Yellow Court Daoist

Southern Border.

At Moon-locking Pond in Long Di Mountain, a bright moon dazzles the eyes as a huge array engulfs the surroundings, with Lu Qingfeng seated at its center.

"Yu Mountain Sect."

"Sect Leader selection."

Lu Qingfeng's lips curl into a slight smile, "The three Ancestor Masters of the Yu Mountain Sect are indeed decisive."

Upon his ascension to Primordial Spirit, he immediately kills Jian Zhang, Gongsun Luan, and the Xunfeng Demon, mimicking the methods of the three great sects of the Ancient Shang Heavenly Court.

Demon Gods are skilled in transformations.

For one achieving Supreme Level with the "Twelve Heavenly Demon God Skill," it's not difficult to create true chaos out of falsehoods.

It's quite fortuitous that Yu Mountain Sect, shortly after he killed these three, began the selection for their Sect Leader.

If Lu Qingfeng's guess is correct—

"The position of Sect Leader must have already been predetermined."

Lu Qingfeng's smile grows even deeper.

Practitioners from the Ancient Shang infiltrate the Chunshen Nine Provinces, each cloaking their identities tightly, daring not reveal even a trace. The top talents in Heavenly Court and Dragon Palace do the same.

No one knows whether their identities, once disclosed, would be met with respect or hostility from the sects and Demon Sects of Chunshen Nine Provinces.

In such circumstances.

Even if Yu Mountain Sect wanted to pledge allegiance, it would be difficult to find someone of sufficient stature.

The various illusions that Lu Qingfeng had inadvertently or deliberately created thus became the only option for Yu Mountain Sect.

"But the specifics will have to wait until the results of the Sect Leader selection come out."

"Focus on this for now."

"Once the selection is settled, Blood Spring Demon Sect should also be planning ahead."

Lu Qingfeng muses and closes his eyes to cultivate, concentrating his energy on the Sect Leader selection of Yu Mountain Sect.

…

Thirty-four years later.

Atop Yu Mountain.

Lu Qingfeng stands with his hands behind his back, his luxurious brocade robe fluttering in the wind, his demeanor like that of an ethereal god.

His eyes, profound and deep, gaze towards Outer Heaven.

On each side of him stands a person.

To the left, a woman with a beautiful visage, wearing a crimson silk garment and a Furong Crown, her face cold.

This is Yun Luo.

To the right, a young, handsome Daoist whose eyes lock forward, as immovable as a mountain.

This is Ao Zhen, whom Lu Qingfeng had met when he apprenticed under Rong Hong, other than Yun Luo.

The three stand shoulder to shoulder, all gazing outwards.

In silence.

After an indeterminate amount of time.

Buzz!

A buzz resonates between heaven and earth. To those within it, all sides seem to tremble. On closer inspection, however, their forms have not shifted in the slightest.

The sensations are indeed peculiar.

Lu Qingfeng, Yun Luo, and Ao Zhen all immediately utter two words—

"It's here!"

Primordial Spirit practitioners, even those in Nourishing God Realm or Divinity Transformation Realm who have not yet truly transformed their divine souls, possess incredibly potent divine souls, extremely sensitive to any minute changes in the world.

The buzzing of heaven and earth.

The trembling of the void.

All three clearly feel the changing aether of heaven and earth. To describe it further, their Dao abilities are far too inadequate.

Yet a familiar, long-missed aura assaults them from the void, from all directions.

Taking a deep breath.

Their hearts and spirits refreshed.

"After seven hundred and forty-three years, we have finally reached this day."

Lu Qingfeng's eyes emit a Xuan Light.

He has waited too long for this day.

Counting the five hundred years his alter ego spent, it has been a grand total of over twelve hundred years.

After many schemes.

Now, at last, it's time to reap the rewards.

Outside Yu Mountain.

Chunshen Nine Provinces.

Across the boundless territories, those below the Primordial Spirit Level cannot sense the changes in heaven and earth. But one by one, Primordial Spirit practitioners feel it and look up to the sky.

Above the pinnacles of Nine Provinces and the Four Seas.

"Roar!"

The sound of roaring tigers and cheering dragons comes first.

Following are numerous golden pillars of light descending from the heavens, connecting heaven and earth.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Pillars fracture the clouds and thunder to the ground, with tremors seemingly shaking the very earth. Gazing at them, the height of the golden light exceeds tens of thousands of feet; the quantity of pillars, countless.

