[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-path-of-immortality":3,"chapter-the-path-of-immortality-the-path-of-immortality-chapter-4":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Path of Immortality",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2271154,4436,"Chapter 4","the-path-of-immortality-chapter-4",4,"\u003Cp>Xiao Ganshan lies at the junction of the three states of Rong, Dan Su, and Zheng, with eleven peaks, nine precipitous cliffs, and twenty waterfalls and pools; within the vast southern region of Dongmi Zhou, it once ranked among the Four Hundred Southern Mountains.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its breathtaking natural beauty requires no further elaboration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the sect’s main gate, Xuanzhen Sect established its foundation here thirty years ago, setting up five halls: the Punishment Hall, Merit Hall, Service Hall, Spirit Feeding Hall, and Elder Hall, to manage the sect’s affairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the time Chen Hang arrived at the Huiyue Peak Service Hall, the vast square, capable of holding a thousand people, was already sparsely filled with four to five hundred disciples.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the distance, numerous Daoists were descending from the sky, driving their true qi to land, their colorful auras interweaving and swirling like fire trees and silver flowers—stunning to behold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you, Senior Sister, for giving me a ride.” Chen Hang bowed to the graceful female cultivator beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her entire body was enveloped in brilliant purple-and-blue true qi, her slender, serpentine form flickering in and out of view like flowers seen through mist, enhancing her allure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From Luoxia Peak, where Chen Hang resided, to Huiyue Peak, even with his own speed, he might not have reached it by nightfall if he started at noon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Hang had intended to wait for Xu Zhi to give him a lift, but before he took a few steps, the female cultivator had already swept him to her side with a laugh and true qi, leaving him no way to escape.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, the beautiful female cultivator meant no harm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outmatched by circumstance, Chen Hang resigned himself to going along with it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your smile is truly lovely—no, even when you’re not smiling, you’re utterly beautiful… No wonder Yan Zhen went to such lengths for you…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today, Chen Hang wore a pale moon-white robe, and against the biting mountain wind, he had draped over it a black-and-gold crane cloak, its wide sleeves and flowing hem making him stand out like a crane among chickens among the hundreds of Daoists, his bearing utterly unlike that of an ordinary man, exuding an ethereal, otherworldly grace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The female cultivator gazed at his extraordinary features, her throat subtly shifting, her gaze burning brighter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you know my name? Remember it—I’m Yu Wanchou. If you can’t hold on in the Abyss, call out to me anytime.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The noisy crowd fell silent for a moment the instant Chen Hang appeared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this, even though Yu Wanchou was reluctant to leave, she still forced a jade communication tablet into Chen Hang’s palm, smiled softly, and departed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A communication jade tablet?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Hang accepted the tablet, then suddenly felt a sharp chill down his spine—as if a predatory beast had locked onto him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He turned around.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid the crowd, a man clad in a yellow robe, with sharp, dagger-like eyebrows, stared at him with unmasked murderous intent, his face twisted in fury.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yan Ping?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Hang glanced at him, coldly sneering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yan Ping, enraged by this dismissive attitude, suddenly erupted in true qi, like a storm surging through waves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet before the eyes of hundreds, though he longed to slice Chen Hang into a thousand pieces with his flying sword, he could only suppress his killing intent, his face turning ashen, his lips trembling as he turned his head away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Hang, uninterested in further confrontation, found a sheltered spot, pulled his cloak tighter, and sat motionless with closed eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another half incense stick passed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After nearly all Xuanzhen Sect Daoists who had received the Abyss talismans had gathered, the sky suddenly cracked with thunder, and within moments, a azure heavenly palace descended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the palace, the three Elders—Yan Feichen, Gu Jun, and Chengji Shangren—took their seats, while at the deepest recess, upon the Xuanhe Cloud Couch, sat a young man of striking appearance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young man had a nose like a hanging bell, eyebrows sharp as if carved into his temples, and skin as smooth and pale as a baby’s. He appeared to be around twenty-five or twenty-six, dressed in a jade robe, python belt, and purple-gold tall crown—more like a noble of a secular imperial court than a cultivator.