The incense slowly rose, gradually spreading in a straight line, filling the surroundings and masking the stench of blood inside the house.
Lin Hui stood with his hands behind his back in the center of the house, gazing at the old Tian Long, who was stored in a metal barrel.
The old Daoist priest was reduced to a torso, carelessly tossed into a barrel. His face was stiff as he stared intently at Lin Hui, lost in thought.
The sky was gradually brightening, and dawn was approaching.
In just one night, the killer of this long-standing Blood Character Case was brought here silently and without warning.
"You can't kill me," the old Daoist Tian Long said hoarsely.
"How did you know?" Lin Hui asked.
"Because your weapon has no magic power. Without magic power, you cannot kill us immortals." Although Tian Long's limbs had been severed, he showed no panic, as if he were simply stating a fact.
"So you mean that all immortals require magical power to kill? Then what is magical power? And what are immortals?" Lin Hui asked curiously.
"You..." Tian Long frowned, scrutinizing Lin Hui closely, "You have no magic power, so how did you manage to sever my limbs?"
He seemed puzzled.
"I finally managed to cultivate into an immortal before my death, my immortal body is immortal and indestructible, and my physical strength far surpasses that of ordinary people. No matter what, I should not lose to a mortal like you?" At this moment, his speech seemed much more fluent, as if his language ability had deteriorated due to a long period of no one communicating with him.
It has now recovered quickly.
"Alright, let's start from the basics. Tell me, what kinds of powers exist in this world that transcend ordinary people?" Lin Hui asked directly.
"Everyone in the world strives to become an immortal, to be immortal and indestructible, forever free from the danger of Decay," Tian Long said calmly. "Although your martial arts are superb, I don't know how you achieved it, but... you can't kill me."
"But I can humiliate you," Lin Hui laughed. "Like cutting off your head and throwing it into a latrine, or throwing your body into the sea. If you're so capable, you can go to the sea and slowly find your whole body inside the bellies of the fish."
"..." Tian Long fell silent. He could tell that Lin Hui wasn't joking; he genuinely intended to do so.
"Then continue, what about the Underworld and the Heavenly Court? What are they?" Lin Hui continued to ask.
"The Underworld governs all matters concerning the reincarnation of souls in the human world. The Heavenly Court... that is the abode of celestial beings, gods, and golden immortals."
" The Heavenly Net governs all affairs of the earth," Tian Long explained. "If I can break through to the Celestial Immortal realm, I will be qualified to ascend to heaven on my own and become a member of the Heavenly Court..."
At this point, he even seemed a little longing for it.
"You're a celestial being? Then why do you still seem so weak?" Lin Hui asked in surprise.
66
Tian Long didn't want to answer.
Then Lin Hui inquired about his cultivation level in detail. Although Tian Long spoke in fragmented and disjointed sentences, he managed to understand him after some time.
This world is jointly governed by the three realms: Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. Among them, there are many cultivators in the Human realm, all aiming to cultivate themselves into immortals.
Human Immortal, Earth Immortal, Celestial Immortal, Golden Immortal, and Emperor—these are the stages that define magical power.
But in reality, Tian Long also said that, as far as he knew, the difference between human immortals, earth immortals, and heavenly immortals was almost entirely determined by their magical artifacts and treasures. The only thing that could determine their cultivation level was the quality of their life essence and magical power. In a real fight, if their magical artifacts and treasures were inadequate, even a human immortal could kill a heavenly immortal.
"Then what are these magical artifacts and treasures?" Lin Hui asked curiously.
This place resembled the ancient times he had learned about from myths and legends, but upon closer inspection, it seemed quite different.
"A magical artifact is something made in imitation of a magical treasure. A magical treasure is a magical treasure, a great creation naturally generated in the three realms of heaven and earth."
" Tian Long replied."
"What about your magical artifacts and treasures?" Lin Hui asked curiously.
