Chapter 63: The White Lotus Extinguishes Life

It seemed that Chao Xiaoyu sensed Shen Lian’s emotions. She smiled at him with enchanting grace and said, "Shen Jun, had you not come and instead left the Divine Capital like my senior sister, I would truly have been at a loss as to what to do with you. But since you insisted on coming, I will not harm you today. Once I have dealt with our Empress, I hope you will see the situation clearly and serve as my Nine-Lotus Protector. If you are able to reach the stage of returning the elixir, we shall become Daoist companions, supporting one another, and surely, we will eventually rise above all living beings."

Shen Lian chuckled softly at her words and replied, "I never expected you to harbor such thoughts, Xiaoyu. I am truly flattered, yet I have a fault: I do not care for being coerced."

The Empress remained silent, for an invisible force of space surrounded her, binding her tightly. Yet, her expression remained serene; there was no sign that she was trapped in a dire predicament. To face sudden adversity without anger and to be confronted by crisis without fear—this was merely the necessary cultivation of a person such as she. However, the fact that she had fallen into such a trap today was indeed a result of her own excessive pride in her divine abilities, leading her to underestimate the myriad spells and infinite wonders of the world.

Chao Xiaoyu feigned a sigh and said, "Shen Jun, do you not think that I am intentionally being arrogant, or that dealing with both of you at once would be a struggle for me?" Her clear eyes held a faint smile, yet there was no trace of triumph in them. Shen Lian clearly felt that she possessed no genuine emotion, though her words were not necessarily lies. To her, all people and things in this world were merely tools; the only difference was whether they were useful or useless. This did not contradict her ethereal temperament; because she did not care, she was not disturbed by the dust of the world.

Shen Lian sighed inwardly. This woman possessed a firm Daoist heart—a natural seed for the pursuit of the Dao. Had she not chosen the path of incense-fire divinity and instead practiced the authentic teachings of the Profound Gate, harmonizing with the nature of the Dao without obstruction, she would likely have already surpassed the seventh turn of the elixir and attained the prospect of shattering illusions to reach longevity.

Suddenly, divine light bloomed within the space, centered upon the Empress. She appeared as if she were burning with flames, radiant as the sun and moon. Chao Xiaoyu’s expression shifted. She had long anticipated that the Empress practiced an ancient secret technique to reshape her own body, but she had not expected the Empress's physical form to be so formidable as to resist the shackles of spatial force.

Ancient humans, ignorant of Qi cultivation, focused solely on tempering the body. Some practitioners had researched ways to achieve immortality through an ageless, deathless physical form, possessing the great divine power to carry mountains and chase the moon. Later, as Qi cultivation flourished, these supreme methods of physical tempering gradually faded, leaving only faint shadows in modern martial arts. Most were absorbed by Qi cultivators and combined with their own techniques. After all, walking the path of an immortal, deathless body still carried the risk of being slain, or, if one encountered a sinister and vicious cultivator, the possibility of having one’s body possessed. More importantly, practicing both paths simultaneously could never be as fast—or as efficient with time and energy—as focusing on one.

As the saying goes, amidst thousands of spells and infinite wondrous paths, one must ask: can they lead to longevity? This strikes at the very essence of cultivation. Even if one’s martial prowess is supreme and one can find no match in the world, how can that compare to the逍遥 (carefree) joy of longevity? Thus, most cultivators only temper their bodies to a certain extent.

The Empress, wearing her imperial crown, saw her aura rising continuously. Behind her appeared the image of an ancient and powerful Daoist figure, with a strange, archaic face and broad robes, seemingly capable of breaking all constraints.

Facing such a formidable display, Chao Xiaoyu remained calm and unhurried. "So, you are practicing the 'Hunyuan Indestructible Body'."

