Beyond the Myriad Immortal Star, killing intent surged. Over a dozen Golden Immortal generals were locked in a melee around the Monkey, The Monkey, with a deceptively carefree grin, was trapped at the center, casually wielding his staff as if plucking straw. Each swing deftly parried the spears, blades, and halberds of the Immortals, and each time, it seemed the Immortals were about to land a blow on the Monkey's true form, yet every strike was Thwarted by the seemingly "light" sweep of his staff, batting their weapons aside. When Golden Immortals acted within the Mortal Realm, the commotion was immense. Although the Sages and Saints of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths had reinforced the spatial barriers around the Myriad Immortal Star, the mere movement of Golden Immortals caused this quadrant of the cosmos to tremble violently, shaking the very mountains suspended in the void.

Thus, hundreds of thousands of Immortals soared into the distance to observe the battle. Some gossiped, muttering about the woman opposite them. Gu Xiechen impassively cast his divine sense over the area, hearing their whispers clearly. The woman across from them was named Mu Qingyi. She hailed from a prominent immortal clan bearing the surname Mu in the Wuliang Heaven of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. Having cultivated for less than a century, she encountered the renowned Demon Sage Linggan during a casual excursion and was taken as a concubine. Due to her cleverness and charm, she endeared herself deeply to the Linggan Great Sage, who invested heavily in her cultivation. In less than ten thousand years under the Linggan Great Sage, Mu Qingyi was forcibly advanced from a mere First-Grade Heavenly Immortal to a Sixth-Grade Golden Immortal, showered with countless treasures. This process also cultivated her arrogant and unreasonable nature, making her notorious among the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths as the most troublesome of the low-cultivation individuals who absolutely could not be provoked. When the deities and sages of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths descended to the mortal realm seeking opportunities, the Linggan Great Sage brought only Mu Qingyi among his thousands of concubines, demonstrating the depth of her favor. The observing Immortals whispered amongst themselves, wondering which unfortunate soul had offended Mu Qingyi this time, as it surely invited a fatal calamity.

A fatal calamity? Gu Xiechen let out a cold, disdainful sneer. At this juncture, he had little left to fear. Since trouble had arrived at his doorstep, resolving the trouble was the only course. He glanced distantly at the spectators, then suddenly unleashed a tremendously powerful stream of divine consciousness: "May all fellow Daoists kindly retreat further. We absolutely must avoid accidental harm to any of you!"

With a flourish of his sleeves, he employed the Celestial Sleeve Divine Ability. Two white torrents, stretching thousands of zhang and spanning hundreds of li, surged skyward, transforming into twin water walls that crashed down upon the contingent of Immortals led by Mu Qingyi from the left and right. Mu Qingyi gasped. She felt the terrifying power within these water waves—power capable of crushing her and every subordinate behind her into dust. Her delicate face instantly paled, and she shrieked: "How dare you kill me? You, you, you are courting death!" While berating him, Mu Qingyi summoned the life-preserving Dharma Treasure bestowed upon her by the Linggan Great Sage, even as she frantically retreated backward. A piece of cyan cloud-stone erupted from thin air above Mu Qingyi's head, instantly materializing into a cyan cloud spanning several acres, enveloping her entirely. Mu Qingyi’s escape light instantly accelerated by several tens of times; she nearly vanished in a flash, just barely escaping the area the water waves were set to cover.

But Gu Xiechen, at this stage, would not allow a mere Sixth-Grade Golden Immortal like her to slip away. He merely smiled faintly, flicked his fingers, and a chilling aura shot out from the water waves, piercing the cyan cloud instantly, tearing it apart, and infiltrating Mu Qingyi's body. This icy chill thoroughly froze every sinew and bone of hers into a solid block of ice. Mu Qingyi’s escape light froze mid-flight, and the two water waves slammed down, pulverizing her along with nearly two thousand Earth Immortals.

Gu Xiechen rubbed his hands together, and the white water torrents retracted inward, condensing into a massive vortex that spun rapidly with a resounding roar in the void. Innumerable ice shards, crystallized from condensed Taiyin energy, whirled within the vortex, grinding the primordial spirits of Mu Qingyi and her entourage into fragments. The grayish-white vortex gradually dissipated, followed by an absolute silence. All the surrounding Immortals stared blankly at Gu Xiechen. He had struck without hesitation and annihilated Mu Qingyi? He really killed Mu Qingyi? In front of so many Immortals? He—he truly had the nerve!