"I don't possess any magical treasures, but I do have a self-crafted magical artifact called the Blood Character Tongue," Tian Long replied. "Unfortunately, you just severed it, and it needs repair."
Lin Hui was speechless, immediately recalling the tongue weapon that this guy had just shot out.
"Then there's another question: how can one cultivate oneself to become an immortal?"
"It depends on your aptitude, your comprehension of cultivation, and the cultivation method you practice. These three factors determine your upper limit, whether you can become an immortal, and what kind of immortal you can become." Tian Long was very frank, answering every question directly.
"Your aptitude is exceptional, and your talent is extraordinary. Although I don't know how much comprehension you possess, if you were to become my disciple and cultivate the techniques of my Tian Long Temple, you would surely be able to cultivate into a Human Immortal in no time, and there is even hope that you could reach the Earth Immortal realm in the future."
Good grief, so this guy is actually trying to persuade me to become his apprentice?
Lin Hui chuckled.
"And one last question, what about demons? What's the deal with that one who was just trying to recruit you?"
"Since the anomalies that occurred a thousand years ago, the Heavenly Court collapsed, and the Underworld was divided, many powerful cultivators, though not of very high cultivation levels, possessed extremely powerful magical treasures. Unable to bear the pressure, they united and formed an organization called the Benevolence and Righteousness Court. As a result, they were jointly hunted down and wanted by the Heavenly Court and the Underworld, who labeled them as demons. Over time, these powerful cultivators simply started calling themselves demons as well. In reality, most of them are cultivators like us," Tian Long said calmly.
"A thousand years ago? Not three hundred years ago?" Lin Hui keenly grasped the key point in the other party's words, and his expression became serious.
"To be precise, the changes began a thousand years ago, and three hundred years ago it simply became uncontrollable and began to affect the human world."
"In fact, the fundamental changes began very early on," Tian Long replied.
Lin Hui remained silent.
He immediately understood that, in this light, the root of the alienation lay in the Heavenly Court and the Underworld.
Only by delving into these two places can we perhaps find the root cause of their Decay Aberration.
But how can I get there?
He quickly passed the question back to Tian Long.
"Become an immortal, that's how you go. To enter the Heavenly Court, you need to become a Heavenly Immortal. You can go to the Underworld after death, but if you want to just go there, you need to cultivate to become a Ghost Immortal," Tian Long replied.
Next, Lin Hui asked how to cultivate into a Celestial Immortal or a Ghost Immortal, but Tian Long didn't know either.
Because the highest level of cultivation in Tian Long Temple can be achieved is Earth Immortal, and the higher level, Celestial Immortal, is entirely a top-tier inherited method in the mortal world. These methods are all controlled by powerful Buddhist and Daoist sects.
But now the world is in chaos, and the great Buddhist and Daoist lineages have long since disappeared into the shadows, with only a few small and medium-sized lineages like Tian Long Temple still showing themselves in the world.
Lin Hui guessed that the Heavenly Court and the Underworld were two other small worlds adjacent to the human world, similar to the Hell and the Extreme Cold adjacent to the Mist Man World.
The most urgent task is to find a way and an entrance to these two places. As for learning cultivation techniques, he can't possibly cultivate a power system that is highly likely to have hidden dangers under completely unknown circumstances.
One Wind Disaster is already a headache enough.
After some thought, Lin Hui came up with two solutions.
First, they collected a large number of aphrodisiac Precious Medicine to accelerate the evolution of the Blood Seal, freeing up space for the Blood Seal to evolve immortal cultivation techniques.
Secondly, support a person with exceptional talent, find a suitable cultivation method, and help them cultivate to become a Celestial Immortal or Ghost Immortal, then accompany them on their journey to the Heavenly Court and the Underworld.
Considering that the Blood Seal's Illusion Destruction Eye is still evolving and has over 1,400 years to go, although he has significantly shortened the time by scavenging resources, compared to the more than 1,600 years when he was first reincarnated, it is much shorter.
