The Forbidden Path to Immortality

Chapter 283

Those last few words hit like a creepy gust of wind slipping through a narrow crack... into the depths of Li Xun's heart, chilling him to the bone.

His teeth started aching at the roots, and he couldn't help sucking in a sharp breath. “How could that happen?” he said. “Kids born from close relatives are almost always crippled or messed up!”

“The Blood Fusion technique does exactly the opposite,” the Palace Attendant said. “It builds up an innate vein of malevolent qi right from birth, harnessing that to cultivate. Sure, it comes with endless tribulations and backlash, but the progress it brings is... unmatched. That’s what Master Jade values in it, which is why…”

At this point, if Li Xun still didn't get it, he'd basically wasted all those years living. No doubt about it. Jade Wanderer had set his sights on his own niece!

And that sounded exactly like him.

As the palace attendant recounted it all in that flat, matter-of-fact tone, Li Xun couldn't even pin down what he was feeling inside. Sure, there was a gut-level disgust at this twisted, incestuous mess, but what hit harder was a sneaky thrill he couldn't quite name... along with the reckless rush it sparked, mixed right in with a burning shame.

These tangled-up feelings all churned together, spreading through his entire body with the slightly erratic pulsing of his heart.

Li Xun tried hard to keep himself looking composed. But the words tumbled out anyway, betraying how desperate he was to hear more. “And then?” he asked.

The Palace Attendant noticed the look in his eyes. Her delicate brows drew together as she began to seriously consider whether she should go on at all.

The more she hesitated, the more it itched inside Li Xun. His curiosity had long since blown past the sensible "know your enemy" excuse. He just wanted to hear the twisted details, plain and simple.

Just as he was about to press her again, the lights ahead suddenly came to a stop.

They had arrived at Swallows’ Return Pavilion.

The Palace Attendant let out a long breath, almost in relief, and seized the chance to change the subject.

“The Sect Master is waiting inside,” she said. “Please allow this servant to go announce your arrival.”

With that, she ignored the disappointed look in Li Xun's eyes and hurried ahead. In the blink of an eye, she vanished through the doors of the building.

After quite a while, she finally came back out, lowered herself into a crouch, and gave a formal salute. “Sect Master invites Daoist Master Li to come inside for a private talk.”

Being treated with such courtesy by a beauty like her only made the knot in Li Xun’s chest tighter, though this was hardly the moment to let it show.

He thought it over, shook his head once, and started toward the pavilion. When he reached the Palace Attendant’s side, he suddenly stopped.

The Attendant looked a little surprised and instinctively raised her eyes to him. At that moment, Li Xun’s fingers lightly brushed her cheek. Whether it was a deliberate flirt or just the natural swing of his arm, who could tell.

Their gazes met. A clear flash of cold light passed through the Attendant’s eyes.

That sealed it for Li Xun; he knew exactly where he stood now. He dipped just a touch, flashing a small smile. "If the chance comes up, I'd love for you to finish that story, Madam. Consider this my thanks in advance."

Without sparing another glance at her reaction, he strode through the doorway.

Inside, a maid had already come over to take over. She led Li Xun up the corkwood stairs, their creak marking each step as they climbed to the second floor.

Li Xun spotted Gu Yin at once. She was reclining against a cushion woven from fragrant herbs, a book in hand, lazily turning pages by the light of a pearl lamp set into the wall behind her. On the low table in front of her sat a bowl of medicinal broth, still steaming, a quiet reminder of her status as an invalid.

Having just listened to the Palace Attendant spin that twisted tale, and now seeing this scene unfold right in front of him, Li Xun felt oddly unreal.

If you told anyone that this cultured, serene woman, steeped in books and calm elegance, was the true instigator of the greatest upheaval this realm had seen in a thousand years, who would believe it?

Still, he quickly came back to himself. Seeing that Gu Yin had not yet looked up, he gave a light cough. “Sect Master Gu, I hope you are well.”

Gu Yin raised her head. When she saw him, she set the book aside without getting up, and just smiled. “A night spent in tender company. Did you enjoy it?”

Oh. That... came out of nowhere. She was teasing him, obviously, but the way she said it just now felt kind of… sweet. He usually keeps his guard up, but for a second, his heart skipped a beat.

Thankfully, he pulled himself together quickly. He stepped forward and sat down across the low table, smiling as he shook his head. “Only when you're forcing it down do you realize how bland and pointless it all is...”

He noticed Gu Yin got distracted, though the lapse was gone in an instant.

Soon enough, she let out a light sigh and a chuckled. “You men…”

The comment was true. But given the relationship between them right now, saying it out loud felt way too intimate.

Li Xun turned the thought over in his mind. The smile on his face shed some of its polite restraint and picked up a more easygoing, unguarded edge.

Amused, Li Xun let his smile slip some of its politeness. Something more careless, more daring, took its place.

This shift in attitude was subtle, but they were both perceptive enough to notice. In Li Xun's mind, this quiet 'tit-for-tat' exchange hit way harder and more directly than any words ever could.