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Greetings, Sect Master, Elders.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The hundreds of Daoists below all bowed, offering salutes toward the azure heavenly palace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“All of you here today received the Abyss talismans from the Service Hall. The Abyss is a place of utter darkness and death; its dangers and taboos are all detailed in the Dao texts—I need not repeat them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young man on the Xuanhe Cloud Couch smiled lightly, and as he moved, it was as if a great sun had fallen from the clouds, radiating divine light that filled the heavens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To the hundreds below, his voice rang clear as if spoken beside each ear, deep and resonant:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Today, I have only one thing to say.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whoever brings me either a Yin Horse or a Human-Faced Lingzhi will be credited with three hundred merits, rewarded with eight thousand talisman coins, eight middle-tier Dao arts, and three taels of jade marrow. There is no upper limit to this reward—it is better the more you bring!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he spoke, boundless Dragon-Tiger primordial qi rose from the crown of his head, swirling around him in ceaseless motion—anyone who saw it knew it was extraordinary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Go.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young man extended a finger, and a fine thread of Dragon-Tiger primordial qi from his crown descended, attaching itself to the red cords tied around the wrists of each of the hundreds of Daoists present.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Hang felt a tremor in his red cord, and a warm, pure, soothing energy surged in, thawing the chill the mountain wind had left on his body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even his internal Cold Dip true qi slowed its movement for a moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Marvelous! Marvelous! The Sect Master, born of the illustrious Ai family of Shangxiang, truly carries the learning of a great lineage! This technique of qi transfer—I, this old Daoist, am utterly humbled!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the palace, Chengji Shangren, whose beard reached the ground, clapped his hands in admiration, his round, plump face beaming with flattery.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even the proud Yan Feichen paused, his expression flickering with unreadable emotion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though he himself had attained the First Stage of Dongxuan—the Dragon-Tiger Furnace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet to split out so many threads of primordial qi at once was still beyond his capacity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“From this, it’s clear this young man has not merely absorbed the Five Essences—he has likely already condensed his primordial gold-mercury, and the attainment of a Golden Core is not far off!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yan Feichen clenched his trembling palm without showing it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If so, the original plan must be altered in some way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I have given each of you a thread of my own cultivated Dragon-Tiger primordial qi, embedded in your red cords. With it, ordinary yin spirits and demonic ghosts in the Abyss will fear you threefold.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young man swept his sleeve again, and countless beams of light, each containing elixirs and talisman coins, descended from the eaves of the heavenly palace, like a thousand stars falling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Hang caught the beam flying toward him; upon seeing two white porcelain vials of elixirs inside, he exhaled in relief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Next summer solstice, when yang energy is at its peak and yin darkness is at its lowest, I will personally guide you into the Abyss.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another thunderclap split the sky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The azure heavenly palace rose swiftly into the sky, vanishing among ten-thousand-zhang clouds, leaving only the young man’s voice echoing in place, lingering long after.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back at his cave dwelling, after bidding farewell to Xu Zhi, who had specially escorted him,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Hang closed the door, sat cross-legged on his cushion, and poured out a single White Yang Pill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The pill was no larger than a silkworm bean, yet when held in his palm, it emitted a faint scorching heat, and its entire surface radiated an unusual medicinal fragrance, indescribable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stared at it for a moment, then without hesitation, dropped it into a cup of clear water and drank it down.\u003C\u002Fp>",1353,"2026-06-19T22:29:59.276Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","517862ed40d7c0ae52125cd94ffb79526baec48a101757ea9060b7ab2c2959ce","the-path-of-immortality-chapter-5","the-path-of-immortality-chapter-3",545,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-path-of-immortality-cover.jpg"]