Hua, the light of his escape swift, and Gu Xichen and the others dashed to the edge of Mount Da Lou in a flash.

The Purple-Eyed Vulture King was shaking his head, climbing out from underground. Although he had taken a heavy blow from the upheaval of the earth veins, he possessed the bloodline of an ancient monstrous bird, and his maternal lineage excelled at recovery. Thus, after only a few breaths of dizziness, he struggled free and ascended from the soil.

Gu Xichen’s party happened to fly past him. Seeing the Purple-Eyed Vulture King suddenly, Guo Hua, with utterly malicious intent, seized him by the neck and casually tossed him backward toward the group of pursuers rapidly closing in: the Crimson Moon Divine Lord and his entourage. “Brother, you’re actually covering our escape voluntarily? Such deep friendship, we gratefully accept! Mountains don't move, but waters flow; if we meet again, we will certainly repay this favor!” Before the Purple-Eyed Vulture King could even grasp what was happening, Guo Hua had forcefully hurled him away.

Acting on instinct as a powerful Demon Immortal, immediately after being thrown by Guo Hua, the Purple-Eyed Vulture King instinctively summoned the suit of armor that protected him, the Great Roc Cloud-Covering Armor, and donned it. With a casual gesture, he brought forth his personal supreme immortal artifact, the Startling Wind Moon-Shattering Halberd.

His seven-colored, variegated wings spread wide, he drifted briefly with the momentum of Guo Hua’s throw. The Purple-Eyed Vulture King vigorously shook his head, about to see who dared to take advantage of his disorientation to mock him, when a terrifying surge of energy slammed into the back of his heart.

The Crimson-Eyed Heavenly Wall Young Man pointed his sword formula at a towering, dazzling sword light. Suddenly seeing the Purple-Eyed Vulture King thrust himself in—as if to cut in and cover Gu Xichen’s party’s escape—intense killing intent ignited in his heart. Further enraged and mentally clouded, the Heavenly Wall Young Man cared for nothing else and unleashed his sword qi, stabbing toward the Vulture King’s back.

The Purple-Eyed Vulture King’s cultivation as a Mid-Grade Grand Unity Golden Immortal was tens of thousands of times superior to the Heavenly Wall Young Man’s. However, he had just been severely struck by the Monkey’s technique, the Universe Shifting Earth Reversal Great Method, sustaining a non-trivial injury to his physical body. His spirit was also shaken, leaving him dazed and disoriented; his current strength momentarily matched only the Heavenly Wall Young Man, whose power had surged a level due to his blinding rage.

The flying sword wielded by the Heavenly Wall Young Man was also a top-tier immortal sword, forged by mixing the dross of the Nine Heavens’ lightning with forty-nine types of pure Yang materials, inherently possessing a powerful restraint against all manner of demons and ghosts.

The Purple-Eyed Vulture King’s immortal armor, however, was merely a High-Grade Immortal Artifact, and he had failed to infuse it with immortal power to enhance its defense.

The Heavenly Wall Young Man’s sword struck down, piercing the Great Roc Cloud-Covering Armor with a resounding crash. The Purple-Eyed Vulture King let out a cry of pain; a blood-filled hole, as thick as a teacup and half a foot deep, was ripped open in his back. Ten thousand streaks of lightning erupted from the purple sword light, accompanied by ‘crackling’ sounds, blasting the flesh on the Vulture King’s back into a charred, tattered mess. The Purple-Eyed Vulture King screamed in agony, his eyeballs nearly popping from their sockets; he barely managed not to faint.

In agonizing pain, the Purple-Eyed Vulture King’s eyes turned utterly cold. With a grim face, he swung his long halberd, delivering a strike that was completely silent.

Demon Immortals, much like Devil Immortals, are the most warlike and battle-experienced class of immortals in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. This strike from the Purple-Eyed Vulture King was soundless and carried no glint of light, moving like a phantom to pierce the Heavenly Wall Young Man’s chest in an instant, running right through his right breast.

The Heavenly Wall Young Man froze, then let out a scream of pain that shook heaven and earth. When had he ever suffered such a grievous wound? Staring at the halberd lodged in his chest, he didn’t even have the thought to flee; he had utterly forgotten what he was supposed to do.

