Eternal Life: I Can Control My Essence Qi

Half an hour ago.

"Splash..."

The waters of Feicui Lake churned, and three figures suddenly emerged from beneath the surface.

Fairy Feiyin glanced around, confirming they had left the Jade Divine Palace, and immediately urged:

"Let's hurry and leave!"

"That Three Evils Daoist won't last long in front of Elder Qingxu; if we don't leave now, it'll be too late!"

Fairy Xia Guang nodded, ready to fly away together, but noticed hesitation on Wanchuan Ancestor's face.

"Wanchuan, are you still unwilling?"

She spoke with a hint of displeasure in her tone:

"Hesitation leads to chaos; that's what you always said!"

"The plan for the Divine Palace has already failed, but our gains are significant. It's time to quit while we're ahead and escape far away; let's not entertain fruitless thoughts!"

The battle with Man Tian Sheng was not as smooth as they imagined.

As a high level Body Refining Cultivator, Man Tian Sheng had numerous methods, nearly turning a hopeless situation around even in extremely adverse conditions. Fairy Feiyin suffered considerable injuries because of it.

This very battle made them realize reality, dampening their spirits. They no longer had the confidence to compete with Qingxu and Three Evils Daoist, so they chose to sow discord and used a backdoor to leave.

"Wanchuan Daoist Friend."

Fairy Feiyin's tone turned cold, no longer polite:

"The backup plan is no longer viable. I hope you recognize reality."

"If you want to take a gamble, do it alone. Don't count on us sisters to risk our lives as your stakes!"

The strategy devised by the three demon cultivators included a backup plan.

They considered directly escaping from the tenth layer, then ambushing outside the Divine Palace, allowing other trial takers to eliminate each other, waiting for the ultimate winner to emerge, like guarding a rabbit under a tree.

Under normal circumstances, the final victor would either be heavily injured or exhausted, with their Magical Power greatly depleted—making their state unfavorable. The three joining forces, rested and ready, had a high chance of success.

But this backup plan was ultimately rejected for a simple reason—the final reward of the tenth layer posed a significant variable.

A single Slaughter Spiritual Treasure could transform a regular Golden Core Cultivator's strength dramatically, reversing strong and weak stances, let alone the final reward of the Jade Divine Palace?

Especially considering this reward might fall into the hands of Elder Qingxu, whose strength was formidable. Their chances would be even more slim, making it unworthy of risking.

"Wanchuan Daoist Friend, let's leave together; don't take any more risks."

Fairy Xia Guang couldn't help but voice a persuasion.

Unlike Fairy Feiyin, he had supported Wanchuan Ancestor for decades, sharing a closer relationship.

The three formed a bloodline contract, agreeing to share the gains within the Divine Palace, but without securing the tenth layer's reward, the contract had ended. She simply didn't want to see Wanchuan Ancestor die in vain.

"No..."

Wanchuan Ancestor took a deep breath, seemingly regaining calm but his attitude turned resolute:

"I cannot leave."

He looked at Fairy Xia Guang and Fairy Feiyin, speaking in a heavy tone:

"I have lived over thirteen hundred years."

"In the first two hundred years of practicing Immortal Dao, with the aid of Demon Race Bloodline, my cultivation was smooth, progressing extremely well; within just over a century, I refined my Golden Core."

"But after achieving Golden Core, the Demon Race Bloodline became a shackly, trapping me for a millennium with no progress!"

"I tried countless methods to break through the bottleneck; I founded Fuhai Sect to collect various resources and secret techniques for me, changing identities several times for concealment, yet in the end, all were fruitless..."

He sighed deeply:

"During such lengthy years, I truly felt the difficulties of demon cultivation, an unforgettable experience."

"I regretted many times stepping onto the path of demon cultivation hastily, but there's no medicine for regret in the world; thinking about it is already too late now..."

Upon hearing Wanchuan Ancestor's heartfelt words, Fairy Xia Guang and Fairy Feiyin fell silent.

They too were born from demon cultivation, profoundly understanding Wanchuan Ancestor's experiences, especially Fairy Feiyin, who was older.

The path of demon cultivation emerged after the Ancient Great Destruction, with history spanning tens of thousands of years.

