Undying Life

Chapter 7: Chapter Six: The Red Luan Celestial Scripture

On the second day, as the sky grew bright,

Zhong Laoye slept on a bed of dry leaves, with a long sword trembling at his throat. The wielder of this sword was none other than the Purple Mist Fairy.

As dawn broke, it was the Purple Mist Fairy who woke first. Upon awakening, she found herself in the embrace of an old man. Sensing the pain in her lower body, she quickly dressed and retrieved a long sword, pointing it at the old man's throat.

To this day, the Purple Mist Fairy still did not know the name of this man. Biting her lower lip, tears unconsciously streamed down her face. The initial panic had subsided, replaced by hesitation—should she strike?

Looking at the bloodstain on the old man's lower body, the Purple Mist Fairy ultimately couldn't bring herself to act. After a careful examination, she realized his cultivation potential was poor. Perhaps he wouldn't live much longer anyway. Mortal lives were short; he would perish soon enough. Besides, he had saved her.

With a deep gaze at the old man, the Purple Mist Fairy stepped on a purple cloud and flew away.

Looking back, for some unknown reason, the Purple Mist Fairy waved her hand, covering the old man with his clothes. Furthermore, she scattered many stones around him, forming a small array to ward off poisonous insects and snakes. The Purple Mist Fairy didn't understand why she did this. In her heart, she knew she would never see him again. If he were to be bitten to death by venomous creatures, wouldn't that be better? Why did she still help him?

With a complicated heart, the Purple Mist Fairy soon disappeared into the vast sea of clouds.

It wasn't until the afternoon of the second day that Zhong Laoye woke up. Startled to find himself naked, he hastily dressed. Seeing the trace of blood below him, Zhong Laoye frowned and immediately recalled everything that had happened before.

The Purple Mist Fairy?

With the lady vanished, Zhong Laoye took a moment to compose himself. However, he couldn't shake off the strange feeling regarding the Purple Mist Fairy. Why did fate bring them together so coincidentally? The Kaiyang Sect... why did it all seem so peculiar?

Once dressed, Zhong Laoye picked up his dragon-headed cane, relieved to find it still with him. With a gentle twist of the dragon's head, his treasured possession, the red bead, appeared from within the dragon's mouth.

After securing it, Zhong Laoye glanced around. The ground was littered with debris, and not far away lay a broken blade.

"A broken blade?" Zhong Laoye immediately walked over. Considering that the Purple Mist Fairy hadn't paid much attention to it, perhaps because of reluctance or simply because the blade was broken, Zhong Laoye wanted to inspect it closely.

The Thunderfire had turned Red Luan Old Demon to ashes, yet this blade remained only broken?

Zhong Laoye examined it carefully. He couldn't bring himself to believe that this heritage blade was merely a symbolic item.

"The fact that it could withstand the Thunderfire indicated that its material must be exceptionally strong," Zhong Laoye thought to himself. Therefore, he decided to keep it for later melting down. Perhaps it could be crafted into other magical treasures. However, what Zhong Laoye didn't know was that the ability to resist the Thunderfire was originally due to an internal array within the blade. But now that the blade was broken, the array was destroyed, rendering the blade less useful.

Examining it inch by inch, Zhong Laoye finally noticed the material at the hilt of the blade, which seemed to be wrapped in some kind of animal skin. On the skin, there were beautifully engraved characters spelling out 'Red Luan'.

Gently, Zhong Laoye began to whittle away at the blade with the small dagger he had in his pocket. For the Red Luan Sect, this ancestral blade was just a symbol of inheritance. Who would dare to damage it like Zhong Laoye was doing?

Slowly, Zhong Laoye's eyes lit up with surprise. His little dagger was no ordinary item; it was one of his cherished treasures. Yet, after whittling for half a day, he had only managed to carve out a small hole?

Patiently, Zhong Laoye continued to whittle away. It took him two hours before he finally managed to open up the animal skin.

Inside, there was a silk scarf?

A scarf? Zhong Laoye was ecstatic. He had struck gold.

He immediately unfolded the scarf. There were many tiny characters densely written on it.

For Zhong Laoye, who had already studied numerous different fonts for today, the recognition came naturally.

"The Red Luan Scripture."

"The Red Luan Scripture?"

Zhong Laoye looked at the first four words with delight, followed by over eighty thousand characters of content.

Seeing this scene, Zhong Laoye's heart leaped with excitement. This was a manual, a martial arts manual. He couldn't believe it appeared at this moment.

Even at his age, Zhong Laoye's memory was remarkable. With over eighty thousand characters, he found a valley and spent three days memorizing it all. Then, he spent another three days repeatedly reciting it to ensure he wouldn't forget. Zhong Laoye even spent five days reciting it backward from the end to the beginning. After thoroughly memorizing it both forward and backward, Zhong Laoye set it ablaze with a fire.