Some Immortals, with flickering gazes, stealthily activated their escape lights and fled toward the Myriad Immortal Star. Gu Xiechen watched their lights, a cold smile playing on his lips. Meanwhile, the Monkey, seeing Gu Xiechen suddenly act and obliterate Mu Qingyi and her group, burst into an angry roar. He suddenly transformed into a streak of golden light, leaping upward, and brought his staff down with crushing force. The dozen or so Golden Immortals who had been holding their own against him moments before were caught completely off guard and smashed into dust by that single blow; even their Immortal weapons and armor dissolved into wisps of pale smoke.

"Boring, boring! Why strike so ruthlessly?" the Monkey complained to Gu Xiechen, clearly dissatisfied. "There were several other strong fighters in the mountains; I was planning to lure them out and fight them slowly for sport!" Gu Xiechen smiled. "By killing this woman, they will naturally come out. Why bother luring the snake from its hole?" Before his words faded, three startling rainbows charged furiously from the mountain range. Three Demon Immortals, whose cultivation hovered around the Second-Grade Taiyi Golden Immortal level, flew forward with ashen faces. Still hundreds of li away from Gu Xiechen and the Monkey, they viciously hurled more than a dozen Yin Thunders toward them.

The Monkey glanced dismissively at the Yin Thunders, shaking his head. "Not exactly profound techniques. Uninteresting, uninteresting!" Before the Yin Thunders could reach him, the Monkey raised his staff, flashed away, and appeared before the eight Great Apes who were trembling in terror. With a congenial smile, he began to murmur negotiations with them. Gu Xiechen could only shake his head helplessly, stepping forward to catch the Yin Thunders hurled by the three Taiyi Golden Immortals in his hands. With a forceful squeeze of his five fingers, the thunder-fire condensed from the dozen Yin Thunders was crushed in his grip.

Sensing the energy within the thunder-fire, Gu Xiechen nodded slightly to himself. This Monkey’s perception was indeed keen. Although the three Immortals possessed the cultivation of Second-Grade Taiyi Golden Immortals, their divine abilities and spells did not match their cultivation level. Their method of condensing Yin Thunder was utterly inferior to that of ancient cultivators; while the power was immense, the energy within the thunder-fire was quite impure—their thunder techniques had clearly fallen to a lower standard. If this was the general quality of Immortals from the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, then perhaps they were not so fearsome after all.

Without superior, high-level divine abilities and spells, an Immortal's combat strength would be weakened by at least half. Calculated this way, even a Grand Luo Golden Immortal seemed less terrifying. Gu Xiechen, however, was unaware of how astonishing it was that he had just crushed the Yin Thunders cast by three Taiyi Golden Immortals. The distant Immortals who had been gloating, assuming his imminent demise, simultaneously sucked in sharp breaths of cold air, their eyes nearly popping out. Whether Gu Xiechen had dodged the Yin Thunders or blocked them with a Dharma Treasure, those would have been standard dueling maneuvers, nothing surprising. But to seize the thunder-fire with his bare body and extinguish it—this was a truly terrifying feat! Was his body truly Indestructible Vajra? Or did he possess a unique lightning repulsion divine ability?

The way the Immortals looked at Gu Xiechen had changed entirely. Another group of Immortals hurriedly activated their escape lights and flew into the Myriad Immortal Star. The three Taiyi Golden Immortals arrived in a frenzy, screaming urgently: "Qing Niangniang? Qing Niangniang?" Gu Xiechen stated calmly, "No need to call. She is dead, her soul scattered, with no chance of survival." The three Demon Immortals trembled in distress, their faces stark white as they stared at Gu Xiechen, howling almost in despair: "You... you... if we die, you must die too!" In a desperate, all-or-nothing move, the three Demon Immortals forced out the majority of their full power, injecting it into their natal Dharma Treasures to launch a full-strength attack at Gu Xiechen.

Blinding light erupted from the void. The three Demon Immortals revealed their true forms: one was a golden jar, one a cyan sparrow, and one a crimson crow. The golden jar spewed forth all its sharp teeth, transforming into countless streaks of cold light that shot out. The cyan sparrow unfurled all the long feathers from its wings, filling the sky with crisscrossing cyan sword energies. The crimson crow’s eyes ejected from their sockets, two pearl-like orbs the size of water vats, carrying a chilling light, smashing directly down onto Gu Xiechen’s head.

