Chapter 84: Reverse Life Stage 3

What is an Immortal? A person like a mountain!

This statement was naturally a joke, but for Lu Jin at this moment, it was the description that fit his feelings best.

To be precise, Lin Yu's figure had not changed; what had changed was his weight, and his so-called presence.

This feeling is hard to describe in words; using physical laws as an analogy, it was as if his mass had suddenly surged, and the gravity he exerted on all things in the world had greatly increased accordingly.

Lu Jin stared blankly at Lin Yu until, at a certain moment, this presence retracted, the world around him returned, and Lu Jin woke from this indescribable state.

"Do you understand now?"

Lin Yu said indifferently, "I did not intend to belittle Zuo Zuo Ruotong; I was merely stating a fact..."

Lu Jin came to his senses, suppressed his shock, and looked at Lin Yu with a complex expression.

"Who exactly are you—"

"No, are you even human anymore?!"

Lin Yu said calmly, "That depends on your definition of a human."

The definition of a human, then...

If what he had just seen was not an illusion, then calling him an Immortal would not be an exaggeration!

Lu Jin looked at Lin Yu with a complex expression, hesitated for a moment, but still could not ask this question.

After a long silence, he changed the subject and said slowly, "Regarding the conditions you mentioned just now..."

Lin Yu smiled, "Interested?"

Lu Jin nodded and said in a deep voice, "Please speak."

"Excellent!"

Lin Yu laughed and raised one finger, saying, "My first bargaining chip is the whereabouts of the 'Wicked Child' Li Li Muxuan."

"What?!"

Lu Jin was filled with shock and anger, and could not help but shout angrily, "That old thing, is he still alive?!"

Li Li Muxuan was a contemporary of Lu Jin and one of the masterminds behind the annihilation of the Three One Gate back then; his whereabouts were naturally extremely important to Lu Jin, who had wanted to avenge the Three One Gate his whole life.

Seeing Lu Jin react so strongly, Lin Yu smiled slightly and raised a second finger.

"The second bargaining chip is a question: Can Reverse Life Stage 3 truly reach the heavens?"

"..."

Lu Jin's pupils contracted, and then he fell silent.

Lin Yu smiled, "How about it? Are these two bargaining chips attractive enough?"

Lu Jin was silent for a long time before asking in a low voice, "Regarding the events of those years, how much do you actually know?"

Lin Yu said frankly, "What you know, I basically know."

Lu Jin showed hesitation, his inner self engaged in a struggle.

But in the end, he made his decision: "Very well, I will make a deal with you!"

Lin Yu smiled, "Excellent. To show my sincerity, I can tell you Li Li Muxuan's whereabouts first."

"Where is he?"

"Nathan Island."

"I see!"

Lu Jin suddenly understood, then gritted his teeth and said, "Killing my master and causing the great war between the Three One Gate and the All-Nature were all this bastard's doing, yet he himself fled after all this happened, hiding on Nathan Island to live in ease and joy. Truly... damn it!"

Lin Yu smiled, "Nathan Island will undergo a great upheaval soon. If you are willing, you can go to the island then to take your revenge."

Lu Jin took a deep breath, calmed his emotions, and said in a deep voice, "Upon hearing the name of my enemy, I lost my composure; please forgive my rudeness."

"Since you keep your word, I, Lu, cannot break my oath either. I will bring the Reverse Life Stage 3 now; please wait a moment."

Having spoken, Lu Jin immediately left the living room and returned a long time later carrying a small booklet.

"Is this the Reverse Life Stage 3?"

Lin Yu took the Cultivation Technique booklet, swept his consciousness through it, and memorized all its contents.

After deducing this three-stage technique, Lin Yu became even more certain of his previous guess.

Facing Lu Jin's solemn gaze, Lin Yu spoke: "Back then, Wu Wu Gensheng and Li Li Muxuan changed their appearances, infiltrated the Three One Gate, and were finally exposed by your master Zuo Zuo Ruotong, revealing their true forms completely."

"Afterwards, Zuo Zuo Ruotong and Wu Wu Gensheng fought a great battle."

"You might not have been clear about the reason for that battle at the time, but now, you should understand, right?"

"Indeed." Lu Jin said with a complex expression, "Wu Wu Gensheng's Divine Spirit can destroy all techniques based on Qi and return them to their original state; the Qi transformation of Reverse Life Stage 3 is no different."

"My master fought him back then precisely hoping to use his Divine Spirit to break through to the third stage."

Lin Yu asked, "Do you think he succeeded?"

Of course he succeeded!

Lu Jin wanted to answer this, but if the answer was merely that, why would Lin Yu ask specifically?

After a moment of silence, Lu Jin said in a low voice, "Do you mean my master actually failed?"