The difficulty of cultivation for demons before and after Golden Core is like heaven and earth; Nascent Soul level demon cultivators are extremely rare, and none have attained the Divinity Transformation Realm.

Refining demon blood with a human body and practicing Demon Race techniques is ultimately not the proper path; the differences between them grow as one progresses, becoming irreconcilable, causing cultivation to stagnate directly.

"I won't live for hundreds of years; I must seize every opportunity!"

Wanchuan Ancestor showed unprecedented determination:

"From the details of this Beifu under the Longevity Alliance, one can deduce that its overseer particularly favors the Demon Race Bloodline."

"You can see from the previous layers' rankings; these trials don't test absolute strength but relative values based on the same realm."

"Cultivators of the Path of Array Refining and Body Integration are undefeated kings of the same realm; you witnessed Elder Qingxu's strength directly."

"Entities with more magnificent Magical Power, more formidable Divine Soul, and bodies surpassing even his—aside from those noble Demon Race blood heritage from Ancient Times, who else could they be?"

Upon hearing these words, Fairy Feiyin and Fairy Xia Guang exchanged a glance, falling into deep contemplation.

The innate talents of demon bodies naturally cannot be compared to the Human Race.

Their massive and robust bodies can naturally contain more Magical Power, nurture a stronger Divine Soul, and their body strength far exceeds any Human Race, coupled with the innate Divine Techniques brought by bloodline, their lifespan is exceptionally long. The only flaw is difficult reproduction and even more challenging advancement.

But at least in the earlier layers of the Jade Divine Palace, there were no trials targeting age and lifespan.

"Judging by my inference, most entities on the ancient rankings from the Jade Divine Palace's previous layers are likely Ancient demon race!"

"Plus the backdoor left especially for Demon Cultivation Bloodline... I speculate the tenth layer's reward is more aligned to the prodigies of the Demon Race, crucial for us carrying the Demon Race Bloodline!"

Wanchuan Ancestor's tone softened:

"This is an Ancient Supreme Treasure for the Demon Race Bloodline; if we miss this opportunity, we may not encounter a second chance for hundreds or even thousands of years to come!"

"At least for me, I'd rather fight boldly than live in misery for centuries to die helplessly!"

He looked at Fairy Xia Guang and Fairy Feiyin, speaking solemnly:

"What do you two think?"

Anyone who has cultivated to the Golden Core Realm never lacks decisiveness.

Fairy Xia Guang and Fairy Feiyin exchanged a glance, seeing the movement in each other's eyes, clearly swayed by Wanchuan Ancestor.

The path of demon cultivation is so arduous; no opportunity should be missed, especially an Ancient Supreme Treasure!

"Wanchuan, what do you plan to do?"

Fairy Xia Guang asked directly:

"With our strength, if we confront directly, we might not be a match for that Elder Qingxu."

"There's no need to confront directly."

Wanchuan Ancestor smiled confidently, flipped his hand, and took out a set of sea-blue Array Banners.

"A third-grade Array Banner Magical Treasure?!"

Fairy Xia Guang's eyes immediately lit up, and she couldn't help but say:

"Could it be that you foresaw this situation and prepared in advance?"

A set of Array Banners, being the most precious among Magical Artifacts and Spiritual Artifacts of the same grade.

A set of Array Banner Magical Treasure is similarly far more valuable than ordinary Magical Treasures, one piece can be worth seven or eight pieces, illustrating its rarity.

And the power of such an Array Banner Magical Treasure is equally astonishing; when arranged properly, it can even rival a formidable Ancient Spiritual Treasure!

"Not really."

Wanchuan Ancestor laughed heartily and said:

"Living long has its perks, a wealthy reserve, and preparedness for anything."

"This set of Array Banners, I obtained over six hundred years ago in Jing Kingdom, and rarely used it since; now it's just right to deal with that Qingxu brat!"

"Are you sure there won't be any mistakes?"

Fairy Feiyin was still a bit worried and couldn't help but ask:

"He is a Cultivator of the Path of Array Refining and Body Integration, certainly has profound Array accomplishments..."

"Of course, I've considered that."