However, it is still a long way from being completely completed.
Therefore, he plans to proceed on both fronts simultaneously.
However, he couldn't possibly carry out this plan on his own. After all, even if he were to unleash his full power in this strange place, it would take him a very long time to gather intelligence and scavenge for Precious Medicine by himself.
Therefore, the best approach is to cultivate your own people and leverage existing power.
From what the old Tian Long priest Tianlong said, it can be inferred that the Underworld is easier to reach than the Heavenly Court. After all, one can go there simply after death...
"Then let's start the investigation from the underworld."
Lin Hui had decided on his next steps.
Now that the physical enhancement is complete, it's time to take formal action and truly restore the might of the Qingfeng Sect.
It possesses the unique effect of the Qingfeng Sect, which can determine loyalty. In addition, it can grant disciples various special effects and abilities, allowing it to quickly gather a group of disciples with considerable strength in a very short time.
In fact, because of the connection of the Heavenly Father Seal, he can still sense the connections between the people of the original Mist Man World even after returning to the Heart Source Demon Palace.
If we could find a way to directly transfer Xia Si, Su Yaping, and Yun Xiazi over, it would definitely be much more convenient.
But this requires careful consideration.
After sorting out his future direction, Lin Hui turned his gaze back to Tian Long Daoist.
"Next, it's time to decide what to do with you."
"You can kill me directly. In any case, I will reassemble and return to my original state in three days. The immortality of immortals is not a myth," said the Tian Long Daoist calmly. "But you should also think carefully. If you miss this opportunity, a hundred years later, you will still turn into a handful of dust, meaningless. If you become my disciple and cultivate our sect's immortal techniques, you might break through to the Earth Immortal realm, become an immortal ancestor, and roam freely and unrivaled in this mortal world, living a carefree and joyful life. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
This guy is already a limp skeletal man, yet he still tries to trick Lin Hui into becoming his apprentice.
"You think I can't make things difficult for you?" Lin Hui raised an eyebrow.
"That's true," Tian Long replied calmly.
"Interesting." Lin Hui raised his hand, and a thin layer of white light faintly shone from his palm.
That was a sign that the Heavenly Father Seal was beginning to be activated.
"What does this mean?" Tian Long frowned as he watched the other person reach out and tap his forehead.
The next moment, a pure white crystal rapidly spread outwards from between his eyebrows.
In just one second, his entire body was completely frozen and enveloped.
The seal is complete.
"It's just a small test," Lin Hui replied, then lowered his hand, turned, and walked out of the room.
He wanted to see if this immortal body could truly be sealed away.
After leaving the sword hall courtyard, he headed straight for the training ground. Before he even entered, he heard shouts and yells coming from inside.
Pushing open the courtyard gate, one can see at a glance.
Brother Hao, Zhu Xiang, Dai Yunhua —two of them had bandages wrapped around their arms and were following behind Wu Anning, constantly asking him questions.
Judging from Wu Anning's impatient expression, this situation had clearly been going on for a while.
"What happened?" he asked.
Another disciple quickly stepped forward and whispered.
"Reporting to the Master, those three witnessed Senior Sister's strength earlier and came over early this morning asking her how she cultivates. They even want to join our sword club and train with her."
"These three..." Lin Hui immediately became interested. Zhu Xiang, one of the three, seemed to know some secrets of the Three Realms and was also skilled in talisman magic.
In addition, when he had previously inquired about the situation with Steel Ox, he learned that these three were among the very few officials in the city with a strong sense of justice.
He has always supported those who follow the right path, of course, the truly righteous path, not just the righteous one who stands on a selfish and self-serving position.
That's why I truly hate people like him—because that's just who he is.
Ignoring the three, he went around to the inner room and continued his sword practice for the day. The Great Yin Yang Time Reversal Sword Technique is not restricted by the external environment. The core of this sword technique is the understanding of the Time String and the compression and enhancement of oneself with star power.