Lin Yu shook his head and said, "No, he succeeded."

Lu Jin was stunned by these words.

Lin Yu continued, "He indeed successfully broke through to the third stage of this booklet, but this was not the innate wholeness in the general outline, but rather the realm deduced and imagined by the ancestors of the Three One Gate through the ages!"

Saying this, he opened the booklet and threw it to Lu Jin.

Lu Jin reached out to catch it, looked at the annotations by the ancestors through the ages on the booklet, and his mind was violently shaken.

"Do you mean my master... took the wrong path?"

Lu Jin asked, his lips trembling slightly.

Lin Yu said indifferently, "It cannot be called taking the wrong path; it can only be said he took a shortcut."

"Wu Wu Gensheng used external force to push Zuo Zuo Ruotong to the Reverse Life Stage 3 realm, but also trapped him within the framework of Stage 3. It is like a cultivator using the Three Chariot Force to open the Du Meridian; although they can break through the Three Passes, compared to the Zheng Fa of a spirit complete and qi overflowing that breaks the passes naturally, the two cannot be compared."

"As for Wu Wu Gensheng's denial of Reverse Life Stage 3, while it does have its reasoning, it also suffers from limitations in cognition."

"As the saying goes: The Dao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, Three gives birth to all things."

"In the Profound Heaven Sect, the number three holds profound mystery. Wu Wu Gensheng was after all a self-taught practitioner; he believed Reverse Life Stage 3 was the endpoint, not knowing that this Third Stage is actually the starting point of the path to immortality!"

The Third Stage is the starting point?

Lu Jin stared blankly at Lin Yu.

Lin Yu continued, "The San Yi Sect is an orthodox Profound Heaven Sect with a long history. There are clear records regarding the immortal ancestor who founded the sect, and other sects of the same era also have descriptions of him; it is impossible for all of them to be fabrications."

"Therefore, I believe Reverse Life Stage 3 is indeed a Profound Heaven Zheng Fa capable of reaching the heavens."

"As for why Zuo Zuo Ruotong failed, besides relying on external force, there were also reasons within himself."

"Before breaking through to Stage 3, he already harbored doubts about Reverse Life Stage 3, clinging to the ancestor's Dao rather than his own Dao, which led him to ultimately stray from the right path and lose his future direction..."

Hearing this, Lu Jin could not help but ask, "Then what exactly counts as walking the right path?"

"Of course, it is to forge your own Dao!"

Lin Yu said calmly, "The reason your sect's immortal ancestor left not a single word was to tell future disciples that there is no fixed method for cultivation after Stage 3; one can only rely on oneself. This is also reflected in Stage 2."

"As the last member of the San Yi Sect, you should know very well that even in the state of Reverse Life Stage 2, are you and your fellow disciples from back then completely identical?"

Lu Jin stared blankly at Lin Yu, a surge of complex emotions such as shock, realization, excitement, and regret welling up in his heart.

Indeed, since Stage 2 manifests differently in different people, why must Stage 3 be carved from the same mold?

All roads lead to Rome because the destination is Rome.

If the Stage 3 realm is still a starting point, then there is no such thing as different paths leading to the same destination!

Watching Lu Jin fall into enlightenment, Lin Yu smiled slightly, turned around, and left the living room.

Not long after, Lu Jin woke up, looked at the empty living room and the Reverse Life Stage 3 manual placed on the armrest, took a deep breath, and bowed deeply toward the place where Lin Yu had been standing.

"Thank you, Immortal, for your guidance!"

"This junior... has received your teaching!"

On the other side, the Frieren world.

Lin Yu's true body studied the newly acquired Celestial Talisman and Reverse Life Stage 3 with great interest.

To him, the value of these two Cultivation Techniques was no less than that of the Wind Emperor's Strange Gate.

Especially Reverse Life Stage 3; the full-body Qi transformation of the Third Stage realm was quite similar to the Jin Dan Pian he had envisioned, holding great reference and reference significance.

As for the Celestial Talisman, this thing itself is not very useful, but Lin Yu could, by virtue of his own status, change the object communicated with by the Celestial Talisman into himself.

In this way, he could replace Heaven and Earth to construct a power system that communicates with himself.

This power system need not be confined to talismans or magic; as long as Lin Yu wishes, even transforming it into a familiar from Cthulhu literature would be a piece of cake!

Just then, Lin Yu sensed that Fu Fu Lamei seemed to be calling him.

His heart stirred, his spiritual power covered the entire territory, and he immediately understood what the problem was.

"So soon, this situation has already appeared..."

"Fortunately, I was prepared long ago!"

Lin Yu smiled slightly, and immediately his figure flashed, vanishing from the spot in an instant.

(End of this chapter)