Martial Immortality: Starting with the Spirit Beast Scroll

Zhao Lin gasped for breath, feeling completely drained. He hadn’t been this tired even after fighting on the tournament stage for the past two days.

He composed himself, walked forward, and absorbed the newly formed Gold-devouring Rat Essence Soul into his body.

Then, he heaved a large boulder onto the Gold-devouring Rat’s corpse. Gathering his Qi, he leaped into the air, circled twice, and flew toward the nearby forest.

He flew deep into the dense woods, landing among the branches of a large tree, and sat down cross-legged.

The moment he settled, the Essence Soul began to act up.

The Gold-devouring Rat’s Essence Soul was a mass of earthy-yellow energy that rampaged through his body as if it had come back to life.

This energy would sometimes surge in and out of his organs, and at other times, it would course through his meridians.

When his body’s internal energy encountered this earthy-yellow energy, it was like a mouse seeing a cat; without any prompting from Zhao Lin, it automatically retreated into his Qi Sea Acupoint.

’What’s going on?’

Zhao Lin was taken aback. This had never happened before, but he quickly figured it out.

’In the five elements, generation and restriction are intertwined. Earth restrains Water. The Sea Return Skill I cultivate produces water-attribute energy, which is naturally suppressed by this earth-attribute True Qi.’

His Wind, Ice, and Thunder True Qis were unaffected.

Understanding this, Zhao Lin finally relaxed.

After rampaging for a while, the earthy-yellow energy slowly returned to the area around his six hollow organs and seeped into them.

Zhao Lin felt his Qi and Blood begin to swell, growing more and more abundant. His cultivation level rose with it, like a boat on a rising tide...

After about the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, the earthy-yellow energy was exhausted. His cultivation stopped right at the threshold of the Second Layer of the Blood Realm, just short of a breakthrough.

’What a pity!’

Zhao Lin sighed with regret. Although the Gold-devouring Rat was an elemental variant beast, it wasn’t in the same league as the Ice Silkworm or the Thunder Catfish. Its energy was limited, not enough to trigger a breakthrough.

Still, he was generally satisfied.

Although his cultivation hadn’t undergone a qualitative change, the quantitative increase was substantial. His Qi and Blood had increased by nearly twenty percent!

Turning his senses inward, he could see a wisp of earthy-yellow True Qi lingering deep within his Qi Sea. And in the seventh slot of his Spirit Beast Scroll, a pointy-headed, sharp-snouted, golden-furred Gold-devouring Rat had appeared.

’A welcome supplement!’

With the Essence Soul fully absorbed, Zhao Lin wasted no more time. He emerged from the other side of the forest and took a roundabout path back to the courtyard where the Xingyun Sect was staying.

Not long after Zhao Lin left, several figures arrived near the forest. The Big-eared Fox darted to the large boulder pressing down on the Gold-devouring Rat and suddenly began to squeak, "SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK!"

"Elder, Big-Ears has found something!"

A Lotus Sect disciple carrying a lantern cried out.

Elder Ruan’s brow twitched. He pointed at the boulder and ordered, "Push it aside and see."

A disciple immediately went over and pushed the large boulder aside with all his might.

The disciple with the lantern stepped forward and shone its light, leaving everyone dumbfounded.

"Is this... our Gold-devouring Rat?"

"It must be. How did it end up like this?"

"Who did this?"

The group chattered among themselves, then fell into silence.

Elder Ruan said gravely, "There’s no lingering aura of a Primordial Realm martial artist nearby. It must have been done by someone below the Blood Realm."

The disciple with the lantern took a piece of jerky from his pocket and fed it to the Big-eared Fox. After it had finished eating, he asked, "Big-Ears, where is the person?"

The Big-eared Fox seemed to understand. It raised its head, sniffed the air hard, and then suddenly hopped in place twice.

"Where?"

The disciple with the lantern looked up at the sky, confused.

The Big-eared Fox anxiously hopped onto the rock and bounced twice more.

The disciple with the lantern grew impatient. "What are you trying to say? That the person flew away?"

