Chapter 209: Riding the Clouds and Mist

After about half a stick of incense's time, the seal on the stone box suddenly vanished, turning it into nothing more than an ordinary rock.

Li Yanchu opened the box, and a surge of vast vitality immediately poured out. The spirit power he had just spent breaking the seal was instantly replenished to full.

“Amazing!” A gleam of joy flickered in Li Yanchu’s eyes as his gaze fell into the stone box.

Inside lay a Golden Pill, surrounded by a radiant aura that stirred the heart.

Li Yanchu gently picked it up, and instantly felt a warm energy flow through him,and he felt a sense of indescribable ease and harmony.

“This is a Daoist immortal pill!”

His heart surged with excitement. Still, he cautiously pressed a Plague-Dispelling Talisman onto the pill.

This talisman invoked the Five Plague Envoys[1], capable of dispelling any poison, venom, or pestilence.

When placed on the pill, there was no reaction.

In fact, even without the talisman, Li Yanchu could feel the immense pure and harmonious vitality within the pill, so it was definitely not anything evil.

He pondered briefly, then decided to consume the Golden Pill.

“Heaven offered it, if I don’t accept, I’ll be the one to blame!”

Though he had taken this fortune through struggle, who was to say this wasn’t destiny’s design all along?

Without further hesitation, Li Yanchu swallowed the immortal pill. A vast vitality instantly flooded through his body.

Purple-gold energy coiled around him, and a rising mist of auspicious purple qi emerged from his feet, making him look like an exiled immortal descending from heaven.

There was no pain, nor a sense of his spirit qi bursting out of control. Almost instantly, Li Yanchu felt as though he had undergone a full rebirth. His entire being overflowed with boundless vitality!

“

Phew

...”

He gently exhaled a stream of purple-gold breath. His entire being gradually returned to calm, and those dazzling and extraordinary effects also faded away.

“Now this feels right, this is what an immortal pill should be like.” Li Yanchu felt satisfied.

In ancient legends, many mortals who consumed immortal pills would undergo rebirth, soar into the heavens on clouds of light, and not once did they suffer excruciating pain or have their meridians explode. Otherwise, how could it be called an

immortal

pill?

Li Yanchu’s direct feeling was that his body had become significantly lighter. He felt a special, indescribable sensation of ease. His skin now glowed with a radiant luster, and divine light shimmered within his eyes.

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

While his inner force, blood and qi, and spirit qi hadn’t changed much in volume, his spirit qi had become far more refined, carrying a distinct immortal aura.

This meant that the power of his Daoist techniques would now increase substantially. This one Golden Pill had directly granted Li Yanchu an extra sixty years of life!

Think of it, for countless generations, how many sages, kings, and heroes had exhausted all means in pursuit of longevity? They were all seeking the same thing: to live longer, to defy death.

And yet, since ancient times, there had never been one truly immortal, never-dying human being.

Even the renowned Daoist Sect, Mount Mao Sect, with all their alchemical prowess, could only refine pills that extended lifespan by a mere ten years, and that was already considered a miraculous medicine!

Yet this... This was the legendary

immortal pill

spoken of in awe by all. And the one Li Yanchu had obtained had granted a full sixty years of additional life, and cleansed him of all illness and affliction.

Of course, Li Yanchu didn’t know yet exactly how much his lifespan had increased. He simply felt a vast reservoir of life force surging and dormant within his body.

After all, this was a treasure guarded by a mythical evil flood dragon, fought over by numerous peerless prodigies, and even one reclusive elder had been willing to die to obtain it. Naturally, it wasn’t going to be something simple.

Li Yanchu stepped forward lightly, and his body lifted directly into the air. This time, he hadn’t used any movement technique.

As he walked slowly out of the great hall of the Daoist temple hall, his body gently rose upward, as if he was riding on rainbow-colored clouds beneath his feet.

With a single thought, Li Yanchu soared into the sky!

His vision expanded vastly, and the desolate ruins below came fully into view. The boundless wasteland stretched in all directions.

This,

soaring through the clouds and mist, was the true immortal fortune brought by the Golden Pill! It was a power only Earth Immortals were said to possess.