The space shuddered, and the invisible spatial force grew increasingly fierce. Chao Xiaoyu formed one lotus seal after another. White lotus flowers bloomed with light, drifting around the Empress. With each white lotus that dissolved, a layer of the Empress’s divine light vanished. This was the "White Lotus Life-Extinguishing Method," which dissolved a person’s spirit and energy—a soft blade slicing through flesh.

Shen Lian could also feel that as Chao Xiaoyu intensified her assault on the Empress, the space around him seemed to grow thinner. Yet, the same spatial force bound him as well, like being trapped in an inescapable quagmire. Even the movement of the magic power within Shen Lian’s body began to sluggishly slow.

Shen Lian produced three blood talismans in his hand. They ignited without wind; first, lightning flashed, then a great gale arose, and smoke and dust swirled. Chao Xiaoyu, despite forming lotus seals, was still able to spare a glance toward Shen Lian. She could not help but praise, "A fine 'Law Pressing the Three Talents'."

The power of heaven and earth carried by the three blood talismans represented wind, thunder, and earth respectively. By stimulating the wind and thunder against each other, they generated immense power, while the power of earth acted as a pivot, isolating the violent energy of the wind and lightning to avoid harming himself. Seeing Shen Lian seize the opportunity to act, Chao Xiaoyu was not alarmed. Her expression remained pleasant and quite indifferent. Her lotus flowers continued to drift toward the Empress.

Yet, with that single glance she cast toward Shen Lian, the pressure of the spatial force upon him surged violently. The power of wind, thunder, and the weight of the earth were annihilated in an instant. Shen Lian seemed to have reached a dead end. It was not that he was inferior to Chao Xiaoyu; rather, in this space transformed by divine soil, Chao Xiaoyu was like a deity. For a practitioner like Shen Lian, who relied more on Daoist arts and talismanic methods, the ability to borrow the external energy of heaven and earth was limited, making the suppression he faced even more severe.

However, divine soil was rare, and Chao Xiaoyu might not have more of it. It seemed she understood this herself. Since Shen Lian had come, she would simply subdue him as well, to serve as a Protector Heavenly King under her command. She did not fear him in the slightest just because he was a disciple of Qingxuan, one of the four great Daoist sects. In the end, once she defeated the Empress, seized the throne, transformed the Divine Dynasty, and reaped the incense of all living beings, the "Nine-Lotus Great Law" would be pushed to an extremely profound stage. She might even forge an Indestructible Spiritual Light, such that unless one were a True Person of Longevity or an Earth Immortal, others would not even have the possibility of defeating her.

This was the terrifying aspect of the Divine Path: provided the conditions were met and one’s nature was in harmony, one could almost ascend to heaven in a single step.

Shen Lian seemed to hear his bones crack and his blood stagnate; the three blood talismans could not help him escape his predicament. Yet, just as Chao Xiaoyu increased the tearing pressure on his space, Shen Lian seized the moment when the three talismans released their energy. With his formidable soul, he forcibly channeled his magic power, causing it to rush into his Dantian with a roar.

The seeds of his "Supreme Void Divine Strategy" magic power, like a long drought meeting sweet rain, grew frantically. His entire pool of power transformed at an unimaginable speed, merging into the eight types of power—red, orange, yellow, white, cyan, blue, purple, and black. The Supreme Void power, like a giant whale drinking water, surged with joy, growing rapidly. The conflict between the eight energies became even more intense, but the immense pressure from the outside world paradoxically helped Shen Lian contain his own Supreme Void power. Shen Lian’s soul held its post in his spiritual chamber, ignoring the internal power and allowing the intense pressure of the spatial force to persist.

Flesh and magic power collided incessantly. The Supreme Void power was born of Shen Lian; if its master were to perish, they would return to the heavens and earth, dissipating into nothingness. Perhaps reaching a certain critical point, the pain throughout Shen Lian’s body was even more agonizing than when he was in the Nether River, yet he endured it still. He did not know how his senior sister, Gu Caiwei, or the predecessors of the Supreme Void lineage had overcome such conflicts; Shen Lian did not stop to think.