Amid the golden light.

Flags flutter. Generals in elaborate golden armor, surrounded by multi-colored halos, stout-bodied and wielding various weapons, stand ready. Behind these generals are densely packed armored soldiers.

Just like the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals.

Their numbers, unknown.

Their feet treading on golden light, on thousands of auspicious clouds, they cover West Hua State, West Origin State, and Chunshen State of Chunshen Nine Provinces.

"Upon the clouds spread a golden path."

"This is the Ancient Shang Heavenly Army!"

Lu Qingfeng and Ao Zhen look, and their pupils constrict simultaneously.

They recognize this as the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals under the command of Ancient Shang Heavenly Court.

Selected disciples from North Sea's "Jiuzhen Immortal Sword Sect," South Sea's "Green Sea Youxu Palace," and Jiushi Mountain's "Combat Heavenly Gate" serve as soldiers and generals.

Drawing forth warriors from all around Ancient Shang Region.

Finally forming the hundred thousand strong Heavenly Army of Ancient Shang Region, terrifying to the Demon forces.

For mere Primordial Spirit Level demons and great demons, dispatching one Heavenly General and three thousand Heavenly Soldiers could suffice for capture or killing.

This moment.

A staggering three hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers swept across, their might enough to dominate the universe.

From the direction of the Three Continents.

In West Hua State, mirage-like towers and buildings proliferated, with each Demon God, a thousand feet tall, shaking themselves up to the skies, walking the universe underfoot, treading on the land of West Hua.

Their number was eight thousand.

With a wave of their vast hands, a gale swept across, churning for thousands of miles.

"Mirage Demon Sect, Mirage Demon God."

Located in the Chunshen Nine Provinces, the Mirage Demon Sect is one of the four top-tier Demon Sects, specialized in illusions, adept at constructing layered illusions and beguiling the hearts of people. These Mirage Demon Gods are not born naturally nor nurtured by the earth, but rather, cultivated by the Mirage Demon Sect through profound secret techniques and complex arrays.

Countless life spirits are imprisoned within these arrays.

Some are tormented, others are lured.

Their various emotions are magnified to the extreme, and at the pinnacle, they are devoured by the Mirage Demon Gods.

Thus,

With every move of the Mirage Demon Gods, they could conjure illusions, rocking the hearts of people as their underlying strength.

It was the heritage that helped the Mirage Demon Sect anchor itself in West Hua State.

Now unleashed.

Eight thousand Mirage Demon Gods and a hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers engaged in combat.

A faint light flickered.

Layered illusions, either displaying mortal realms of Sword Mountains and Fire Seas or the peace of dancing and singing in Immortal Courts, spread across the sky like miraculous towers in a mirage.

Intending to engulf the Heavenly Soldiers.

But the Heavenly Soldiers were formidable.

A hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers formed great arrays, beams of light radiating chaotically, Magic Artifacts released, involving heaven's nets and earth's snares.

Boom, boom, boom!

The eight thousand Demon Gods appeared fierce, but upon clashing, they were clearly at a disadvantage, not a match for the Ancient Shang Heavenly Army.

"Ancient Shang Heavenly Army."

"Meet your doom!"

From within West Hua State, a roar reverberated heaven and earth.

Following that, five streaks of faint light shot up into the sky, enveloping heaven and earth, aiming to obliterate the hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers.

However—

"Heavenly Court's decree."

"Exterminate the wicked demons!"

Resounding Xuan Music.

Grand as bells and chimes.

From a golden pillar running through heaven and earth, Magic Swords, Thunder Seals, clubs, and more burst forth.

White light, jade light, golden light flashed.

A total of ten beams, clashing with those five streaks of faint light.

Lu Qingfeng and two others watched the chaotic flashes of various lights, disappearing beyond the outer skies, to a reckless display of power beyond the Chunshen Realm.

"Those five streaks of faint light must be the five True Immortal ancestors from West Hua State's Mirage Demon Sect."

"Golden light, jade light, white light."

"They are the powerful beings from the Fifth Realm of Ancient Shang Heavenly Court."

