Chapter 9: The Ruthless Immortal Mansion! Second Update

  "Brother..." Tang Xiao Feng arrived at the thirty-third Star Platform, looking worried. "Ever since you returned to visit your relatives in September, you mysteriously disappeared. Father said you went to the Great Demon Mountain to find the ancient cave mansion. I've been there twice, but couldn't find any trace of you inside."

  "Where on earth are you?"

  "Is it going to be buried in the ruins?"

  Tang Xiaofeng's teeth lightly bit her lower lip, and her eyes sparkled with crystal tears. During Tang Lin's disappearance, she sought out Master Chu to come out, but none of them had any news about Tang Lin. With Tang Lin's three-year period at the Seven Stars Martial Arts Academy coming to an end, if he didn't appear, it would mean automatic disqualification.

  Tang Xiaofeng didn't care about these things. As long as Tang Lin appeared safely in front of her, she was grateful to heaven and earth. The rest didn't matter at all.

  As long as Tang Lin is alive!

  ……

  Longxiang City west, Dayao Mountain.

  Inside the Eighteen Flags Illusory Formation, in a pitch-black space.

  Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

  Eighteen figures flashed through the dark space, and among them stood a purple-robed youth with disheveled black hair, his clothes in tatters, and a dirty face, but beneath which shone a pair of sharp, bright eyes.

  Eighteen banner spirits, coming from all directions.

  Some banner spirits displayed the "Unity of Heaven and Man" technique, some displayed the Seven Stars Sword Technique's first layer, some displayed the second layer, and some were able to display the third layer.

  There are banner spirits that display "Ten Illusory Bodies", and some that display "Hundred Illusory Bodies". The remaining banner spirits display techniques such as "Mighty Dragon" and "Pure Yang Single Sword".

  In the midst of these flag spirits, Tang Lin gazed at the countless figures rushing towards him, especially the one that had unleashed "Hundred Illusory Bodies". His eyes flashed, his body flickered slightly, and instantly over a hundred Tang Lins appeared throughout the scene.

  More than a hundred Tang Lins rushed towards those flag spirits.

  Boom boom boom...

  Some banners were instantly punched into mist by Tang Lin, disappearing in the dark space. Only a few banners that could face Tang Lin head-on had learned "Baixuan Body", "Shihun Body" and several sword techniques of Qixing Sword.

  "Ever since two months ago, I, Infinite Starry Sky, broke through to the Hundred Illusory Body Realm with my body technique and gave birth to this Hundred Illusory Body Flag Spirit. Now, all eighteen flag spirits have emerged."

  "Xiao Hui once said, 'The key to breaking an array lies in breaking the array's eye!'"

  "Any formation has a formation eye. After such a long observation, I have clearly seen Tang Lin's formation eye. As long as the eighteen flag spirits are defeated at the same time, the formation can be broken!"

  Tang Lin's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he deployed his Body Technique and the "Hundred Illusory Bodies" flag spirit to engage in a fierce battle. The other flag spirits continued to attack and harass Tang Lin from all sides.

  At this time, the first flag spirit that was crushed and shattered by Tang Lin immediately recondensed from the pitch-black space and came charging at Tang Lin with great vigor.

  Tang Lin performed the Heaven-Man Unity Body Method, his body seemingly merged with heaven and earth as one.

  "If my body technique can break through again, I can break open the formation!" Tang Lin said while swimming and fighting, feeling the subtlety of his body technique.

  Every move and action is in accordance with the heavenly principle.

  Whoosh!

  Tang Lin's body flashed, and he suddenly felt a wave of unbearable hunger in his abdomen.

  "As a warrior, I can defy the heavens, but now, after who knows how many months, my stomach really can't take it anymore." Tang Lin silently lamented.

  Suddenly, his mind seemed to flash with a burst of inspiration.

  Go against the will of heaven?

