I forge immortality with a pagoda.

The moonlight, like water, cast its gentle glow.

Inside the guest room, Shen Yu sat upright at the table, his eyes lowered, staring intently at the golden pages that emitted a faint glow.

His eyes shone brightly, as if golden runes were being created, destroyed, and recombined within them, and his entire mind was completely immersed in the golden pages.

Only when he felt a slight dizziness and a swelling between his brows did he slowly close his eyes and begin to deduce the myriad changes of the last character.

Not long after, Shen Yu suddenly opened his eyes, revealing a hint of joy.

At the same time, his aura rose steadily, and a pure, detached, and untainted charm naturally flowed out, giving one a sense of ethereal transcendence and ascension to immortality.

With a thought, he immediately activated the technique to suppress the restlessness arising from enlightenment, and the strange phenomena around him gradually subsided and returned to his body.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty, on deciphering all one thousand ancient immortal texts! The path to the Great Dao is now within your grasp!"

Choi Yoo-shin, who had been waiting quietly by his side, spoke up at the opportune moment, overjoyed.

Shen Yu exhaled the pent-up breath, a smile spreading across his face: "I have finally mastered all of the thousands of immortal characters. Now, I can finally begin to formally practice the Secret Technique of Returning to Origin of the Talisman."

"Indeed! Once Your Majesty masters this secret technique, you will have another means of survival, truly making you stronger than ever. At that time, where in the world will you not be able to go?"

Cui Youxin clapped his hands in praise.

Shen Yu also knew the mystery of this technique.

Looking back, Cui Youxin was able to hide right under my nose for a long time by using only crude talisman paper to perform this technique.

If one were to use one's own true qi to activate it, its effectiveness in concealing one's form and hiding one's aura would be several times stronger!

"It's a pity that such a profound inheritance is only found on this single page of gold paper."

Shen Yu stroked the gold paper in his hand and said regretfully, "If I could get a few more pages and learn a few more offensive or defensive divine abilities, that would be true perfection."

"My lord need not be too disappointed. This gold paper has an extraordinary origin; it seems to be a scattered page from a Taoist book. My lord is blessed with great fortune and profound blessings. Perhaps one day you will be able to find other gold papers and obtain more inheritances."

"I hope so."

Shen Yu nodded, suppressing the greed in his heart.

The future is uncertain and there's no point in thinking about it. The most important thing right now is to master the "Secret Technique of Returning to the Origin of the Talisman" as soon as possible.

He said no more, put away the gold paper, gave Cui Youxin a brief explanation, and then got up and returned to his room.

Although he had memorized most of the immortal texts before, he was ultimately unable to fully comprehend them.

At this moment, he had a complete understanding of the more than a thousand immortal texts, and a sense of fulfillment arose from the bottom of his heart.

After only the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Shen Yu made a hand seal, and his true qi flowed through several major acupoints. In an instant, all his aura disappeared without a trace, as if he had been wiped off the face of the earth.

Immediately afterwards, his heartbeat began to slow down and eventually stopped beating completely. However, the blood in his body continued to flow slowly in his blood vessels, maintaining the vitality of his body.

Gradually, all the spiritual energy and true essence emanating from his body were absorbed into his body.

At this moment, to the outside world, he was no different from a piece of withered wood.

This state of absolute silence did not last long, and Shen Yu's energy quickly returned to normal.

Shen Yu was very satisfied that he was able to fully execute the secret technique on his first attempt, even though the duration was short.

"Mysterious symbols conceal the stars, fleeting scenes vanish into the void. A single thought returns to the origin, and all phenomena enter into the hazy void."

Shen Yu's face lit up with joy, and he couldn't help but clap his hands and recite softly, expressing his feelings in accordance with the Taoist scriptures.

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a blurry black shadow outside the window, rushing towards him like a ghost.

The dark figure approached with incredible speed and menacing intent, but just before it touched the windowsill, it abruptly stopped its momentum, turned back, and vanished into the night in an instant.

Shen Yu's heart skipped a beat, and his mind instantly tensed. He gripped the Spirit Cry Sword in his hand, and moved slowly toward the window with light steps.

Not daring to get too close, Shen Yu kept a distance and gazed intently out the window.

The full moon hung high in the night sky, its clear light bathing the earth, and there was not a cloud in sight.

Occasionally, the chirping of insects and the barking of dogs could be heard, or the rustling of a breeze through the tree canopy. Apart from that, the surroundings were completely quiet, and there was not a trace of any dark shadow.

But Shen Yu was certain that she could not have misjudged the situation.

He held his breath, focused his mind on the moonlit scenery, and waited patiently.

