https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-134-Becoming-the-Master-of-Tai-Xuan-Gate/12575477/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-136-Breaking-Through-the-Ninth-Layer-of-the-Nirvana-Realm-/12575482/
Chapter 135: The Nine Abyssal Realm, Chaos in the Realm
Chapter 135: The Nine Abyssal Realm, Chaos in the Realm
Upon returning to the Xuantian Cave Abode, Gu An lost all interest in practicing array formations. Instead, he decided to spectate and directed his spiritual sense to follow Xuan Miao Zhenren.
As expected, when Xuan Miao Zhenren returned to the Taoist temple, a conflict erupted with the Yellow Spring Fox Demon.
The night sky unleashed a timely downpour, adding to the chaos of the heavens.
In the midst of the rainy night, Xuan Miao Zhenren, sword in hand, interrogated the Yellow Spring Fox Demon about its origins.
The fox demon, filled with dread, claimed that it had been injured previously and had lost all memory of its past. It attributed its survival to its master, who had rescued it from the clutches of other demons.
Under the pouring rain, a fierce clash ensued between master and disciple, their voices raised in heated argument. Xuan Miao Zhenren, his eyes gleaming with madness, muttered about breaking free from calamity as he brandished his sword, ready to strike down the fox demon.
Terrified, the fox demon fled in a panic, pleading for mercy. However, his pleas fell on deaf ears, as Xuan Miao Zhenren showed no hint of compassion.
Gu An, through his connection with Xuan Miao Zhenren, sensed a trace of demonic energy emanating from him. He couldn't discern if it was an inherent trait or a result of cultivating the Nine Extremes of Yin and Yang.
In the end, the fox demon's act fell apart as it unleashed a surge of powerful demonic energy and began frantically absorbing the spiritual energy of the heavens and the earth, rapidly condensing into a formidable demonic shadow. At first glance, it appeared to be some sort of summoning spell.
The aura of this terrifying demonic shadow was comparable to the ninth layer of the Crossing the Void realm, leading Gu An to speculate that it was none other than the Yellow Spring Demon Emperor.
Xuan Miao Zhenren, at the mere Mortal Transformation realm, stood no chance against this formidable shadow. At this critical juncture, he once again employed the Art of Communing with the Divine, summoning a great cultivator at the Xuan Heart realm to intervene.
With a single move, the Xuan Heart cultivator dispersed the demonic shadow, allowing the fox demon to escape in the chaos.
Despite the urgency of the situation, Xuan Miao Zhenren's heart softened, and he requested the Xuan Heart cultivator to spare the fox demon's life.
As the Art of Communing with the Divine faded, Xuan Miao Zhenren collapsed once more, coughing up mouthfuls of blood.
The cost of employing the Art of Communing with the Divine was indeed steep!
What a thrilling and satisfying conflict! Gu An mused, feeling as though he were reading a captivating novel.
["The Yellow Spring Fox Demon harbors intense hostility towards you and loathes you to the core. Do you wish to use the Life Investigation technique on it?"](5)
Here it comes!
Time to get to work!
Gu An rose to his feet and stretched his limbs.
...
In the depths of the mountains, the Yellow Spring Fox Demon fled at breakneck speed, his figure drenched and bedraggled in the pouring rain.
After an indeterminate amount of time, he halted beneath a large tree, clutching his wounded waist. The rain soaked his long hair, and his countenance twisted with malevolence.
"Mountain God... Damn it! I was so close to success..." The fox demon muttered to himself, his eyes gleaming with murderous intent.
He didn't believe in any so-called mountain god. In his opinion, the little man was likely a manifestation of some evil spirit. Regardless, he vowed to take revenge on whoever had dared to thwart his plan to infiltrate Sanqing Mountain.
"Are you talking about me?" A voice rang out, causing the fox demon to turn instinctively. A white-robed little man wearing an opera mask stood on his shoulder, his voice carrying a hint of amusement.
Before the fox demon could react, a terrifying spiritual sense assaulted his soul.
Hmm? So, you're here!
As Gu An's spiritual sense intruded into the fox demon's body, he discovered another primordial spirit hidden deep within the fox demon's soul.
The Yellow Spring Demon Emperor!
This guy was truly formidable, able to evade the notice of Great Vehicle cultivators.
However, it was a pity that he had harbored such devious intentions!
Gu An began to employ the Soul Capturing Technique, reaching into the depths of the Yellow Spring Demon Emperor's memories.