  Tang Lin was taken aback for a moment. His father's words, which had been taught to him since he was young, echoed in his ears: "A martial artist must contend with heaven for his life, and must strive tirelessly!"

  Self-improvement never ends!

  Defy the laws of nature!

  Tang Lin suddenly seemed to have an epiphany.

  Although he had known this principle before, he had been in a state of exercise recently, and at this moment, the idea came to him like a sudden enlightenment.

  "Air is water, I am fish."

  "There are rules for water, if you want to swim fast, you must follow the rules of the water!"

  "Heaven and man in one, is to follow the heavenly principle!"

  "Going against the current, it is naturally slow."

  "But martial arts training is like rowing a boat upstream; if you don't move forward, you'll drift backward. I'm already going against the current, why should I go with the flow?"

  Tang Lin seemed to suddenly realize a deeper state in martial arts.

  At first when he reached the state of unity between heaven and man, he gained insight into two states of mind, the harmonious and the reverse, and in that realization, he seemed to touch a layer of truth.

  Now he finally understands that going with the flow is just basic, while going against it is truly profound.

  "Reverse, is not against the rules, but 'use' of the rules!"

  "In the past, I thought it was against the rules of nature, which is equivalent to going against heaven. It won't work naturally, just like practicing martial arts. Although it's about competing with heaven for one's life, it's not about going against heaven, but rather 'utilizing' the will of heaven!"

  "Heaven's decree is that human life shall last but a hundred years. Yet it also decrees that all things have potential, and only need to be tempered to bring out their potential."

  "The Heavenly Way has fifty chapters, but only forty-nine are flourishing; all things leave a thread of life intact."

  "Using rules is using life."

  Tang Lin combined his extensive reading of martial arts books and the lectures he heard at the Seven Star Martial Arts Academy, suddenly having a great epiphany, immediately grasping the meaning of that layer of "reversal".

  At the moment when Tang Lin was in a state of enlightenment, the "Hundred Illusory Bodies" flag spirit saw that his eyes were drifting and seemed to be distracted. It immediately sneaked behind him and suddenly exerted its body technique, punching Tang Lin's back with a vicious fist.

  Tang Lin's physical speed was the same as that of the Bai Huan Shen Qi, but at this moment, he was caught off guard and didn't have time to dodge. However, just as the fist was about to land, Tang Lin's body cleverly swayed slightly, avoiding the powerful blow by a hair's breadth.

  All flags were shocked.

  Just then, Tang Lin raised his head, the solemn expression on his face disappeared, and a faint smile appeared, as if he saw the smile of the clouds opening and the moon shining.

  Whoosh!

  Tang Lin's body flashed slightly, and all the flag spirits didn't see clearly, only to see Tang Lin's body suddenly appear behind them.

  One man, one punch.

  Boom boom boom boom...

  The eighteen flags suddenly dissipated into mist and collapsed.

  Tang Lin looked up at the sky and let out a long whistle. His body shot up into the air, like a rainbow that pierced through the dark space.

  Boom!

  The eighteen banners unfolded and spread out.

  In front of Tang Lin, he returned to the Great Demon Mountain again. A faint demonic aura filled the air, looking so familiar. In front of him, the black little wolf's head spun eighteen flags, all shrinking and falling along its head, disappearing directly into its body.

  The little black wolf's eyes were filled with shock, and he looked up and down at Tang Lin for a long time before nodding his head: "Just nine months to comprehend the realm of transcending the ordinary and entering sainthood, it's rare, truly rare!"

  "Nine months?" Tang Lin heard this and felt a sense of relief in his heart, secretly thinking: "Father and Second Sister must be worried about me too."

  The little black wolf looked at Tang Lin and said: "Although it was unexpected, you passed the assessment. From today on, you are the official second master of the Ruthless Immortal Mansion!"

  "Ruthless Immortal Mansion?" Tang Lin looked at the black giant door behind it, "It turns out that this ancient relic cave mansion is called Ruthless Immortal Mansion."