Not long after, about three courtyards away, in the darkness hidden by trees, an extremely faint shadow darted out like a wisp of smoke and sped off eastward at an astonishing speed without looking back.

By the dim moonlight, the outline of the dark figure could be vaguely discerned; it was a cultivator dressed in tight-fitting night clothes!

"A night-time thief? An assassin? Or that demonic creature that drains the life essence and vitality of cultivators?"

Shen Yu became suspicious.

The man moved with uncanny speed and agility, covering hundreds of feet in just a few leaps and disappearing behind the rooftops.

"Such fast movement..."

Shen Yu stood still, with no intention of going to investigate.

Whether the shadowy figure is human or demon, what it intends to do, or where it is going, is none of my business.

Since the other party chose to back down at the last minute and there was no direct conflict, why should I go looking for trouble and create problems for myself?

He shook his head, regained his composure, and gently closed the window.

Just in case, Shen Yu took out a few more spirit-sealing talismans given to him by Cui Youxin and carefully pasted them on the window.

Shen Yu was not proficient in the art of enchantment, so this measure could only be considered a simple form of protection, better than nothing.

After doing all this, Shen Yu once again offered up the golden paper, calmed his mind, and immersed himself in the cultivation of the "Secret Technique of Returning to the Origin of the Talisman".

......

The next morning, as dawn broke, a knock on the door woke Shen Yu from his meditation.

He finished his practice, got up, and opened the door. He saw Cui Youxin waiting outside. When he came out, Cui Youxin respectfully bowed.

"My lord, Cui Wangtian has already prepared the entry token and is currently downstairs talking with Senior Yue. We should also go down and prepare to depart."

Shen Yu nodded slightly: "Alright, let's go down now."

The two went down the stairs together and arrived at the inn's lobby.

Yue Jianxin and Cui Wangtian were standing together. When they came down, Cui Wangtian smiled and gestured to the two servants beside him to present the two wooden tokens to Shen Yu and Cui Youxin respectively.

"Fellow Daoist Yue, young friends, the tokens are ready. The three of you can go to the city's grand formation at any time and pass through to Dongmi Prefecture," Cui Wangtian said, cupping his hands in greeting.

The three accepted the token and thanked him in unison.

Cui Wangtian had other matters to attend to and could not stay long. After exchanging a few more pleasantries with Yue Jianxin, he hurriedly left.

Shen Yu and the other two did not linger any longer. After tidying up briefly, they left Yifeng Pavilion and headed towards the inter-state formation in the city.

Yuexu Terrace is located in the southeast of the Huayang King's Palace. It covers a vast area and is a giant white stone platform that rises more than ten feet above the ground.

The platform is engraved with array patterns of the sun, moon, stars, mountains, and rivers.

At this moment, the platform was bustling with people, and various colored lights rose and fell from time to time. Cultivators from different regions gathered here, and although the voices were not loud, it was very lively.

Dozens of deacons of the Xuzheng Sect and imperial guards of Huayang Kingdom moved about, maintaining order.

This interstate array is ingeniously designed, unlike ordinary arrays that need to cover the entire area once activated.

It has been carefully improved by array masters, and can activate some array patterns in different areas and batches to achieve small-scale, multi-batch teleportation, which greatly improves the efficiency of passage.

Cultivators who wish to use the formation must first have their identities verified by the Imperial Guards and pay the corresponding fees before being guided by a Void Righteous Sect cultivator to the designated teleportation area.

There, a deacon holding a formation flag will be responsible for activating the formation to teleport them to their destination.

This formation is naturally a two-way passage, mainly connecting Dongling Prefecture with several surrounding major prefectures, with the most frequent exchanges occurring between the five eastern prefectures.

If the distance is too great, even with the power of this array, it is extremely difficult to achieve stable teleportation.

-

"The three masters will be teleported from Donglingzhou to Dongmizhou. Each of them needs to pay 1,000 talisman coins, for a total of 3,000 talisman coins."

A captain of the Imperial Guard approached the three men and said respectfully.

With his keen eye, he could naturally tell that the three were not rogue cultivators, but rather cultivators from a sect.

Yue Jianxin nodded without saying anything more. He took out a storage bag from his pocket, counted out three thousand talisman coins, and handed them over to the other party.

Under the personal guidance of the Imperial Guard captain, the group quickly stepped onto the Void Transcending Platform and arrived at the designated teleportation area.

Upon stepping onto the platform, Shen Yu noticed that the surrounding space seemed somewhat unstable, with the light slightly distorted.

