Chapter 408 – Entering Nine Realms, Seeking Longevity

Nine Luminaries Celestial Capital, outside the Sanctuary.

As the starry sky that filled the heavens gradually faded away,

The Heavenly Capital had now returned to its original appearance.

“It seems matters are reaching a conclusion…”

The Saturn Star Lord witnessed this scene and understood that this upheaval affecting the entire Nine Luminaries Celestial Capital would soon come to an end.

However, whether this great change would prove beneficial or detrimental to them remained uncertain.

The anxiety born from such uncertainty was undoubtedly tormenting.

Especially for those like them who held high positions as Star Lords.

Yet among them, some remained completely indifferent to the potential changes that might occur within the Heavenly Capital.

First was Jupiter Star Lord Hua Ling, and second was Sun Star Lord Xiao.

The former, due to her formidable strength, harbored no concern that these events would bring any significant change to her circumstances.

Moreover, she was one of the few Star Lords privy to the truth about the Sanctuary.

Thus, she clearly understood that those capable of influencing the Heavenly Capital had always been the Sanctuary.

However, whether the emergence of an Eternal would alter this dynamic was something even Hua Ling couldn’t guarantee.

This was precisely why she had initially opposed Lu Chen coming to the Heavenly Capital so soon.

But after witnessing Lu Chen’s strength and the extraordinary abilities he displayed,

Hua Ling felt her worries might have been unnecessary.

Given Lu Chen’s performance, it was unclear whether the Heavenly Capital would assist him or he would assist the Heavenly Capital.

As for Xiao’s similarly composed demeanor,

The reason was rather straightforward.

Simply carefree.

Or as commonly said… lacking in cunning.

Meanwhile, outside the Celestial Sanctuary, Lu Chen had returned to that brilliant sea of stars.

Although he hadn’t spent much time within the Sanctuary,

In just this brief period, he had learned many things.

Whether it was the aftermath of the war between realms or the competition between Immortals and Otherworldly Immortals,

All provided Lu Chen with a clearer judgment of the future situation.

Beyond these, Lu Chen gained another reward.

After this visit to the Sanctuary, he obtained an immensely useful Divine Ability and a Celestial Artifact perfectly suited to it.

[Divine Ability: Nine Luminaries Fiend Binding Art]

[Realm: Fifth Realm Immortal Method]

[Effect: Using heaven and earth as a cage, the sun, moon, and stars as locks, capable of sealing the True Spirit of all things]

[Name: Longevity Sword]

[Grade: Fifth Realm Celestial Artifact]

[Effect: Can consume the user’s lifespan to wield this sword; the more lifespan consumed, the greater the power]

[Description: Eternals, thieves of the Dao, are tolerated only by heaven and earth]

Without the ‘Nine Luminaries Fiend Binding Art,’ the Longevity Sword would merely be a decent Celestial Artifact to Lu Chen.

But with the ‘Nine Luminaries Fiend Binding Art,’ the Longevity Sword’s utility was amplified infinitely.

For while the Longevity Sword appeared to be a sword, in reality, it was a manifestation of a realm.

A special Celestial Artifact refined through the combined efforts of numerous Immortals.

In a sense, the Longevity Sword itself was a miniature world.

And to seal True Spirits with the Nine Luminaries Fiend Binding Art, Lu Chen required a ‘cage.’

Currently, Lu Chen possessed only two suitable cages.

One was the Soul-Suppressing Bell, and the other was the Longevity Sword.

Among them, the Soul-Suppressing Bell was still only a half-step Celestial Artifact.

It sufficed for imprisoning ordinary Otherworldly Immortals.

But against powerful Otherworldly Immortals, it fell somewhat short.

The Longevity Sword, however, was different.Because the Longevity Sword could even seal Otherworldly Immortals of the True Immortal level.

Of course, this capability wasn’t limitless.

But beings of the True Immortal level were inherently rare.

At present, Lu Chen was far from being able to seal a True Immortal.

Even if he were to encounter the True Spirit of a True Immortal,

whether he could seal it was one question,

but whether he could even escape from such an entity was entirely uncertain.

It was important to understand that the True Immortal level corresponded to True Immortals in the Immortal Cultivation World.

And how powerful were True Immortals? Lu Chen, having witnessed Gu Yue True Immortal in action, knew all too well.

They were beings who could effortlessly suppress Nascent Soul and Deity Transformation cultivators with just a single drop of their essence blood.

They were existences that Lu Chen absolutely could not afford to provoke lightly at his current stage.

However, when the Immortals in the Sanctuary entrusted the Longevity Sword to Lu Chen, it wasn’t for him to recklessly attempt sealing True Immortals.

They had other purposes in mind.

Because aside from sealing Otherworldly Immortal True Spirits, the Longevity Sword could also refine these True Spirits to strengthen itself.

During the late stages of the war between the two realms, the Immortals of the Thirty-Three Heavens chose to seal these True Spirits rather than refine them.