Gu Xiechen retreated a few steps. The three Kongsang brothers sneered and advanced. Their long halberds, spears, and swords swept forward, unleashing even more dazzling cold blue light that swept across the sky. The full-power attack from the three Demon Immortals was instantly shattered. Their hearts were pierced respectively by the three weapons. The cyan sparrow and crimson crow died instantly, their primordial spirits also pulverized. The golden jar, dangling from the halberd, still clung to life. It stared blankly at Gu Xiechen, asking in disbelief: "You... you are not Immortals from the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths?" Gu Xiechen nodded. The golden jar spat out a mouthful of blood and asked with a bitter smile, "But you possess the cultivation of peak Taiyi Golden Immortal." Gu Xiechen’s eyes flickered, and he nodded with a strange smile. With a soft sigh, the golden jar spoke calmly: "Then, your Daoist title is Daoist Cunning Dragon? Are you the mysterious and profound senior Immortal that Yu Guanzi and Fei Xing Daoist reported back to the Upper Realm?" After an identical sigh, Gu Xiechen shook his head: "That has nothing to do with you." He snorted, and Kongsang Ri instantly tensed his wrist, unleashing a surge of immortal power. The body and primordial spirit of the golden jar were utterly pulverized, years of arduous cultivation turning to dust in an instant.

The two white-robed Daoist boys were terrified into weakness atop their clouds, their eyes glazed over. Gu Xiechen glanced at them impatiently, coldly snorting: "Respected Daoist friends, please lead the way. We absolutely must attend this Assembly of Immortals!" Glancing at each other, the two Daoist boys forced wry smiles. "The Senior speaks wisely. Please follow us." Summoning a cloud of light, the two Daoist boys flew toward the Myriad Immortal Star without daring to look back, guiding Gu Xiechen and his party. The eight Great Apes followed closely behind the Monkey. Only after Gu Xiechen and his group entered the Myriad Immortal Star did he turn to the eight Great Apes with a smile, asking: "You all came too? Aren't you afraid of the Linggan Great Sage? Remember, he is far more terrifying than his concubine, whom you feared so much!" The Great Apes glared, gritting their teeth and coldly snorting: "It amounts to nothing more than death. To abandon our lifesaver and flee—that is something we cannot do!" Gu Xiechen narrowed his eyes and smiled, while the Monkey burst into gleeful laughter. Yang Jian glanced at the eight Great Apes, then suddenly sighed toward the sky: "What a pity, they are all male apes!" That single sentence nearly choked the Monkey to death with his own saliva. Gu Xiechen and the others strained their faces for a moment before suddenly bursting into loud laughter. The two guiding white-robed Daoist boys looked at this group of people who seemed oblivious to death as if they were looking at idiots. They had killed the Linggan Great Sage's most favored concubine and decimated the elite bodyguards assigned to her. Instead of fleeing to the ends of the earth to avoid disaster, they were heading straight for the Assembly of Immortals—what was that if not suicide? This group was insane; they must be mad! Did they think having Taiyi Golden Immortal cultivation made them special? The Nine Heavens and Ten Earths were filled with Taiyi Golden Immortals! The two white-robed Daoist boys touched the Dragon Blood Silver Gu Xiechen had gifted them, then sighed softly in their hearts.

Above the Myriad Immortal Star, a magnificent palace complex floated less than ten li above the ground, featuring thirty-six courtyards deep and nearly ten thousand annexes and side halls sprawling across. The main hall was carved entirely from beautiful jade, overlaid with countless restrictive formations, radiating dazzling immortal energy and divine light even from a distance. At the gates of the main hall, two massive encampments, each housing one hundred thousand Immortals, were set up on the left and right. Killing intent permeated the camps as countless Immortals clad in observation-array armor practiced formations. Judging by their cultivation, these Immortals were at least Third or Fourth-Grade Heavenly Immortals. Ordinary squad leaders possessed Golden Immortal cultivation, while the aura emanating from the central tent of the two large camps hinted at the level of Taiyi Golden Immortals. These two camps, totaling two hundred thousand Immortals, could sweep through the entire Human Cultivation World if any random contingent of a thousand men were deployed. Even the blood descendants of the Demon Dragon Gen, the Angels of the Angel Race, plus two hundred or so Golden Immortal-level Dark Gods—if these two camps were mobilized together, they could annihilate all three forces. This represented the gulf in stature between the Upper and Lower Realms. Positioning these two camps at the entrance to the main hall was an undisguised display of military might, intended to intimidate the cultivators of the Mortal Realm.

