Forging Immortality through the Dao Seed

"Who exactly are you?"

A roar suddenly erupted within the tens of acres of the courtyard, drowning out the trickling sound of water and causing the rockery to shudder.

However, if one listened closely, they would discover a deep panic hidden within the depths of that roar.

Following the source of the sound.

Yan Sheng hovered in mid-air with a serious and dignified expression on his face, but his hands trembled ceaselessly behind his back, as if in pain or in fear.

In his pitch-black pupils, cold light flashed occasionally, sketching out the figure of a teenager around eighteen or nineteen years old.

This was his only son, Yan Chenglong.

Of course, that was before, not now.

Across from him.

Facing Yan Sheng's tense gaze, 'Yan Chenglong' contorted his facial features rapidly, forcing out an extremely stiff smile and replied eerily, "Father, you're confused, I am Chenglong."

While speaking, he lifted the spherical object in his hand, all the while his smiling lips stretching wider to reveal sharp saw-like fangs inside.

The sound of tearing fabric followed.

"No, Yunniang!"

Upon seeing this scene, Yan Sheng's eyes nearly burst with rage, as streaks of crimson light brewed in the depths of his gaze. The mana fluctuations of the Dharma Phase Realm, carrying uncontrollable murderous intent, spread insanely in all directions.

Yet, the teenager opposite him seemed completely oblivious, merely tearing voraciously at fresh flesh.

Gurgling—the ground soaked with a fierce crimson!

Suddenly.

"Yan Sheng, do not act rashly."

An elderly voice rang out, and soon after a rough and large hand emerged from the void, gently resting on Yan Sheng's shoulder.

This hand seemed to carry a terrifying magic, and upon its appearance, it sobered the near-delirious Yan Sheng, calming the boiling mana on his body bit by bit.

"Elder! That person—"

Yan Sheng's entire being, as if drained of all strength, collapsed to the ground.

Next to him, a hunchbacked elder in a red robe appeared quietly.

The elder did not tend to Yan Sheng on the ground but squinted his eyes slightly and probed the youngster opposite him:

"You indeed have skilful methods, but what has our Yan Clan done to provoke you, pushing you to such relentless actions? Could it be... you truly think our Yan Clan is without its protectors?"

By the end of his statement, his tone had become cold and stern.

But it contained more wariness than anything else.

The reason was simple, looking at the young man caused the elder's mind to uncontrollably flash through name after name: Yan Lingjiao from the third branch, Yan Chi from the fifth branch, Yan Jinglei from the sixth branch...

Images of these clan members rapidly emerged in his heart, yet without exception, each resembled the image of the young man nearby.

However, among them, there were clearly men and women, and how could they all look exactly alike? No matter how hard the elder tried to recall and ponder, their faces were all identical to that of the young man.

Even more so, the elder could clearly remember how those younger clan members grew up bit by bit to take this form. Yet the remaining rationality in his heart told him that this was simply impossible.

Therefore, the only possibility was—

"Has the Yan Clan really lost so many clan members without realizing it?"

The elder's heart trembled incessantly.

He had never encountered such an eerie situation before.

In the midst of all this, figures enveloped with terrifying auras came following the scent, standing quietly midair and looking unanimously at the youngster opposite them.

The next moment.

"Jiaol!"

"Chi!"

"Jinglei!"

"Baiqiao!"

Exclamations of shock rose and fell within the crowd, and soon after, those who had cried out looked at each other in disbelief.

Those capable of arriving here were Cultivators of the Dharma Phase Realm with incredibly fast mind reflexes; naturally, they instantly realized something was amiss.

In an instant, an indescribable atmosphere of sorrow spread amongst the many powerful individuals who had arrived.

Dozens of eyes, filled with either hatred or fear, all converged on the young man indulging in his feast, yet not a single one of the many powerful members of the Yan Clan, including that strongest elder, dared to make a move.

The scene fell silent, with only the loud sounds of devouring breaking the quiet.

After a long while.

The young man threw the cleanly gnawed white bone at his feet and slowly raised his head, his sanguine eyes rolling incessantly.

The undisguised malice in that gaze, akin to selecting food, made the scalps of all the powerful onlookers tingle.

"Heh heh, so you've all come, good," the youth wiped the flesh from the corner of his mouth and said with a smirk, "This saves me a lot of trouble."

As the words fell.