Yet Li Yanchu, at only intermediary second realm, had already achieved it! He harnessed the fortune of Heaven and Earth and was reborn in body and soul, thereafter rising from the ground into the sky.

Li Yanchu felt incomparably exhilarated, and he couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“Hahahahahahahahaha!”

It was one thing for the primordial spirit to leave the body and travel through the air, but he had done it with his physical body. He was soaring on clouds!

With another thought, Li Yanchu gently descended back to the ground.

Now that he possessed the ability to soar through the clouds and mist, if he ever faced those people who relied on their primordial spirit to manifest their Dharma forms and flee, Li Yanchu would no longer fear them escaping. Because now, he had aerial capabilities.

“This really is a divine blessing!” Li Yanchu’s face beamed with delight.

That great river, the impassable Tongtian River, was now no obstacle at all. Before, he had to use Water-Repelling Talismans just to pass through, and even then, he had to worry about attacks from underwater demons.

But now that his body had become immortal and could soar freely through the air and rise a hundred zhang above ground, what did he have to fear from the creatures lurking below?

With that thought, Li Yanchu actually stopped rushing.

He was not someone who liked to show off. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have trained the Sun Veil, which concealed his fate and aura from detection.To others, he was merely an ordinary young Daoist.

Now that he had gained a power only Earth Immortals possessed, he had no intention of revealing it just yet. Instead, he planned to keep it as a hidden trump card, reserved for a critical moment.

After all, even with the ability to soar, if the opponent had cultivated a primordial spirit Dharma form, they could use a visualized primordial spirit Dharma form to counter it.

To truly gain the advantage, he needed to strike by surprise. Only then could he reap the greatest benefit. In that light, Li Yanchu wasn’t merely someone who avoided the spotlight, he was a master schemer!

Without delay, he activated his

qinggong

and movement technique and began speeding toward the wide, mysterious river.

And after consuming the immortal pill, even his movement technique had become twice as fast as before.

His figure gradually disappeared into the vast ruins. By the riverside, seven or eight people were already waiting. Clearly, they were familiar with the movements of the mysterious ferryman who held the Soul-Summoning Bell.

Li Yanchu looked closely, and in addition to the three people from the Daoist temple hall the night before, there was the fat, bloated Zhu Fugui, fresh out of the deep mountains and forests; Chen Yang, a military officer from the Court of Judicial Review; Xiao Ce, the arrogant young man carrying twin sabers across his back; and another person he recognized as well, to his surprise

It was none other than a refined, elegant young nobleman with rosy lips and bright white teeth, wearing a strand of prayer beads on his wrist, Gongshu Pei Yu!

When the group saw Li Yanchu approaching, all their eyes turned toward him.

Li Yanchu paused for a moment. “Why is it all familiar faces?”

He found it a bit amusing. This Daoist temple hall ruin was massive, and countless fated individuals had entered.

And yet now, those gathered here were all people he had at least seen before. He didn’t know if it was because he moved around too much, or because fewer and fewer people were still alive...

“Daoist Master! I finally see you again!” Zhu Fugui let out a wail and charged over.

His massive body made the ground beneath him tremble slightly.

“Old friend, we meet again.” Li Yanchu smiled.

This Zhu Fugui, after a brief encounter, was acting like he desperately wanted to become his underling, which was honestly a bit overwhelming.

“Daoist Master Yanchu!” Chen Yang also stepped forward.

At this moment, Chen Yang's demeanor grew increasingly composed and dignified; he clearly looked like someone of noble status.

Li Yanchu chatted briefly with the two of them, and soon, several more people arrived.

"Why is everyone gathering here today?" Li Yanchu asked.

1. The Five Plague Envoys, are deities in ancient Chinese folk belief who govern the spread of epidemics. Each rules over a specific season: Zhang Yuanbo governs Spring Plague, Liu Yuanda governs Summer Plague, Zhao Gongming governs Autumn Plague, and Zhong Shigui governs Winter Plague. Shi Wenye oversees all as the General of Central Plague. These figures are traditionally seen as malevolent gods capable of spreading disease. ☜