The Purple-Eyed Vulture King smiled cruelly, gently rotating the halberd shaft. The head of the weapon tore through the Heavenly Wall Young Man’s body, nearly ripping his chest open. Blood sprayed everywhere; the sharp head of the halberd cleaved through the Young Man’s internal organs, and his essence blood spewed forth ceaselessly.

With a sharp cry like a vulture, the Purple-Eyed Vulture King casually drew the sword at his waist, intending to pierce the Heavenly Wall Young Man’s brow and extinguish his soul.

In the short span of that exchange, the Crimson Moon Divine Lord and his two companions had caught up. Seeing his son’s chest cleaved open, the Crimson Moon Divine Lord was momentarily paralyzed with fright, almost fainting. In desperation, he pointed a finger at the divine mirror above his head, shooting out a stream of red energy toward the Purple-Eyed Vulture King.

Just as the Purple-Eyed Vulture King drew his sword, a streak of red energy shot in from the side. His heart jolted, but gritting his teeth, he brought his sword down one last time. A horrible shriek followed; the blade grazed the Heavenly Wall Young Man’s body diagonally, slicing down from his right shoulder to his left ribcage, nearly severing half his body. The viciousness of a Demon Immortal’s nature was thus revealed—utterly disregarding personal safety to inflict maximum damage upon the enemy.

The red energy struck the Purple-Eyed Vulture King’s shoulder. With a dull thud, a fist-sized golden meteor shot out from the energy stream, swift and heavy as Mount Tai crashing down. The armor on the Vulture King’s shoulder was pulverized, and his left shoulder, along with an arm, was violently snapped off. He howled in pain once more.

The inherently cruel and ruthless Purple-Eyed Vulture King shrieked up at the heavens. With his left hand, he stabbed and hooked the halberd, impaling his detached left arm. He glared fiercely at the three Divine Lords—Crimson Moon, Green Sun, and White Water—let out a strange laugh, stomped hard on the spot three inches below the Heavenly Wall Young Man’s lower abdomen, and then flapped his variegated wings, transforming into a streak of light that soared toward the sky.

Demon Immortals cultivated from avian forms possess an inherent advantage in escape techniques. Despite only having the cultivation of a Mid-Grade Grand Unity Golden Immortal, the Purple-Eyed Vulture King’s speed in flight was several times faster than the trio from Crimson Moon; how could they possibly keep up?

The White Water Divine Lord stamped his foot fiercely, roaring, “It’s that little bastard Purple-Eyed Vulture King! Is the Purple-Eyed Roc King trying to calculate against our Mount Da Lou again?”

The Green Sun Divine Lord sneered, “He already has. Third Brother, is there still the Mount Da Lou lineage within the Brahma Surveillance Heaven of Yan?”

The Crimson Moon Divine Lord trembled with rage, gasping as he rushed toward the heavily injured Heavenly Wall Young Man. He carefully expelled a stream of immortal power to envelop him. The Green Sun Divine Lord and White Water Divine Lord flew over with expressions of distress, placing several spirit pills for healing physical wounds and restoring vital energy into the Heavenly Wall Young Man’s mouth. They then expelled their natal immortal qi to aid his healing.

With the full assistance of the three elders, the Heavenly Wall Young Man’s physical injuries healed rapidly, restoring him to his original state in the blink of an eye.

Three High-Grade Grand Unity Golden Immortals—no, now two High-Grade Grand Unity Golden Immortals and one Mid-Grade Grand Unity Golden Immortal—helping a Low-Grade Grand Unity Golden Immortal heal was akin to Golden Immortals treating mortals; it was effortless. The Heavenly Wall Young Man lowered his head, shame coloring his expression. The Crimson Moon Divine Lord simply patted his shoulder heavily and commanded in a low voice, “My son, remember the tragic state of our Mount Da Lou lineage a few days ago. You must demand an accounting from the Purple-Eyed Roc soon.”

The Heavenly Wall Young Man clenched his teeth and snorted forcefully. He found it strange why the youngest son of the Purple-Eyed Roc King would associate with this group of immortals clearly from the lower realms and connected to the Yuan Luo Palace. But in an instant, his rage overwhelmed what little reason he possessed. The Purple-Eyed Vulture King had gravely wounded him and nearly destroyed his soul; this was undeniable. The Purple-Eyed Roc King was connected to this group, meaning he must be plotting against the Three Divine Palaces from behind the scenes.