The youth's body began to elongate rapidly, his robe tumbling to the ground.

In just an instant, he had transformed from a human into a thousand-zhang long demonic worm, its obese flesh gyrating crazily in mid-air. Its surface was covered with intertwining red and white sinister demonic patterns, from which copious amounts of red mist drilled out, blanketing the sky in moments.

Everything happened in a flash, and by the time the crowd had reacted, they shockingly found themselves enveloped by the strange red mist, with no chance of escape.

"Eat! Hungry!"

The nine massive mouths on one end of the demonic worm opened and closed ceaselessly, emitting a cacophony of chaotic roars.

"This beast's methods are most strange!"

The elder's heart sank as he cursed inwardly.

He could clearly feel that within the red mist, his connection to the Dao was weakened to an extreme, even his mana had become sluggish, with his fighting power reduced by seventy to eighty percent.

Thinking this.

The elder couldn't help but glance at the other members of his tribe around him, only to see that each of them had an aura weaker than the next.

"We're in grave danger!"

He sighed with a sorrow-filled voice, his wrinkled face unconsciously revealing a touch of bitterness as he muttered, "Half-step Combining Dao...is still not the true Combining Dao. If only I had the cultivation of Combining Dao, to condense the Dao into my body, how could I let this beast run rampant like this."

"If only there were a high-quality Immortal Treasure—"

The elder shook his head.

As someone who was merely half a step away from the Unity Realm Stage, how could the elder not discern the true power of that bizarre demonic worm?

The creature's own strength wasn't that formidable, at most equivalent to a late-stage Dharma Phase being, and its terror stemmed solely from relying on that strange red mist and divine skills to suppress their powers.

As he was deep in thought.

"Clan elder!"

The many already weakened cultivators of the Yan clan couldn't help but gather behind the elder, their eyes wide with hopeful cries.

They looked unmistakably as if they were pinning all their hopes on the elder to take action.

Seeing this scene, the elder's vision darkened, and he nearly spewed out a mouthful of old blood.

"A bunch of...useless trash!"

He cursed inwardly, but was otherwise powerless. The suppression these youngsters were under was too severe; acting was extremely difficult for them, and if he himself did not fight with all his might, the Yan clan might face extermination today.

As he collected his thoughts.

Whoosh whoosh!

From the elder's mouth and nose streamed out copious amounts of pure white immortal light, and his visage, which had seemed incredibly ancient, began to rejuvenate at an exaggerated speed.

He was prepared to risk it all.

But just then.

"Clan elder, take this."

A deep voice suddenly came from behind the elder.

The speaker was none other than Yan Zhan.

In his hand, a White Bone Nail was constantly exuding an extremely terrifying aura of lethal intent.

"Hiss!"

The instant the elder turned his head, his gaze was captivated by the White Bone Nail in Yan Zhan's hand.

He couldn't help but take in a sharp breath.

"Yan Zhan, where did you come by such a terrifying treasure?" someone asked excitedly from the side.

Upon hearing this, Yan Zhan merely smiled slightly and did not respond.

...

...

Meanwhile.

Zhang's Clay Sculpture Shop.

"These worms are indeed good at hiding, isolating Dao principles, taking over identities, such tactics... are not simple," said the Incarnation of Cause and Effect, expressing amazement.

"Indeed, who's to say otherwise? If it weren't for Brother Dao's insight into the mysterious cause and effect, and the joint efforts with Brother Huang Liang to lay out the plan, who knows how long these wretched creatures could have hidden. And to think I was wondering why the Heaven-born Purple Qi that was converging lately was getting lesser and lesser," said the Incarnation of Earth, his face twisted as if constipated.

It should be known that the Immortal City of Ling Shu had always been overseen by the Incarnation of Earth. Now, to have such an incident occur under his watch, and especially needing the help of other Dao brothers to find the culprit, had thoroughly embarrassed him.

"Brother Dao, shall we draw the net now?"

Bringing his thoughts back to the present, he turned to the Incarnation of Cause and Effect and asked.

"No rush, no rush; behind these worms there are certainly deeper-hidden rats. We'll just see how Brother Huang Liang fares with his fishing," the Incarnation of Cause and Effect answered calmly and unhurriedly:

"Moreover, my original self has been silent and contemplative. Perhaps this time, I could take the opportunity to exercise my limbs a bit."