The Demon Emperor's memories were vast and intricate, so Gu An opted to seize only the memories from the past hundred years, quickly skimming through them to understand the Demon Emperor's origins.
The Yellow Spring Demon Emperor originated from the Nine Abyssal Realm, a realm known as the Nine Abyssal Domain, where demons, dark magic, and malevolent spirits dwelled. They had long been subjected to oppression by the Lotus Flower Sect. Two hundred years ago, taking advantage of the Lotus Flower Sect's efforts to open up the Nine Abyssal Realm, the Demon Emperor escaped to the Nine Dynasties.
Over the course of two centuries, he roamed the realm, infiltrating numerous sects. In his opinion, the most formidable among them was Sanqing Mountain, renowned for its profound Taoist traditions and a history spanning over ten thousand years. It was the oldest sect in the Nine Dynasties, and he had desired to infiltrate it. However, his attempt had been thwarted the moment he set foot at its gates, and he had barely escaped with his life. Thus, in the ensuing years, he had never forgotten about Sanqing Mountain.
The Yellow Spring Fox Demon was a small fox whose original soul had been erased by the Yellow Spring Demon Emperor through a unique possession technique, making it difficult to detect.
The reason the Demon Emperor had manifested the illusion of an attack by the Lotus Flower Sect was to compel Xuan Miao Zhenren to return to Sanqing Mountain and deter him from lingering in the Beihai Mountain Range. Little did he expect that Xuan Miao Zhenren would seek the aid of the Mountain God upon learning of this scheme.
This turn of events fueled the Yellow Spring Demon Emperor's animosity towards the Mountain God. When Xuan Miao Zhenren returned to confront him, a fierce battle ensued, and his animosity transformed into murderous intent.
The entire affair had an air of mishap and misunderstanding. Nonetheless, since the Yellow Spring Demon Emperor harbored murderous intentions towards Gu An, Gu An knew he could not let him live.
An hour later...
Gu An retracted his spiritual sense and incinerated the Yellow Spring Fox Demon with the Taiqing True Fire, turning it into ashes and dispersing its soul. In doing so, he successfully extracted ninety-three years of lifespan.
With his task complete, he returned to the Tai Xuan Gate.
Back in the Xuangu Pavilion, Gu An sat at his desk and took out pen and paper. He began by writing three large characters:
Nine Abyssal Realm!
Through the memories of the Yellow Spring Demon Emperor, Gu An learned that the Nine Nether Realm was an independent realm, a world known as the Nine Nether Domain. Within this domain dwelled demons, magical beings, and malevolent spirits, who had endured oppression by the Lotus Flower Sect for countless years.
He intended to compile a comprehensive encyclopedia about the Nine Nether Domain and present it to the Tai Xuan Gate in the future, aiding them in their exploration of this mysterious realm.
...
The courtyard was blanketed with autumn leaves, and over twenty miscellaneous disciples were busy sweeping them away.
Gu An descended the stairs and happened to glance up, catching sight of several Tai Xuan Gate disciples flying by at great speed.
He gave them only a passing glance before turning his attention back to his intended destination—the Third Medicine Valley.
Without even reaching the teleportation formation platform, Gu An sensed a presence and stopped in his tracks, turning to look back at the laboring miscellaneous disciples.
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Ye Lan flew into the Medicine Valley and pulled Gu An upstairs to talk.
After closing the door to the room, Ye Lan said in a low voice, "There's an emergency on the Nine Abyssal Road. The Mirage Religion has arrived, and a major battle is about to break out. It's not just the Nine Abyssal Road; demon cultivators from the Mirage Religion have appeared all over the place. This situation is completely different from the past. The Enforcement Hall needs to go out and protect the common folk, and I have to leave today!"
"So urgent?" Gu An immediately took out a batch of healing pills and handed them to Ye Lan.
Ye Lan didn't refuse, but instead cautioned, "Be careful during this time. According to our previous investigations, there are still spies from the Mirage Religion within the Tai Xuan Gate. This time, we are facing the main sect of the Mirage Religion, and they will likely mobilize all their forces. This is a once-in-a-millennium calamity!"
"I know," Gu An nodded. "Be careful yourself, and don't let go of the White Spirit Sword."
Upon hearing this, Ye Lan raised the White Spirit Sword in her hand and smiled, "Okay!"
After conveying some important intelligence, she left in a hurry.
Gu An stood in front of the tower, watching the direction she had left in. He could already sense the distant battles erupting, and not just in one place.
