"I have attained immortality through corporeal release, I will not die..."
The voice filled with unwillingness echoed in the dim cave.
The red light in the eyes of the bat demon dimmed, and its voice grew weaker. Its gaunt body rapidly shrank, finally turning into a hunched, desiccated corpse.
Completely devoid of life!
"Attained immortality through corporeal release?"
Lu Fei's eyes widened.
Shijie Xian is a type of Daoist immortal.
In ancient times, it was believed by some Daoists that there were three ranks of immortals: Tianxian (Heavenly Immortals), Dixian (Earthly Immortals), and Shijie Xian (Corpse-Release Immortals).
Among these, after a Daoist attained enlightenment, they could abandon their physical body to ascend as an immortal, or leave no physical remains, instead using an object as a substitute to depart the world and ascend to heaven. This process is called 'corpse release'.
An immortal who attains this state through corpse release is known as a Shijie Xian.
However, he had never seen a spirit or demon become an immortal through corpse release.
"Huh? Wait a minute!"
Lu Fei then noticed that there were more images in the mirror.
The old Daoist with a very weary appearance did not immediately disappear with the death of the bat demon, but was doing something.
"Could this be a scene from the old Daoist's life?"
Lu Fei perked up, staring fixedly at the bronze mirror.
The scenes played out one after another, like a person's life flashing before their eyes in their final moments.
The old Taoist, foreseeing his impending fate, made arrangements for his affairs and chose his own tomb beforehand.
He buried all of his treasured artifacts inside the tomb, restraining them with an eight-coffin array, keeping only one precious mirror to carry with him.
And he himself cultivated within the tomb, hoping to achieve immortality by shedding his mortal form before his fated time arrived.
Unfortunately, at the critical moment, a small bat flew into the tomb, disrupting everything.
He was not willing to accept this.
His obsession attached itself to the bat.
For years, he cultivated using the bat's body, but once again, his fated end approached.
Could it be that his fate truly could not be defied?
He hated it, he was not resigned!
Just as he was in despair, several tomb robbers broke in...
The scene ended there.
After a ripple, the bronze mirror returned to calm.
"So that's how it is!"
Through the images in the mirror, Lu Fei finally figured everything out.
That bat demon was not a real spirit, but became a creature that was neither fully a demon nor human, due to the dying resentment of the old Taoist that had attached to it.
And the bronze mirror, which was his personal treasure, had just recorded all of this.
"No matter how unwilling you are, you shouldn't borrow someone else's life span. With your narrow mind, even if given a hundred more chances, you still wouldn't be able to become an immortal!"
Lu Fei shook his head indifferently.
However, this mirror is a good treasure.
The character for longevity on the back of the bronze mirror fell off along with the bat patterns, turning into a character for return.
This is neither a longevity-lending mirror nor a soul-capturing mirror.
It's a reincarnation mirror!
It can reveal the true form of monsters and show a person's past life!
Such a magical treasure, there is likely only one in the world!
This time, I've really struck gold!
Lu Fei picked up the mirror and couldn't resist taking a look at his own face, but it only vaguely reflected his current appearance, without showing any scenes from his past life.
There must be certain conditions needed.
I'll study it in detail when I get back.
Lu Fei put away the bronze mirror.
At this moment, Xiao Hei, who was moving in a snake-like pattern, finally stumbled to his master.
"Xiao Hei, Little Umbrella, you've both worked hard."
Lu Fei bent down and picked up Xiao Hei, then turned to check on Luo Xingfa's condition.
His brain and internal organs should have been seriously injured by the sound waves, leaving him in a daze.
"Mr. Luo, wake up! I have good news for you; we've retrieved Hao Hao's lifespan!"
Lu Fei took out a bottle of mineral water and gave Luo Xingfa a few sips.
Upon hearing this, a glimmer of light returned to Luo Xingfa's eyes, and he gradually regained his spirits.
"R-really?"
"Absolutely true, the lifespan has returned to the child, so the monster is already dead!" Lu Fei smiled at him.
"Great! Great..."
Luo Xingfa was so moved that his eyes were filled with tears and his throat choked. Apart from these three words, he couldn't say anything else.
Lu Fei looked around but didn't see Luo Youliang's figure. That cunning old man must have taken the opportunity to slip away when they weren't paying attention.
He didn't blame Luo Xingfa. In this situation, it was enough just to survive.
Moreover, that old man Luo Youliang was already severely injured. With Master Xiang guarding outside, could he really get away?
Lu Fei wasn't in a hurry to find him.
"You rest for a bit."
He patted Luo Xingfa on the shoulder and went to deal with the bat demon's corpse.
The bat demon wasn't a true spirit monster, so it had no inner dan, and there was nothing useful about its body.
Lu Fei felt some regret. He lit a fire to burn the monster's corpse.
The dim firelight illuminated the dark cave.
"Hmm, what's that?"
Lu Fei inadvertently noticed something twinkling faintly on the ground deep inside the cave.
He rushed over with excitement, only to find that it was just bat guano.
However, it was larger than the other droppings, likely from a bat demon.
Just as Lu Fei was about to curse his bad luck, he suddenly remembered something, and his eyes lit up instead.
"Wait!"
"Bat guano is also known as night-bright sand, which has the effect of improving eyesight. Could this bat demon's night-bright sand be even more potent?"
He quickly found a sealed bag and scooped up the entire pile of faintly glowing bat guano.
Discovering another evil object improved his mood significantly.
After tidying up, he then supported Luo Xingfa to his feet.
"Mr. Luo, if you can still hold on, we should go out now. After all, it's an ancient tomb; the longer we stay, the worse it is for our health."
Moreover, after just setting a fire, the oxygen in the cave was also decreasing.
"I can do it! I've made it through the most dangerous times, and now Hao can live again. Even if I have to crawl, I will crawl back!" Luo Xingfa was quite tenacious. He wiped the blood from his nose, supported himself against the wall, and slowly made his way out, trembling as he went.
"Good!"
Lu Fei couldn't help but feel admiration.
It's often said that a mother's love is powerful, but isn't a father's love equally so?
The return journey was very smooth.
Occasionally, they encountered a few lone bats, which would flee in panic at the sight of them.
However, when passing by the eight bronze coffins in the center of the tomb, the two still chose to walk around them.
Although the bat demon is dead, this mechanism is still in place.
It turns out that beneath the eight bronze coffins were all the treasures the old Taoist had accumulated in his lifetime.
The pupae, standing in a circle and holding weapons, stared at them with hollow eyes, as if to say, 'Do not come any closer!'
Lu Fei turned back and took one last deep look.
Since the old Taoist even had such a good thing as the Mirror of Reincarnation, his other treasures must be no less valuable.
If I ever get the chance, I will definitely take everything down there!
"Let's go, Mr. Luo."
Lu Fei supported Luo Xingfa and prepared to return the way they came, to find the original tunnel they entered through.
At that moment.
A small pebble was suddenly thrown from a distance and landed right in front of one of the pupae.
Clank, clank, clank!
The ground beneath the corpse pupae suddenly began to turn, and a series of waxen yellow faces were all facing Lu Fei and the other person.
"The mechanism has been triggered?!"
Greatly alarmed, Lu Fei grabbed Luo Xingfa and hastily rushed towards the entrance.
Luo Xingfa felt that his legs no longer belonged to him; he was just instinctively and mechanically dragged along by Lu Fei as they ran.
Clank, clank, clank!
The ground beneath them seemed like rotating discs, continuously turning and bringing the eerie group of corpse pupae swiftly towards them!