I became an immortal in the mountains

Chapter 774 Taking the Opportunity to Retreat
"Greetings, Spirit Lord!" Everyone clasped their fists and bowed in unison, even those from the evil sects dared not be negligent.

The Spirit Lord nodded slightly, his gaze still fixed on the crack.

A moment later, a flying shuttle emerged from the crack and stopped in the void ahead.

Several figures flew out in succession.

The first to step out was Xuanji Tianjun of the Heavenly Dao Palace, whose face was slightly pale.

Following closely behind was Han Jingshan of the Yuanchu Palace. He remained aloof, but his brows betrayed his weariness.

Next, Ji Shan from Xuantian Pavilion and Lu Jiuming from Taiyin Palace flew out. Following them, a dozen or so cultivators from the Yin-Yang Zhou Tian Realm and the Shattered Heaven Realm also filed out, most of them looking exhausted.

After more than a month of continuous fighting, plus the relentless escape over the past ten days, there has been no time to recuperate and recover.

The Spirit Lord stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over everyone, and solemnly clasped his hands in greeting: "Fellow Daoists, you have worked hard!"

Xuanji Tianjun stood in the center, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "I have not failed in my mission!"

A glint of anticipation flashed in the Spirit Lord's eyes, "Have you made any gains?"

Xuanji Tianjun took a deep breath and replied, "The Soul-Locking and Demon-Refining Array has imprisoned the two Undying Heavenly Demons of Chaos, the Filthy Mother of Miasma and the Shattered Star Demon Eye! Although I dare not say that their original demonic thoughts have been completely refined, I expect that these two demons will be difficult to cause trouble within three hundred years!"

"Good! Good! Good!" Upon hearing this, the Spirit Lord clapped his hands and laughed, his voice resounding throughout the surrounding area. "This is a great achievement! For the Alliance of Tribulation Control, for the human race, and for the Spirit Realm, you are all heroes!"

Upon hearing this, the countless cultivators who flew out from the city of Boundary erupted in cheers, their voices deafening.

It was as if the long-suppressed atmosphere had suddenly relaxed.

Disciples from Taiyin Palace, Xuantian Pavilion, Yuanchu Palace, and Tiandao Palace also stepped forward, surrounding their sect elders with concern and greetings, their faces filled with pride and joy.

However, the Yin-Yang Void-Breaking Elder of the Lingxu Sect changed his expression slightly after carefully examining the returning crowd.

Because he did not see Gu Yuanqing. Although Gu Yuanqing was not a member of the Lingxu Sect, it seemed that the sect's Daoist disciple Li Miaoxuan had a close relationship with Elder Gu. The sect leader had ordered that he be treated with the highest honors and had specially sent him to wait for him.

But at this moment, a sense of unease arose in his heart.

This scene even reminded him of the disappearance of the Lingxu Sect's sect leader and other experts in the outer realms many years ago, as recorded in ancient books.

The Spirit Lord suddenly realized something and glanced at Xuanji Tianjun and the others again, only to find that they did not have much joy. Instead, they looked heavy and ashamed. The atmosphere among the cultivators behind them also seemed somewhat oppressive.

The Spirit Lord's heart sank, and the unease quickly grew. He suppressed his smile and asked in a deep voice, "Fellow Daoist Xuanji, Fellow Daoist Ji, where is Fellow Daoist Gu Yuanqing? Why haven't I seen him?"

The surrounding sounds suddenly subsided.

Many people then realized that there were a total of five Hun Tian Undying Great Cultivators who went on the expedition, but now there were only four.

Previously, it was simply because most of them were unfamiliar with Gu Yuanqing and only cared about their own sect elders, without paying any attention to others. Now, after hearing what the Spirit Venerable said, they realized this.

A bitter expression appeared on Xuanji Tianjun's face, and his voice lowered: "Spirit Lord... the extraterrestrial demons clearly had prior knowledge of this operation. They used the Filthy Mother of Miasma as bait, but in reality, they set a trap... A total of six Chaotic Undying Demons gathered in the extraterrestrial realm!"

