Chapter 472: Return to the Void Immortal Armor

"So that's how it is."

Shen Yi observed the surroundings for a short while and roughly understood.

There were no jade slips or books here; this should not be the secret archive of the Hidden Method Pavilion as he imagined, but simply a special favor granted to Xuan Qing.

No wonder even the Elder Dao Token could not open this wooden door.

On the other hand... Senior Xuan Qing actually held the Sect Master's Token even when he was still a disciple.

Shen Yi shook his head.

Actually, this makes things much more convenient, saving the time of having to choose slowly.

But before that, he should first digest the gains on his person.

Twelve Return-to-Void Realm water-demon monsters provided nearly five hundred thousand years of demon lifespan, plus the twenty thousand-plus years provided by the Old Lady Longyu.

【Remaining Demon Lifespan: 1.22 million years. Can be condensed.】

Shen Yi first condensed six Guardian Stones.

Then he attempted to turn the corpse of the Old Lady Longyu into a sea of blood and pour it into the Guardian Stones.

Just then, he discovered a tremendous sense of resistance coming from the Dao Palace in his brow.

As if one mountain cannot harbor two tigers.

Upon careful inspection, he realized it was the Lady Longyu Pillar that had already been merged into the Dao Palace.

Even though they were father and daughter, it actually regarded the corpse of the Old Lady Longyu as a life-and-death enemy.

"..."

Shen Yi did know that only one Guardian Stone of the same type could exist.

But he did not expect that the one already transformed into a Dao Pillar would also count.

He sighed slightly.

However, he was not too disappointed.

After all, something that could be beaten to death alive by the Green Rhinoceros Guardian Stone probably shouldn't be considered anything good anyway.

If there isn't one, then there isn't one.

Shen Yi changed his approach and poured the corpse into that Lady Longyu Pillar.

He saw the Lady Longyu pattern above gradually change; the bump on its forehead slowly transformed into dragon horns, and the quality of the Dao Pillar rose once again.

Although he had already received the Heaven and Earth's Gift.

Being able to make the Dao Palace more stable was still better than nothing.

It was just right to leave a remnant of the Old Lady Longyu's demon consciousness to help him deduce techniques; having climbed the water demons of the Dragon Palace in this way, he could barely be called knowledgeable.

The next moment.

Shen Yi closed his eyes and selected the remaining twelve water-demon monster corpses from within the ring.

They came from the same faction; although there were no Lady Longyu, there were no shortage of demon monsters of the same clan.

After a slight distinction, there was only enough to condense seven Guardian Stone statues.

This was both a good thing and a bad thing.

After all, based on Shen Yi's recent experience going out, the Palace-Rising Method would become increasingly difficult the further one went; the grade of the Dao Pillar not only affected the Heaven and Earth's Gift but also represented how far one could ultimately go.

The first three layers were all Heavenly Palaces.

Shen Yi had already experienced the benefits of the Hongmeng Purple Qi; such good things were naturally more the better.

Of course, putting those aside... even if he could condense twelve Guardian Stones, the demon lifespan would not be quite enough.

He gathered his mind.

Shen Yi mobilized the demon lifespan and began to condense the demon origin.

One by one, demon souls gradually reshaped themselves; at the same time, demon flesh and blood also flowed into his brow.

【Remaining Demon Lifespan: 450,000 years】

As the panel stopped changing, seven vivid demon Guardian Stones appeared in the sea of consciousness within his brow, and the measuring pillar compared them one by one.

Golden light filled his vision.

They were all Dao Pillars of Second Grade or above; among the outstanding ones, some were only half a step weaker than the Green Rhinoceros Guardian Stone.

Such a terrifying scene, for other cultivators, might require a lifetime to pursue.

But for Shen Yi, it was merely an unexpected gain made while he was out scavenging.

He selected six Guardian Stones and ran the Palace-Rising Method again.

In the white expanse all around, a Blood Sea Dao Palace suddenly appeared.

As time passed, the identical process began to repeat.

No need to worry about the Palace-Rising failing; supported by six Second Grade Great Pillars, the Limitless Demon Emperor Palace slowly but steadily added another great hall!

Return-to-Void Fifth Layer.

Purple intent slowly emerged from the dense white mist surrounding him.