"The Red Luan Scripture" is the supreme secret technique. It's not a manual for martial arts cultivation, but rather a supreme secret technique for cultivating the power of the mind at the brow chakra—psychic power?

Zhong Laoye wasn't clear on how important psychic power was, but he understood that originally, in the Red Luan Sect, the cultivation techniques were not based on the Red Luan Scripture. It was just that the Red Luan Scripture was so extraordinary that it became the namesake of the sect. Moreover, Zhong Laoye didn't know that each successive head of the Red Luan Sect only mastered half of the Red Luan Scripture.

Looking at the ashes of the silk scarf, Zhong Laoye buried the inherited sect sword on the spot. Caution was paramount in all matters.

Then, leaning on his dragon-headed cane, Zhong Laoye quickly returned to the manor.

After settling some matters with the steward, Zhong Laoye returned to the land of the Great Kun Kingdom by underground train.

In the Zhong Manor, Zhong Laoye's sudden breakthrough and transformation into a forty-year-old astonished everyone. The term "Innate Stage," a legendary name, quickly jumped into the minds of all the servants and adopted sons. Zhong Laoye had reached the Innate Stage?

However, the eight adopted sons had disappeared, but no one dared to inquire.

Inside the Zhong Manor, Zhong Laoye sat cross-legged in the practice room.

The Red Luan Scripture consisted of twelve levels, and Zhong Laoye was refining the first level, known as "Qi Awakening."

Following the prescribed method, Zhong Laoye remained in the Zhong Manor for two months. Finally, he completed the so-called Qi Awakening. Sitting cross-legged, Zhong Laoye held his palms out, and a faint red mist floated within, elusive yet discernible.

The Red Luan Mist, the world's number one aphrodisiac? Zhong Laoye observed this scene, a hint of strangeness flashing in his eyes.

With a flip of his hand, the Red Luan Mist vanished. However, at the center of Zhong Laoye's brow, there was a sense of fulfillment. Gently, Zhong Laoye, according to the description in the Red Luan Scripture, gradually began to perceive a small space within his brow.

Within this small space, waves of pink translucent energy gently rotated. This energy seemed both tangible and intangible, extraordinarily peculiar. With delicate control, Zhong Laoye used this pink translucent energy to probe his body. It felt as if it could penetrate objects, allowing him to see the meridians within his body.

Divine consciousness? Zhong Laoye thought, surprised by the vague memory in his mind. No, not divine consciousness. This was psychic power. But what was the difference between psychic power and divine consciousness?

Zhong couldn't understand it, so he would have to think about it slowly in the future. He knew that with a little true energy, mixed with this pink psychic power and gently catalyzed, it would turn into the Red Luan Mist.

This psychic power was extremely miraculous.

Suppressing the excitement and joy in his heart, Zhong Laoye stood up gently. The first level of the Red Luan Scripture was best practiced now. The subsequent levels would become increasingly difficult. It was impossible to practice them in a short time. For now, psychic power was secondary. The most important thing was to practice the cultivation technique of the Innate Realm.

Carefully, Zhong Laoye lifted the cushion and looked at the bricks underneath. Slowly, he lifted the bricks, revealing a small hidden compartment.

Inside the compartment was a small purple wooden box.

Zhong Laoye took out the small purple wooden box very carefully, wiped it with his sleeve, and then slowly opened it. Inside was a small jade pendant, emitting colorful rays of light. There was a prohibition on the jade pendant, and only special techniques could break the internal prohibition. Otherwise, forcibly breaking it would destroy whatever was stored inside the jade pendant.

Next to it was a piece of white cloth, on which many lines were drawn, along with some mountain and river diagrams. This was a map. Although Zhong Laoye had deeply engraved this map in his mind, he had still been very careful when he first drew it.

Zhong Laoye remembered the person who had handed him the jade pendant. It was a man in a disheveled gray robe.

"Now, many people are chasing me, and I can't escape. Deliver this jade pendant to the head of the Kaiyang Sect. He will grant you a not-too-difficult request," the man in the gray robe said urgently.

"Can you allow me to join the Kaiyang Sect?" Zhong Laoye asked eagerly.

After a deep look at Zhong Laoye, the man in the gray robe said, "As long as you reach the Innate Realm, you can."

"Where?" Zhong Laoye's eyes lit up, asking eagerly.

The man in the gray robe slapped the ground, and on the soil, the route to the Kaiyang Sect was imprinted, which was the pattern copied by Zhong Laoye onto the white cloth.

After completing everything, the man in the gray robe flew up into the sky and disappeared in front of Zhong Laoye. At the same time, Zhong Laoye saw in the sky, more than a dozen beams of light shooting off in one direction.

Looking again at the small jade pendant in his hand, Zhong Laoye's eyes flashed with excitement. The Innate Realm, the Innate Realm, he would definitely be able to join the Kaiyang Sect.