I became an immortal in the mountains

Chapter 708 The biggest gain!

The falling beam of light crashed into the mountain, snapping trees in half and scattering broken rocks everywhere, before disappearing completely into the mountainside.

The beam of light behind them quickly veered down, revealing a beautiful and charming woman, none other than Feng Jiu Niang. She exclaimed in surprise, "My lord!"

At the same time, a sword domain opened up, and a long sword was drawn across the sky, ready for battle.

A figure emerged from within the mountain. The Heavenly Demon Sword Master's white hair was disheveled, making him appear somewhat wretched, and his aura was extremely unstable, as if he had suffered a severe injury.

"My lord, what happened? How did you become like this?" The woman was horrified. She could clearly feel that the Heavenly Demon Sword Master's aura was disordered, his soul seemed to be collapsing, and his body was leaking out wisps of vital energy, as if he had become a tattered sack, unable to hold onto his spirit.

"It's alright, let's continue on our way!" The Heavenly Demon Sword Master remained calm, activated his inner energy, concealed all his aura, and then rode away on his escape light.

Feng Jiu Niang followed behind, her heart filled with unease. She knew something must have happened, or rather, ever since the Heavenly Demon Sword Master returned from Qingping Cave, she had sensed something was amiss. Having finally entered the Spirit Realm, she was now being forced to return, which resulted in the exposure of several important strongholds of the Heavenly Demon Sect, causing considerable losses.

After entering the cultivation world, the Heavenly Demon Sword Master went to some familiar places and gave many instructions, as if he were leaving behind his final affairs!
More importantly, she also cultivates the Heavenly Demon Sword Dao and has a natural awe for the Heavenly Demon Sword Master. But just now, she suddenly realized that her instinctive fear of the Heavenly Demon Sword Master seemed to have lessened a bit!
Seeing him like this again, how could she not guess anything?

Something must have happened in Qingping Cave.

The master of the Heavenly Demon Sword has likely lost the Heavenly Demon Sword!

This suspicion filled her with fear.

However, due to her long-standing authority, she dared not ask any more questions and could only keep her thoughts to herself.

After traveling for more than ten days, the Heavenly Demon Sword Master suddenly stopped and landed on a mountaintop.

Let's rest here for a while before we go!

"Yes!"

The Heavenly Demon Sword Master then sat down cross-legged and regulated his own energy.

Feng Jiu Niang stood to the side, spreading her divine sense to protect her.

Another day passed, and the Heavenly Demon Sword Master opened his eyes. His aura seemed to have returned to normal, but Feng Jiu Niang noticed that the Heavenly Demon Sword Master seemed to have a few more white hairs on his head.

For cultivators at this level, with their aura so subtle and their golden bodies so impenetrable, such changes, aside from being influenced by their mental state, indicate a problem with their own cultivation, further confirming previous speculations.

After the Heavenly Demon Sword Master got up, he led Feng Jiu Niang forward for another month before stopping again, his expression seemingly showing a hint of fatigue.

This is completely unbelievable for a cultivator at the peak of the Yin-Yang Circulation.

Feng Jiu Niang remained silent, a faint sorrow welling up in her heart.

After traveling for more than half a year, stopping in some places along the way to explain some things, they were now at the seaside.

The Heavenly Demon Sword Master stopped in his tracks, stood in the void, and calmly said, "Ninth Sister, please ask whatever you wish to ask now."

Feng Jiu Niang hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.

The Heavenly Demon Sword Master smiled and said, "That's not like you."

Feng Jiu Niang said, "My lord... your Heavenly Demon Sword..."

"You guessed right. In this battle for the Dao Palace, I was outmatched and lost the Heavenly Demon Sword. I have lived for more than ten thousand years and have already surpassed the limit of the Yin-Yang Realm. So at this moment, my lifespan is at most fifty years."

The Heavenly Demon Sword Master stood with his hands behind his back, looking into the distance. Even though he had severed his connection with the Heavenly Demon Sword, he could still roughly sense the location of Qingping Cave Heaven by virtue of his ten thousand years of cultivation and the connection between himself and his other two bodies.

Feng Jiu Niang's heart trembled. Even though she had already guessed it, she still found it hard to accept the answer.

The Heavenly Demon Sword Master said calmly, "I am no longer a sword master, and the new sword master would probably disdain using the Heavenly Demon Sword to control sword slaves. So, Ninth Sister, you are now completely free. Today, we will part ways here. In the future, you should change your appearance, hide your identity as a member of the Heavenly Demon Sect, and never use the Heavenly Demon Sword Dao again. From now on, live a quiet and ordinary life in seclusion."

……

A year is enough time for Gu Yuanqing to refine the entire Zhou Tian Star Array with his mind.

The array's artifacts are scattered throughout the realm, some hidden on floating islands connected to the earth's veins, and others hidden in the void.

The main artifact is numbered in the Zhou Tian system, and there are countless auxiliary artifacts. If Gu Yuanqing had not been supported by the power of the Beiquan Cave Heaven, and his true essence and divine soul were vast, it would have taken him hundreds of years to refine it.

