Chapter 292: Chapter 230: Immortal Forbidden Technique, The Ancient One’s Unfathomable Might (Middle)

"Advanced? It does look like a very advanced Taoist Skill."

Yi Beidou looked at the sky and nodded slightly, agreeing with Cheng Zhihong’s words.

"The ’Immortal’ of ’Immortal Gods’! The ’Forbidden’ of ’prohibition’!"

Cheng Zhihong explained, quite impressed that Yi Beidou could still crack a joke under these circumstances. Right now, every hair on his body was standing on end, his mind filled with a bone-chilling terror.

The horrifying sight before them—the Celestial Gate opening wide, a rainbow bridge leading the way, a daytime ascension to immortality—and the utterly hopeless pressure it exuded were simply too overwhelming.

"The Immortal Forbidden Technique, also known as the ’forbidden realm that only True Immortals can master’! This Taoist Skill surpasses even Forbidden Secret Techniques and can grant a qualitative leap to certain abilities of the human body!"

"It can usually only be used under special circumstances! The Alchemist must be relying on the mysteries of this Immortal Mountain, plus some other method, to have reached this level! We have to go, now! If we don’t leave this instant, it’ll be too late!!"

Cheng Zhihong explained to Yi Beidou at an extremely rapid pace. In that moment, he could almost feel the aura of death closing in on him.

The Immortal Forbidden Technique.

It was known as the "forbidden realm that only True Immortals can master." Some speculated its power was on par with that of an Earth Immortal. It was a Technique even more terrifying than a Forbidden Secret Technique, yet it didn’t have the same horrific backlash.

However, beings who had mastered this Technique were exceedingly rare, even among the Ancient Ones, as it required the perfect alignment of timing, location, and human factors.

The Alchemist had used the Immortal Forbidden Technique before they had even shown themselves, which showed just how seriously he was taking Yi Beidou.

For a person of the current era to receive such treatment was, in a way, an honor.

If, before they landed on the island, he had believed Yi Beidou had at least a thirty percent chance of victory and nearly a fifty percent chance of escape...

...then with the appearance of the Immortal Forbidden Technique, his odds were now truly one in ten for survival.

If they didn’t flee now, it would really be too late!

If not for the fact that he couldn’t beat Yi Beidou in a fight, he probably would have already dragged him away by force.

"It’s already too late," Yi Beidou said calmly. "Since he’s already used a Taoist Skill like this, why would he let us leave?"

’An Immortal Forbidden Technique, hmm? Things are getting more and more interesting.’

He didn’t pause, but continued striding toward the summit.

Cheng Zhihong’s expression flickered uncertainly. Blood seeped from his fingertip as he drew a Talisman pattern on his forehead. The blood actually began to emit a faint glow.

This was heart’s blood; using it would damage his very foundation.

The Fruit Position within him trembled violently as his spirit connected with some unknown magnetic field, sending a thought out through the mystical link between Fruit Positions.

He was sending intel to Yuna outside, telling her to leave at once. He feared that once he and Yi Beidou reached the summit, he might not get another chance to pass on information.

Outside the Immortal Mountain, Yuna stood upon the surface of the sea at the edge of the inner ring.

On her side, the wind was calm and the waves were still. But just over ten meters away, a torrential downpour raged.

To manipulate the heavens’ phenomena—it was truly the work of gods.

Her gaze was solemn and her mind was focused. On one hand, she had to guard against a potential counterattack from the horde of Sea Flood Dragons beneath the water; on the other, she had to extend the natural senses of her Fruit Position to receive any information that might come at any moment.

Suddenly, her expression tightened slightly. The natural senses of her Fruit Position caught a faint, ethereal voice that was barely there.

But she still recognized it instantly as Cheng Zhihong’s voice.

"Immortal Forbidden Technique. Retreat quickly."

The information conveyed by that voice was remarkably simple and clear, but it made Yuna’s pupils constrict violently. Her entire body swayed, and her face turned pale.

’Immortal Forbidden Technique?!’

She bit down hard, so forcefully that a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of her mouth. Then, she abruptly turned and plunged into the stormy barrier of the Immortal Mountain’s second ring.

With even the Immortal Forbidden Technique in play, Cheng Zhihong had almost no chance of survival. She had to leave as quickly as possible and get this intelligence out. She couldn’t let Cheng Zhihong’s sacrifice be in vain.

「Inside the Immortal Mountain.」

With a single leap, Yi Beidou landed on the summit of the Immortal Mountain.

He saw the quaintly-styled Penglai Pavilion, the ruins and remains of what looked like ancient garden architecture, and at the same time, he saw a person.

This person appeared to be around thirty years old, dressed in ordinary casual clothes. He wasn’t particularly tall and wore a pair of glasses.

He had a gentle, scholarly air, looking just like an ordinary young office worker from Japan.

But it was from this ordinary-looking young man that an utterly terrifying aura emanated.

A blazing, seven-colored rainbow light swirled around him, and a halo materialized behind his head, just like the Immortal Gods depicted in murals. His skin had a crystalline, jade-like quality—flawless and smooth, without a single visible pore, as if every cell from within was releasing a faint glow.

An anomaly appeared in the sky. Colorful clouds spun into a vortex, like a gate to the Upper Realm. A ray of rosy light descended from the vortex’s center onto the young man, resembling the great path a mortal takes to ascend to immortality.

Anyone who witnessed such a scene would be stunned by its divine majesty, perhaps even losing all will to resist.

This was the first time Yi Beidou had come face-to-face with a true Ancient One—a being straight out of legend.

The Sun Country Domain Lord, master of Penglai Immortal Mountain, and a key member of the Pioneer Group.

For him, who had lived through too many ages and possessed countless names, a name was no longer important.

Now, in the presence of a true fellow practitioner, he referred to himself only as the "Alchemist."

"The tribulation has arrived as foretold. As expected, you refuse to back down no matter what. Though I have lived for over a thousand years, I have never seen anyone like you—someone who actually wishes to become the tribulation itself. Truly unprecedented."