A Mortal's Journey to Immortality

On the quiet cliff edge, a few birds hopped around, searching for food.

Apart from the occasional mountain breeze that rustles through the bamboo leaves, there was no other noise in this place.

About fifteen minutes later, one of the little red birds hopped and skipped down to a patch of grass by the edge of the cliff.

Just as it was about to bend down to peck at the food, a fair and clean hand suddenly appeared behind it. With a gentle squeeze, the hand caught the unresponsive creature in its palm.

"Chirp chirp chirp!"

The little red bird was startled by the sudden appearance of the large hand and chirped incessantly, struggling desperately, but no matter how it resisted, it could not break free from the palm even slightly.

Upon hearing their companion's cries, the other birds fluttered up into the sky, circling and screeching in terror.

Then they saw that the patch of grass by the cliff suddenly moved, and a dark green figure slowly stood up from it.

He gently shook his dark green coat and casually swept away the remaining weeds with his other hand.

He looked up at the birds circling overhead, grinned, and revealed a fair and handsome face.

He lowered his head and teased the red bird in his hand, then tossed it into the sky without hesitation.

After the little red bird broke free of its control, it frantically flew towards the flock of birds in the sky. After reuniting with its companions, it fled into the distance without looking back.

This person was none other than Duan Yu, Zhou Ping's good friend from the Green Bamboo Sect.

Today was the day the two had agreed to meet. After arriving at this extremely secluded cliff edge, he found that Zhou Ping had not yet arrived.

So he had a sudden idea to play a trick on the other party, but to his surprise, after Duan Yu concealed his whereabouts, he waited and waited, but Zhou Ping never came.

Out of boredom, I started making jokes about the birds.

"What happened to keep the eldest boy waiting? He usually arrives earlier than me..."

Duan Yu sat blankly on the edge of the cliff, a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, muttering to himself listlessly.

After muttering to himself, he seemed to remember something, and with a "pfft," he spat out the straw from his mouth, then suddenly stood up.

"You brat!"

Duan Yu looked around with surprise and doubt.

After a moment, having found nothing, Duan Yu's handsome face showed a serious expression for the first time.

"Zhou Datongzi, come out! I spotted you a long time ago!"

Duan Yu's voice echoed in the silent canyon, but apart from that, not a single other sound came out.

Once the cliff edge returned to silence, only his figure remained standing there, motionless.

"Sigh...it seems I won't be able to give away the two great secret manuals, Wind-Intercepting Hand and Soul-Wandering Needle, today."

Seeing that there was still no movement around him, Duan Yu suddenly took out two books from his pocket, looked at them with a regretful expression, and then turned around and pretended to walk back.

"It wouldn't sound good if word got out that the dignified Senior Brother Duan of the Flying Shadow Hall was using his learned martial arts to tease birds."

A slightly mocking voice suddenly rang out, and Duan Yu, who was pretending to walk back, quickly turned his head toward the source of the voice.

On the other side of the mountain, about three zhang above the ground, a blurry figure appeared on a cliff. After a brief pause, he jumped down. It was Zhou Ping, whom Duan Yu had been waiting for.

"You little brat, you've completely fooled me!"

Upon seeing his friend appear before him, Duan Yu was furious and rushed forward, punching Zhou Ping twice in the chest.

"Cough! Cough! Stop, stop, stop!"

Zhou Ping had been holding on the cliff for a long time, and his breathing was still a little unsteady after landing. Before he could adjust, Duan Yu, who rushed up, punched him so hard that he started coughing. He had no choice but to quickly put his hands in front of his chest to protect himself.

Seeing that his opponent looked like he had surrendered, Duan Yu reluctantly stopped, but an expression of disbelief still lingered on his face.

"What kind of magic pill did you take, kid? You're even more skilled at using the Floating Shadow Step than I am!"

"It's just some stealth techniques of the Floating Shadow Step, nothing like the miraculous cure you're talking about. If you hadn't been so impatient and started teasing the bird, I wouldn't have been able to hold on either."

As Zhou Ping spoke, he rubbed his aching arms, but his eyes were fixed on the two manuals in Duan Yu's hands.

"How long have you been practicing the Floating Shadow Step? If this gets back to the ears of those senior brothers in the Flying Shadow Hall, they'll be furious!"

Duan Yu looked his friend up and down, marveling at him.

"Is this the Wind-Intercepting Hand and the Soul-Wandering Needle you just mentioned? Let me see them!"

Zhou Ping seemed not to hear Duan Yu's praise, his eyes fixed only on the two secret manuals in the other's hands.

Upon seeing this, Duan Yu tilted his head, put the hand holding the manual behind his back, and stretched out his other hand, beckoning to Zhou Ping with his finger.

Zhou Ping was slightly taken aback upon seeing this, then he understood and curled his lips, reaching into his pocket to pull out two porcelain bottles, which he then tossed to the other party.

"Hey! There are two bottles! Do you have enough for yourself?"

Duan Yu threw the manual in his hand over and carefully caught the two porcelain bottles flying towards him.

Zhou Ping ignored the other party's casual question and immediately began to seriously look through the manual after receiving it.

Seeing this, Duan Yu seemed used to it and stopped disturbing him. Instead, he sat down happily to the side and began to admire the two small porcelain bottles in his hands.

Since Zhou Ping's pills helped him, his cultivation has progressed by leaps and bounds over the past few months, and his cultivation level has even begun to catch up with some of his senior brothers in the Flying Shadow Hall.

This result was hard for Duan Yu to believe. Having tasted the sweetness, he became increasingly fascinated by these dark little pills.

Zhou Ping flipped through the two manuals in his hands, and soon a puzzled look appeared on his face. He looked suspiciously at Duan Yu beside him, and saw that the other was grinning foolishly at the porcelain bottle in his hand, so he nudged him with his elbow.

"Senior Brother Duan, are you mistaken? If I'm not mistaken, both of these techniques need to be used in conjunction with internal energy cultivation."

"Yes, I know."

Upon hearing this, Duan Yu casually replied.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Ping snatched the porcelain vase from the other party, his face darkening as he shouted,

"Wipe your drool and tell me what happened!"

Zhou Ping knew that the other party wouldn't bring him two uncultivable manuals for no reason, which is why he urged them somewhat anxiously.

"Okay, okay, don't worry, I'll explain it to you right away."

Upon seeing the porcelain bottle being taken away, Duan Yu immediately explained the unique features of the two cultivation techniques to the other party in detail.

It turns out that, in order for the two martial arts techniques, Intercepting Wind Hand and Wandering Soul Needle, to unleash their full combat power, the practitioner must rely on their own abundant true qi to activate them.

If that's all there is to it, then for Zhou Ping, these are indeed two difficult cultivation techniques to master.

However, the peculiarity of these two techniques is that they share a common characteristic: they are both offensive techniques that lean towards skill-based attacks.

If the Wind-Intercepting Hand is combined with the insidious and cunning Soul Needle, it can unleash astonishing destructive power even without using true energy.

Therefore, by combining the techniques of the two methods, one can kill without leaving a trace.