Participate in Heaven and Earth's Transformative Nurturing, Praise the Profound Unity of the Cosmos

Before the Cauldron Venerable had finished speaking, the phantom of the spirit tree suddenly contracted.

The towering tree seemed to turn back through time. Its branches and leaves curled inward, its roots drew together, and that mass of deep azure spiritual energy was wrapped, entwined, and compressed by countless boughs until it finally condensed into a crystal the size of a pigeon's egg.

The crystal was amber-colored, with a flowing blue glow sealed within. Its surface was smooth as a mirror, reflecting the red light of the Candle of Time.

The Spirit Amber fell into Lin Suri's outstretched palm.

The instant it touched his skin, a sudden change occurred.

Lin Suri's body shuddered violently.

Chen Lingxi clearly saw an invisible ripple spread from where the Spirit Amber had landed, sweeping across Lin Suri's entire body in an instant.

Beneath his brocade robe, his body undulated like wheat rippling under the wind. Dense golden patterns surfaced across his skin, now being relentlessly battered by some force.

The patterns flickered between light and dark, at times blazing like molten gold beneath a scorching sun, at times dim as a dying candle in the wind.

Even more horrifying was Lin Suri's face.

Beneath the red glow, his originally jade-pale features visibly lost their luster.

Fine lines at the corners of his eyes deepened as though carved by blades. Several strands of silver appeared at his temples, and even his straight back hunched slightly for an instant.

In only a few breaths, he seemed to have lived through ten years, changing from a high-spirited young man into someone somewhat older.

Yet Lin Suri's eyes shone with astonishing brightness.

"Spirit Amber!" Lin Suri lowered his head and stared at the treasure he had bought with his lifespan.

"The transaction is complete." The Cauldron Venerable's voice gradually became ethereal. Its vertical pupil began to narrow, and the red light ebbed away like a receding tide. "The Spirit Amber has been given to you. Twenty years of time... I accept them."

The last trace of light vanished into the depths of the candle.

The Candle of Time Fragment returned to its pitch-black, deathly still appearance and fell to the ground with a thud, as if it were merely an ordinary piece of rotten wood.

Chen Lingxi was somewhat at a loss, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

Meanwhile, Lin Suri's heavy breathing echoed through the secret chamber.

He looked at the amber crystal in his palm for a long while before tucking it away close to his body.

He then picked up the Candle of Time, turned around, and left the secret chamber, even leaving East Hall of the South Courtyard.

"Where is Lin Suri going?"

At some point, it had begun snowing outside again.

The north wind carried snowflakes as it howled in.

His brocade robe snapped in the wind. Snow fell upon his shoulders, yet he did not notice it at all. He passed through the covered corridors, crossed the snow-covered courtyard, and made his way to the side gate of the Marquis Manor's North Courtyard.

The guards at the gate hurriedly saluted at his arrival. Without even looking at them, he pushed open the side gate and stepped onto the long street outside the manor.

It was nearly midnight. The long streets of Yuan River Prefecture were empty and desolate, their bluestone paving covered in snow. The shops along both sides had long since closed, leaving only a few wind lanterns swaying beneath the eaves.

"Where is Lin Suri going? If he goes any farther, I won't be able to see him."

Just as Chen Lingxi was wondering, Lin Suri had already reached the banks of the Yuan River and stopped.

The Yuan River ran low in winter, its channel contracted to reveal a vast gray-white riverbank.

River water flowed slowly beneath the broken ice, dark and murky. Distant mountains on the opposite shore lay dark as ink, their snow-covered peaks joining the evening clouds. Heaven and earth stretched vast and bleak.

Lin Suri stood at the edge of the riverbank, looking down at the Candle of Time in his palm. It was silent and black, seemingly devoid of any great mystery.

He watched it for a long while, then suddenly raised his hand and lightly tossed the Candle of Time away.

The Candle of Time traced an arc through the air, splashing into the icy river before sinking deep into the river sand.

Chen Lingxi nearly cried out.

But Lin Suri did not stop moving.

"Cauldron Calamity, sink away. After two months, come save me again!"