Carrying a feeling of ineffable tragedy and sorrow, imbued with the desolate sentiment of “the wind sighs bleakly, and the Yi River is cold,” the four remaining leaders of the Three Divine Palaces fled in a streak of light after Gu Wuchen and his group.

However, Gu Wuchen was leading the way with the Pangu Banner, so their escape speed was not far behind. Because the Purple-Eyed Vulture King had created an unexpected obstacle, the four from the Three Divine Palaces chased them all the way to the teleportation array connecting the Brahma Surveillance Heaven to the outside world. Only then did they glimpse the backs of Gu Qichen’s party as they vanished into the array.

The Crimson Moon Divine Lord roared ‘Chase!’ through gritted teeth, his mirror spitting out countless fire meteors that pulverized tens of thousands of immortals within a radius of ten thousand miles. The four rushed furiously into the teleportation array.

Gu Xichen led his party out of the Brahma Surveillance Heaven and arrived on that impossibly huge tree. He grabbed Guo Hua, who was foolishly about to rush into the Nine Dragon Heaven-Piercing Ladder, and with a backhand wave of his sleeve, knocked out the thousands of Golden Immortals guarding the Ladder, tossing them into the golden light that the Ladder transformed into. The thousands of Golden Immortals, eyes rolled back in confusion, dissolved into specks of golden light, plummeting toward the lower realm, while Gu Xichen and the others rushed into a gateway beside them.

The moment the group vanished into that gateway, the four from the Crimson Moon Divine Lord burst out of the Brahma Surveillance Heaven, just in time to see the specks of golden light merge into the Nine Dragon Heaven-Piercing Ladder and descend into the mortal world. They failed to notice the disappearance of the thousands of Golden Immortals from the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths guarding the place, hastily plunging into the golden light, intent on chasing their quarry into the lower realm with murderous intent.

With a sly, secretive smile, Gu Xichen led his group out of a colossal teleportation array comparable in scale to the Brahma Surveillance Heaven, arriving in a realm whose grandeur of mountains and rivers, though lesser than the former, surpassed it in terms of exquisite beauty and spiritual vitality. This was the Cave of Non-Conscious Response Heaven! Gazing upon the scenery before him, Gu Wuchen suddenly let out a long sigh.

A sensation of extreme familiarity rose from the bottom of his heart. This illusion of memory stemmed from the unconscious spirit of the True Monarch of Great Yin. Years ago, Gu Xichen had devoured all the primordial spirits of the True Monarch of Great Yin, thereby inheriting all his knowledge and experience.

The Cave of Non-Conscious Response Heaven was the residence where the True Monarch of Great Yin had secluded himself for countless eons since the opening of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. In the ancient era, his domain was a place no one dared profane within the Cave of Non-Conscious Response Heaven. Any thought he held would become the decree for all immortals within that realm.

And now, after so many years, did anyone still remember such powerhouses from the Primordial Chaos as the True Monarch of Great Yin?

Sectarian powers like the Yuan Luo Palace had replaced the status of those ancient Primordial Chaos experts, becoming the supreme existence in the Cave of Non-Conscious Response Heaven. Had the Ice God Palace, the Eternal Bright Domain within the Extreme North Great Yin Realm—the former abode of the True Monarch of Great Yin—retained the scenery as it was when he departed?

Recalling the fragments of memory regarding the Ice God Palace from the True Monarch of Great Yin’s primordial spirit, Gu Xichen’s body felt waves of heat, and his heart pounded rapidly. He took a deep breath, once again sweeping his sleeve to knock out all the immortals near the teleportation array. He casually used a divine power to send these unfortunate immortals to a hidden cave tens of thousands of miles away, sealing them there, before leading Fu Ya and Ming toward the north.

Fu Ya and Ming held Gu Xichen’s hands. Although they were puzzled why Gu Xichen wasn't returning to the lower realm but heading to the Cave of Non-Conscious Response Heaven, they held no objection to whatever Gu Xichen decided to do.

Guo Hua, however, flapped his wings carelessly while flying forward, asking Gu Xichen the reason for their destination.

Gu Xichen cleanly explained why he had come, and Guo Hua immediately silenced himself. However, his eyes turned the ghastly green of a hungry wolf—the residence left behind by the True Monarch of Great Yin! Not claiming it would be pure foolishness!