He knew that this was a normal phenomenon caused by the frequent activation of the formation and the disturbance of the void. With a formation master stationed here year-round, there was no need to worry about any problems with the formation.

In this area, besides the three of them, there were five or six other cultivators. Judging from their attire and aura, they were mostly independent cultivators who traveled between various states year-round. They did not communicate with each other, and their expressions varied, all showing a degree of vigilance.

"Everyone, please take your positions and circulate your true qi to protect your bodies. This teleportation process is relatively short, but you may encounter slight void turbulence. At that time, no matter what strange phenomena you see, do not panic, and do not release your true qi indiscriminately, otherwise it will interfere with the teleportation coordinates and cause you to deviate from your destination."

The deacon holding the array flag warned, "Some time ago, a cultivator ignored our warnings and got into an argument during teleportation, recklessly using his true qi. As a result, he was thrown into the depths of the East Sea by the teleportation array. When he was found, his cultivation was completely destroyed, his essence was depleted, and his path to immortality was completely severed."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions tightened, and they couldn't help but exchange glances, unable to fully trust each other.

But everyone understood that at this critical moment, no one would risk their life, and what the deacon said was just a rare exception.

Just before the steward raised the array flag, preparing to activate the array, an anxious voice came.

"Wait a minute! Immortal, please wait a minute!"

A handsome young Taoist priest, panting, ran up to them and repeatedly bowed to apologize.

"Is this the teleportation point to Dongmi Prefecture? I'm late, please forgive me!"

According to the rules, the formation can only be activated again after half an hour after each teleportation. This young Taoist priest obviously did not want to wait another half hour.

The steward exchanged a few words with his fellow disciple beside him in hushed tones. After examining the other party's token, he said no more and simply gestured for him to stand still.

Once he squeezed into the area where the crowd was, the deacon waved the array flag and activated the array.

In an instant, a hazy beam of light suddenly erupted from the array patterns engraved beneath everyone's feet, shooting into the sky and engulfing everyone in the area.

Just as the pillar of light rose and his vision began to distort and blur, Shen Yu frowned subconsciously and glanced at the handsome Taoist priest who had arrived last.

He always felt there was something off about this person, but he couldn't quite pinpoint what it was.

Before he could think it through, the scene before him was instantly stretched and transformed into a bizarre and distorted band of colors, with a violent buzzing and howling wind in his ears.

In the instant that everything around him distorted and blurred, Shen Yu suddenly caught a glimpse of the handsome Taoist's face writhing violently, like a melting wax figure.

In an instant, the facial features vanished, turning into a bottomless black hole. Then, a gaping maw filled with sharp teeth, a ferocious and terrifying sight, suddenly emerged from the black hole, almost taking up half of the monster's head.

Almost simultaneously, Yue Jianxin, standing beside Shen Yu, reacted swiftly, already holding a longsword that emitted a chilling glint in his hand.

A sword light as fast as lightning, like a venomous snake emerging from its hole, pierced straight at the monster's face.

"division--!"

Before Shen Yu could finish speaking, she was overwhelmed by a strong feeling of dizziness. Suddenly, everything went black, and she collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

In the moments before losing consciousness, he could only rely on instinct to circulate the Primordial Profound Truth, forming a solid protective aura on his body before plunging into chaos.

......

It felt as if they had been drifting in the endless void for hundreds of years, yet it also felt like only a fleeting moment.

When Shen Yu regained consciousness and struggled to open her eyes, she was greeted by an unfamiliar and dilapidated environment.

He found himself in a long-abandoned cave.

The cave was surrounded by weeds, the walls were mottled, and half of the roof had collapsed, revealing a gray sky. The air was filled with the smell of dust and decaying plants.

He moved and found himself standing on a white jade slab.

The stone slab was covered with cracks, and pebbles were scattered all around. The patterns carved on it were faintly visible, and they were quite similar to the celestial orbit pattern on the Yuexu Platform in Huayang City.

"The transmission went wrong? Did that deacon's words really come true? Why..."

With a splitting headache, Shen Yu shook his head violently. The terrifying scene before he lost consciousness made him shudder, and a chill ran from his heels straight to his fontanelle.

The distorted human face, the hideous gaping maw, and Master Yue Jianxin's earth-shattering sword strike.

He instantly connected the strange monster in the teleportation array with the mysterious black shadow he had glimpsed outside the window the previous night.

"Could it be that Master intervened during the teleportation, fighting that monster and disrupting the spatial coordinates, causing me to be thrown here? But where is this place?"

He forced himself to stand up and looked around. The cave was empty except for him.

Yue Jianxin and Cui Youxin have both disappeared without a trace.

......

......