Chapter 404: Great Spirit Mountain
When the second day arrived, everyone in Ancient City spontaneously made their way toward a barren stone peak located within the city.
There was nothing particularly special about this mountain. What was special was the stone tower standing atop it.
Although the stone tower appeared ancient and weathered, its exterior looked completely ordinary. Yet every expert who approached within ten thousand feet of this area could vaguely sense a pressure that seemed to transcend time and space itself. Under that pressure, their expressions became solemn, and reverence surfaced in their eyes.
This stone tower was known as the Myriad Ancient Tower. Legend had it that it was personally constructed by the Immortal Emperor.
For this ancient supreme expert who had once saved the entire Great Thousand World, almost everyone held a deep sense of respect.
“As expected of a stone tower personally built by the Immortal Emperor. Even after tens of thousands of years, it still inspires such wariness,” Liu Bai said with a solemn expression.
Jiu You’s eyes flickered as she gazed at the stone tower and suddenly asked, “How powerful do you think the Immortal Emperor really was?”
Liu Bai smiled slightly.
“The Immortal Great Emperor, he should have been an existence that surpassed Saint Grade.”
“Surpassed Saint Grade…”
Jiu You was deeply shocked.
In the current Great Thousand World, there was no such thing as the “Ruler Realm.” In everyone’s eyes, Saint Grade Late Phase was already the pinnacle. The current Flame Emperor, Martial Ancestor, Azure Sword Saint, and Great Thousand Palace’s Great Elder Qin Tian were all at this level.
“Do you think anyone in the current Great Thousand World can reach that realm?” Jiu You asked, her golden eyes somewhat absentminded. “If there were a second Immortal Emperor, we probably wouldn’t have to worry about those Demons from the Feind Race anymore.”
Liu Bai could only shake his head.
In the original story, the Great Thousand World eventually had more than one person who reached the Immortal Emperor’s level. Even then, they only managed to gain a slight advantage in the war against the Feind Demon Race.
“Don’t worry. In the current Great Thousand World, there may be more than one person capable of reaching that realm…”
Those words startled Jiu You once again.
However, she quickly reacted and said, “You mean the Flame Emperor and the Martial Ancestor?”
“Oh? Why can’t it be me?” Liu Bai asked.
Jiu You: “…”
“Now that you mention it, that’s actually possible.”
While the two chatted and laughed, the atmosphere around them grew increasingly oppressive.
Countless experts descended upon the area. In particular, those aspiring to obtain the Primordial Immortal Body all had surging auras and solemn expressions.
Liu Bai and Jiu You also noticed the members of the Buddha Ancient Clan nearby. Apart from Mu Chen and his mother, even the former Great Elder of the Buddha Ancient Clan, Buddha Xuan, had arrived. In addition, many Heavenly Sovereigns accompanied them.
“It seems Mu Chen is really confident. He actually brought nearly all of the Buddha Ancient Clan’s experts here. Is he worried that the Maha Ancient Clan might make a move?” Jiu You said in surprise.
Liu Bai nodded.
“That possibility does exist. Look over there.”
Following his gaze, Jiu You looked toward the front of the stone tower.
There stood a towering stone platform. A large group of figures occupied it, and at the forefront stood a familiar figure. It was none other than Maha You, whom they had met only yesterday.
Beside Maha You stood a middle aged man dressed in golden robes. His expression was calm, his physique robust, and he carried an imposing aura that commanded respect without anger.
No spiritual energy fluctuations could be sensed from him, yet even Maha You showed a trace of respect toward him. The many elders and experts of the Maha Ancient Clan behind him all stood a step back, not daring to stand alongside him.
“That golden robed man must be Maha Tian, right?” Jiu You asked.
Naturally, Maha Tian sensed her gaze.
When he looked over, he immediately noticed Liu Bai standing beside her.
The thought of teaching a lesson to someone who dared stare directly at him instantly vanished.
Maha Tian’s reputation for being narrow minded had not been earned overnight. Although he possessed tremendous strength and status, experts of the same level all knew exactly what kind of person he was and secretly looked down on him.
Since he could not use Jiu You to establish his authority, his attention quickly shifted elsewhere.
Mu Chen, who had conflicts with Maha You, immediately became his target.
The moment Maha Tian’s gaze landed on him, Mu Chen felt the surrounding space freeze. He himself seemed like an insect trapped within amber, completely unable to move.
At the critical moment, Buddha Xuan let out a cold snort and shattered the pressure, allowing Mu Chen to breathe again.