The Monkey, however, was blissfully ignorant of who the True Monarch of Great Yin was. When he roamed the Three Realms, Primordial Chaos-level powerhouses like the True Monarch of Great Yin had long since retired into the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. He had never heard the name of the True Monarch of Great Yin.

Frowning in thought for a moment, the Monkey suddenly laughed, “Great Yin, Great Yin, could it be the Star Lord of Great Yin on the Great Yin Star?”

This time, Yang Jian and the three Kong Sang brothers all looked at the Monkey with immense disdain. Kong Sang Ri let out a deep, muffled snort. “Although the Star Lord of Great Yin is also a formidable Innate Great Sage, compared to the senior True Monarch of Great Yin, well, hehe, hehe!”

The Monkey’s face flushed, and he angrily retorted, “Then what grand and lofty figure is that old fellow, the True Monarch of Great Yin?”

Yang Jian leisurely floated forward on a cloud, gently stroking the head of his hound. He said faintly, “The True Monarch of Great Yin was born before the Primordial Chaos was established. In fact, he emerged earlier than the Great Sage Pangu, coalescing from the first wisp of Primordial Chaos’s Yin energy.”

Seeing the Monkey’s utterly confused expression, Yang Jian stated directly, “In terms of divine power and magical ability, the True Monarch of Great Yin surpasses even the Great Sage’s first master. However, his profoundness in the Dao was less deep than your master’s, and he lacked the care of the Heavenly Dao, resulting in his power being slightly inferior.”

Mulling it over, Yang Jian stated each word deliberately, “To speak truly, primordial beings like the True Monarch of Great Yin, when pitted against the Three Pure Ones or the Great Sage’s master and his peers, even if they perished, could severely wound a Saint to the point of inability to rise.”

The Monkey sharply sucked in a breath, with a ‘crack’ sound, violently turning his head to stare at Gu Wuchen. The Monkey’s voice changed, “Such a figure’s primordial spirit was actually swallowed by you? What a profound karmic affinity! No wonder you achieved this level of cultivation in just a few hundred years.” Gu Xichen smiled modestly. The journey, filled with casual conversation, took a full three months before they finally reached the northern reaches of the Cave of Non-Conscious Response Heaven. Along the way, had Gu Xichen not located hundreds of ancient teleportation arrays, saving the vast majority of travel time, at their speed, it would have taken them thousands of years to arrive here.

The Extreme North Great Yin Realm, the Eternal Bright Domain. As its name suggested, the scenery here was eternally dominated by towering ice winds, where gale and profound ice were the unchanging features. The sky was choked with bird clouds frozen like blocks of lead, yet a strange white light pierced through the clouds, illuminating the Eternal Bright Domain for hundreds of millions of miles, keeping it bright as day year-round. Gu Xichen followed the memory of the True Monarch of Great Yin, stopping at an active volcano on the edge of the Eternal Bright Domain.

The gleam of their escape lights was magnificent; their various colored lights were detected from afar. Just as they landed near the volcano’s crater, a cloud mass covering ten acres rose from a mountain depression and rapidly flew toward them.

Hundreds of male and female immortals stood atop the cloud mass, clearly led by a young man in the center—handsome and extraordinary in his high-crowned, brocaded robes.

Gu Xichen’s divine sense swept over the group. The highest cultivation among them belonged to four elderly immortals at the peak of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal stage; the rest were mostly at the Golden Immortal level. As for the leading youth, his power was only at the sixth rank of the Celestial Immortal stage.

However, in Gu Xichen’s estimation, the artifacts on the youth were the finest. Everything on him, even the six jade pendants hanging at his waist, were supreme immortal artifact-grade defensive treasures, all involving automatically triggered defensive talismans. His golden crown, brocaded robes, and cloud boots all shimmered with radiant light—rare and exceptional goods. Even the cloud light beneath the youth’s feet was different from that of the others around him.

Though a hundred immortals stood upon the ten-acre cloud mass, a small patch of azure cloud light, about an acre wide, clung tightly to the youth’s feet. It was obvious this cloud light was either an escape treasure or an extremely high-grade protective artifact. The youth’s elders clearly adored him to have given him such a peculiar item to carry.

After scrutinizing the youth for a moment, Gu Wuchen couldn't be bothered with him and turned to look at the volcano behind him.

