Chapter 288: Eternal Demon Suppressing

Chapter 288: Eternal Demon Suppressing

December 11, 2024

Gu Qingfeng's expression shifted as he waved his sleeve, causing dust to stir and an ancient stele to appear before him.

"Eternal Demon Suppressing!"

The stele bore only four simple words.

But when these words entered Gu Qingfeng's eyes, a majestic aura seemed to emerge, as if an unseen figure was reflected in his gaze.

A figure clad in golden armor, with an indiscernible face, shattered the void and fought against a bizarre divine statue. Their battle was so intense that it seemed to shake the heavens and overturn the earth.

In the end, the golden-armored figure completely subdued the bizarre divine statue.

Afterward, this golden-armored figure left behind a stele, placing it where the bizarre divine statue had fallen.

"I am the Heavenly Commander of the Ta Yi Divine Empire, and I have been ordered to suppress the malevolent spirits here!"

A voice filled with authority seemed to pierce through time, and the iron-blooded and awe-inspiring aura made people's hearts tremble.

Immediately after, the scene dissipated.

...

"Ta Yi Divine Empire!"

"Heavenly Commander—"

Gu Qingfeng's expression turned solemn.

He naturally understood the situation from the previous scene.

The strong figure who had left this stele in the past had an indestructible Dao energy, and even after countless years, the scene was still recorded.

Although he only saw the golden-armored figure in a virtual image, Gu Qingfeng could determine that it was a terrifying existence, even more powerful than a Great Sage.

It could possibly be a Sage King!

Or even more powerful than a Sage King!

Between the two, Gu Qingfeng was inclined to believe the latter.

After all, from the battle between the golden-armored figure and the bizarre divine statue, it was clear that the statue was even more powerful back then, far beyond its current state.

Thinking of this, Gu Qingfeng let out a breath.

A Quasi-Emperor!

The golden-armored figure who had subdued the bizarre divine statue was a Quasi-Emperor.

Ta Yi Divine Empire!

Gu Qingfeng was unfamiliar with this name.

In his knowledge of ancient powers, there were no records of the Ta Yi Divine Empire.

"Perhaps the supreme power that emerged from the Nine Provinces in ancient times was the Ta Yi Divine Empire!"

Gu Qingfeng thought to himself.

He was well aware that in ancient times, a supreme power had emerged from the Nine Provinces, and the Ta Yi Divine Empire could be a plausible explanation.

After all—

The Ta Yi Divine Empire was indeed powerful.

Moreover, from the golden-armored figure's words, it seemed that they were not the strongest in the Ta Yi Divine Empire but were acting on orders.

Only an Overarching Emperor would have the authority to command a Quasi-Emperor.

In other words, the Ta Yi Divine Empire likely had an Overarching Emperor.

More importantly,

A Divine Empire!

It surpassed an Imperial Dynasty.

Even the Divine Might Dynasty had just entered the ranks of an Empire, and it had not yet reached the level of an Imperial Dynasty, let alone a Divine Empire.

At least,

In Gu Qingfeng's understanding, there were ancient Imperial Dynasties in the Ancient Desolate Realm, but he had never heard of a Divine Empire.

"Perhaps the Immortal Forging Palace also belonged to the Ta Yi Divine Empire,"

"Or maybe it was some other power that caused its sudden disappearance without a trace."

Gu Qingfeng had various speculations in his mind, but he couldn't be sure.

The idea of an entire empire ascending together was astonishing, but it was hard to believe that they were simply erased by some force.

Although Gu Qingfeng had only glimpsed a fraction of the Ta Yi Divine Empire's foundation, he could still sense its immense power.

Shaking his head,

Gu Qingfeng dismissed these thoughts.

He refocused his attention on the stele before him.

"The strong figure named Heavenly Commander, although he subdued the bizarre divine statue, seemed to anticipate that it wouldn't truly perish, so he left the stele here to suppress it."

The ancient evil deity statue had indeed perished, but measures were taken to prevent its potential resurrection in the future.

"However, the evil spirit did not appear earlier because it was suppressed by the power of the stele."

"But after a long period of time, the power within the stele gradually dissipated, allowing the evil spirit to escape its confinement!"

Gu Qingfeng's eyes flickered with uncertainty.

He could deduce that the suppression of the evil deity was not limited to this location alone.

Thinking about the resurrection of the ancient evil deity, Gu Qingfeng remained vigilant, even though he had already cleansed the area with Divine Sky Thunder. He expanded his Divine Consciousness, meticulously searching inch by inch, to prevent any possibility of the deity's revival.