He paused, then said, "This time, if it weren't for Fellow Daoist Gu's profound understanding of righteousness, his willingness to stay behind and sacrifice himself to cover the retreat, and his ability to stop the Heavenly Demon single-handedly... I'm afraid we might not have been able to return safely."

"Six Undying Chaotic Demons?!"

The Spirit Lord was startled.

He naturally knew what it would be like to encounter six Great Demons of Chaos and Immortality in the outer realms.

He looked around at Xuanji Tianjun, Han Jingshan, Ji Shan, and Lu Jiuming, and saw that although they were exhausted, they all nodded slightly, confirming that what Xuanji Tianjun said was true.

Lu Jiuming also said with a gloomy face: "I was the vanguard. After finding the true form of the Filthy Mother, I used my own soul as fire to ignite the Demon-Attracting Incense. Who would have thought that on the way to pursue the Filthy Mother, I was ambushed by the Shattered Star Demon Eye and almost died on the spot. I managed to escape by fighting to the death and finally led the two into the Spirit-Locking Demon-Refining Array."

Han Jingshan glanced at Lu Jiuming, a mocking look flashing in his eyes, but he didn't expose him.

Xuanji Tianjun and Ji Shan briefly recounted the events that had occurred in the past few days.

After listening, the Spirit Lord remained silent for a long time.

"No wonder the Sky Survey Department has reported that many of the rifts have been unusually quiet recently. It turns out that they have secretly gathered such power and laid such a deadly trap!"

He gazed at the deep, unpredictable spatial rift that seemed to devour all light, and sighed softly, "What a pity, what a pity!"

He did not inquire about Gu Yuanqing's fate. Even if his clone encountered four Heavenly Demons in the outer realm, it would still be difficult for him to escape.

The reason for the sigh of regret is that Gu Yuanqing is exceptionally talented, and this calamity may affect his path to enlightenment. Even if he eventually recovers, it will take at least several hundred years.

This is also a loss for the righteous sects.

Suddenly, he looked around and said in a deep voice, "Qingping Dao Palace, Fellow Daoist Gu Yuanqing! To protect my fellow humans and to safeguard the peace of the Xuanqiong Realm, he risked his life, single-handedly covering the rear, and fought valiantly against the four demons. His merits are truly great."

"Such achievements and such integrity should serve as a model for us all and deserve the utmost respect!"

"Our Alliance of Tribulation Control will certainly not fail those who have made contributions..."

……

Gu Yuanqing was still refining the Chaotic Undying Demon he had trapped in the outer void, not because he didn't want to bring these primordial demonic thoughts back to Beiquan Cave Heaven.

Last time, he imprisoned himself and returned to Beiquan Cave Heaven, taking the Heavenly Demon with him as well.

But today is different. These primordial demonic thoughts are scattered in the Heavenly Demon Qi, spreading across a space of nearly ten thousand kilometers. Only the sword formation and the Dao of Space are used to imprison and restrain this place, preventing the primordial demonic thoughts from escaping.

In other words, unless Gu Yuanqing can bring everything within this radius of ten thousand miles back to Beiquan Cave Heaven, there is no way to capture the Heavenly Demon.

The primordial demonic thought of the Heavenly Demon is merely a series of spiritual imprints with immortal characteristics, not a physical object. Once dispersed, only these individual strands can be used to slay or refine the demonic thought.

This process is also quite difficult.

Just like the previous Spirit-Locking and Demon-Refining Array, only by gradually shrinking the space of the sword array, refining all the demonic energy within, and surrounding and intercepting the scattered demonic thoughts until they have nowhere to escape and are completely imprisoned in a certain area, can they be put into a magic weapon and taken away.

Since Gu Yuanqing had no magic-refining treasures, he had no choice but to refine them in this extraterrestrial space.

Fortunately, his fishing skills were enough to allow him to do this alone.

