Chapter 1016: Crisis Approaching
Chapter 1016: Crisis Approaching
The Void Dao Seed condensed.
For Fang Xi, this was a pleasant surprise.
However, after a brief moment of joy, he once again immersed himself in cultivating the 'Hunyuan Immortal Seal'.
This would be an inconceivable feat for many Immortals.
True Immortals possessed endless lifespans, mostly caring only for longevity and carefree living.
But Fang Xi was different from these Immortals with bleak prospects.
Neither his magical power nor his laws had ever encountered a bottleneck; he was surging forward at a terrifying speed.
Deep in his heart, the karmic ties of the All-Heavens Precious Mirror and the Withered Glory Immortal Palace made it difficult for him to truly stop.
Besides, his main body had already enjoyed life; shouldn't his other three External Avatars strive harder?
Time passed, an unknown duration.
Fang Xi suddenly opened his eyes.
Within his Nascent Soul, numerous 'Hunyuan Immortal Seals' floated and sank, having surprisingly broken through another barrier!
“My Nascent Soul should now be on par with a Heavenly Immortal. ”
Fang Xi sensed it, quite pleased. “At least the secret art for an Earth Immortal Nascent Soul to advance to a Heavenly Immortal has no major issues. . . As for the subsequent immortal essence of a Golden Immortal, that still requires further refinement. ”
Just as he was about to press on and thoroughly perfect this secret art,
A transmission talisman suddenly shot towards his door.
“Hmm? ”
Fang Xi rose, retracted his Nascent Soul, and with a casual flick of his hand, a clear light swept over him, leaving him truly spotless, like a celestial being. He stepped out of his cave abode.
“Master. . . ”
Outside the cave abode, the boyish Fang Xian stood bowing. “Xu Qing Xian Ren seeks an audience! ”
“Oh? He's reached Great Ascension? ”
Fang Xi glanced at Fang Xian's cultivation and nodded.
“Indeed, disciple felt my accumulation was sufficient earlier and broke through the Great Ascension bottleneck naturally, without using any breakthrough pills. . . ”
Fang Xian replied respectfully.
If cultivators from the Earthly Immortal World heard such a reply, they would likely be ashamed to death.
However, this Fang Xian was not only an Immortal Wood Spirit Root, but also had the most suitable 'Ginseng Fruit Tree' as his Life-Bound Spirit Plant. Coupled with the extraordinary 'Withered Glory Chant' he cultivated, a legacy of the Withered Glory Immortal Palace,
As long as his Myriad Wood Mother Qi accumulation was sufficient, breaking through realms below the Immortal stage was indeed a natural process.
“Not bad. . . It seems in ten thousand years, I'll have another Earth Immortal under my tutelage. ”
Fang Xi nodded, showing great approval.
Perhaps in the future, when he traveled, he would have an Immortal Child leading the way—now that was style!
Fang Xian, however, remained neither humble nor overbearing. He followed Fang Xi to the reception hall and then poured tea for Xu Qing Xian Ren.
“Little Fang Xian, you are truly diligent and have advanced so quickly to Great Ascension; this is truly excellent. . . ”
Xu Qing Xian Ren smiled and took out a dark jade bottle. “This bottle contains three 'Nine Heavens Thunder Marsh Pills'. After consuming them, they can reduce the power of the Great Ascension thunder tribulation by a few portions. Consider them my gift as an Uncle-Master. ”
Although it was only a reduction of a few portions of power, less than one-tenth,
For some Great Ascension cultivators, even a slight reduction in the power of an immortal thunder tribulation could mean the difference between life and death!
Fang Xian saw such precious pills, but did not accept them, looking instead at Fang Xi.
“Excellent, excellent. This 'Nine Heavens Thunder Marsh Pill' should be refined using the scales of the Immortal Beast 'Lei Ze' as the main material, with a 'Lightning Transformation Immortal Fruit' and various auxiliary materials. . . It is truly extraordinary. Since he's giving it to you, accept it. ”
Fang Xi waved his hand, telling Fang Xian to accept the gift, and then thanked Xu Qing Xian Ren.
He had a good personal relationship with this Immortal, having interacted frequently since their last shared mission.
“Xu Qing, you never come without a reason. Your visit this time must be for something important. ”
After three cups of tea, Fang Xi laughed.
“This time it's a great matter. ”
Xu Qing Xian Ren said with a smile, “Daoist friend, have you heard of the North Star Immortal Palace's 'Myriad Immortals Gathering'? ”
“Myriad Immortals Gathering? ”
Fang Xi's eyes flickered as he recalled a record in an ancient text: “A grand celebration held by the North Star Immortal Palace only once every ten thousand years? It’s said that not only Immortals from the North Star Immortal Domain but also cultivators from the Western Paradise Profound World and the Vast Sea Immortal Domain will arrive. It's truly a grand assembly of myriad Immortals. . . ”
Although once one became an Immortal, one gained eternal life,
Within the vast North Star Immortal Domain, after countless years of accumulation, the number of True Immortals barely exceeded ten thousand.