  "Take out the key." The black little wolf said to Tang Lin, "I need to start the immortal mansion first. Recently, many powerful demons have appeared in the Great Demon Mountain. During this time, there were also two saints, fortunately they were both low-level and were directly deceived by my illusion, otherwise, they would have really discovered the immortal mansion."

  Tang Lin was taken aback, his heart stirred, and he said: "This Dahu Mountain has always been a place where people rarely come, could it be that the Seven Stars Martial Arts Hall has learned of my disappearance and sent someone to look for me?"

  Thinking in his heart, Tang Lin took out the mysterious painting and handed it over to the little black wolf.

  Although it was still unclear what the identity of this little black wolf was, Tang Lin knew that with its strength, it would be easy to deal with himself, and there was no need to deceive himself.

  The little black wolf held the painting scroll with its paws and walked towards the pitch-black giant gate. Tang Lin followed in its direction, only to see that on this pitch-black giant gate, there was a small recess, which looked exactly the same as the painting scroll in size and shape.

  The little black wolf solemnly placed the painting in the recess, and the world seemed to be silent.

  Rumble...

  The ancient and eternal black giant gate slowly opened, as if another world was slowly opening up to Tang Lin.

  The little black wolf said to Tang Lin: "Follow me." and led the way into the pitch-black giant gate.

  Tang Lin's eyes flashed and he followed it into its lair.

  All that can be seen is that this emotionless immortal mansion's first floor is a huge great hall, inlaid with stone beads the size of fists, shining brightly and clearly.

  Above the grand hall is a majestic and domineering throne.

  The little black wolf saw this pitch-black throne and was excited, choking with sobs: "Master..."

  Tang Lin looked at it strangely, could it be that on that pitch-black throne, its master had sat before?

  Unfortunately, the throne is intact, but its master is no longer here.

  The black little wolf's emotions were somewhat agitated, and it took a long time to calm down. It turned its head to look at Tang Lin, and the dark eyes sparkled with deep light, saying: "Now, you are the second master of Wuqing Xianfu, I am the guardian beast of Wuqing Xianfu, my name is 'Hei Mo'."

  "Hei Mo......" Tang Lin muttered to himself, committing the name to memory.

  "Since the great war countless years ago, after the master fell, the immortal mansion suffered heavy losses. I carried the master's last words and fell into a deep sleep, until ten thousand years ago, when I gradually woke up, but my strength has not fully recovered yet."

  "For ten thousand years..." The Dark Demon was immersed in his memories, saying: "I left the key to the immortal mansion outside, waiting for its second master. However, this place is really too remote. Over the course of ten thousand years, although some people have come here, those who have grasped the 'Seven Extremes Sword' are only a handful of four."

  "These four people, not one of them is useful, until you appeared." Hei Mo raised his head and looked at Tang Lin, saying: "Although your current strength is too low, your comprehension is not bad. With my assistance in the future, there's still hope for you to inherit Master's legacy."

  Tang Lin seemed to be thinking deeply and said, "If this mysterious painting is the key to opening the immortal mansion, why was I able to take it away in the first place? What if I didn't come back?"

  Hei Mo was taken aback, his expression immediately somewhat awkward, and said: "This mysterious painting, I've always kept it outside the immortal mansion, waiting for someone with fate... Generally, whoever takes it away, I will definitely show up... That day, cough, that day I had something to do, wasn't here..."

  Tang Lin said strangely: "Why not here?"

  Hei Mo coughed and said awkwardly, "You know, after such a long time, I'm at least a wolf. In the prosperous and peaceful times of the past, I was a charming little black wolf in a sea of flowers... How to put it, one has to solve the basic needs of life, right?"

  Tang Lin was taken aback.

  ……

  Update 2 is here, brothers! Asking for votes, are there any? Are there?! Just a little bit more and we'll reach 5000 recommended votes~~~