I Seek Immortality Through Serendipity

The golden light flickered, and Gu Yuan felt a blur before his eyes, as if the world had changed. When he opened his eyes again, he was in a different space.

Countless blood-colored symbols shimmered brightly, a scarlet expanse, rising into the air, forming a blood-red sky like an eggshell overhead.

The sky wasn’t very high or low, seemed a hundred feet, or perhaps a thousand, the boundaries of the space were somewhat blurred, making it difficult to discern.

Beneath the sky was a sea of blood, surging and flowing.

Scarlet clouds flowed continuously between the sky and the sea.

And above the blood-red ocean, two figures sat cross-legged, their breaths weak, as if severely injured.

One of them wore a golden Daoist robe, a lotus crown on his head, with a strikingly handsome face and a three-foot long beard, despite being middle-aged, he still looked elegant and otherworldly.

The other had a robust build, broad shoulders and a wide waist, clothed in a black robe, with a dark complexion and piercing eyes, radiating an aura of authority without anger.

Behind the two was a jade platform, where three peculiar rocks were placed categorically.

The stone on the left was as crystal-clear as jade, shaped like a dragon’s horn, with wind and clouds moving on it, extremely mystical.

The stone in the middle was as big as a disk, with six apertures, lightning flickering inside, rumbling sounds, extraordinarily mysterious.

The stone on the right was the smallest, only palm-sized, but emanating a chilling aura, countless icy blue gases swirling out, forming into dragon-elephant shapes, spiraling without pause.

The placement of these three rocks on the jade altar was certainly not ordinary, yet for some reason, the two in front did not take these precious ores but rather kept breathing deeply, seemingly trying hard to recover from their injuries.

But with the opening of the light screen at the altar’s entrance, they both awakened and looked up.

Seeing Gu Yuan suddenly appear, they hesitated for a moment before spotting Cen Qingqing, their faces lit up with surprise and joy.

"Haha, big brother, I told you, with Qingqing’s wits, she’d surely find this place."

The dark-faced middle-aged man beamed with happiness, saying to the Daoist beside him.

His eyes carrying excitement, he looked at Gu Yuan and Cen Qingqing with strong eagerness.

"Indeed, now that Qingqing is here, we are saved!"

"Qingqing, come to your father’s side!"

Hearing this, the middle-aged Daoist wearing the lotus crown also showed joy on his face, constantly waving at Cen Qingqing.

"Father!"

Seeing the middle-aged Daoist, Cen Qingqing’s eyes under the black robe also showed joy, and she was about to move towards him.

But at that moment, a slender arm reached out, stopping Cen Qingqing.

"Dao brother?!"

Cen Qingqing turned her head in confusion, looking at Gu Yuan.

"Do not rush!"

"Something seems amiss!"

Gu Yuan didn’t answer but held onto Cen Qingqing, his eyes seemingly flickering with silver light, constantly looking at the middle-aged Daoist, frowning slightly.

Gu Yuan couldn’t tell exactly what was amiss with the middle-aged Daoist, but the Heaven-Revealing Spirit Eye saw a trace of an aura not belonging to him.

There seemed to be another presence within him.

Seeing this, the dark-faced man’s expression shifted slightly but did not speak, just turned slightly towards the middle-aged Daoist.

The middle-aged Daoist seemingly realized something, chastised Gu Yuan: "Who are you, why are you stopping Qingqing, preventing the reunion of my daughter and me?"

"Qingqing, come to your father!"

The middle-aged Daoist continuously waved at Cen Qingqing, even showing a slight hint of anger on his face.

Seeing this, Cen Qingqing stopped in her tracks, a hint of hesitation on her face.

The father before her, his movements stiff, indeed seemed a bit off.

"Father?"

"Do you remember that promise from three years ago?"

After hesitating slightly for a moment, Cen Qingqing softly asked.

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged Daoist’s expression froze, seemingly stunned, instinctively looking at the dark-faced man.

This scene was caught entirely by Gu Yuan and Cen Qingqing, whose face changed drastically, looking enraged and questioning the dark-faced man: "Uncle, what is going on?"

The dark-faced man kept shaking his head, understanding that his disguise had failed.

Hearing Cen Qingqing’s questioning, he no longer hid, just heaved a long sigh, "Qingqing, between life and death there is great terror, I failed to see through it, could only wrong Brother Cen..."

"Dan Shanhe, what exactly have you done to my father?!"

Cen Qingqing heard the words, her chest heaving, coldly questioned, eyes flashing with lightning.

"Initially, everything was going smoothly, Brother Cen and I had already found the traces of the ’Six-Aperture Celestial Thunder Stone’, crossed numerous hurdles, and successfully entered the treasure hall of Extreme Yin Island."

"But unexpectedly, this ’Six-Aperture Celestial Thunder Stone’ was placed within the ’Spirit-Devouring Heaven-Earth Altar’ by the Extreme Yin Sect."

"The Spirit-Devouring Heaven-Earth Altar, forged with ’Red Sun Profound Gold True Jade’, is impervious to all methods, and a Foundation Establishment cultivator simply cannot break it, plus the altar is as heavy as a mountain, without the Extreme Yin Secret Technique, it cannot be moved, so we had no choice but to enter the altar."

"But inside the altar, a ’Soul Refining Pure Yang Array’ has been set, this array is a strong grand array guarding the secret treasure of the Extreme Yin Sect, entry only, no exit, to break the array, one must sacrifice blood and soul spirit."

"For one to enter the array, the blood and soul of one Foundation Establishment cultivator are needed."

"For two to enter, two Foundation Establishment cultivators’ blood and soul are needed."

"For three to enter, then three, and so on, this array is the hidden secret of the Extreme Yin Sect, getting stronger when facing strong, weak when facing weak, set up by a Golden Core Ascendant, it’s extremely mysterious..."

"The treasures within this altar, are baits of the Extreme Yin Sect, meant to lure people into the array, consuming their souls to nurture the jade altar."

"Though the Extreme Yin Sect has perished, these sinister methods still exist..."

At this, the dark-faced man’s face darkened, his expression somewhat helpless.

"What about the Array-breaking Saber?"

Cen Qingqing couldn’t help but question again after hearing.

"It is because of the Array-breaking Saber that we have a slim chance of survival, otherwise, even if you came to rescue today, we would all die here..."

The dark-faced man bitterly laughed, lightly raising his hand to point at the blood-red sky in the air.

At the edge of the sky, something sharp seemed to have forcibly severed the array pattern, cutting a fine gap in the blood-red sky.

The gap was smooth, identical to the one previously on the stone gate of the grand array.

"The Array-breaking Saber opened a slit in this array, breaking its power, yet it’s still not something we can withstand, to leave this place, at least two more Foundation Establishment cultivators’ blood and soul are needed..."

Finishing speaking, the dark-faced man hung his head, his expression somewhat gloomy.

"But in this array, there’s only Brother Cen and me, are we supposed to die here?"

"Then what was the point of a hundred years of cultivation?"

"So..."

"So you harmed my father?"

"What exactly did you do to him?"

Cen Qingqing couldn’t help but ask, looking at her father, whose expression was stiff and unresponsive.

"Rest assured, Brother Cen is my close friend, like a brother to me, how could I kill him? I only used the ’Heart-devouring Spirit-Stealing Worm’ to temporarily inhabit his body."

"Otherwise, if his Soul Lamp extinguished, who would come here on this vast Extreme Yin Island? And how would you rush into the jade altar against all odds?"

The dark-faced man raised his head, his gaze icy and cold, guilt gone, replaced by ruthlessness.