Firstly, becoming an Immortal was extremely difficult; many Great Ascension cultivators found it impossible to touch this bottleneck and quietly perished.
Secondly, Immortals often enjoyed traveling the four seas, and after becoming Immortal, they frequently migrated to more prosperous Immortal Domains.
Fang Xi only learned after becoming an Immortal that both south and north of the North Star Immortal Domain led to even larger territories.
Only Immortals had the confidence to pass through; most Immortals with aspirations of becoming Dao Monarchs almost always headed to these two forbidden regions after reaching a bottleneck in the North Star Immortal Domain.And thirdly, while Immortals lived forever, many still perished in battles, during exploration of secret realms, or even from cultivation deviation while practicing secret arts.
All these factors contributed to the True Immortal population of the North Star Immortal Domain maintaining only a very slow growth rate over countless years.
Therefore, to gather over ten thousand True Immortals in the North Star Immortal Domain was truly an event of immense scale.
“The North Star Immortal Palace is holding the Myriad Immortals Gathering mainly to promote its own immortal treasures and to attract outstanding Immortals. . . ”
Xu Qing Xian Ren said, “Our Fengyuan Chamber of Commerce, as a major merchant guild in the North Star Immortal Domain, will also take this opportunity to conduct business. This time, the former sect master, Yu Xiu, is leading the team, so the journey will be very safe. Daoist friend, would you like to go? ”
“This. . . ”
Fang Xi thought for a moment, then replied immediately, “Of course, I’ll go join the fun. Coincidentally, my little disciple has broken through to Great Ascension, so I’ll try to procure a 'Nascent Soul Pill' as a congratulatory gift. ”
The Nine Heavens Thunder Marsh Pill could only weaken a single immortal thunder tribulation by a few portions of its power.
But the 'Nascent Soul Pill' could allow a Great Ascension cultivator to quickly refine their Nascent Soul!
Once the Nascent Soul was formed, the power of all thunder tribulations during the Great Ascension stage would plummet!
In terms of value, it naturally far surpassed the 'Nine Heavens Thunder Marsh Pill'.
Even the 'Fengyuan Chamber of Commerce', though it could produce one periodically, required immense human and material resources and effort. It was not something Fang Xi, as a newly joined Immortal, could easily acquire.
Even if he could, it would require extremely high contribution points.
Therefore, when he said he planned to buy one at the Myriad Immortals Gathering, Xu Qing Xian Ren found it perfectly reasonable.
“Your disciple is fortunate. According to custom, at the end of such a Myriad Immortals Gathering, there will be a grand auction, and no less than ten 'Nascent Soul Pills' will be put up for sale. . . As long as you have enough Immortal Jade, you should be able to achieve your wish. ”
Xu Qing Xian Ren said with a faint smile.
Only Fang Xian secretly rolled his eyes.
He naturally knew that his Master always emphasized solid foundations and had no intention of letting him consume a Nascent Soul Pill.
This 'Nascent Soul Pill,' who knew for whom it was actually intended. . .
...
Chirp!
High in the sky, a phoenix cry suddenly resounded.
Amidst drifting immortal music, a magnificent procession, seemingly slow but moving swiftly, swept across the firmament.
Leading the chariots were none other than rare birds and exotic beasts such as phoenixes, green luans, swans, true dragons, and qilins.
In other Middle Thousand Worlds, there were naturally also bloodlines of phoenixes, qilins, and other demon beasts.
But among these immortal birds and rare beasts that grew up in the True Immortal World, there were not a few that could contend with Immortals, yet at this moment, they were merely pulling chariots as laborers.
Two rows of immortal-graced boys and girls each held palace fans, lanterns, incense burners. . . clearing the way ahead.
Behind them was a colossal white jade carriage.
This carriage was exquisitely beautiful, and its interior space was incredibly vast, having been refined into a miniature cave-heaven!
One must know that most cultivators below the Great Ascension stage in this world were still painstakingly using 'Item-Storing Talismans'.
Void treasures were no small matter; they were extremely precious even to Immortals.
Within the cave-heaven, inside a magnificent and expansive palace,
Countless beauties and musicians danced gracefully, while the tables were laden with dazzling delicacies and various rare foods.
At the very top sat a purple-robed Daoist.
His face appeared very young, with a full forehead, earlobes like pearls, and eyes as warm as jade, exuding an aura of extreme nobility.