Yet Maha Tian acted as if nothing had happened. He even smiled and nodded politely toward Buddha Xuan and Qing Yanjing.
This caused Buddha Xuan’s expression to darken.
“Hmph. A clan leader throwing his weight around against a junior. Maha Tian’s character hasn’t improved at all.”
The brief exchange had also left a deep impression on Mu Chen.
The power of a Saint Grade expert was truly terrifying. A single glance had rendered him completely incapable of resisting.
Of course, it did not frighten him. Instead, it only intensified his desire for the Primordial Immortal Body.
After that minor incident, Liu Bai no longer paid attention to the tension between the two clans and instead looked toward the other favored contenders.
“That should be the Asura Spear Ye Qing, right?”
On a high ground northwest of the stone tower stood a man in green robes with his hands behind his back.
His features were handsome, but his slightly crimson eyes seemed to contain a world of slaughter, causing one’s heart to tremble.
The air around him was filled with a chilling aura, and no one dared approach.
“I heard he truly comes from a rogue cultivator background. His Asura Killing Dao is extremely terrifying!” Jiu You said with lingering fear.
Liu Bai nodded and commented,
“This person is indeed impressive. If he continues cultivating like this, reaching Saint Grade in the future is entirely possible. Unfortunately.”
As for what was unfortunate, Liu Bai did not elaborate.
Yet Jiu You could already guess.
Every Ancients Gathering attracted countless heavenly geniuses. The competition was unimaginably fierce, and deaths during the event were nothing unusual.
“Besides Ye Qing, there are also the Vajra King Shi Luo and the Blade Saint Tuo Ba Cang…”
Shi Luo’s appearance perfectly matched Liu Bai’s expectations.
He had a thin frame and wore a golden kasaya robe. Most eye catching of all was his enormous bald head.
As for Blade Saint Tuo Ba Cang, he reminded Liu Bai of an old acquaintance Ding Xuan.
Both were individuals devoted entirely to the blade. Merely standing there, they radiated blade intent, as if they would shred anyone who dared approach into pieces.
However, compared to this Blade Saint, Ding Xuan’s cultivation was far inferior, and their understanding of the blade was worlds apart.
“The broken blade on Tuo Ba Cang’s back is truly extraordinary. At its peak, it was probably a terrifying killing weapon no weaker than the Heavenly Emperor Sword!”
As it happened, during ancient times there had indeed been a blade expert in the Great Thousand World whose fame rivaled that of the Spear Ancestor.
He was known as the Blade Ancestor.
His blade, Heavenly Sin, was also a Saint Grade Peerless Saint Artifact.
Unfortunately, the Blade Ancestor and the previous Emperor of the Blade Demon Clan had perished together after a battle that left both sides destroyed. It was said that the Heavenly Sin Blade had shattered afterward, and its whereabouts became unknown.
After hearing Liu Bai’s words, Jiu You’s beautiful eyes lit up.
“Are you saying that the broken blade Tuo Ba Cang carries is Heavenly Sin?”
Liu Bai shook his head slightly.
“I can’t be certain. That broken blade is powerful, but it still falls far short of the Heavenly Emperor Sword’s level. Perhaps it’s because the damage is too severe.”
“However, if my guess is correct, I don’t believe that blade would remain dormant forever.”
This Ancients Gathering was becoming more and more interesting.
However, among everyone present, the person Liu Bai paid the most attention to was not Blade Saint Tuoba Cang, but Vajra King Shi Luo or rather, the bald old monks standing beside him.
Vajra King Shi Luo came from Great Spirit Mountain and was its First Protector. Therefore, the old monks accompanying him were undoubtedly experts of Great Spirit Mountain as well.
The reason Liu Bai was interested in them was because he had some connections with Great Spirit Mountain. The Great Wheel Bright King Array in his possession originated from there.
However, the original version of that Array was a genuine Grandmaster Spiritual Array. Although Liu Bai had spent considerable time researching his own Great Wheel Bright King Array, he still had not managed to deduce it to the Grandmaster Spiritual Array level.
Of course, the reason Liu Bai valued this Array so highly was because of its unique characteristics.
The Great Wheel Bright King Array existed somewhere between an Array and an Array Artifact. To deploy it, one had to possess Great Wheel Bright King Beads. Using those beads as the Array core would greatly increase both the deployment speed and the power of the Array.
More importantly, its consumption was significantly lower than other Arrays of the same level.