This wasn’t because they were incapable of refining them, but because they couldn’t let the twisted Heavenly Dao consider these Otherworldly Immortals as “dead.”

But Lu Chen was different.

Or rather, now that he had obtained the Longevity Sword, he intended to feed it countless Otherworldly Immortal True Spirits, allowing the sword to grow without limits.

Until the Longevity Sword reached a level where it could even seal, or even slay, that twisted Heavenly Dao.

However, this couldn’t be accomplished in the current era of the Immortal Alliance.

Because in this era, Otherworldly Immortals had either vanished entirely or fallen into deep slumber.

Therefore, after receiving the Longevity Sword, Lu Chen immediately understood how to use it.

What place could be more suitable for the Longevity Sword than the Ancient Fiend Nine Realms in the game?

After all, that place… was teeming with Otherworldly Immortals.

“It seems the pieces I placed in the Ancient Fiend Nine Realms using the Nine Realms Token are finally going to serve their purpose.”

Thinking this, Lu Chen immediately found a Cave Residence in the Nine Luminaries Celestial Capital and announced that he would be going into seclusion there.

This period of seclusion might be relatively long.

Although Lu Chen’s official identity was currently that of a student at Lihuo Dao Academy,

after the recent academy competition, few people still considered Lu Chen to be on the same level as other students.

Not just students—even professors and senior cultivators from the Four Great Academies

would likely address Lu Chen respectfully as “Fellow Daoist” if they encountered him now.

Therefore, even though Lu Chen had taken up temporary residence in the Nine Luminaries Celestial Capital, Lihuo Dao Academy raised no objections.

For the current Lihuo Dao Academy, all that mattered was that Lu Chen’s name remained associated with their institution.

Whether Lu Chen actually cultivated at Lihuo Dao Academy was completely unimportant.

Not long after Lu Chen announced his seclusion, another decree emerged from the Sanctuary.

This decree was even simpler than the previous one.

It informed everyone that Lu Chen had now become the true Overlord of the Nine Luminaries Celestial Capital in every sense.

Although the various Star Lords had anticipated this development,

when the news spread again, they couldn’t help but feel somewhat astonished.

After all, to these old-timers,

the current Lu Chen… was simply too young.

Even though Lu Chen had now reached the Peak of the Nascent Soul Stage as a cultivator,

some of his basic background information wasn’t exactly a secret within the Immortal Alliance.Therefore, when they saw a cultivator in his early twenties standing above them, the Star Lords’ feelings were quite complex.

However, they held little dissatisfaction.

After all, among cultivators, cultivation level remained the most important factor.

Lu Chen, capable of contending with the Half-Immortal Hua Ling, indeed possessed the qualifications to lead the entire Nine Luminaries Celestial Capital.

Soon, the news that Lu Chen was the new Nine Luminaries Lord spread throughout the Immortal Alliance.

Upon hearing this, countless people reacted with surprise, envy, excitement…

For Lu Chen, who had already announced his seclusion and entered the game world, these reactions had no impact.

Although he was merely using seclusion as an excuse,

in reality, Lu Chen intended to take advantage of this seclusion to achieve a breakthrough to the Deity Transformation Stage in one go.

Or rather, he first needed to cultivate two clones within the game world that could break through to the Deity Transformation Stage.

The first of these was the Heretical Avatar he had left behind in the Ancient Fiend Nine Realms.

Ancient Fiend Nine Realms, Biyou Palace.

“Master…”

Little White Deer walked up joyfully upon seeing Lu Chen emerge from seclusion.

Little White Deer’s true form was the White Jade Pine Deer Tree, a special spirit tree enlightened by Lu Chen within Biyou Palace using a portion of his own essence blood and the remnants of the Pine Deer Mountain God.

Unlike their last meeting,

Little White Deer had then appeared as a five-year-old child.

But now, she had grown from a child into a half-grown young girl.

This transformation had taken only a short six months.

Not only that, Little White Deer’s strength had also progressed significantly.

She had now reached the seventh layer of the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Although she was born at the Foundation Establishment Stage and had even achieved first-grade Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment,

her cultivation speed was still remarkably fast.

Lu Chen was uncertain whether this was due to the uniqueness of his essence blood,

the miraculous effects of the Pine Deer Mountain God’s remnants,

or a combination of both.

Facing Little White Deer as she approached, Lu Chen nodded.

He then inquired, “Has anything happened around Biyou Mountain during this time?”

Hearing this, Little White Deer immediately relayed the intelligence she had gathered over this period to Lu Chen.

Because Lu Chen had single-handedly annihilated the Pine Deer Temple,

Biyou Mountain had now completely replaced it, becoming one of the ‘mountains’ within the Great Thousand Mountains.

Within Biyou Mountain’s territory, few dared to provoke them.