“Reporting to Dao Child, we have already crossed the 'Myriad Golden Thunder Sea' and entered the North Star Immortal Domain! ”
At this moment, an Immortal Child below bowed and reported.
“How could Zi Yin Dao Zi, with his esteemed status, condescend to visit this small place? If there are any instructions, just let me handle them. . . ”
Below, a burly man dressed in a beast-skin robe, with myriad beast tattoos on his body, laughed.
This purple-robed Daoist was none other than Zi Yin Dao Zi, the beloved disciple of the Yin Yang Dao Venerable of Tongtian Palace, just one step away from merging with the Dao to become a Dao Monarch!
“Precisely. . . Dao Child, just give us your orders, and we will carry them out. ”
Another Immortal at the table had a somewhat fawning smile.
Though it was a deliberate act, Zi Yin Dao Zi was still very satisfied.
To be able to make even immortal beings humble themselves like this clearly demonstrated the weight of his authority, causing a slight smugness to surface in his heart, and a smile to appear on his face: “It's just a small matter. Earlier, the 'Nine Dragons Withered Glory Immortal Instrument' showed an anomaly, indicating that a remnant who ascended to immortality by cultivating a technique from the Withered Glory Immortal Palace must exist in the lower realms. . . However, after issuing inquiries, the various Immortal Palaces found no trace after detailed investigation. . . ”
“Could they have snuck in? But the True Immortal World is not comparable to ordinary worlds. It's easy for a Small Thousand World cultivator to sneak into a Middle Thousand World, but for a Middle Thousand World cultivator to sneak into the True Immortal World is almost impossible due to the immense power of the void laws. . . ”
A scholarly Immortal smiled. “In my humble opinion, perhaps the corresponding Middle Thousand World has been lost contact with for a long time and lacks a corresponding 'Immortal Cleansing Pool', possibly resulting in them ascending to a barbaric desolate region. . . In such a place, even Immortals might perish, so even if there are remnants, they wouldn't live long. . . ”
“Perhaps so. . . ”
Zi Yin Dao Zi smiled. “For some reason, that remnant cannot be divined. . . Afterwards, I carefully deduced with the 'Nine Dragons Withered Glory Immortal Instrument' and determined that the region corresponding to this person's ascension should be this area. We have already visited the Western Paradise Profound World, and now that we are in the North Star Immortal Domain, if we still find nothing, we shall proceed to the Vast Sea Immortal Domain. . . ”
“Zi Yin Dao Zi tirelessly works for Tongtian Palace; surely Dao Venerable will be greatly pleased. ”
The Immortals immediately flattered him, secretly thinking: “When we stayed overnight at the Buddhist mountain that day, the female Bodhisattvas under the Worldly Self-Attained Wisdom King Buddha were truly benevolent and possessed profound Zen teachings. I wonder what kind of hospitality awaits us in the North Star Immortal Palace? ”
(Note: "Nine Heavens Thunder Marsh Pill" was chosen over "Nine Mysterious Thunder Lake Pill" based on the gloss's naming style of "Little Thunder Talisman" (Little Thunder Talisman), "Goldlight Cover Talisman" (Golden Light Cover Talisman), and the context of thunder tribe. "Nine Heavens" often translates as "Nine Heavens". "Lei Ze" is a mythical swamp/marsh creature that generates lightning. )
(Self-correction: "Nine Xuan Lei Ze Dan" -> "Nine Heavens Thunder Marsh Pill" is a good translation, as '玄' can mean profound/mysterious, and '雷泽' (Lei Ze) is a mythical marsh that often gives birth to thunderous creatures. So "Thunder Marsh" reflects the origin and "Nine Heavens" the grade.)
(Self-correction 2: The glossy translations "Master Jiuxuan" as "Jiu Xuan Shang Ren". "Jiuxuan Lei Zedan" is not in the glossy directly. I'll stick to "Nine Heavens Thunder Marsh Pill" as it sounds more like a pill name and fits the mythical creature origin implied by "Lei Ze". "Nine Profound Thunder Marsh Pill" is also an option, but "Nine Heavens" feels more literary and common in webnovels for high-level items. )
(Self-correction 3: "Yuanshen" is used multiple times. In cultivation novels, "Primordial spirit" can refer to the "Nascent soul" (the core spiritual entity at that stage) or a more general "primordial spirit" or "divine soul". Given "Nascent Soul Pill" (Nascent Soul Pill) is a pill that helps form the Nascent Soul, it's consistent. "Nascent Soul" for the entity and "Nascent Soul" for the stage often overlapped in these novels. I'll use "Nascent Soul" when referring to the core spiritual entity for consistency with the pill and stage. "Divine consciousness" is "divine consciousness", not "primordial spirit". So "my Nascent Soul" is appropriate for "my Nascent Soul".
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