I forge immortality with a pagoda.

The aftershocks of the battle between Golden Core cultivators sent Shen Yu flying backward uncontrollably, like a withered leaf in a torrent. Taking advantage of the opportunity, he escaped the central area where the demonic energy was most concentrated and landed in a relatively secluded, dilapidated corridor.

He dared not linger, maintaining the secret technique, and swiftly fled towards a place where the demonic energy was relatively thin.

Shen Yu was filled with mixed feelings of joy and worry at this moment.

The good news is that he has finally gotten rid of Gu Penghao for the time being. This Golden Core cultivator is unpredictable and doesn't seem to fully believe in him yet. If he finds out that his identity is fake and that he is the mastermind behind the murder of Gu Xuan, he will surely tear him to pieces.

The worry is that the situation is now completely out of control. The Xuanqiong Pagoda, his strongest trump card, is now dormant and shows no reaction no matter how he tries to activate it.

Faced with this terrifying upheaval, his meager Qi Refining cultivation was like a candle flame in a raging storm.

Although he wanted to find Yue Jianxin and Yue Ling, he was unsure of his own safety and couldn't afford to be distracted by searching for them. He could only silently pray that they would be safe and sound.

Within the True Lord's execution ground, the restrictive power weakened considerably, and the pressure on his divine sense immediately dissipated, allowing Shen Yu's divine sense detection range to recover significantly.

However, there were no sun, moon, or stars in this place, and the demonic energy was turbulent. Beyond a hundred feet, it was all darkness, making it difficult to discern directions. He could only choose to proceed in areas where the demonic energy was relatively sparse.

As expected, there were only a few scattered demon soldiers along the way. They were of low intelligence and had a vague perception of Shen Yu using secret techniques, but they would still attack instinctively if they got close enough.

Shen Yu dared not be careless and went all out, unleashing a variety of superior Dao techniques to annihilate all the attacking demon soldiers.

These superior Taoist techniques were quite powerful and effective against scattered demon soldiers, but Shen Yu knew that if he were surrounded, his current true qi would be exhausted in an instant.

The further they went, the more bizarre the environment became.

The demonic energy was indeed becoming increasingly thin, almost imperceptible. Even the few remaining demonic soldiers had vanished, leaving no trace of any living creature, only withered bones and remains.

Something's not right...

Shen Yu stopped and looked around. He didn't know if there was any danger ahead, but retreating would definitely mean death, so he stopped thinking about it and hurried on.

After traveling for an unknown amount of time, the scene before him remained unchanged. Just as he was beginning to doubt that he was about to lose his way, a magnificent but dilapidated palace and temple ruin suddenly came into view.

Amidst the ruins, one can still vaguely discern the grandeur of the past. Although the tall stone pillars are broken, the cloud-patterned cranes carved on them still exude an ancient charm.

Unlike the suspended dojo I had seen before, there was no trace of medicinal energy from the cauldrons. Instead, scattered among the rubble were some prayer mats and jade chimes. In several places, the ground was paved with black and white boulders in the shape of the Bagua (Eight Trigrams). Although it was cracked and crisscrossed, one could still imagine the scene of people practicing martial arts and cultivating qi here in the past.

"It's a training ground," Shen Yu thought to himself. "Could there have been a sect hidden deep within this abyss?"

He strolled into a well-preserved attic.

The walls were not made of ordinary bricks and stones, but of some kind of dark blue jade-like material, which, though covered in dust for a long time, still gleamed with a faint, cold light.

The most striking feature is a huge mural carved with extremely delicate brushstrokes on the entire front wall.

The figures in the painting are all dressed in golden crowns and plain robes, each with a different posture. Some are pointing their fingers like swords to stir up wind and clouds, some are sitting cross-legged in the void to connect with starlight, and some are embracing with their hands to embody yin and yang. Their figures and movements seem to be connected by some mysterious trajectory, faintly forming a complex and huge formation.

At the center of the image, a phantom sits on a nine-tiered lotus platform, with a clear halo hanging behind its head. Within the halo, countless tiny talismans seem to come and go, conjuring up strange phenomena such as dragons and tigers mating and the sun and moon rising together.

"This is no ordinary Taoist technique; it has already reached the level of supernatural powers." Shen Yu observed intently, his heart trembling. He had cultivated several powerful Taoist techniques and had already guessed the level of the method on the wall.

The last method depicted in the mural is clearly an extremely profound method of cultivating the spirit and nourishing the nature, involving visualization and preservation of the spirit, transforming the illusory into the real, and even condensing the seeds of supernatural powers.

Unfortunately, due to the passage of time, the spiritual charm and Taoist meaning originally contained in the murals have long been lost, leaving only empty shells, making it difficult to glimpse their true meaning.

He sighed inwardly, left the pavilion, and continued deeper into the ruins.

After passing through several collapsed palace gates, a very spacious hall suddenly appeared before us.

The roof of the hall had long since collapsed, and a faint light shone down, illuminating a simple stone furnace about three feet square in the center.

This censer is square in shape and black in color, yet it also has a faint dark golden luster, making it stand out from its surroundings.

The furnace body was undecorated, except for a strange character engraved on each of its four sides, which was slowly absorbing the sparse spiritual energy around it, forming a hazy halo.

"Having endured such a long period of time, it can still absorb and release spiritual energy on its own?"

Shen Yu felt a chill in his heart and dared not approach rashly. He stood several feet away and carefully comprehended the situation.

The aura emanating from the stone furnace was not intimidating, but rather balanced, peaceful, warm, and enduring, possessing a timeless and profound quality that inspired awe.

Just as he was completely absorbed, a voice caught his attention.

In the right corner of the main hall, the thick blue bricks paving the floor suddenly exploded, and amidst the flying dirt and stones, two disheveled figures stumbled out, accompanied by a cry of pain: "Ouch! This escape technique almost broke my bones!"

Another voice, panting, cursed, "Be grateful! If I hadn't sensed the remnants of spiritual energy in these ruins and risked my life to crawl over, we would have been crushed to dust by the demonic tide long ago!"

Shen Yu's eyes narrowed upon hearing the voice; the rough, loud voice that spoke first was very familiar to him.

In an instant, his figure drifted backward like a wisp of smoke, silently disappearing behind a half-tilted giant pillar. At the same time, he activated the Flowing Scenery Returning to Origin Secret Technique on the talisman, concealing his aura to almost nothingness.

As the dust settled, the two figures came into view.

One of them was a bald, burly man, who was the cultivator who had tried to ambush him at the entrance to the Abyss. The Turbid Blood Pool in his hand was obtained from this man. The other man was a thin, wiry man with a sallow complexion but rather bright eyes. He was currently brushing the dust off his body.

Yang Mang caught his breath, looked around, and grinned, "Senior Brother Liu's earth-walking technique really saved our lives. The demon army's turmoil came without warning, and the edges were so terrifying. Although this place is dilapidated, it's at least a little safer now."

Liu Yuanqing said irritably, "Stop flattering me! The earth veins in the Abyss are chaotic and the directions are hard to discern. I'm lucky that I was able to find my way here."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the surroundings. Not noticing any other cultivators in the hall, he simply said, "This place seems to be the ruins of an ancient sect. There may be some remaining restrictions. Be careful."

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