Time passed little by little.

The Chaotic Primordial Flame finally burned away all the demonic energy within a radius of 30,000 li. Most of the original thoughts of the Heavenly Demons were also slain by Gu Yuanqing with his sword, and then refined by the Chaotic Primordial Flame to nourish himself. This refinement was also a trial of his swordsmanship for him.

As the Four Phases of the Calamity Suppressing Sword Dao continued to operate, Gu Yuanqing's mastery of it deepened even further.

The four sword techniques of Subduing Demons, Suppressing Demons, Destroying Demons, and Heavenly Demons are now vastly different from what they used to be. Consequently, the Four Phases Sword Technique for Suppressing Calamity, which is constructed from these four sword techniques, has naturally reached a level of consummate skill.

Moreover, the Four Symbols Sword Dao of Suppressing Calamity has gradually developed its own unique charm.

The reason why the previous Four Phases Sword Dao of Suppressing Calamity was able to achieve success was because it borrowed the insights left by the Heavenly Sword Elder, and stood on the shoulders of others.

Therefore, although he had mastered this swordsmanship, it was not his own.

Only then, through continuous training and use, did it gradually develop its own unique characteristics.

This is what is meant by "What you learn from books is never enough; you must put it into practice to truly understand."

The ways of others are always just a guide.

All the primordial thoughts of the Heavenly Demons were forced into a space of ten thousand feet. The figures of four Heavenly Demons could still be seen gathering and dispersing, constantly probing and attacking the defense. Every moment was ever-changing, but everything was under Gu Yuanqing's control.

As it was compressed, the power of the Four Phases Sword Formation of Calamity Suppressing was even greater than before, and its control over this space under the power of the spatial Dao Imprint was also completely different from what it used to be.

"almost!"

Gu Yuanqing's true form smiled in the Beiquan Cave Heaven, and then he calmly reached out his hand.

A gigantic hand appeared directly in the outer void, grasping the entire sword formation and the surrounding space within its palm before retracting.

In this extraterrestrial space, this large area of ​​space seemed to have been taken away in an instant.

The entire void seemed to return to calm, leaving only one of Gu Yuanqing's avatars standing, gazing into the distance.

A moment later, he opened his palm, and a wisp of the Heavenly Demon's essence wandered within it.

He sensed this wisp of demonic thought using the Heart Sword Technique and Divine Spirit Analysis Technique of the Heavenly Demon Sword Dao. Illusions arose in his sea of ​​consciousness, which was the Heavenly Demon's attempt to interfere with and pollute his divine thoughts. However, his soul was surrounded by a clear light, which was the protection of the Heavenly Demon Dao by the Taixu Ruyi Robe. Naturally, the Heavenly Demon could not truly affect him.

At the same time, he seemed to vaguely sense the thoughts of the Heavenly Demon, and even more vaguely sensed that this demonic thought had a mysterious connection with the infinite distance of the outer void.

"With the guidance of this demonic thought, we might be able to find the source of these extraterrestrial demons."

Gu Yuanqing seemed to be deep in thought.

"However, I can't do that right now, but I can try to use these demonic thoughts to find the other original demonic thoughts of those few Chaotic Undying Demons!"

Gu Yuanqing's clone also disappeared, returning directly to Beiquan Cave Heaven, leaving only a jade tablet floating in the void.

After this incident, Gu Yuanqing naturally had no further plans to go to the Xuanqiong Realm.

I was curious about the battlefield outside the region before, but after seeing it, I naturally lost most of my interest.

As for the so-called position of Elder of the Alliance of Tribulation Control, and the struggle between good and evil, none of that matters to him.

This time, he took the opportunity of covering the retreat to also retire from the Alliance of Exorcism.

The excuse of "damaged clone, secluded for recuperation" is quite reasonable, and neither the righteous nor the evil faction can find any fault with it.