At present, Liu Bai possessed dozens of Heavenly Sovereign corpses that could be refined into Great Wheel Bright King Beads. However, the Array itself had not yet reached a matching level, severely restricting the growth potential of this technique.
If he could obtain the original Great Wheel Bright King Array, all of these problems would be solved at once.
He might even be able to use it as a foundation to further strengthen and improve the Twelve AllHeaven Fiend Array.
Just as Liu Bai was considering how to make contact with the ascetic monks of Great Spirit Mountain, the ground beneath their feet suddenly began to tremble.
An ancient bell chime rang out from within the weathered stone tower.
In the next moment, under the watchful gaze of countless eyes, the tightly sealed gates of the stone tower slowly opened.
At that moment, every gaze was filled with desire and greed.
Unfortunately, only those who had cultivated the Immortal Golden Body could enter the Ancient Tower. No matter how much they desired it, they could only stare helplessly from outside.
Maha Tian gazed at the opened tower gate, his eyes rippling slightly.
Looking at the more than one hundred figures present who qualified to enter, Maha Tian’s indifferent voice rang out.
“The Ancient Tower has opened. However, let me remind you all of one thing. Competition within the Ancient Tower is brutal. Half of the participants will be eliminated on every floor.”
“So if you wish to reach the end, do your best to drive everyone else out.”
His words caused all the participants, including Mu Chen, to feel a jolt in their hearts.
Half eliminated on each floor. Such an elimination rate was unimaginably cruel.
One could easily imagine just how savage the battles inside the Ancient Tower would become.
Liu Bai merely smiled and muttered softly,
“Isn’t this just raising Gu insects? Constant slaughter to rapidly nurture a qualified successor.”
In truth, he knew even more secret information.
For example, all these participants competing for the Primordial Immortal Body were themselves nourishment for it.
Only enough death could provide sufficient Immortal Golden Body origins, allowing the already battered Primordial Immortal Body to be restored.
Over these tens of thousands of years, countless astonishing geniuses had become nourishment. Only then had a single “Gu King” finally emerged.
And Mu Chen was the sole victor standing atop the mountain of corpses accumulated over tens of thousands of years.
“I’ll be going as well.”
Nearby, seeing the others already setting off, Mu Chen spoke to Qing Yanjing and Buddha Xuan.
“Be careful.” Qing Yanjing nodded lightly and said with concern, “If it truly becomes impossible, then give up. Although the Primitive Celestial Body is powerful, the Primordial Immortal Body is not the only one among them.”
“If necessary, you can try our Buddha Ancient Clan’s Endless Light Body. It is also a Primitive Celestial Body and is no weaker than the Primordial Immortal Body.”
Hearing this, Buddha Xuan’s mouth twitched uncontrollably and he could not help interrupting.
“Even if you’re the Great Elder now, you can’t casually allow someone to come into contact with the Endless Light Body. That requires the approval of the Ancestral Tower!”
However, Qing Yanjing ignored him completely and replied,
“I’m the Great Elder. I can recommend him. Besides, how do you know the Ancestral Tower won’t agree?”
Buddha Xuan: “…!!”
This was exactly why so many people disliked second generation heirs.
Everyone struggled and fought their way upward, yet if they failed, they lost everything.
Meanwhile, those heirs could simply go back and inherit the family legacy if they failed.
Was that fair?
Of course, fairness itself was little more than a joke.
Liu Bai paid no attention to this matter.
After everyone entered the Ancient Tower, he did not focus on the brutal competition that was about to unfold.
Instead, he leisurely walked toward the location of the old monks from Great Spirit Mountain.
Jiu You, who had been nervously watching the projections of the world inside the tower, was startled and quickly followed him, completely unable to understand what Liu Bai intended to do.
Fortunately, everyone’s attention was focused on the Ancient Tower, so nobody paid attention to the movements of the two of them.
Only when Liu Bai arrived before the old monks did they finally notice his presence and look over.
“Greetings, Masters.”
Liu Bai smiled and nodded politely to the monks.
Clearly, these old monks were genuine ascetics.
Faced with this unexpected visitor, they seemed somewhat at a loss.
Judging from the clear yet confused expressions in their eyes, it was as though they did not even recognize Liu Bai.
And that was indeed the case.
These monks, whose entire lives revolved around cultivation, knew almost nothing about the affairs of the Great Thousand World.
Naturally, they had never heard of Liu Bai, this rising star.
Even though they did not recognize him, they could still sense the aura of a Saint Grade expert emanating from him.
As a result, none of the old monks dared show any disrespect and hurriedly bowed in return.
…
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