Gu Xiechen and his party slowly traversed the space between the two camps under the gaze of tens of thousands of Immortals, finally arriving before the main palace gate. Several Immortals, dressed in purple robes adorned with crane feathers, accompanied by white egrets and black cranes, bearing golden seals and jade talismans at their waists—all looking like celestial court officials—stood leisurely before the archway of the main gate. Seeing Gu Xiechen’s group approach, one of them called out from a distance: "Which Daoist friends arrive?" Gu Xiechen let out a cold snort. Kongsang Ri strode forward and boomed: "Daoist Cunning Dragon of Cloud Splendor Mountain has arrived to attend the gathering!" The Immortals exchanged glances and simultaneously burst into laughter. They bowed in unison and announced grandly: "So it is Daoist Cunning Dragon! Please enter, please enter!" Before their words faded, a gust of clear wind swept out from within the main hall, instantly coalescing into a human form. This figure coldly snorted and lunged, grabbing directly toward Gu Xiechen’s heart. Yang Jian also snorted coldly, his body flickering gracefully in front of Gu Xiechen, meeting the incoming attack with an equally ethereal claw strike. When their palms met, not a single sound was emitted. Only when a jade-white spiritual light flashed across the palm of the incoming figure, and a golden light pulsed rapidly nine times on Yang Jian’s palm, did the effect become apparent. The figure staggered slightly, floating back three zhang before stabilizing, while Yang Jian remained motionless on the spot, though small beads of crimson blood began to drip from all seven of his orifices.

"What a domineering body-tempering technique!" the figure spat out coldly. "No wonder you dared to kill my woman!" Golden light flashed around Yang Jian, instantly vaporizing the blood on his face. He took a deep breath and let out a slightly weak, cold laugh: "Indeed. Your body cultivation technique is also orthodox Immortal Dao; it is quite good. Linggan Great Sage? I shall remember your name!" Such arrogance was unbearable, as if being remembered by him was a boundless honor for the Linggan Great Sage himself. The Linggan Great Sage was enraged. He haughtily tilted his head and sneered: "Do you realize, I only used power equivalent to a nascent Taiyi Golden Immortal?" Yang Jian raised his head, displaying an arrogance ten thousand times greater, looking at the Linggan Great Sage only through his nostrils: "Do you realize, I only used strength equivalent to peak Golden Immortal! Your technique is nothing special!" The surrounding air suddenly congealed, and a surge of murderous intent erupted from the Linggan Great Sage’s body. He had activated his magical powers, sealing the surrounding space.

The Monkey stood silently beside Yang Jian, staff in hand, scrutinizing the figure of the Linggan Great Sage. A ferocious fighting spirit also surged from the Monkey. Yang Jian’s pride was ten thousand times his, and the Monkey’s fighting spirit was ten thousand times his killing intent. This was the fighting spirit belonging only to the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, who dared to wreak havoc in the Heavenly Palace and challenge the throne of the Heavenly Emperor Hao Tian. In the Three Realms, only he possessed such a spirit; only he! Yang Jian, despite being called the foremost War God of the Three Realms, did not possess it! This intense fighting spirit descended like a colossal mountain. Suddenly provoked by the Monkey’s battle aura, the Linggan Great Sage staggered backward three steps! A dignified Grand Luo Golden Immortal actually forced back by the fighting spirit of a Taiyi Golden Immortal! The purple-robed Immortals nearby turned pale, looking at Gu Xiechen’s party with expressions akin to seeing a ghost. The Monkey and Yang Jian suddenly burst into laughter. In perfect synchronization, they both shook their heads and sighed, showing remarkable tacit understanding: "You... are not good enough!" The three Kongsang brothers strode forward, chanting in unison: "He's right. You are truly not good enough!" Gu Xiechen smiled, hands clasped behind his back, looking down at the Linggan Great Sage with utter nonchalance, showing not a shred of respect or regard in his gaze.

The face of the Linggan Great Sage turned pitch black. His slender body trembled violently, wisps of spiritual light leaking from him. The surrounding void suddenly solidified; he had already exerted his magic and sealed the surrounding space. "Killing my beloved consort, destroying my subordinates, and publicly insulting me so deeply... if I do not kill you all today, I, Linggan, will have no face left to exist in the Three Realms!" Gu Xiechen finally spoke, offering a helpless, wry smile: "I sympathize with you! You are so agitated you are crying because we bullied you! However, you, a mere output of a Grand Luo Golden Immortal, have an exceedingly slim hope of killing us!" After this lament, Gu Xiechen cautiously suggested to the Linggan Great Sage: "Why don't you return home for secluded cultivation first? Come back to settle accounts with us once you reach the cultivation level of Second-Grade Grand Luo Golden Immortal? Hmm, unless you suffer a qi deviation and die suddenly, we will wait here for your revenge!" The Linggan Great Sage roared in fury, spitting out a mouthful of blood.