Stepping onto the Immortal Path.

For a Cultivator, so-called flesh wounds were basically harmless.

Even regenerating severed limbs or mending shattered organs was merely a troublesome flesh wound.

To a Cultivator, as long as an injury didn’t involve the source of one’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit, or damage to the Dantian, Meridians, or Divine Soul, it was essentially of no consequence.

But now, under this omnipresent pressure, he was afflicted in every one of those ways.

And moving forward would only make it worse.

’What exactly is this a test of?’

Chu Mu’s face was contorted in a grimace. The omnipresent pressure was even making his thoughts sluggish.

’Spiritual Radiance!’

He gritted his teeth, and the Spiritual Radiance Blessing descended upon him.

In this environment, the leap in his thinking and intellect wasn’t particularly useful.

Its greatest effect, perhaps, was to barely allow his fading consciousness to hold on to a shred of Spiritual Light.

He only knew there was no way back.

In his current state, retreating was pointless. Even if he went all the way back, there was no path that would lead him to the bottom of the lake.

There was only forward, one step at a time...

The unknown meant danger, but it also meant a chance at survival.

One step, then another...

Bloody footprints and crimson stains formed a sanguine path that stretched deeper and deeper into the white mist.

At some point, his consciousness blurred completely. He only felt that the white mist before him was no longer just mist, but an obstacle, a wall...

What it was no longer mattered.

He couldn’t see it clearly.

Neither his Divine Sense nor his naked eye could support him enough to perceive the outside world.

He only knew that what lay before him was finally no longer an endless illusion, but a tangible end...

He used the last of his strength to throw a punch, and the obstacle before him seemed to shatter instantly.

And then, the terrifying, omnipresent pressure instantly... vanished without a trace!

"HUFF... HUFF..."

Chu Mu collapsed weakly to the ground. He released his Divine Sense, feeling the utter mess of his body’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit as his blurry consciousness gradually returned.

Just as he began to survey his surroundings, the dense white mist visibly turned green and enveloped him in the blink of an eye.

He instinctively mobilized his Magical Power, but as the green mist surrounded him, a faint, cool sensation abruptly washed over his body.

’Healing?’

The Magical Power he had mobilized came to a halt. Chu Mu was slightly puzzled, but the wounds all over his body—from his Divine Soul to every inch of his physical form, inside and out—were healing at a rapid pace, making the mist’s effects perfectly clear.

Feeling this incredible healing effect, his Alchemist instincts took over, and his once-blurry consciousness instantly became crystal clear.

Chu Mu struggled to his feet. While letting the green mist heal him, he took out several Jade Bottles from his Storage Talisman and placed them around him.

Forcing himself to endure the pain, he activated his Divine Sense to make contact with the wisps of green mist gathering around him.

As the sensation of his Divine Sense touching and enveloping the mist filled his mind, he couldn’t hide his delight. Disregarding the damage to his Divine Soul, he used his Divine Sense to compress the wisps of green mist and seal them in the Jade Bottles.

It could so easily heal such severe damage to his Essence, Qi, and Spirit. Such an incredible healing effect...

At the very least, he had never seen a Tier One Elixir or a Tier Two Elixir capable of this.

Even the Soul Cleansing Pill, refined from several rare Spirit Medicines, could only cure the pollution of the Divine Soul.

Healing Elixirs in the Cultivation Immortal Realm were usually specialized, targeting a single aspect or even a sub-category, like healing Meridian damage or Dantian injuries.

But something like this green mist...

Only when the green mist began to fade, by which time he had already collected three Jade Bottles of it, did he shift his focus to perceive its miraculous effects.

The white mist had been an omnipresent pressure targeting his Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

And the green mist also targeted his Essence, Qi, and Spirit...

There was no injury it couldn’t heal!

Within his Divine Sense Perception, the wreckage that had been his body, inside and out, along with his Essence, Qi, and Spirit, had now, under the effects of the green mist, completely healed in just a few dozen breaths.

Moreover...

Chu Mu closed his eyes, sensing a profound feeling of Perfection welling up from deep within. Stemming from this feeling of Perfection, the opportunity for Foundation Establishment had become clearer than ever before.

It seemed this ordeal, much like his encounter with the two-headed giant snake, was a blessing in disguise, a case of breaking through after being broken...

Chu Mu wasn’t sure if this premonition was real, but the sense of Perfection originating from his Essence, Qi, and Spirit was exceptionally clear.

It was a feeling he had never experienced before.

Then, as if remembering something, he instinctively looked at the Light Curtain Panel in his vision.

[Name: Chu Mu.]

[Skill: Basic Blade Technique (Peak of Perfection) 10000/10000.

Fireball Skill (Returning to the Essence) 8653/10000...]

[Blazing Fire Technique: Level 13 (4000/4000)]

[Wild Bull Technique: Level 4 (4000/4000)]

[Alchemy: Body Tempering Pill: Peak of Perfection (1235/10000)...]

[Artifact Refining: Giant Divine Arm: Refined Skill (1236/5000), bamboo dragonfly: Refined Skill (4532/5000)...]

[Spiritual Radiance Value: 6532.6%]

Just as he expected. The Basic Blade Technique, Blazing Fire Technique, and Wild Bull Technique—the three that represented his Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

The Skill Levels for all three had broken past their previous limits, reaching a true state of... Perfection.

After a moment’s pause, he finally looked around.

The green mist, which could be called a healing Holy Medicine, dissipated, revealing a vast, empty space.

It was a grand hall, magnificent and unobstructed.

He was currently standing at the edge of the hall’s steps.

Behind him was the several-hundred-meter path he had just struggled across.

Before him were towering, majestic stairs.

The stairs seemed to be made of some kind of Spirit Jade, crystal clear and translucent. Down the center ran a sloped Jade Stone ramp carved with dragons and phoenixes, resembling a jade scroll unfurling upwards.

On either side were steps paved with Jade Stone and half-man-high Jade Stone handrails, also covered in all sorts of exquisite carved patterns.

Faintly, one could also see the shimmering of an Artifact Pattern Array Prohibition on the majestic staircase before him.

Looking further up, he saw the stone beams of the grand hall, and hanging high above was a pale green plaque.

"Immortal Dao Pavilion!"

The moment he looked at the plaque, three large, ancient characters, written in a flourishing and majestic script, seemed to leap into his vision like living things, searing themselves directly into his Divine Soul.

In that instant, he could almost see countless historical scenes emerging, flashing through his Divine Soul like a scroll painting.

But when he tried to look closer, it was as if he had seen nothing at all. Only a sense of profound history and the vicissitudes of time remained, exceptionally clear...

So clear... it seemed to be carved directly upon his Divine Soul.

"Immortal Dao Sect..."

Chu Mu murmured subconsciously. Everything seemed illusory, yet the three words "Immortal Dao Sect" had appeared in his mind with inexplicable clarity.

In other words, this Secret Realm had, in the distant past, been ruled by the Sect known as... the "Immortal Dao Sect."

The Immortal Dao Sect...

Seeking the Immortal Dao...

Chu Mu looked at the majestic stairs before him, took a deep breath, and stepped onto them...