Even separated by the formation, Heaven and Earth delivered the Gift as promised.

Unfortunately, this time, the only onlooker was the old man's phantom before him, devoid of intelligence.

He wore a gentle smile, waiting for Xuan Qing to say what spiritual technique he wished to learn, seemingly regarding the five-story-high Limitless Demon Emperor Palace as if it did not exist.

"..."

Shen Yi withdrew his Dao Palace, rose with a touch of emotion, and walked toward the old man.

Habitually clasping his hands: "I have cultivated the Heavenly Phoenix Indestructible True Body to perfection, assisted by Xiang Tianyan Sijiu; my movement technique is Dragon Leaps to the Celestial Yin. May I ask, Senior, if I wish to enhance my strength, from which aspect should I begin?"

"With your talent, perfecting Xiang Tianyan Sijiu will be more than enough below Bai Yujing," the old man advised softly.

"Hah." Shen Yi exhaled and said honestly: "My talent is average."

Probably the type who, on their own, would struggle even to break through the initial realm, and even with a fortuitous encounter might never reach the Jade Liquid Realm.

Though this old man probably didn't know what the initial realm or Jade Liquid were.

"Ordinary talent?"

The lingering thoughts left behind by the old man likely held no response to that question.

After a long daze, he simply skipped past the topic: "Since it focuses on close-quarters combat, what about using a spirit array to augment the physical body?"

"Why not just cultivate a body-tempering spirit art directly?"

Shen Yi furrowed his brow slightly, unsure why such a roundabout step was needed.

"You've gone muddled, Xuan Qing — of course it's because your master here doesn't have one." The old man shook his head, reached out and tapped a finger, and immediately tiny seal-script characters darted out in all directions, shimmering with mysterious radiance, quickly blanketing the surroundings so densely that no edge could be seen.

"Hiss."

Shen Yi stared blankly at his surroundings, his scalp prickling, finding it hard to imagine… that this was actually a single technique?

He slowly set his steps in motion, walking down this long corridor paved with tiny characters.

The long corridor seemed to have no end.

Merely walking it from start to finish consumed a full three days.

When a prompt rose on the panel.

He only then suddenly came back to himself.

【Killed Fanxu (Spirit). Ruins-Returning Immortal Shell Array: Not Entered】

This was when the benefit of having studied a wide variety of arts came through.

Shen Yi felt the vast sea of tiny characters newly added to his mind, and after only briefly savoring them, he tried converting them into an array diagram.

The process was extremely slow — so slow the progress was nearly negligible — but at least it proved to be something he could understand.

This was far better than Tianyan Sijiu.

Shen Yi cupped his fists toward the old man again, then withdrew outside the wooden door.

Save where one can.

He shot out of the Scripture Pavilion and soon arrived at the Ancestral Master Hall.

"Senior Xuan Qing, have you ever heard of the Ruins-Returning Immortal Shell?" Shen Yi, without much pleasantry, sat straight down on the meditation cushion.

Though the occasional sayings surfacing in his mind were a bit annoying, the lifespan saved was real and tangible.

"Ahem."

Xuan Qing stiffly peeled his face away from the boot of the Ancestral Master's statue.

This Shen Zongzhu — does he never consider other people's feelings when asking things?

Makes it seem as if he has some strange quirk.

Fortunately, Xuan Qing did not disappoint Shen Yi.

"I know a little."

He turned his body and extended his index finger to tap once more.

A moment later, several traces of blank confusion appeared on that wooden face, as if a few more memories had been lost.

Shen Yi closed his eyes and digested the newly added insights in his mind.

Just as expected — once he had entered the door, he immediately found it boring, deemed it too shallow, and gave up outright.

No wonder that old man earlier had worn a bitter smile.

It also fit Xuan Qing's character — before Killed Fanxu fifth layer, he only ever used a single Dao pillar.

"Please trouble Senior Xuan Qing to help me sort through these things."

Shen Yi handed over the storage Yan Daizi obtained from the Shuiyueshang Alliance, giving the other something to do.

"Xuan Qing obeys the order."

Li Xuanqing took the Yan Daizi, and suddenly found he wasn't all that averse to these miscellaneous tasks — at least while working, he could temporarily forget the worries in his heart.

Shen Yi gave a slight nod of his chin, then turned and left the Ancestral Master Hall.

