[Divine Bridge Immortal Venerable, Breakthrough!]

"The Mind Monkey returned to righteousness, and the Six Thieves vanished without a trace."

Baron fell into thought. As a holder of one of the Eight Extraordinary Skills, he differed from ordinary foreigners. He had graduated from a prestigious school, spoke seven languages, and majored in classical and modern languages as well as Eastern studies.

Naturally, he had read the Eastern classic Journey to the West: Exorcising Evil. He knew that Sun Wukong was the Mind Monkey, and that after escaping Five-Finger Mountain, he had killed six bandits. The Six Thieves were named Eye-Sees-Joy, Ear-Hears-Anger, Nose-Smells-Love, Tongue-Tastes-Thought, Mind-Sees-Desire, and Body-Root-Worry, corresponding precisely to the six faculties of the human body: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind.

"The World-Honored One once said: the suffering of all living beings mostly comes from failing to observe precepts and indulging their desires."

"With the six faculties unclean, it is difficult to become a Buddha."

Baron asked tentatively, "Do you want me to convert to Buddhism and observe the Eight Precepts?"

"Observing precepts is for cultivating the heart. Cultivating the heart does not necessarily require observing precepts. Whether converting to Buddhism can free you, I do not know. But if you remain in Quanxing and indulge your desires, you certainly cannot be free." Lin Xian glanced back at Xia He, then said meaningfully, "If one indulges in lust, all sentient beings become karmic sins. If one gives free rein to desire, all actions lose their joy in life."

Xia He shuddered at once, as though she had struck a nerve. She turned her head away.

"If one craves wine, fear and sorrow rise and fall without constancy. If one indulges in pleasure, youth lasts but an instant."

Baron sank into deep thought. Over the years, he had constantly pursued fine food and wine, using them to fill his desires and gain a sense of satisfaction.

When his desires were satisfied, he felt empty. When they were unsatisfied, he suffered.

He had always shifted between those two emotions in an instant, tumbling back and forth as he experienced the suffering of impermanence.

"If one craves sleep, one suffers bitterly and cannot find liberation." After saying this, Lin Xian turned back to Baron. "I do know of a cultivator who has not slept for decades. His state of mind resembles yours. Perhaps he can resolve your worries."

"Where is that cultivator?" Baron pressed, a trace of longing appearing in his eyes.

Lin Xian smiled faintly and patted Baron on the shoulder. "Child, every gift fate bestows has long been secretly marked with its price."

"You will receive what you desire." Baron lowered his head humbly and knelt on one knee with utmost devotion. "Please grant me your gift."

"Follow me until the Luotian Grand Ceremony begins."

Lin Xian nodded, led Baron onto the golden bridge, and returned to World Group, leaving Xia He standing there alone, lost and despondent.

\n[Ding-dong, host Lin Xian has issued a side quest: decipher the ultimate mystery of Six Vaults Immortal Thief. Please, System 10086, complete it as soon as possible.]\n

It was the familiar scene, with the familiar formula.

System 10086 toiled away, desperately dragging the progress bar forward. It had considered giving up, but the sunk cost was simply too great.

Persevering might offer a slim chance of survival. Giving up would mean losing everything.

In the end, the mystery of Six Vaults Immortal Thief was deciphered. Lin Xian seized it and refined it in an instant, then suddenly chanted, "Six Vaults Immortal Thief is fucking awesome, seizing Fortune's mechanism from Heaven and Earth, reversing life and death through the turning wheel of reincarnation, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven."

System 10086: "...Host, what the hell was that last line?"

"Ahem. I'm not good at poetry. Let's try that again."

Standing inside the pill chamber, Lin Xian looked at the furnace before him. He suddenly recalled that after Xu Xiang died, another infant had been born in the hospital. Such was the mortal world. A sense of life and death rose within him, and the powerful urge to express himself forced him to pull out his phone. Then he said solemnly, "Bring the medicine!"

A thousand words could never compare to swallowing pills to cultivate immortality. His power would know no bounds.

World Association staff who had waited at the foot of the mountain for a long time filed in one after another. Crate after crate of precious medicinal herbs was continuously transported into the mountaintop pill chamber. At that moment, World Group's financial power was displayed to the fullest.

In modern society, some Inhumans revered the pursuit of immortality and the Dao, dedicating themselves wholeheartedly to bitter cultivation. Others indulged in sensual pleasures and pursued enjoyment.

When the forest was large, every kind of bird could be found. There were always unworthy descendants who could not hold themselves back, trading the life-extending ginseng left by their ancestors, the breakthrough-helping lingzhi, and century-old fleeceflower root for gold and silver.

All of it now benefited Lin Xian.

Blazing pill fire rose up. Lin Xian narrowed his eyes as he looked at the pool of medicinal liquid, pondering how to make the most of these precious herbs.