Lu Qingfeng's eyes sparkled deeply, piercing through the endless lights, observing the figures within. Memorizing each, a surge of emotions arose in his heart, "In West Hua State, the Mirage Demon Sect alone occupies five Great True Immortals. The Ancient Shang Heavenly Court has dispatched ten True Immortals from the Fifth Realm, paving a golden path forward, and with West Origin State and Chunshen State included, has the Ancient Shang Heavenly Court brought forth no less than thirty warriors from the Fifth Realm this time?"

Such a thought.

Truly daunting.

To know that if the Ancient Shang Heavenly Court could send more than thirty warriors from the Fifth Realm, adding those remaining in Ancient Shang Region, they might exceed fifty in number.

And the Ancient Shang Region was not solely dominated by the Heavenly Court.

Beyond the Heavenly Court.

There lay three Dragon Palaces, and the forces of demons.

By calculating thus, the True Immortal warriors of the entire Ancient Shang Region—

"Too many!"

"And."

"In the Immortal Qin Realm, beyond Ancient Shang there is eight more regions."

"If added together, the number of True Immortal warriors in the Immortal Qin Realm would not fall short of those in the Barbarian God Realm."

Lu Qingfeng thought of the three thousand six hundred deities arranged across the Heavenly Realm in the Barbarian God Realm, his vision piercing through the Heavenly Mechanism, observing the ten True Immortals of the outer heavenly court besieging the five True Immortals from the Mirage Demon Sect, their immense aura causing him slight eye pain.

Not daring to stare too long, he quickly averted his gaze.

Golden light dazzled across the Three Continents.

A hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers descended upon West Hua State, clashing with the Mirage Demon Sect.

A hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers descended upon West Origin State, clashing with the ruling leader of the Demon line in West Origin State called 'Golden Peng Mountain'. From within West Origin State, Golden Peng Ancestor led two Great True Immortal Demon Kings, battling the eight Great True Immortals of the Ancient Shang Heavenly Court beyond the skies.

Lastly, a hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers descended upon Chunshen State.

In Chunshen State, the Dukong Sect, one of the six great Immortal Sects ranked alongside Yu Mountain, had the Seven Ancestors of Dukong stirring immeasurable green lights, enveloping the entire Chunshen State, isolating the hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers outside.

The twelve True Immortals of the Ancient Shang Heavenly Court jointly moved, leading the Seven Ancestors of Dukong to battle beyond the skies.

Chaos erupted.

"Chunshen State, West Origin State, West Hua State are the three most accomplished and spirited states in the Chunshen Nine Provinces."

"Ancient Shang Heavenly Court has taken control in one breath—"

Lu Qingfeng looked at the chaotic battle across the three states, gaining clearer insights into Ancient Shang Heavenly Court.

Able to dominate half of the God Realm of the Ancient Shang Region, whether it be Shang River or the East Sea and West Sea Dragon Palaces, each on its own might hardly contend against it.

Yu Mountain.

A gentle breeze brushed against the face.

Yun Luo stared towards the three states to the west, her gaze subtly shifting, her eyebrows furrowing.

After a long pause.

Her gaze landed on Lu Qingfeng, her usually calm expression unusually showing annoyance and embarrassment.

Her expression changed.

She gritted her teeth, "You really aren't a disciple from Golden Light Ancestor Master!"

Lu Qingfeng, focused on the grand battle across the three states, suddenly heard Yun Luo's clear voice, slightly taken aback, "Senior sister wrongs me. I have never claimed to be a disciple under Golden Light Ancestor Master; where did this come from?"

Beside them, Ao Zhen listened, his eyes suddenly narrowing slightly, "Junior brother must be a disciple from underneath One Yuan Ancestor in the Jiuzhen Immortal Sword Sect."

Lu Qingfeng paused, pursed his lips, and smiled at Ao Zhen.

However, Yun Luo coldly huffed, "Under our teacher's lineage, there are seven disciples, myself being the last. Among forty-one named disciples, all of them are from the Fourth Realm or Fifth Realm."

"This—"

"You aren't from Yu Yao True Immortal Sect of the Jiuzhen Immortal Sword Sect?"

A sudden halt in Ao Zhen's words, as realization struck him. Pointing at Yun Luo, his eyes wide, he exclaimed, "Are you 'Little Sword Immortal' Su Mu—the seventh disciple taken by One Yuan Ancestor Master nine hundred years ago at the Beihai Coast?"