And this time can be used to transform everything gained into cultivation and spiritual attainment!
The demonic thoughts of several Great Demons of Chaos and Immortality were enough to increase his divine soul origin by about 60%. Even with the help of Beiquan Mountain, it would take a lot of time to convert such a huge gain.

For Gu Yuanqing, the journey to the outer regions had come to a temporary end.

In this battle, the six Chaotic Undying Demons lost most of their fighting power. Including the Illusionary Cloud Demon Mother he had previously refined, the threat from the extraterrestrial demons has been greatly reduced.

Moreover, after he revealed his power in the outer void, unless a celestial immortal-level Undying Demon of Chaos came, these demons probably wouldn't dare to truly invade the Xuanqiong Realm.

"This is a good opportunity to rest for a while, improve my strength, and deal with the Ancient Divine Sect!"

In fact, compared to the Linglong Realm, cultivators of the same realm are far stronger. However, the highest-level cultivator in the Spirit Realm is the Hun Tian Undying. Even though these Hun Tian Undying cultivators have sect foundations and should not be underestimated, they ultimately have no irreconcilable hatred for Gu Yuanqing, nor do they have any life-or-death struggles for interests.

But the Ancient Divine Sect is different. In their eyes, Gu Yuanqing is a chosen one born to face calamity. The two are in a struggle for the Dao, which is related to the sect and to the individual.

Unless one party dies or is completely overwhelmed by the other, there is no room for reconciliation.

The reason why Gu Yuanqing dared not stop even after achieving immortality was precisely because of this.

The divine experts of the Ancient Divine Sect are difficult to fathom in terms of their background and strength. Gu Yuanqing could not rest easy until he had seen them!
He refined the power of these four celestial demons, but in the end, he sealed a wisp of their original demonic essence in a jade bottle and suppressed it at the bottom of the mountain, saving it for future use.

Afterwards, he recalled all his clones, notified Li Chengyi with his thoughts, and then went into seclusion.

In comprehending the Way of Heaven and Earth, one's own power merges with the Great Way, gradually transforming the increased original power of the soul into spiritual power, and ultimately into the cultivation of the Dao.

The increase in the origin makes the soul more intimate with the Great Dao, and in the process of fusion, it is easier to resonate with heaven and earth.

As the saying goes, "A single hair can move the whole body," and as enlightenment becomes easier, it will also bring about changes in the imprint of the Dao, thereby affecting the world of heaven and man, and ultimately affecting every particle of the physical body.

This cycle repeated itself, and Gu Yuanqing's mastery of the Undying Chaos level improved rapidly.

What would normally take hundreds or even thousands of years of painstaking effort has been transformed into just a few years thanks to the power of these few Undying Demon Kings.

The extraterrestrial demons are demons outside the spirit realm, but in a way, aren't they also an opportunity given to the cultivators of this world by this somewhat broken world? It's just that this opportunity is too risky.

Just like the two undead demons in Ji Shan's hands, they became the most important things for both the righteous and evil paths.

The elixir refined from this is of great use even to the immortal Hun Tian!

Zhige Tianyuan, on the circular white jade plaza.

Numerous major repairs are underway.

The Spirit Lord looked around and said in a deep voice, "The greatest gain from this demon hunt is the original demonic thought of these two Undying Demon Lords. After being jointly confirmed by the Master of the Myriad Laws Pill Dao, it can be used as material to refine nine Supreme Tranquility Pills and seven Nine Revolutions Return to Truth Pills, for a total of sixteen top-grade Spirit Nourishing Pills."

The five Undying Grandmasters who went to hunt the demon will receive either a Supreme Tranquility Pill or a Nine-Turn Return to Truth Pill in addition to having their merits recorded for killing the Undying Heavenly Demon. Gu Yuanqing of the Qingping Dao Palace sacrificed himself to hold off the Heavenly Demon's pursuit, resulting in the loss of one of his clones; therefore, two of each type of pill will be given to aid his recovery. The remaining pills will be added to the alliance's pill treasury and can be exchanged for merits. Does anyone have any objections?”

(End of this chapter)