"There really is..."

Gu Qingfeng's Divine Consciousness suddenly stirred, and he discovered a faint yet extremely bizarre power at the place where the ancient evil deity statue had fallen.

Gu Qingfeng reached out and grabbed, and in the palm of his hand, a bizarre black aura appeared.

This bizarre black aura twisted and turned in Gu Qingfeng's palm, emitting strange and evil thoughts. It seemed to contain Buddhist chants and hellish screams of evil spirits.

Moreover, it tried to enter Gu Qingfeng's body, aiming to corrupt him into becoming an evil spirit.

At that moment, Gu Qingfeng activated the power in his palm, unleashing a terrifying surge of Vital Energy, intending to refine and dissolve the bizarre black aura.

However, despite the strength of his Vital Energy, he found it difficult to truly annihilate the bizarre black aura.

Seeing this, Gu Qingfeng's expression finally changed.

"I can't refine it!"

This was the third time he had encountered something he couldn't refine.

A drop of blood!

A severed finger!

And now, this bizarre black aura.

However, Gu Qingfeng had a way to deal with it. He took out a jade bottle and directly placed the bizarre black aura inside.

It is worth mentioning that the jade bottle, as shown on the Information Panel, was made of an unknown material. Even with Gu Qingfeng's current strength, it was difficult to crush these jade bottles.

In a sense, the jade bottle was an even more powerful existence than a Divine Armament.

Unfortunately, the jade bottle could only be used to contain things and had no other function.

However, for Gu Qingfeng, this jade bottle was the perfect container for such substances.

After placing the bizarre black aura into the jade bottle, Gu Qingfeng stored it in his Storage Ring.

Each time Gu Yang broke through a cultivation level, he would receive a substantial reward of pills. With ten pills, he could obtain a jade bottle, so he had quite a collection of them.

"As expected, this bizarre black aura is the reason why the evil deity statue could repeatedly resurrect. With the suppression of the stele, it took years for the black aura to reappear."

But now, with the power of the stele exhausted, if it isn't sealed, it's likely that the evil deity statue will revive again soon!"

Gu Qingfeng thought to himself.

After suppressing the bizarre black aura, he scanned the area with his Divine Consciousness once more and confirmed that there were no traces of evil spirits.

Finally, Gu Qingfeng also took the stele with him.

This stele, left behind by a Quasi-Emperor realm cultivator, held value, and even though its power had dissipated, there were still traces of Dao Energy within it.

Furthermore, the stele itself was a treasure.

Otherwise, if it were an ordinary stone, how could it bear the power of a Quasi-Emperor and exist for so many years?

...

When Gu Qingfeng returned to the Heavenly Hero Pass, Gu Yang had already arrived.

"Father, have the issues in the Ancient Beast Mountain Range been resolved?" asked Gu Qingfeng.

"It was an evil spirit in the form of a bizarre deity statue, but it has been taken care of," Gu Qingfeng replied.

His words caused Gu Yang to relax a little.

There was no way around it; the commotion earlier had been too great. First, a blade aura had torn through the heavens, followed by divine thunder that washed over the land, destroying everything within a ten-thousand-mile radius. The burst of energy that accompanied this was enough to make one's heart palpitate with fear.

Such immense power made even Gu Yang, at his current cultivation level, feel like an insignificant ant.

If Gu Qingfeng had not been able to resolve the evil spirit, the situation would have been extremely serious.

This would indicate that the evil spirit in the Ancient Beast Mountain Range was incredibly powerful.

Fortunately, the evil spirit had been dealt with.

Gu Yang breathed a sigh of relief.

"The evil spirit has been resolved, but we must remain vigilant. The Ancient Desolate Realm is not as simple as it seems, and there may still be other evil spirits lurking in the Ancient Beast Mountain Range.

When venturing into the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, we must proceed with caution."

Gu Qingfeng offered a reminder.

Gu Yang nodded, "I understand, son."

Gu Qingfeng did not linger at Tianxiong Pass and directly flew away.

The next day, news of the incident at the Gu Mountain Range spread like wildfire across the vast Ancient Desolate Realm. Everyone who heard the news was shocked.

Gu Qingfeng was now known as the strongest cultivator of the Age of Decline, and his reputation needed no further elaboration. Countless factions across the realm were secretly keeping a close eye on him.