His craving for strength suddenly grew urgent again.

Mainly because, as he gradually came to understand Xuan Qing and that former General Nanyang Shen Zongzhu, he realized the matter of General Nanyang Sect's annihilation might not be as finished as he had assumed.

That old man had clearly already warned Xuan Qing.

Which meant he had long foreseen it in his heart.

And he didn't seem the type of irrational, impulsive cultivator.

Yet in the end he still staked the lives of the entire sect.

Such a frenzied act was very likely forced — the opponent might be far more ruthless than he had imagined.

Even if Shen Yi weren't repaying Xuan Qing's kindness, simply for his own safety he needed to learn a little about the whole affair's course.

Otherwise it would be like a sword hanging overhead — impossible to eat or sleep in peace.

But with his current strength, let alone the entire Hongze area, even among the Yu Nanhong Seven, he was someone who couldn't be ranked at all.

"Huu."

Returning to the familiar Shanfeng.

Shen Yi sat cross-legged, opened the panel, and began deducing this newly acquired spirit array.

【First year, you digest the insights in your mind; without needing to comprehend them again, you behold that vast ocean-like grand array — before it, the most complex array you had ever touched seemed like a few careless strokes of graffiti】

The hardest part had been skipped, but compared to other arrays, this was only just the beginning.

Fortunately, Shen Yi was well-versed in this path… at least very familiar with the process.

He had some mental preparation.

Nor did he end up as wretched as last time when deducing Tian Yan Si Jiu.

Just at this moment.

Shen Yi discovered that his spiritual soul, which had not changed for a long time, was becoming more substantial at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Staring at the notifications constantly leaping on the panel, he finally found the cause.

【Year 4900: You still cannot perfectly outline the array diagram. To outline such a massive array diagram onto the body of a Dao Infant while ensuring no problems arise is a difficulty that is simply a great trial for the spiritual soul.】

Shen Yi had not yet employed any methods involving the spiritual soul.

But the stronger this thing becomes, at least when facing others' spiritual soul attacks, there will be more room for maneuver.

It was unknown how many years had passed within the panel.

Suddenly, a obscure array diagram appeared in Shen Yi's pair of clear eyes.

The dense spiritual soul aura nearly overflowed from between his eyebrows.

【Year 23000: You have finally grasped a part of the Spirit Array.】

【Killed Fanxu (Spirit): Return to Ruins Immortal Armor Array: Entry Level】

Shen Yi lowered his head, slowly unbuttoned his ink-black shirt to reveal his muscular upper body, then golden threads spewed from his fingertips, climbing up his body like water snakes.

"Hiss!"

He suddenly gritted his teeth, forcibly enduring that heart-racing sensation.

Carving the Spirit Array onto his body connected his entire aura with the five viscera of the Dao Infant, instantly causing chaos.

Fortunately, there was the experience accumulated over the long years within the panel.

The golden threads slowly carved into the flesh, leaving behind fine patterns invisible to the naked eye.

Within any single dot lay over ten thousand brushstrokes.

When the aura of the Dao Palace was exhausted.

He would then draw upon the heavenly and earthly spiritual qi from the surroundings.

When the surroundings were exhausted, Shen Yi would simply move to another place to continue his meditation.

He repeated this for a long time.

Until the cultivators of the inner court of General Nanyang Sect clearly felt the spiritual qi had become slightly thinner.

Finally, a golden array diagram emitting black mist appeared on Shen Yi's chest.

It seemed like the alternation of sun and moon, but upon closer inspection, it carried a desolate feeling of everything returning to nothingness.

Shen Yi took a deep breath.

He then activated the array diagram on his chest; it suddenly projected outward, blocking the sun and sky, before settling among the mountains and waters.

A dense aura of Tianyan Siji spread out, converging toward that suspended figure.

Gray and white mist rapidly condensed into a set of incomplete armor, covering only the right shoulder and arm.

The patterns upon it were bizarre and held no actual meaning, yet made anyone who saw them feel an absurd sensation of their mind being dragged in.

"..."

Shen Yi slowly and powerfully clenched his five fingers.

The sharp wrist guards connected with the flesh.

In an instant, a shocking vast aura made the heavens and earth seem as if they had turned into nothingness.

(End of this chapter)