He seemed to be chanting an incantation. With two fingers held together like a sword, he swiftly drew three sigils over the spot where the Candle of Time had sunk: one gold, one silver, and one black.

The three sigils linked head to tail, forming a tiny triangular formation that silently sank into the river sand and vanished.

The river wailed softly, as if nothing had happened.

After finishing all this, Lin Suri stood quietly for a moment.

Then he turned and retraced his steps.

Neither hurried nor slow, his footsteps crunched through the snow as he disappeared step by step into the deepening night of the long street.

The scene within the Divine Chamber shattered like broken glass and collapsed with a crash.

"Urgh!"

In the servants' quarters of the West Courtyard, Chen Lingxi abruptly opened his eyes.

A violent headache bored into his skull like an iron awl, making him curl up as both hands clutched his temples tightly.

Golden stars burst before his eyes, thunderous ringing filled his ears, and his organs churned as though rivers and seas had been overturned within him.

"This hurts far more than the previous Sight-Roamings."

"It must be because the pressure bestowed by that Candle of Time's Cauldron Venerable was too great."

He lay facedown on the hard plank bed, gasping heavily. Cold sweat soaked through his clothes as the wisp of qi within his body quietly rose and flowed into his head.

After a while.

Chen Lingxi's headache finally eased somewhat, and he struggled to push himself upright.

He did not light a lamp, yet he too was gasping heavily like Lin Suri.

"Ancestral Mountain Mother Qi, aptitude of the Spirit Aperture!"

"Cauldron Vessel!"

"Qi Circulation Fifth Floor!"

"What exactly are these things?"

"What was that man in black?"

The many unanswered questions left Chen Lingxi somewhat at a loss.

But then he suddenly recalled the Breath-Absorption Method.

"Qi Circulation... This seemed clearly different from the Martial Dao Seventh Level.

Whether it was that man in black turning into mist and dispersing, or Lin Suri standing by the Yuan River and forming strange sigils with sword fingers... none of it resembled the Martial Dao. It was an entirely different system."

A unique radiance burst from Chen Lingxi's eyes.

"Breath absorption, qi!"

"The Cauldron Venerable just said that at the Qi Circulation Fifth Floor, one cultivates the Qi Sea, pores close, and not even dust can cling.

At the Qi Circulation Sixth Floor, spiritual liquid undergoes Nine Revolutions, impurities are removed, and one's foundation is reforged!"

"Could this system be... immortal cultivation?"

Chen Lingxi was so excited that his body began to tremble slightly.

"Immortal cultivation! Longevity!"

Chen Lingxi sensed the faintly visible wisp of qi in his dantian, and the excitement in his heart was almost beyond measure.

In his previous life, while he could not claim to have achieved fame and success, he had still made some accomplishments in his field and could be called a rising young star.

Unfortunately, his life had been short. He had lived only twenty-nine years.

In this life, he had muddled through his first seventeen years. Two years had passed since his memories awakened, and though trapped within shackles and a cage, he had still found a path to survival.

Originally, he had only wanted to stay alive, to escape the status of an official slave, and ideally avenge his parents in this world.

But now, he was suddenly deeply inspired by the mere two words: "longevity."

Longevity!

Break one's own shackles, participate in Heaven and Earth's transformative nurturing, praise the profound unity of the cosmos!

How could this not excite Chen Lingxi, who had died young in his previous life?

"Breath-Absorption Method!"

Chen Lingxi suppressed the stirring in his heart and immediately began practicing the Breath-Absorption Method.

With each breath, several streams of clear qi were drawn into his body and settled in his dantian.

A faint azure glow appeared across the skin of his entire body. As his pores opened and closed, spiritual mist too subtle for the naked eye flowed in and out.

"Absorbing and exhaling spiritual energy, transforming the body—perhaps this is the Qi Circulation First Floor."

"And that Cauldron Artifact Fragment, the Candle of Time! It was an extraordinary treasure as well. It was there in the Yuan River..."

"I just wonder why Lin Suri sank the Candle of Time Fragment into the Yuan River?"