Immortal Taoist

Boom!

The old man waved his hand, and Meng Lin felt the air construct as she was blown back; another figure was expelled from her body, crashing against the fleshy wall with a sickening thud.

The figure stood up, revealing an old woman whose aura crackled with primal qi—Meng Lin’s master, Li Yu, opened her eyes with a shocked expression.

"Master!” Meng Lin gasped, struggling to regain her footing amidst the chaotic energy swirling around her. She felt both relief and concern as she saw her master.

“Get back!” Li Yu shouted, her eyes locking with the old man. “This man is dangerous.”

Tian Yu's serene demeanor shifted, a glint of amusement flickering in his eyes. “Ah, both master and her disciple. How delightful. Two strong physiques, yet you are both so naive in the use of it.”

“Naive?” Li Yu scoffed, her eyes hardening. “You want to fight me in the belly of this beast?”

“Fight?” Tian Yu echoed. “I have no intention of playing. I seek liberation, and you two may very well be my key.” He gestured dismissively toward the creature’s pulsating walls. “But you must understand, both of you, that I am not bound by the same limits as you.”

With a flick of his wrist, the atmosphere trembled, and the air around them warped, forming crackling noises in the stomach. The air crackled with primal qi as a shockwave erupted from the old man’s position, throwing Meng Lin and Li Yu back once more.

Li Yu's eyes narrowed as she extended her hand toward Meng Lin. A surge of primal qi enveloped her disciple, pulling her closer as Li Yu formed a protective barrier. "Stay close," she commanded, her gaze never leaving Tian Yu.

Meng Lin clenched her fists, her body trembling under the suffocating force from the old man; she felt out of place.

Rumble!!

Suddenly, the walls of the huge stomach began to constrict; the fleshy walls writhed, pulsating violently in response to Tian Yu’s energy.

The ground beneath Meng Lin's feet quaked, and the air began to heat up, as if the creature itself was reacting to the growing conflict within.

Li Yu glanced around, assessing their surroundings. “If this creature becomes too agitated, we may find ourselves in a worse position than we are now. If we start a fight here, then you know what will happen, right?" Li Yu’s voice grew loud, turning toward the old man.

Tian Yu chuckled softly. "Oh. You seem to not understand something." He gestured to the walls, and suddenly, the pulsating flesh that was closing in on them stopped, and the heat in the air ceased increasing.

Meng Lin's eyes widened. "He's stopped the beast’s stomach!" she said. "Master, I think we need to—"

Before she could finish, Tian Yu made his move. He waved his hand lazily, the air shimmering as the space around them trembled. His primal qi surged into the formation of a technique.

Boom!

A blood-red aura erupted from Tian Yu’s fingertips, coiling into a giant serpent that erupted with a malicious aura. The serpent twisted and writhed, hungry for destruction as it locked eyes with the two.

Cough Cough

Meng Lin felt her qi stir, and she coughed up more; her chest began to sting as she felt her qi throb under the malicious gaze locked on her.

“The Sacred-grade item, give it to me,” Li Yu said, her voice calm yet nervous.

Meng Lin barely had time to think, instinctively pulling the Void-State Tablet from her inventory and handing it to her master.

As soon as Li Yu touched it, a surge of immense power radiated through the area. The Void-State Tablet was injected with primal qi, and its aura intensified.

In a blinding flash, Meng Lin found herself teleported 50 meters away, landing against the quivering flesh of the beast’s stomach. She looked up, breathless, her gaze filled with wonder.

Tian Yu’s eyes narrowed. 'A Sacred-grade item?' his thoughts echoed with slight irritation. 'And one that controls space; how inconvenient!'

'A mere Sacred-grade item would hardly trouble a being such as myself, who could tear apart space and use it to travel long distances, but...'

"Why are you quiet all of a sudden?" Li Yu asked with a smirk.

Tian Yu's expression darkened, his amusement fading. The confined space of the beast’s stomach made spatial manipulation impossible, yet now this feeble Sacred-grade item was a lethal factor, even for someone of his level.

It would take a long time for him to win if they use that sacred grade item, If he had even a tenth of his strength then he wouldn't have to worry, however after being confined in this stomach for thousands of years, his primal qi was all almost finished. He didn't want to be in any drawn out battle.

His gaze sharpened as he looked at the Void-State Tablet, now glowing with primal qi in Li Yu's hands; he slowly began to stand up from his seated position.

Seeing this, Li Yu wasted no time. Gripping the Void-State Tablet in one hand, her primal qi shifted into chaotic qi as she circulated the Brute Vortex Cultivation Method.

Boom!

The very air around Li Yu distorted as she utilized her Brute Vortex Cultivation Method, forming a swirling mass of brute qi around her.

Tian Yu’s eyes narrowed as he studied the vortex forming around Li Yu. "Brute Vortex Cultivation Method... It seems you're not as naive as I thought."

With a single motion, he sent his blood-red serpent forward. The serpent shot through the air in a blur, its jaws wide open, aiming to engulf Li Yu in one swift attack.

Li Yu’s eyes focused, and with a thought from her, the vortex around her disappeared as she raised her hand in a small motion.

Woosh!

A small tornado formed within her palm, crackling with the energy of brute qi. The tornado rapidly expanded, its aura surging as she directed it toward the oncoming serpent.

"Brute Vortex!" Li Yu shouted lightly, her voice faint in the small whirlwind toward the giant snake. The tornado grew in size, becoming a chaotic maelstrom that rumbled with a deafening noise.

Burst!!

The red serpent twisted as its eyes widened with primal instinct the moment the tornado collided with its body.

Boom!

