Forging Immortality through the Dao Seed

It wasn't long before.

Tap, Tap—

A series of abrupt footsteps suddenly drew the attention of everyone present, as dozens and hundreds of gazes scattered toward the source of the sound.

Just one look.

The faces of the Chu Family members began to wildly contort.

In their line of sight,

a figure clad in a bright yellow immortal robe, almost indistinguishable from the True Teaching elder before them, was steadily approaching them.

Of course, who the comer was didn't matter, what mattered was the blood furnace—about one zhang in height—the figure was carrying in his hands.

"Tao Brother, the Chu Family indeed possesses such a blood furnace, just like the Li Family,"

the man in the yellow robe, Zhang Jing, spoke with a gentle tone.

"This trip has been quite arduous for you, fellow cultivator," the man in the blue robe, Zhang Jing, nodded with a smile.

He had originally not wanted to get involved, but since the other party had blatantly torn off all pretense and attempted to kill him, to continue to endure would leave his Dao Heart feeling obstructed.

Although Zhang Jing may lack in cultivation, he still had his Senior Brother and his master... He might prefer to cultivate alone, true, but that did not mean he wouldn't call upon others when necessary.

Having no background and choosing not to use it, those were two entirely different matters.

On the ground,

Father Chu's gaze fixated on the blood furnace, and he found himself collapsing to the ground, overcome with weakness.

All his prior fantasies about leveraging ties with a True Teaching entity of the Tao Sect had, in this moment, spectacularly shattered.

"How did he discover it? And how did he get in? Didn't the superiors arrange a grand formation there?"

Father Chu's mind was incessantly haunted by this question.

And in the blink of an eye,

he came to his senses, caring not for why there were two elders present, only crawling on the ground towards Zhang Jing:

"Elder, this truly isn't our Chu Family's doing."

Father Chu's face streamed with tears as he kowtowed non-stop, incessantly begging and pleading for mercy.

Next to Xinzhou,

Chu Yan might not know what the blood furnace exactly was, but seeing her father's reaction, she knew the Chu Family was in huge trouble.

She bit her silver teeth and immediately 'plop'—she fell to her knees straight toward Zhang Jing:

"I beg Senior Brother Zhang Jing for your discerning judgment, please spare my father and brother's lives."

Seeing his daughter's actions,

Father Chu felt as if he'd grasped a lifesaving straw and hurriedly took up the thread of conversation: "Yes, yes, please, Elder Zhang Jing, spare my life. All of this was done by other members of the Chu Family, this old one as the Clan Leader knew nothing at all."

Under the terrifying crisis of life and death,

his mind was in complete disarray; aside from preserving his own life, he couldn't care less about anything else.

The scene became a chaotic mess.

The Chu Family began to push responsibility onto each other.

"Elder, it wasn't me! It was all that beast's doing."

"Eh, how comes there's a furnace here? How strange, I swear I've never seen it before."

"…"

"…"

Observing everything unfold,

Immortal Qingyun, Zhang Jing, and Earth Zhang Jing couldn't help but exchange a smile, as if they found the scene somewhat comical.

They hadn't even said anything yet, and these people were already acting this way, which could only mean they were keenly aware of the consequences of their actions.

Zhang Jing grew even more curious.

"So... what exactly is the blood furnace used for? And what exactly is the Taiyi Pavilion up to, going so far as to risk everything, willing to trap me, a True Teaching disciple of the Tao Sect, in the Beast Territory?"

He outright ignored Chu Yan, who lay prostrate on the ground.

A disciple of the Tao Sect's Dharma World, unless she was a Tao Monk from Xinzhou, certainly had no chance of speaking with him, let alone affecting any decisions.

"Tell me, what is this blood furnace used for?"

Zhang Jing looked directly at Father Chu in front of him and asked indifferently.

"To reply to the elder, I really don't—" Father Chu began to defend himself, but as he caught the seemingly amused glint in Zhang Jing's eyes, he abruptly cut himself off.

"Elder, if I tell you, will you spare my life?"

He asked nervously.

"You have no choice."

Zhang Jing from the other side spoke with an indifferent tone, as an overwhelming and terrifying presence suddenly weighed down on everyone.

After a moment of silence,

"I, I will speak,"

Father Chu, after an internal struggle, promised laboriously:

"Elder Zhang Jing, I must be honest, this blood furnace was given to us by the True Immortal Jiu Yan, and he compelled us to secretly refine the li— Ah!!!"

Before he could finish his words, a cry of agony burst forth from Father Chu, as his life force abruptly vanished.

The speed at which it happened left even Zhang Jing unable to react.

Was this... a prohibition planted by some entity in his divine soul or perhaps on the level of the True Spirit?

His expression turned sour.

This was trouble!

With his current level of cultivation, he was unable to unravel the prohibition, whether it was planted in the divine soul or the True Spirit.

...

...

"Tell me, who placed this prohibition upon you?"

Zhang Jing walked up to an elderly man with white whiskers, trying his best to suppress the shock within, and asked expressionlessly.

Behind him, there lay a row of bodies still retaining their warmth.

"Elder, I swear to the heavens, truly no one has placed any prohibition on us."

The old man replied with trepidation, a large wet stain spreading beneath him.

"Then you tell me, what was the thing those people just now couldn't finish saying, exactly what is 'li'?"

"El... Elder, may I not say it?"

The voice of the old man took on a whimpering note.

He was feeling somewhat uneasy.

Today, those four characters seemed like they were cursed with some kind of horror, one mention and not a peep; who wouldn't be afraid under such circumstances?

Moreover, the corpses on the ground had already proven with their lives that it wasn't just speaking, but any form of communication, including writing, gesturing and everything in between. It seemed as soon as the word was revealed, death was certain!