Chapter 198: The Secret of the Immortal Stone

198. Chapter 198: The Secret of the Immortal Stone

Swish!

In an instant, Xiao Zhangqing felt this space undergo a massive shift in his perception, completely different from before.

It was like a mortal gaining a spiritual root, able to sense the ambient spiritual Qi.

At this moment, Xiao Zhangqing's body seemed to acquire a "spatial spiritual root," allowing him to sense spatial forces and grasp a tiny fragment of spatial rules.

As soon as he thought, the space turned from formless to tangible, like water; he could swim within it and perform simple manipulations.

At the same time, he could hide within the space, using the "water" to block part of an attack.

Even though this was only the most superficial, basic control, it differed starkly from before.

It was a leap from zero to one.

As Xiao Zhangqing's thought surfaced, the cultivation chamber's space rippled faintly, and he instantly shifted from one spot to another.

Speed could no longer describe it; even if he used the Golden Core Realm's magical power to fully summon the Great Roc Riding the Wind, he couldn't achieve this—it's an entirely different concept.

After several repeated attempts, Xiao Zhangqing shook his head: "No, this is completely different from the spatial divine art the white‑robed female evil spirit displayed inside the ruins…"

To use a metaphor, the earlier white‑robed female evil spirit could "dive" deep in water for a long time, evading all the damage from Xiao Zhangqing's sky‑full rune rain; now Xiao Zhangqing can only paddle a little in the water—hardly even a dog paddle.

The difference is huge.

Of course, even just a couple of paddles are an impressive divine skill for a Golden Core cultivator, beyond his comprehension.

After all, the forces of heaven and earth are only first grasped at the Nascent Soul stage.

And the power of space is even more unfathomable to most Nascent Soul true monarchs, hard to comprehend.

Thus, even these two dog paddles will be of great use to Xiao Zhangqing before he forms a Nascent Soul.

It may not manifest in offensive power, but in evasion and defense it is already a "divine technique"! "Perhaps my method was wrong…"

"Even the white‑robed female evil spirit is strong, but it shouldn't be able to penetrate the inner layers of space."

Xiao Zhangqing tried again, recalling how the white‑robed female evil spirit evaded his attacks in the ruins, and suddenly felt a faint tremor deep within the space.

It seemed a thread linked to him; even with his minuscule control of spatial power, he could follow that thread into the depths of space!

Sensing this connection, Xiao Zhangqing's eyes brightened.

This link doesn't represent his own spatial control, but rather… a talent? Perhaps.

This is the white‑robed female evil spirit's innate talent for spatial rules! After the system's purification, much of its power was stripped away with the ominous aura, yet Xiao Zhangqing still sensed this talent through repeated attempts.

Xiao Zhangqing patiently entered seclusion again, carefully perceiving the link of his duplicate in the deep space, aiming to fully convert this talent into ability.

If he can master this ability, Xiao Zhangqing is confident that even against the Nascent Soul true monarchs of the Seven Star Sword Sect and Xingyue Palace, he will have self‑preservation power!

This seclusion.

Lasted another month or so.

Suddenly enlightened, Xiao Zhangqing finally mastered the link between his duplicate and the deep space, and he was overjoyed.

He immediately followed that thread, attempting to hide his duplicate deep within the space.

"This is…"

In the next instant, Xiao Zhangqing's complexion changed dramatically; he realized he had been completely wrong.

What kind of spatial concealment technique or spatial talent is this?!

Clearly, another plane separated by countless voids was pulling his duplicate!

In this plane, the transmitted message was bathed in light, like the other shore.

If one traverses the space to the opposite shore, any cultivator can achieve immortality, obtain everlasting longevity, and gain a power that pierces heaven and earth! The ultimate goal of cultivation is nothing less.

It was irresistibly tempting.

Even Xiao Zhangqing's late Golden Core divine sense struggled to resist, nearly sinking instantly into a maddened state.

Fortunately, Xiao Zhangqing's duplicate entered, while his true self remained outside; confronting the terrifying lure of this bizarre plane, he managed to awaken just before total collapse.

"Damn it!"

Xiao Zhangqing commanded his duplicate to flee the space without hesitation, severing the hard‑won link captured after a month of seclusion, but it was already too late.

When his duplicate emerged again, it was fully tainted by the ominous aura, flames of demonic fire raging, and the cultivation chamber instantly filled with black, eerie mist spreading outward—just like the white‑robed female evil spirit returning, the scene of the ruins' evil spirit fully reviving! The first victims were the Lin family sisters living with Xiao Zhangqing.

Although the Lin sisters had successfully established their foundations and were not weak among ordinary cultivators, under the taint of the ominous aura they could not resist and fell into unconsciousness.

Fortunately, Xiao Zhangqing had relocated to the main peak of the Character: Liyang Mountains, where the third‑tier spirit veins are densest; each cave dwelling spans a vast area with few people, and the nearby residents are all real persons of pseudo‑Golden Core or Golden Core Realm.