However, Gu Yin’s reaction was nothing like he expected. Facing his smiling face, a trace of cold mockery gathered at her lips.

“Are you really that satisfied?”

“Huh?”

There wasn’t much brightness in Gu Yin’s eyes, yet somehow her gaze seemed to pierce straight into Li Xun’s heart. Even so, her tone remained lazy and drawling.

“Is taking down Qing Yin enough to make you happy? I always thought that in your eyes, Qing Yin was hateful. But Qixia, Qing Luan, and even me, all of us who helped or planned it, weren’t much better. Isn’t that right?”

The smile on Li Xun’s face froze.

Gu Yin didn’t let him off. “The way I saw it, I would have had to pay at least ten times the price just to make sure you’d stand on the same side as me for a while, and not quietly trip me up behind my back. But with that look on your face, how am I supposed to feel at ease?”

Li Xun finally understood. Gu Yin had torn away the last layer of pretense and put their naked interests right out on the table.

In this moment, there were only upper and lower limits, only a clear yes or no. Nothing else mattered.

His response came a beat too late, and he found himself at a disadvantage. Still, Li Xun wasn’t about to sit there and take it. He quickly spotted an opening, straightened up, and fought his way back, refusing to give any more ground.

“Sect Master Gu should understand,” he said, “before today, what was I in your eyes? Did I ever have the chance to bargain with you?”

Gu Yin smiled. “Before today, did you ever speak to me like this?”

Li Xun blinked, then let out a wry chuckle.

The shift in his status and Yin happened so effortlessly. Sure, Gu Yin had pulled plenty of strings behind the scenes, but by now, he also had the mindset and strength to match.

The only thing was, he figured he'd hidden it pretty well. So where had Gu Yin picked up on the signs? How had she seen through him and started treating him differently?

Li Xun was still puzzling over that. Gu Yin lifted the medicine bowl and drank the now-lukewarm broth. The room fell quiet for a moment, until her sudden coughing broke the silence.

“You can already tell my health is in bad shape,” she said. “But I might as well be more honest with you. The situation I’m facing right now is far worse than that.”

It was like a thunderclap out of nowhere: "Can't you see it yet? I'm... asking you for help!"

Li Xun’s eyes flew wide open. Without question, it was the most absurd thing he had ever heard in his life, and yet not even slightly funny.

Gu Yin took in his expression, then smiled. “Am I wrong? Earlier, you were able to talk about the fundamentals of cultivation and inheritance. If you understand those things, then you should also understand that almost everything the Rogue Cultivators’ Alliance does runs directly against them.

“Ten years, twenty years, those old fossils could still hold it in. But now that sixty or seventy years have gone by, their patience has to be worn thin.”

“Maybe,” Li Xun said calmly, without a hint of exaggeration. “But even after the recent split, the Alliance still has the strength to stand against the whole world.

“There are still ten of the Twelve Ruling Councilors left, every one of them a top-tier powerhouse. And among the Fourfold Envoys, tens of thousands of cultivators have been tempered by decades of battle. Their overall strength is overwhelming. You could say no one in this realm can truly match them. Even if all the major sects joined forces to attack, the cost would be so devastating that no one would be willing to pay it.

“If Sect Master Gu were willing to lie low and bide her time, keeping a low profile while steadily consolidating power, then for at least the next hundred years the sects would have no chance of shaking your alliance at its foundation. I imagine you understand that even better than I do.”

Gu Yin listened quietly the whole time, not interrupting once. Only after he finished did she smile faintly and nod.

“It’s clear you’ve put real effort into studying the Alliance over the years. But there’s one thing you’ve overlooked. If the Loose Cultivators’ Alliance could split once, why couldn’t it split a second time, or a third?”

“Split up?” Li Xun shook his head and let out a cold laugh. “Kongpeng is a perfect example. Everyone’s already seen what the Sect Master Gu is capable of when she strikes. Anyone who doesn’t have Kongpeng’s level of cultivation or his luck, who would dare make a reckless move anytime soon?”

“Of course there are some,” he said. “Qixia, Qing Luan. Am I wrong?”

Seeing the stunned look on Li Xun’s face, Gu Yin went on, as casually as if she were saying the weather was nice. “I’m not joking. Qixia and I are on the verge of a complete falling-out.”

Li Xun realized that there was only one thing he could say. “Why?”

“Because… some little arrangements I made earlier are about to be discovered by her. She could come storming back from the Realm of No Return at any moment. And when that happens, I’ll have no choice but to sit her and wait to die. That’s all.”

Li Xun let out a short laugh. With that explanation, Gu Yin might as well have said nothing at all. How was he supposed to believe her?

Gu Yin knew well what he was thinking. “There are some things you don’t need to know yet. But there is one thing you should understand. Over the past sixty-odd years, Qixia has had the urge to kill you at least ten times. Every single time, I was the one who held her back. If I die, I’m afraid your life won’t last very long either.”

“So this is a threat?”

“Of course it is. But I can also tell you this. If you pass along what I just said to Qixia, she’ll immediately come charging back. Aside from how long it takes her, the outcome won’t change in the slightest.”