When the True Monarch of Great Yin first secluded himself in the Cave of Non-Conscious Response Heaven, although he devoted himself to spiritual cultivation and ignored worldly affairs, his reputation was widespread. Other ancient immortals in the Cave of Non-Conscious Response Heaven all knew of such a formidable figure residing in the Eternal Bright Domain.

At some point, a custom developed: every Era Cycle, the immortals of the Cave of Non-Conscious Response Heaven would exhaust all their resources, offering heavenly materials and earthly treasures to the True Monarch of Great Yin. The True Monarch of Great Yin acted like a monarch receiving tribute; he would either impart divine techniques and skills, lecture on the profound principles of the Heavenly Dao, or mediate disputes for these immortals.

And the Eternal Bright Domain was filled with countless fatal perils and dangerous territories. Even powerful ancient immortals were unable to traverse the vast, wild snowfields to reach the Ice God Palace directly.

Therefore, the True Monarch of Great Yin used his great divine power to carve out a passage directly leading to the Ice God Palace beneath this very volcano. This tunnel was eighteen billion li long, running perfectly straight toward the Ice God Palace, containing no naturally occurring storms or dangers, only the various restrictions set by the True Monarch of Great Yin himself.

Every Era Cycle, this ‘Profound Ice Tunnel’ would open for forty-nine days, during which the offering immortals would travel through it to meet the True Monarch of Great Yin at the Ice God Palace.

Gu Xichen did not wish to waste energy traversing the extremely perilous terrain of the Eternal Bright Domain; using this tunnel to enter the Ice God Palace was the most expedient way.

While he was reviewing the True Monarch of Great Yin’s memories of the Profound Ice Tunnel, a voice filled with an indescribable, sweet fragrance drifted from behind him. “Young lady, might we have met several months ago on ‘Little Green Field Orchid Islet’? Why is your appearance so familiar?”

Gu Xichen turned back to see the youth from the cloud mass had landed on the volcano with hundreds of immortals, smiling as he tried to ingratiate himself with Fu Ya and Ming. “Are you perhaps also here in the Eternal Bright Domain to seek fortune? Three years ago, I heard rumors that a pair of ‘Fire-Eyed Ice Worms’ appeared here—excellent spirit medicines for enhancing cultivation and vital energy. Are you perhaps interested in them as well?”

Fu Ya and Ming were loath to pay attention to the youth. With cold faces, they moved closer to Gu Xichen, signaling that she was already taken.

The youth seemed to ignore Gu Xichen, chuckling as he moved a few steps closer to Fu Ya and Ming, his face beaming. “This humble one is Bai Changsheng, the grandson of the White Ling Heavenly Venerable from Little Green Field Orchid Islet. My immortal title is the Ice God Boy, and I am only three thousand seven hundred years old. May I ask, young lady, your…”

A streak of purple light flashed beside Gu Xichen. The Giant Spirit God, swinging his two massive fists, stepped right in front of Bai Changsheng.

The Giant Spirit God, standing three zhang tall, gave Bai Changsheng a cold look and grumbled in a deep voice, “Kid, either roll down the mountain headfirst, or I’ll chop off your five limbs and toss you down. Make your own choice!” With a clang, the Giant Spirit God drew a Flowery Axe, licking the blade with a menacing grin. Bai Changsheng looked at the Giant Spirit God in surprise, then let out a heavy sigh. “Such a beauty, yet accompanied by such a brute! A fine celestial flower, yet…”

With a drawn-out sigh, Bai Changsheng waved his hand coldly, “Just a mere Golden Immortal; send him packing!”

One of the four peak Grand Unity Golden Immortals behind Bai Changsheng sneered. A dark, pitch-black slit, several inches long, cracked open on his forehead, and a frigid wind swept out a thin, skeletal, ghastly white specter that rushed down toward the Giant Spirit God. Gu Xichen looked coldly at the arrogant Bai Changsheng and suddenly sighed. “This kind of plot is truly tiresome. When flirting with respectable women, you should at least check if we are respectable citizens, right?” “Senior Brother, it’s your turn! You’re familiar with this script of flirting and counter-flirting!” Hearing Gu Xichen’s words, Guo Hua’s eyes crinkled into slits from laughing so hard. With a loud laugh, Guo Hua unleashed his Flying Yaksha and half-Dryad true form, charging toward the white specter enveloped in corpse fire…