If it were still the old Jinxiu Workshop, the entire neighborhood would have been doomed, countless Qi Refining Realm scattered cultivators likely perished! Watching his duplicate verge on losing control and turning evil again, and feeling his own divine sense battered, Xiao Zhangqing instantly summoned the system interface and stored the duplicate within the system.

Buzz! The evil spirit's power receded like a tide; no matter how strong, it could not stir the system.

Seeing the surroundings clear again, Xiao Zhangqing plopped onto the ground, sweating profusely.

"I almost fell into a huge trap!"

Xiao Zhangqing wiped the sweat from his forehead.

In just a few breaths, it was more terrifying than battling a late Golden Core cultivator to the death! Who could have imagined that studying a duplicate's spatial control could link to such a horrific plane, almost being sucked in! Now that he's recovered, Xiao Zhangqing fully understands the myriad ties with his duplicate; if spatial power can traverse that plane, it is likely the source of the Da Yu Cultivation World's evil spirits! In other words, this plane is the evil spirit's lair, its stronghold!

Now Xiao Zhangqing cannot discern the operational rules of this plane, what the evil spirit means to it, or whether it mirrors the cultivators of this plane.

But Xiao Zhangqing can be certain that the splendid visions and beautiful scenes he just sensed were all illusion!

Perhaps, by embracing this plane's domain, one could indeed gain endless longevity, eternal youth, immortality, and possibly incomprehensible power.

But the prerequisite is to become a being neither human nor ghost—a evil spirit! Mu Renjie was like that! Many years ago, cultivators obsessed with immortality yet nearing death also became such evil cultivators.

"No wonder it's called the Immortal Stone…"

"Indeed it can grant immortality. These evil spirits look completely different from cultivators, yet even after thousands or tens of thousands of years they can revive and awaken…"

"But they lose their minds, becoming walking corpses."

Xiao Zhangqing suddenly understood many of his previous doubts.

When cultivation is arduous and immortality seems hopeless, or when one is cornered and forced, not every cultivator can resist the temptation of the Immortal Stone placed before them.

Because many cultivators may not know that the ultimate destination of this path is to become an evil spirit.

Or some cultivators, even if they have some speculation, may still hold hope for this path, or say they have enough confidence in themselves.

They believe that, relying on themselves, they can resist the invasion of evil spirits into their divine consciousness, and that they can stay clear‑headed at any time, not sinking into it.

But the fact is that throughout history, no cultivator has ever succeeded.

Even the powerful Demon Sect Evil Cultivators from tens of thousands of years ago, many of whom were at the Nascent Soul True Lord level, all failed without exception! Whether they cultivated the Immortal Stone by the crude, clumsy method of Mu Renjie—directly merging themselves with the Immortal Stone into one body—or by mastering the true use of the Immortal Stone to cultivate a Second Avatar, the end result was the same: they became evil spirits, their minds utterly lost.

If it is like Mu Renjie, the loss comes fastest; on the day of achievement, at the moment of complete fusion, that is the moment they turn into an evil spirit.

If one cultivates a Second Avatar while the original self has Nascent Soul‑level cultivation, perhaps they can resist longer, holding off the evil spirit's invasion for a while.

But in the end, nothing changes.

"Fortunately, I have a system..."

Xiao Zhangqing exhaled a puff of foul breath.

If he had no system, no inventory to isolate and purify the evil spirit's power, even though he cleared his mind in time and pulled the Second Avatar out from the depths of space, he would likely be attacked back by the avatar and become completely lost.

He exhaled slowly, and Xiao Zhangqing quickly left the cultivation chamber to check on the Lin sisters.

He sensed that the evil spirit's power had spread earlier, causing the Lin sisters to be affected.

Fortunately, although Xiao Zhangqing could not control the evil spirit's power, it did not dominate his mind; the power simply spread naturally without actively attacking, otherwise the Lin sisters would have faced a grim fate.

When he found the Lin sisters, both girls were clearly tainted with ominous aura.

If they had not received timely treatment, they might have followed the same old path as the foundation cultivator from Jin Xiu Fang who fell to evil—tormented nightly by nightmares, eventually losing sanity and dying in madness.

But with Xiao Zhangqing's aid, using his powerful Soul Transformation at the late stage of core formation, he quickly revived the two sisters.

Later, with the assistance of the Demon‑breaking Talisman and the Calming Spirit Talisman, the lingering ominous energy was gradually purged completely.

"Lord, what just happened..."

Lin Zixi asked, still trembling with lingering fear.

She had only vaguely sensed a great terror descending, as if she were instantly placed in hell, and then she fell unconscious.

Before Xiao Zhangqing could return, several flashes of evanescent light had already arrived outside the cave residence, their expressions bewildered and cautious as they probed outside Xiao Zhangqing's cave, also wanting to know what had happened.

Gu Zongyuan and Su Wushuang were also among them.

The terrifying evil spirit's power that erupted from Xiao Zhangqing's cave earlier almost shook the entire main peak of the Character: Liyang Mountains, and they all sensed it. (End of chapter)