On this day, Gu Yuanqing stood alone in front of Qingping Dao Palace. With a thought, the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Grand Array was activated, and the palace gates slowly opened once again.

Only now can he truly stand inside the palace.

His gaze fell once again on the painting of the immortal. The figure in the painting now had a peaceful expression, just as Gu Yuanqing had when he first saw him.

It seemed that the person in the painting noticed Gu Yuanqing's arrival, and their gaze shifted upwards from the scrolls, meeting Gu Yuanqing's eyes.

This time, however, he was unable to pull Gu Yuanqing into the painting. Gu Yuanqing, who controlled the four swords and manipulated the Zhou Tian Star Array, could be considered half the master of Qingping Cave. With the support of the Zhou Tian Star Array, his power was suppressed layer by layer, and the power of the person in the painting was locked tightly in the painting.

The person in the painting has a slight smile playing on their lips, and they open their mouth.

It seemed as if an illusion was about to be created, but it was immediately suppressed and shattered by the Zhou Tian Star Array. Only one sentence entered Gu Yuanqing's ears.

"You can't escape!"

Gu Yuanqing smiled calmly, ignoring the threat. Since he controlled the great formation, unless someone was greedy for the immortal opportunities within and ventured deeper into it, the person in the painting would have little chance of harming him.

But when you look at the painting again, the person in the painting has returned to normal, as if everything just now was an illusion.

However, Gu Yuanqing's power followed his consciousness and entered the palace. On the scroll, the Four Phases Sword Intent of Zhou Tian Zhen Jie enveloped it, completely refining the core of the Zhou Tian Star Array within the frame and scroll.

Within Qingping Cave, the wind and clouds shifted and changed, and amidst the slight tremors, countless stars shone, with starlight falling and gathering above Qingping Dao Palace, then scattering onto Gu Yuanqing through the palace's magic array.

In an instant, Gu Yuanqing seemed to completely merge with the great formation, and everything was under his control. He vaguely felt a bit like he was in the Beiquan Cave Heaven.

With the help of the great formation, Gu Yuanqing seemed to instantly take control of everything in the entire cave!
After a long while, Gu Yuanqing slowly exhaled. At this point, he could be considered the true master of Qingping Cave!
With a thought, a hidden door behind the Qingping Dao Palace opened, and Gu Yuanqing stepped inside.

This is a completely different scene altogether.

Eleven portraits were hung, each painted with spiritual ink. The figures in the paintings were lifelike, as if they could break out of the scroll at any moment. The names of the figures were left on the side of the scrolls, which were clearly those of the successive leaders of Qingping Dao Palace.

Gu Yuanqing was very familiar with three of them, having seen them all in the painting: Heavenly Sword Elder Li Xuanxiao, Chess Formation True Monarch Lu Xinghe, and Weapon Refining Venerable Qin Wuyan.

At the very center is Chen Taixuan, the first patriarch of Qingping Dao Palace, who holds a scroll in his hand, which is the Heavenly Dao Scripture! In front of each portrait is also an object, such as a bronze tripod, a long sword, a scroll, a jade pendant, and a chessboard, each different and exuding Daoist charm.

On the offering table, in front of the portrait, there was an oil lamp, but eight of them had been extinguished, and only three were still flickering.

Gu Yuanqing straightened his clothes, took out incense from the incense box next to him, lit them one by one, and inserted them into the incense burner.

In an instant, the sandalwood incense swirled and the smoke curled, as if merging with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and the figure in the painting seemed to come alive.

He then straightened his clothes, bowed, and said, "This junior scholar, Gu Yuanqing, greets all the seniors."

After the worship, Gu Yuanqing turned his gaze to several scrolls in front of the offering table, clearly intended for later visitors.

Gu Yuanqing picked it up and read it one by one.

He was stunned for a long time.

After a moment, Gu Yuanqing murmured to himself, "As expected, it's not much different from what I guessed! However..."

Gu Yuanqing couldn't help but sigh!
According to the scroll, this painting is indeed not from the cultivation world, but from the immortal realm. It is a portrait of a great master painted by a great immortal.

The painting itself forms a universe, just like the real world. The so-called Heavenly Dao Scripture should actually be the painting master's understanding of the Great Dao, which is condensed into the painting with a single stroke.

Back then, Chen Taixuan, who was not yet the master of Qingping Dao Palace, obtained this portrait by chance. He entered the painting in a dream, received the inheritance, and brought out the Heavenly Dao Scripture from it.

He took painting as his teacher, and after obtaining the Qingping Grotto, he enshrined the painting in the hall.

If his disciples receive the true teachings, they can enter the painting, observe the scenes of immortals, and thus comprehend the secrets of immortality.

This was originally a predestined encounter that could be passed down through the ages, but unexpectedly, the immortal in the painting came into contact with and experienced the aura of humanity, and suddenly his spirit was awakened and consciousness was born.

In the beginning, he was still confused and ignorant. Chen Taixuan taught him carefully and later treated him as a friend. They got along very well.