Whenever Gu Qingfeng took action personally, it would always attract attention.

However, Gu Qingfeng didn't pay much attention to these matters. He had already returned to the Gu Family Estate and was studying the stele left behind by the Ta Yi Divine Empire.

Although the Dao Energy contained within the stele was so weak that it seemed on the verge of dissipating, Gu Qingfeng could sense the profound power hidden within that faint energy.

As he comprehended this Dao Energy, Gu Qingfeng gradually understood the immense strength of the person named Tian Kui.

Even though Gu Qingfeng had now reached the Ninth Level of the Holy Person Realm and could easily suppress ordinary Great Sages without relying on external forces, relying solely on his own cultivation, he still felt inadequate before that ancient powerful being.

"After the Holy Person Realm, the gap between each realm is immense. Not to mention that I've reached the Ninth Level of the Holy Person Realm, even if I were to step into the Ninth Level of the Great Sage Realm, it would be difficult to compare to a Quasi-Emperor solely based on strength and cultivation."

Gu Qingfeng was well aware of this fact.

However, if he were to unleash his full power, Gu Qingfeng's strength would not be as simple as it seemed. After all, with the three Heavenly Pulses and a threefold increase in power, along with a Divine Armament in hand, his strength could reach a terrifying level.

But precisely because he understood the gap between himself and the Quasi-Emperor realm, Gu Qingfeng hoped to obtain something he desired from the stele.

Three days later, Gu Yang came to visit again.

"Father!"

"You want to ask about that Malevolent Spirit, don't you?"

"Indeed!"

Gu Yang nodded.

He had been busy handling other matters and hadn't had the chance to inquire about it earlier.

Gu Yang was extremely curious about the Malevolent Spirit in the Gu Mountain Range.

Gu Qingfeng said, "That Malevolent Spirit is a bizarre divine statue. In terms of strength, it should be enough to rival a Great Sage..."

"Impossible! If it were a Great Sage, I would have barely survived. Moreover, when I fought against that Malevolent Spirit, it wasn't a so-called bizarre divine statue..."

Before Gu Qingfeng could finish his sentence, Gu Yang had already shaken his head.

A Malevolent Spirit that could rival a Great Sage!

That would be an Upper Rank Heavenly Disaster.

Gu Yang was well aware of his own strength. Even with the protection of the Divine Phoenix Tower, he would have a hard time escaping if he encountered such a spirit.

Moreover, he had also faced that Malevolent Spirit before.

The so-called bizarre divine statue was completely different from what he remembered.

Gu Qingfeng explained, "The Malevolent Spirit you encountered earlier was likely just a spawn of that bizarre divine statue, and its strength wasn't too formidable. It was the Malevolent Spirit that the divine statue transformed into that caused this chaos!"

As he spoke, Gu Qingfeng's divine consciousness moved, and a stele suddenly appeared before Gu Yang.

"This is what I obtained after slaying that Malevolent Spirit. From the remaining Dao Energy on it, I learned that in ancient times, there was once a powerful cultivator from the Ta Yi Divine Empire who had suppressed this Malevolent Spirit and then erected this stele.

I now suspect that the Ta Yi Divine Empire was likely the supreme power that once existed in the Nine Provinces."

Gu Qingfeng shared the information he had obtained.

Upon hearing this, Gu Yang's expression changed drastically.

"Ta Yi Divine Empire..."

Gu Yang was well aware of what the word 'Divine Empire' represented.

Although he had secretly inquired about the supreme power that once existed in the Nine Provinces, his knowledge was limited.

That power was extremely formidable, originating from the Nine Provinces and exerting its influence over the entire Ancient Desolate Realm.

However, due to the passage of countless years, very little information about that power had been preserved.

Even the name 'Ta Yi Divine Empire' was something Gu Yang was hearing for the first time.

But upon hearing Gu Qingfeng's words, Gu Yang began to have some speculations.

Ta Yi Divine Empire.

It was very likely the supreme power that once dominated the Ancient Desolate Realm.

"Eternal Demon Suppressing!"

"If what you say is true, it means that the problem of Malevolent Spirits has existed for a long time, possibly tracing back to such ancient times!"

"Moreover, if the Gu Mountain Range has a Malevolent Spirit suppressed by the Ta Yi Divine Empire, it's likely that other places in the Ancient Desolate Realm also have the same situation!"

As Gu Yang spoke, his expression became extremely solemn.

The problem of Malevolent Spirits was far more challenging than he had imagined.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end