Wanchuan Ancestor waved his hand indifferently and said:

"Rest assured, even if he is a Third level Array Master, finding the operational flaws in this Array and breaking free would take him at least half an hour."

"With such a long time, under the suppression of Array Power and our three-pronged attack, he should have perished by then!"

Upon hearing this, Fairy Feiyin and Fairy Xia Guang finally put down their last worry.

The three quickly moved into action, setting up the Array Banners along Feicui Lake.

Feicui Lake itself is a place where the mountains and rivers' energies of the surrounding hundreds of miles, the Water Spirit Vein converges, and its Spiritual Qi environment is top-notch, which is why it was chosen as the place for the Golden Core conference.

This Feng Shui treasured land is sufficiently capable of bearing a third level Array.

...

"Wow!"

Deep in Feicui Lake, the waters surged violently.

Zhang Yao suddenly appeared at the lake bottom, immediately sensing a fierce aura rising, causing the surrounding water to churn.

He turned his head and saw the Jade Divine Palace disappearing into the lakebed beneath the layers, vanishing from sight.

"It should have been teleported away."

Zhang Yao retracted his gaze, about to fly away, but suddenly paused.

"These Array traces... are they Array Banner Magical Treasures?"

His gaze and Divine Thought swept around, his face turning cold as he said calmly:

"Truly, human greed is like a snake wanting to swallow an elephant!"

"You could emerge unscathed from the Jade Divine Palace; it was a fortune granted by the heavens, and yet you're not satisfied and dare ambush this poor Daoist here!"

Just as Zhang Yao's words fell:

"Boom!"

The surrounding lake waters roared fiercely, and the scene changed drastically.

The lake water, like emerald jade, transformed into layers of water curtains, obscuring vision and Divine Thought while constantly shifting and changing, causing dizziness.

Wanchuan Ancestor's voice came from beyond the thousands of green water curtains:

"Qingxu, meet your doom!"

Without a single word of unnecessary dialogue, they opened with a lethal strike!

"Dong!" "Dong!" ...

Hundreds of water curtains crashed down, like domes of colored glass collapsing, pressing inward from all directions.

With the might of an Array harnessing the grandeur of heaven and earth, it is something no Cultivator of the same grade can individually counter; if an ordinary Golden Core Cultivator were to fall into such an Array, they would face a hopeless situation of certain death!

"Boom!"

Zhang Yao pushed out both palms, channeling the Annihilation Divine Thunder technique, instantly turning the surrounding dozens of meters into a sea of Thunder Marsh.

Amid a series of earth-shattering explosions, layers of emerald water curtains collided with the Sea of Thunder Marsh, constantly shattering, twisting, and mutually annihilating, causing the release of even larger ranges of power.

Were it not for being within the third level Array, merely the shockwaves from both sides' clashes would suffice to turn the entire Feicui Lake into a giant crater.

"Hmm..."

Zhang Yao's face turned serious, his Magical Power rapidly circulating.

But even though he exerted all his strength, he couldn't contend with a true third level Array, watching helplessly as the myriad water curtains gradually overpowered the Annihilation Divine Thunder's strength, relentlessly compressing its space.

"Swish!" "Whoosh!" ...

A crimson hairpin, a ribbon of evening clouds, and a sea-blue orb, three Magical Treasures came blasting forth!

Wanchuan Ancestor and others' timing was impeccable, just as Zhang Yao fully exerted his Divine Technique and Array Power in opposition, he couldn't spare a hand to defend against their attack.

At the critical moment:

"Wow!"

Zhang Yao's body dispersed once more, transforming into a gust of invisible Qingfeng, avoiding the brunt while having to abandon maintaining the Annihilation Divine Thunder.

Wanchuan Ancestor and the other two weren't frightened but delighted, for Zhang Yao's maneuver was already within their expectations!

"Boom!"

In an instant, the unobstructed myriad water curtains layered and pressed together, nearly sealing off Zhang Yao's area of movement completely.

Once the Array fully encloses, no matter how vast Zhang Yao's Divine Techniques may be, he would indeed be trapped to death.

"Hahaha..."

Wanchuan Ancestor's laughter echoed beneath Feicui Lake:

"Fate turns like the wheel of time, today is your day to die!"