This time, the offensive from the Mirage Religion far surpassed their previous defensive stance; they were now on the invasion.
Gu An had no intention of making a move just yet. He wanted to let the Nine Dynasties hold them off first to avoid alerting the enemy.
His target was to deal with that Great Vehicle Realm cultivator.
Before that, Gu An decided to find a place to break through his current realm.
Fighting a Great Vehicle Realm cultivator in his current state would be a daunting task! Gu An had very little combat experience in his life, and his opponent was sure to be a cunning old monster who had lived for thousands of years.
He wasn't skilled in life-and-death battles; he only excelled at crushing his enemies.
He needed to find a suitable place.
It couldn't be the Northern Sea Mountain Range again, as the Xuan Tian Cave Abode was located there, and he couldn't afford to disrupt the spiritual energy ecosystem.
With that thought, Gu An made his way to the Third Medicine Valley and then headed towards the Inner Gate.
With the Valley Master token of the Third Medicine Valley, he could freely enter the Inner Gate.
Half an hour later...
Gu An stepped into the Inner Gate city. After several months of absence, the atmosphere in the Inner Gate city was tense. Passing cultivators hurried along with anxious expressions.
He overheard surrounding disciples discussing the Mirage Religion's invasion, and it seemed that the news had been made public in the four Inner Gate cities.
Listening to these disciples, Gu An learned that not only was the Great Tao Emperor Dynasty facing an invasion from the Mirage Religion, but the other eight dynasties were also under attack.
Rumors had it that the second batch of disciples sent to the Nine Abyssal Road had suffered heavy casualties, and even an elder had perished there.
The situation sounded dire, and even Gu An was affected by the urgency.
He made his way to the Library Pavilion and climbed up to the third floor, where various maps and records of different places were kept.
Due to the Mirage Religion's invasion, there were few disciples in the Library Pavilion, and on the third floor, there was only Gu An and an administrator elder.
After a long while...
As Gu An was flipping through a book, a frail, elderly voice sounded, "Young friend, what are you looking for?"
Gu An turned to see Administrator Elder Xu Lu walking towards him.
He turned and bowed to Xu Lu, saying, "Disciple wants to see how vast this world is."
This Xu Lu appeared frail and powerless, but he actually possessed the cultivation base of the Nascent Soul Realm. The minimum requirement to become an Inner Gate elder was the Nascent Soul Realm.
"Are you looking for the largest map? We don't have one here. Come with me." Xu Lu turned his head and gestured for Gu An to follow him.
Gu An was puzzled by the other's actions.
He could only follow along and adapt to the situation.
"You bought the Green Hero's Journey before, right?" Xu Lu asked casually.
"Yes, Senior. Do you have any instructions for me?" Gu An replied.
So it was because of the Green Hero's Journey.
Xu Lu said, "Ever since a book called the Grand Mystery Transmission became popular among the common folk, not many people have come to buy the Green Hero's Journey. This has saddened my friend. Seeing that you still appreciate the Green Hero's Journey, I will bestow upon you a large map of the continent that a Grand Elder once drew during his travels."
Upon hearing this, Gu An became interested and asked, "Senior, is the Green Hero a man or a woman?"
"Naturally, a man. What woman would write such a book?"
"Is the Green Hero still in the sect?"
"He's not here, but he occasionally sends someone to deliver his books."
As the two chatted, they arrived at a door. Xu Lu asked Gu An to wait while he pushed the door open and entered.
It didn't take long for Xu Lu to come out, holding a large scroll in his hand and a book in the other. He handed these two items to Gu An and said, "Take these back and make a copy. Remember to bring them back the next time you come."
Gu An put the scroll and the book into his storage bag and then bowed to thank Xu Lu.
Xu Lu cautioned, "With your current cultivation level, you can travel at most to the Nine Dynasties. Do not venture into the Demon and Monster lands, and definitely do not go south into the sea."
"Junior will keep that in mind," Gu An replied.
Xu Lu waved his hand, indicating that he could leave.
Gu An immediately departed, but just as he reached the staircase, he felt a powerful spiritual sense sweep over him.
There was a Xuan Heart Realm cultivator in the building!
Could it be one of the Grand Elders reading here? Together with the Xuan Quan Old Ancestor, there were now two Xuan Heart Realm cultivators in the Tai Xuan Gate!
This further fueled Gu An's desire to break through to a higher realm.
Damn the Mirage Religion for attracting so many old monsters!
(End of Chapter)
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