In the Ancient Fiend Nine Realms, the relationship between sects and the mortal world was far more intertwined than in the Central Province or the Immortal Alliance.

It was a true hierarchical relationship,

where a single thought could determine the life or death of mortal dynasties.

After Biyou Mountain replaced Pine Deer Mountain, it naturally took over their mortal dynasties as well.

Before entering ‘seclusion,’ Lu Chen had instructed Little White Deer to order the rogue cultivators within those mortal dynasties to gather information.

If the information proved useful, they would be duly rewarded.

Although Little White Deer, enlightened by Lu Chen’s essence blood, was not highly cultivated,

she had not only inherited a portion of Lu Chen’s swordsmanship

but her spirit tree nature also endowed her with terrifying proficiency in spirit plants and alchemy.

In addition, Lu Chen had taught her many spells and divine abilities,

including the ‘Azure Lotus Eyes.’

Little White Deer’s talent did not disappoint Lu Chen.

In less than half a year, she had cultivated the highest quality Azure Lotus Eye.

Innate Spirit Body, Innate Sword Intent, Natal Immortal Sword, Azure Lotus Eye…Although Little White Deer is currently only at the Foundation Establishment Stage,

Lu Chen felt that her starting point was more than a notch higher than his own back in the Azure Cloud Sect.

She was truly blessed with profound fortune.

Despite never having left Biyou Mountain, Little White Deer, with her skills in spiritual plant cultivation and alchemy, had significantly enhanced the mountain’s influence and gathered considerable intelligence during Lu Chen’s seclusion.

This included recent movements in the Great Thousand Mountains.

“Master, it seems the Great Thousand Mountains have discovered some ancient secret realm recently.”

“Aside from our Biyou Mountain, many other Mountain Lords in the surrounding areas have also received orders from the main sect, requiring us to send more high-level cultivators there.”

“Thanks to the elixirs you left behind and my own alchemical skills, the main sect ultimately did not force us to send disciples. We only need to supply elixirs on schedule.”

“However, given our situation here at Biyou Mountain—with just you and me, Master—even if we wanted to send people, we have no one to send. So it’s not really a big issue.”

“Other than that, there’s no other important news.”

Hearing Little White Deer’s words, Lu Chen pondered for a moment.

Clearly, the Great Thousand Mountains’ large-scale mobilization was due to their ongoing conflict with the Immortal Cultivation World.

Perhaps because the current intensity of the battle was low or for other reasons, this news had not yet spread widely throughout the Ancient Fiend Nine Realms.

However, as the conflict escalated, the truth would inevitably come to light.

What would happen in the Ancient Fiend Nine Realms then was something even Lu Chen found hard to predict.

After calmly analyzing the general situation in the Ancient Fiend Nine Realms, Lu Chen asked, “Has there been any news recently about the fall of any Great Mountain Lords in the Great Thousand Mountains?”

Great Mountain Lord—this was a title reserved only for those at the Deity Transformation Stage in the Great Thousand Mountains.

Even with control over an entire realm, the number of Great Mountain Lords in the Great Thousand Mountains was limited to just thirty-six, corresponding precisely to the thirty-six Heavenly Stars.

It was hard to say whether there was any connection there.

Surprised by Lu Chen’s question, Little White Deer said, “Master, how did you know that several Great Mountain Lords have fallen recently?”

“I only received this news two days ago, but since I wasn’t sure of its authenticity, I didn’t mention it to you.”

Lu Chen smiled without offering further explanation.

After all, he not only knew that Great Mountain Lords had fallen but also exactly who they were—since they had been slain by his Azure Cloud World, he was naturally well aware.

The title of Great Mountain Lord in the Great Thousand Mountains was not merely a status symbol.

In fact, obtaining the qualification of a Great Mountain Lord allowed one to use the secret methods of the Great Thousand Mountains to directly breakthrough to the Deity Transformation Stage.

Based on Lu Chen’s current understanding of the Ancient Fiends,

he knew that this so-called secret method was most likely the Primordial Qi granted by the distorted Heavenly Dao.

However, ordinary cultivators were unaware of this.

And what Lu Chen now sought was precisely the position of Great Mountain Lord.

“Let’s go. After such a long seclusion, it’s time to venture out and move around.”

“Ah?”

Hearing that Lu Chen planned to leave the mountain, Little White Deer was momentarily taken aback.

But she quickly complied, saying, “Alright, Master. Wait for me a moment—I’ll go pack my things.”

“No need.”Under Little White Deer’s astonished gaze, Lu Chen directly took out his Mountains and Seas Scroll.

Subsequently, the massive Biyou Mountain gradually began to transform into ink wash painting.

And ultimately became a mountain illustration within the Mountains and Seas Scroll.

Watching Lu Chen casually collect an entire spiritual mountain, Little White Deer felt both amazed and looked at Lu Chen with eyes full of admiration.

Master… has grown stronger again.

(End of Chapter)