The impact echoed through the stomach's walls, causing the stomach to tremble slightly as the whirlwind of chaos obliterated the serpent's form.

“Heh, not bad,” Tian Yu’s voice dripped with mockery, even as he raised an eyebrow at Li Yu’s unexpected display of power, after all an early-stage cultivator of the same realm was able to contend with a technique from him. “But can you withstand what comes next?”

As the remnants of his blood-red serpent faded into nothingness, Tian Yu touched his ring, and a small spiked ball materialized in his palm.

Li Yu’s expression shifted to one of scrutiny. “What is that?” she asked, sensing the potent danger emanating from the spiky ball.

Tian Yu chuckled, “Oh, this?” He held the spiked ball aloft, letting it catch the dim light. “It’s a lovely little trinket I picked up during my travels. A useless one that might finally prove to be useful now.”

In an instant, he vanished, moving faster than the eye could follow. The air around him whipped as he reappeared; however, instead of Li Yu, he appeared right above Meng Lin, his aura crackling with energy.

Before Meng Lin could grasp the situation, the space trembled once more, and she found herself teleported 50 meters again, appearing right under the massive bones of the dead Rank 8 beast.

In her original place, Li Yu appeared, already having her hand outstretched for an attack. However, as a small tornado began to form around her, the old man let out a small laugh. "I got you," he said.

Suddenly, the spiked ball in Tian Yu’s hand emitted a low hum, vibrating with energy as if it were alive. In an instant, the spiked ball erupted in a blinding flash, and an array of crystal spikes shot forth, darting toward Li Yu like deadly arrows.

“Vortex!” she shouted, conjuring a vortex of chaotic qi just in time. The spikes collided with her vortex, sending shockwaves through the confined space. The space around her trembled as she tried to use the Void-State Tablet, but to her shock, she couldn't teleport.

Puchi!!!

The spikes pierced through the chaotic vortex, finding their mark as they embedded themselves into Li Yu's chest, left arm, and shoulder, eliciting a pained gasp from her lips.

Li Yu staggered back, her eyes wide with shock and pain. The crimson spikes that had penetrated her flesh pulsed with an ominous energy.

Tian Yu’s laughter echoed through the creature's stomach. “You see, the beauty of this little trinket is that it not only disrupts spatial abilities, but it also disrupts your connection to your qi. You can’t use your brute qi now, can you?"

***

Meng Lin's heart raced as she watched her master stagger, the crimson spikes pulsing from her body. A deep sense of dread filled her, and she fought against the overwhelming urge to rush to Li Yu's side. Instead, she took a deep breath, focusing on the connection she still held within her spiritual consciousness.

As she was about to do something, she suddenly felt a fluctuation from her inventory. Opening the panel, she saw the slot that held the mysterious jade box vibrating, as if reacting to something.

Meng Lin was shocked, the jade box that, both senior sister Liu as well as the bandit leader we're looking for was finally responding to something.

She quickly pulled the jade box from her inventory and the moment it appeared, the jade box began to glow with an eerie, pulsating light.

The pulsating filled the entire space, casting an ominous glow over the fleshy walls of the whale’s stomach. Meng Lin's hand trembled as she held the box, and a strange force radiated from it, growing stronger with each passing moment.

Tian Yu’s attention shifted to the strange occurrence, his gaze towards the jade box, tried to inspect the item and found that he couldn't understand it, his gaze turned to curiosity as he spoke under his breath “What is that?"

Li Yu, still struggling with the spikes embedded in her body, managed to glance at the scene, recognition flashing in her eyes. “Meng Lin... That's…”

Before she could finish, the jade box suddenly erupted in a blinding flash of light. The energy surged outward, and the entire stomach of the beast began to tremble violently. The box seemed to be reacting to the corpse of the dead Rank 8 beast above.

Boom!

blood-red essence emerged from the bones all around Meng Lin as the remnant essence of the dead beast, long dormant, was suddenly drawn into the jade box like a torrent.

The box absorbed the residual essence, its glow intensifying with every second. The walls of the whale’s stomach convulsed, unable to handle the chaotic energy unleashed by the box until finally—

Crack!

A loud tearing sound echoed through the space as a massive hole opened up in the stomach. The whale's body violently reacted to the overwhelming force, and with one final shudder, the beast opened space and ejected everything within its stomach.

Meng Lin felt the world around her turning upside down as her body was thrown into the air, spinning uncontrollably before she was caught by an arm, steadying her fall.

Meng Lin gasped for air. The jade box in her hand had dimmed but still pulsed faintly with power. 

She looked around to see a vast expanse of the blood-red sea and the distant silhouette of the colossal Ancient Voidshroud Whale slowly sinking beneath the waves.

Tian Yu was nowhere to be seen, and her master was beside her, though her face was pale and strained. The crimson spikes were gone, but the toll of the attack was evident in her weary posture.

“Meng Lin!” Li Yu gasped, looking at the jade box with a mixture of complex emotions before finally speaking. "We have to first get out of here."

As she said that, the Void-State Tablet in her hand trembled as the surrounding space began to stretch and twist. The two of them were encased in a bright light before their figures slowly faded 

As the two were being teleported, they failed to notice the surrounding qi suddenly converge toward a certain direction, forming into a swirling vortex of energy around an old man in tattered robes, floating in the air.

"Hahaha! I am finally free! The convergence of energy is just so delightful!" Tian Yu's voice echoed, a mixture of happiness and relief.

His form was enveloped by a swirling mass of primal qi, its colors shifting and shimmering like a living tapestry. "To think that a mere mortal could provoke such a response from that beast. Fate is finally on my side"