from below, everything inside the stone chamber was crystal clear.

The pool wasn’t very full. It was barely two feet deep. You had to lie flat to be fully submerged in it.

Li Xun quickly felt the wonders of the jade liquid. The icy coolness seemed to make the Bottomless Nether Ring inside him slow down on its own.

But with each rise and fall, its rhythm felt stronger than ever before.

Li Xun studied the feeling carefully. At this rhythm, he sensed a way the Yin Fire moved that he had never noticed before. It was subtle, almost indescribable, but in that hazy, fleeting moment, his understanding of the NetherYin Qi deepened by another layer.

The coolness slowly seeped into his body, like a clear stream trickling down from the top of his head, washing away all the lingering impurities inside. The feeling was unbelievably refreshing.

More importantly, as the chill spread through his limbs, the leftover Yin Fire within him.. the part that had yet to fully merge with his body... melted instantly, like snow dropped into boiling water. Guided by the turning of the Bottomless Nether Ring, it was absorbed smoothly into him.

In just this short stretch of time, Li Xun could feel his cultivation take at least another step forward.

This really is amazing stuff...

He found himself looking forward to what might come next. Maybe this Yin-Transforming Jade Liquid could extract and neutralize the Yin Fire that had already merged into his body.

But his hope didn’t last long. The cool energy continued to flow through him, yet nothing else happened. He could sense the Yin Fire trapped in his organs stirring a little, as if tempted. Still, it stayed firmly in place, not showing the slightest sign of loosening.

Even though he’d mentally prepared himself, Li Xun still couldn’t help feeling a bit frustrated.

Honestly, if that Yinfire Pearl had stayed put in his heart aperture, his cultivation might have leapt several levels by now. He could’ve stood shoulder to shoulder with any top expert in the world. Instead… all he could do was smile bitterly.

After waiting a while longer and seeing no change, he let out a quiet curse and was about to sit up when a sudden chill ran through his body.

For no clear reason, his eyes snapped through the water, right up. When had it happened? The Nine Nether Tide had already receded, and the Patriarch’s Curse-Spirit was back.

Crap, Li Xun groaned to himself.

He could tell the Patriarch’s Curse-Spirit had already noticed him. It was staring down at him in some cold, unfathomable way he couldn’t begin to understand.

Whatever that feeling was, it definitely wasn’t friendly. All he could do was lie there obediently and not move a muscle.

It seemed the Underworld Flame Yama had been right. the Patriarch’s Curse-Spirit had an instinctive aversion to the Yin-Transforming Pool. Even though it clearly had a problem with Li Xun being inside it, it didn’t dare act rashly. Like it was afraid of damaging something more important.

But he could bet his life that if he so much as poked his head out of the pool, the Curse-Spirit would come at him full fury.

Li Xun, however, wasn’t in any hurry. He actually felt pretty confident now. If he couldn’t get out, then he’d just wait. When the next Nine Nether Tide came and the Patriarch’s Curse-Spirit was too busy to care about him, slipping away would be the easiest thing in the world.

In the meantime, he could sort through everything that had happened lately... like his cultivation of Blood God Child.

With the Yin-Transforming Pool no longer working for him, cultivating Blood God Child had suddenly become the most urgent thing. But he still held back. The feeling of falling into demonic influence wasn’t something he could just talk himself through. There were depths there he didn’t fully understand.

To play it safe, he’d decided it was better to wait until that woman up north reached the deeper stages. Then he could judge the results for himself.

Next was the situation with the Underworld Flame Yama… huh?

Li Xun twisted without thinking, feeling an itch on his back. Don’t tell me there are bugs in this pool? No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than “bugs” seemed to crawl over his entire body in an instant.

The itch hit him out of nowhere, straight from his bones. He couldn’t stop the sound that tore from his throat, couldn’t stop the jerk to sit up.

But the moment his head broke the surface, a sharp, piercing screech ripped through his ears. The Patriarch’s Curse-Spirit’s mist-like “body” writhed and boiled, hissing in a way that blended with the screech into a sound that made Li Xun’s scalp crawl and crackle.

Dizzy and rattled, he ducked back under at once.

The itching and tingling gave him no chance to catch his breath, hitting him even stronger than before. By now, Li Xun was completely trapped, with no way forward or back.

The feeling... it was like every bone, every muscle, every vein had suddenly grown lighter, almost like the bugs were burrowing into his stomach. The flow of true energy inside him went haywire. The previously stable, simmering Yin Fire now raged like it had gone mad, lashing through his muscles and organs, burning hot enough to make him grit his teeth.

What the hell is going on?!

Li Xun realized that dying like this, for no clear reason, was actually worse than jumping out of the pool and fighting the Patriarch’s Curse-Spirit head-on. He cursed and tried to straighten up, but then something suffocating happened.

It felt like every tendon in his body had been yanked clean out. The moment he tried to push with his waist, all his strength vanished without a trace.

He barely managed to lift himself halfway before collapsing flat again. And right then, the smoldering Yin Fire inside him flared up wildly, burning so hot he wanted to tear open his own chest just to feel a moment of relief.

But somewhere in the thick of that pain, Li Xun’s mind suddenly cleared. Oh… hell...

He finally got it. The real problem was the Yin Fire. That damned, cursed Yin-Transforming Pool wasn’t just trying to burn away the leftover Yin Fire inside him. It wanted to wipe out the whole vessel that was tied to it… him included!