A Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Starting as a Sword-Forging Servant and Ascending to Immorta

Chapter 78 This beast!

Chen Baichuan reacted extremely quickly.

Without uttering a single wasted word, he slapped his hand on the storage pouch at his waist. A clump of dusty, unremarkable mesh instantly appeared in his palm.

True energy was poured into it frantically.

The gauze grew longer in the wind, transforming into a semi-transparent gray light shield that directly covered him and Zhou Lingxuan from head to toe.

High-level concealment artifact, Phantom Veil.

The two quickly retreated, pressing themselves against the scorching wall, and completely shrunk into the deepest, darkest corner of the underground fire chamber.

The moment the netting fell, the surrounding air underwent a strange distortion.

The figures and outlines of the two people, the rise and fall of their breaths, and even the enormous spiritual energy fluctuations of the Golden Core cultivator were all completely erased at this moment, perfectly blending into the shadows in the corner.

"Boom!"

The heavy stone door slowly slid open to both sides.

The cold wind from outside rushed in, stirring up wisps of dust on the ground.

A figure dressed in the attire of the deputy head of the Qi Hall appeared at the entrance.

Li Yuan.

He usually presents a gentle and composed demeanor in public, speaking slowly and deliberately, and walking with a steady and measured gait.

But now, he took very large strides, and the sound of his shoes scraping against the bluestone slabs sounded somewhat hurried and disordered.

The stone gate closed behind them again.

Li Yuan did not immediately go inside, but stood still, his vast divine sense like an invisible net, plowing through the entire Earth Fire Chamber three times.

Once he confirmed that no one was there, his tense shoulders suddenly slumped, and his previously hypocritical face instantly twisted, his features contorted with jealousy and panic.

"One hundred Frost Shields... and he actually delivered them on time!"

Li Yuan gritted his teeth, the voice squeezed out from deep in his throat, filled with suppressed impatience. He strode towards the ventilation shaft in the corner, cursing viciously as he went.

"That old bastard Chen Baichuan! I've called you master for decades, served you like a slave for so many years, and you'd rather take all those connections and resources to your grave than lend me a hand!"

"What right does that good-for-nothing Zhao Kuo have to compete with me? Just because he's good at flattering? You old fool, since you're so ruthless, don't blame me for being ruthless too! You forced me into this!"

Beneath the veil of illusion.

Chen Baichuan shuddered when he heard the words "old codger".

He stared intently at the figure crouching in front of the ventilation duct, his eyes instantly bloodshot, and the veins on his forehead bulged out, like earthworms wriggling wildly under his skin.

Li Yuan was his apprentice whom he personally trained!

Although the two had drifted apart over the years due to their power struggles, Chen Baichuan still cherished the bond between master and disciple.

He never imagined that the traitor who stabbed him in the back and even risked using the sect's military supplies was actually his most valued disciple!

Chen Baichuan's internal energy could no longer be suppressed, surging wildly like boiling water. Dangerous ripples began to appear at the edge of the Illusionary Veil.

He stomped his right foot forward half an inch, his fingers forming claws, as if he were about to tear through the netting and rush out to clean up the mess.

Just then.

A withered hand silently reached out from the side and gripped Chen Baichuan's wrist tightly.

Zhou Lingxuan remained silent.

He didn't even use a trace of true energy. He simply relied on his body, which had been tempered by heavenly lightning and repeatedly hammered by the Heaven-Forging Hammer, to forcefully hold down Chen Baichuan with pure brute force.

Chen Baichuan felt as if his wrist was being pressed down by an extremely heavy anvil.

He desperately tried to break free by channeling his inner energy, but Zhou Lingxuan's five fingers slowly tightened.

"Click-clack..."

A sickening grinding sound came from the bones in Chen Baichuan's wrist. The intense pain instantly dispelled the rage in his mind.

Chen Baichuan turned his head in shock, looking at Zhou Lingxuan, whose face remained calm.

Zhou Lingxuan shook his head slightly, gesturing for him to continue reading.

Standing in front of the ventilation duct, Li Yuan had no idea that he had just narrowly escaped death.

He took out a protective array plate from his sleeve, set up a soundproof barrier, and then poked at the crack in the wall with his finger.

Looking at the tiny speck of dark red powder on his fingertip, Li Yuan's face was so gloomy it was almost dripping with water.

"That self-righteous good-for-nothing Du Heng! He swore to me that the fire poison generated by the Crimson Flame Marrow had become completely entangled with the spirituality of the Cold Sound Iron, and that unless a Nascent Soul cultivator intervened, there was absolutely no way to resolve it!"

Li Yuan quickly formed hand seals, and a ball of dark blue flame rose from his fingertips, directly drilling into the cracks in the wall to burn away the remaining debris.

"And the result? Three hours! In just three hours, a hundred shields were handed over intact! Not even a trace of fire poison remained!"

The flames hissed in the cracks in the wall, and Li Yuan's expression looked particularly ferocious in the firelight.

"Who exactly is helping him? That newly appointed useless steward? A decrepit old man with no cultivation and half his body in the grave, what gives him the right?!"

"How could he possibly cleanse the Crimson Flame Marrow of its fiery poison? How could he command the obedience of those arrogant craftsmen? Where did Chen Baichuan find such a freak?!"

Li Yuan grew angrier as he spoke, and the flames in his hand suddenly shot up, burning away the dust deep in the cracks of the wall.

Even after burning it, he was still not at ease.

Li Yuan took out a jade bottle and poured the transparent liquid inside onto the corner of the wall. The liquid turned into a cool mist, washing away the burn marks completely.

"If it weren't for the negligence of those guards in the warehouse, who didn't even question me when I mentioned the Crimson Flame Marrow, why would I have personally come to this Class A Earth Fire Chamber to tamper with it?"

While cleaning up the scene, Li Yuan also tried to shirk all responsibility.

"If it weren't for the sect's rigid rules that insist on seniority, I would have been a hall master long ago! The fault doesn't lie with me, it's with you bunch of stubborn old fogies who occupy positions without doing your jobs!"

Throughout the entire process, Li Yuan's technique was fluid and efficient, without the slightest hesitation.

He blamed all his mistakes on his master's favoritism, his colleagues' incompetence, and the sect's injustice, but he didn't think he had any problems with secretly harming his fellow disciples or sabotaging military supplies.

This extreme selfishness and darkness made Chen Baichuan, who was watching from the shadows, feel as if his heart was being torn apart. He gritted his teeth and even tasted a trace of blood in his mouth.

After doing all this.

Li Yuan stood up and put away the array plate.

He walked to the bronze furnace in the center, circled it completely, and repeatedly confirmed that there were no more flaws in the underground fire chamber.

"Chen Baichuan, you're lucky this time."

Li Yuan let out a long sigh of relief, and as he exhaled, his tense state completely relaxed.

"However, you can't hide forever. Once the storm passes, this weapon hall will be mine sooner or later."

He straightened his slightly disheveled clothes, and the ferocity and jealousy on his face instantly disappeared, as he returned to his usual gentle and composed demeanor as the deputy hall master.

Turn around.

He walked briskly toward the stone gate.

"Click".

Token insertion.

The heavy stone door slid open slowly.

Li Yuan strode out without pausing for a moment.

The stone gate closed behind him again, the array light flashing, completely locking him in place.

Deathly silence returned to the underground fire chamber once again.

The moment the stone gate closed completely.

Chen Baichuan suddenly ripped off the phantom veil from his head.

The pent-up anger and heartache from being betrayed by his apprentice erupted at this moment.

His eyes were bloodshot, his body surged with internal energy, and he swung his fist, smashing it hard against the bronze furnace beside him.