But gradually, the person in the painting became unwilling to remain in the cage within the painting. However, since he was born in the painting, he could not get out at all. Evil energy gradually arose, devouring the life force of the disciples in the palace. Later, he tried to steal people's minds. As his strength gradually increased, he eventually became uncontrollable.

Chen Taixuan had no choice but to seal it within the Dao Palace. However, the person in the painting was originally an immortal in disguise, and the painting possessed immortal energy and divine charm. Its power grew stronger and stronger, even gradually surpassing the level that should exist within the cultivation world.

Later, successive palace masters improved upon it, eventually forming the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Grand Array, which used the power within the painting to suppress the people in the painting.

Even so, the lineage of Qingping Dao Palace was ultimately severed as a result.

What shocked Gu Yuanqing the most was that the Heavenly Sword Elder, who was thought to be the last person in the cultivation world to ascend to the Immortal Realm, died inside the Dao Palace!
Before the Heavenly Sword Elder ascended to immortality, the power within the painting went out of control. Almost all the cultivators within Qingping Cave perished in their attempt to suppress the figure in the painting, and he too suffered damage to his foundation, making it impossible for him to achieve immortality.

Despite his severe injuries, he scattered the path of inheritance throughout the cultivation world, hoping that someone would eventually inherit it, return to the Dao Palace, and deal with the painting. Before his death, he returned to the palace to leave his final words, burning all the power of his illusory immortal body to completely suppress the person in the painting once more.

This is precisely what makes Gu Yuanqing sigh.

A great cultivator, capable of ascending to immortality, ultimately perished in this Dao Palace, a fact unknown to anyone!

Gu Yuanqing took a deep breath, composed himself, put the scrolls back in their original places, and once again solemnly clasped his hands in a deep bow.

If it were him, even if the person in the painting walked out and caused a bloodbath in the cultivation world, resulting in immeasurable disaster, he would never sever his own path of cultivation because of it.

But that doesn't diminish his respect for those who are capable of such actions and sacrifices!

Gu Yuanqing lingered in the back hall for a long time before finally leaving.

Upon seeing this painting again, I felt even more apprehensive than before.

The power I feel is probably the power after it has been suppressed. If it were to be truly revealed, it would likely be far more than that!

Upon leaving the Dao Palace, he had a thought and sealed it away once more.

After reading these books, he also needed to carefully consider how to use the Qingping Dao Palace in the future.

Even if he said he controlled the Zhou Tian Star Array, his control over the array was far inferior to that of the Heavenly Sword Elder back then. Even he ultimately failed to protect the Dao Palace, let alone himself.

The risks involved are too great!
Of course, having obtained such a celestial paradise, it would be a waste not to keep it.

However, how to use it still needs careful consideration, or rather, it should only be used after one's own strength has improved.

And putting all that aside, the inheritances within the cave alone are enough to fill the void in the Qian Yuan Realm!
As a lineage left behind by a great cultivator who possesses the power of a virtual immortal, or even one who has ascended to the immortal realm, its cultivation method extends far beyond the Four Symbols Sword of Calamity Suppression!
It contains many techniques, including weapon crafting, formation techniques, and other ingenious methods.

All of these things were locked away in the library.

The library was hidden in the void by the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Grand Array, and the method to open and enter it was left in the back hall of the Dao Palace.

Gu Yuanqing rode the escape light and arrived at the location in a short while.

He took out a token from his Qiankun bag. This was the Qingping Token, the symbol of the Qingping Palace Master, and also the key and token to open various secret realms.

He made a hand seal, connected with the token, and activated the Zhou Tian Star Array. An octagonal, nine-story jade pagoda appeared from the void, as if it were hidden in a mustard seed and Mount Sumeru. It was extremely small at first, but in the blink of an eye, it became a hundred feet tall!

Gu Yuanqing opened the door and stepped inside.

The interior space is also a different story, with countless books neatly categorized and placed inside.

It encompasses everything from Taoist magic and techniques, alchemy and esoteric texts, weapon crafting, talisman arrays and secrets, divination and astrology, and ancient tales!
From the first level to the ninth level, it encompasses cultivation techniques, spells, and insights for each level, from Yuan Shi, Zhen Wu, Dao Tai... to Hun Tian Bu Si!
When Gu Yuanqing saw these, he finally smiled.

For Gu Yuanqing, this was the greatest gain. To him, these things were even more useful than the Four Phases Sword Dao of Suppressing Calamity!

The books he read and the cultivation techniques he knew mostly came from the Linglong Realm and the Demon Realm, but these two realms were fundamentally different from the cultivation world.

The Exquisite Realm is based on divine artifacts of rules, thus deviating from the Great Dao.

The Demon Realm, on the other hand, leans more towards the path of bloodlines.

It is vastly different from the path cultivated by Gu Yuanqing, and he has only ever obtained the Heavenly Transformation level cultivation method within the cultivation world.

That's why his path forward seemed unclear, but this library filled that gap!

(End of this chapter)