A middle-aged man in the group saw this and waved his hand. "Don’t give it a hard time. It seems the person didn’t leave much of a scent."

Then he looked at Elder Ruan. "Elder, what should we do? It must have been someone from the courtyards!"

Elder Ruan first frowned, then shook his head. "No matter who did it, I’m afraid we won’t be able to find them. The few of you, go look around. If there are no traces, we’ll call it a night."

...

It was late in the night when Zhao Lin climbed over the wall and returned to the courtyard.

He listened for a moment. Hearing no unusual movements, he breathed a quiet sigh of relief, washed up quickly, and went to bed with his mind at ease.

He hadn’t made any physical contact with the Gold-devouring Rat. There was no way the Lotus Sect could trace it back to him.

But after absorbing the Essence Soul, he was famished, and there was nowhere to find food at this hour. He could only endure until dawn, when the locals brought their meal, and he finally ate his fill.

When the sun rose, the Xingyun Sect contingent, led by their three Sect Leaders, once again made their way to the mountain training grounds.

Today was the third and most important day of the martial tournament.

If Zhao Lin and He Liancheng could just win one match between them, it would already be their best result in recent years.

If one of them could make it to the finals, then no matter the outcome, it would far exceed the expectations Great Yue had before the tournament.

Everyone knew that He Liancheng’s chances of defeating Bolta were extremely slim. Their greatest hope rested on Zhao Lin.

But no one mentioned this, for fear of putting too much pressure on him and causing him to underperform.

By mid-morning, the delegations from the Five Nations had all arrived. Elder Ruan walked to the center of the training grounds, a hint of exhaustion on his face.

"Everyone, the time has come. Let the matches begin!"

Basang from Wuche and Su Mu from Weizi walked onto the central stage.

Zhao Lin sat on the sidelines, his gaze fixed on Su Mu. He hoped the man could hold on a little longer, preferably forcing Basang to reveal more of his skills.

The more he understood his opponent, the better his chances of winning would be.

"One, two... three!"

Elder Ruan gave the command after the two were ready.

Su Mu was a traditional martial artist from the Western Regions, skilled in the Fiery Flame Saber, Burning Wood Fist, and Crimson Refinement Kick. His style focused on grappling, throwing, and kicking.

His moves were fast and his actions were ferocious.

However, he was up against the even faster and more ferocious Basang. He was at a disadvantage in less than ten exchanges and was forced completely onto the defensive.

Basang was as dominant as ever. His punches were simple and direct, constantly widening his advantage. In less than twenty exchanges, he broke through Su Mu’s defense with a single punch, sending him straight to the edge of the stage.

Su Mu knew defeat was certain and conceded readily.

Even so, this was the best performance anyone had managed against Basang so far.

It also allowed Zhao Lin to glean more insights.

Basang’s Thunder Blade Fist was powerful, but the amount of Thunder Attribute True Qi in each punch wasn’t consistent.

Sometimes, his fist was wreathed in lightning, brimming with Thunder Attribute True Qi. At other times, however, there wasn’t a single spark of lightning to be seen, making it no different from the Stone Roar Fist.

’Strange. Thunder Attribute True Qi is so powerful, why does he use it one moment and not the next?’

’Of course! Thunder Attribute True Qi is difficult to cultivate. He has to use it sparingly.’

’So that’s how it is! I should have thought of it sooner. It’s the same with my Cold Ice True Qi and Wind Attribute True Qi.’

This discovery greatly excited Zhao Lin. Basang’s Thunder Blade Fist wasn’t inexhaustible—it had a limited number of uses!

Of course, this wasn’t exactly a weakness. All powerful Cultivation Techniques had this issue.

Besides, most people didn’t even have the ability to last three exchanges against Basang.

At that moment, Elder Ruan announced the start of the second match.

Zhao Lin snapped out of his thoughts, rose from his seat, and strode toward the stage.

’One bite at a time,’ he thought. ’First, I have to deal with this tough nut to crack, Mu Heli.’