There would absolutely not be a second opportunity like this.

The medicinal ingredients before him were already the precious herbs publicly known within the Inhuman World. Even if World Group wanted to purchase them again, they would be priceless and unavailable.

With that thought, Lin Xian transformed Divine Runes into a spiritual blade and actually cut open his own arm. Scalding crimson blood, faintly tinged with gold, flowed into the pill furnace. Like magma falling into water, it triggered an earth-shaking transformation. Billowing green smoke drifted upward, seemingly about to gather into a cloud!

The alchemist refining the pills did not rebuke Lin Xian for adding things recklessly. Instead, he cried out, "Cloud qi rises to the azure heavens, and when the pill is complete, dragons and tigers appear!"

"Host... wh-what are you doing?"

It was not only the alchemist who was dumbfounded. System 10086 froze as well. This was the first time it had seen a host harm himself to refine medicine. Even among hosts, this was an utterly explosive sight.

"I have eaten Sacred Fruit and soaked in Divine Spring. My blood naturally contains this divine power, so nothing could be more suitable for using it as the core of the medicine."

Lin Xian's face was slightly pale, yet his eyes were incomparably resolute. His words struck the ground with force. "Refining medicine, refining people, and refining Heaven itself! If I do not even dare to refine myself, what kind of Dao of refinement am I pursuing?"

"It is only a little blood. I can make it up later."

"One step ahead means staying ahead at every step. One step behind means falling behind at every step."

"If I cannot break through to a higher realm at the fastest possible speed, what future can I speak of?"

"My path is to charge with all my strength into the Great Saint Realm, comprehend all five secret realms, and survey the six levels of the Immortal Altar from beginning to end."

"Six Vaults Immortal Thief, help me break through!"

Lin Xian sat cross-legged on the ground. His large intestine, small intestine, stomach, triple burner, gallbladder, and bladder operated at full power, forming the six bowels and complementing the five viscera to create a perfect digestive system. It completely broke down the medicinal liquid he consumed, converting it into enough Postnatal Essence Qi to help Lin Xian break through.

At the same time, another function of Six Vaults Immortal Thief activated, drawing in the essence of Heaven and Earth at full force and converting it into Primordial Essence Qi to strengthen his Source.

"Silent, reaching the source of nothingness. Empty, standing atop the kalpa's towering peak. Vast and open, the scripture of the profound mystery. Who could fathom this distant abyss..."

He silently recited the true scripture and circulated his cultivation method. Dense qi rose around him, gradually repairing his flesh and empowering his body.

The Shrouding Method used Self-as-Seed. When the Desolate Heaven Emperor created this method, he drew upon the Indestructible Scripture and was also highly skilled in battle. As a result, although cultivators of the entire system also cultivated their Primordial Spirits, they ultimately centered on the physical body. Their attainment in the Primordial Spirit was often a tier weaker than their attainment in the flesh.

Under Heaven's Will Slash, without Longevity Substance to replenish them, the Primordial Spirits of Great Emperors would perish after tens of thousands of years, while their imperial corpses could endure for millions of years.

The strength of the physical body was not exclusive to Great Emperors and Ancient Sovereigns. Even low-level cultivators were the same.

When the Sea of Bitterness of a Desolate Ancient Sacred Body first opened, it possessed divine strength of ten thousand jin. Even a Mortal Body possessed several thousand jin of strength.

An indestructible body was what the Shrouding Method took the greatest pride in.

Now, bolstered by Six Vaults Immortal Thief, Lin Xian's divine strength continuously rose and his flesh steadily sublimated. At last, with a crack, he seemed to reach a limit and open something!

Lin Xian abruptly opened his eyes. Both his body and spirit had undergone sublimation. Three streams of platinum divine light burst forth with unstoppable force. He condensed Heavenly Veins and gave birth to Divine Sense. A silvery-white rune seemed to be engraved between his brows, adding several traces of immortal grace to his plain and natural appearance. The third stream of divine light flew from between his brows like a flying sword.

The Baron whom he had previously been able to force out only through brute strength could now be detected with a sweep of Divine Sense, his aura fully exposed. Every speck of dust between Heaven and Earth entered Lin Xian's sight.

"Open!"

Lin Xian shouted. With merely one stomp, spiderweb-like cracks spread across the earth and rocks. Vast stretches of mountain forest turned into flying wood chips, while a boulder more than ten meters away exploded in an instant. Moments later, nothing remained around the pill chamber; it had become a barren expanse.

The alchemists, Inhumans, and World Association employees serving Lin Xian in the pill chamber suddenly felt their knees go weak, as though they had beheld a deity!

"An immortal, an Immortal Venerable..." At last, someone could not help groaning. Could such a being still be called human? Why was he still in this mortal world?