Chapter 436 - Peaches of Immortality and Returning Ruins
In a place like Kun Lun where there were six moons, the moon spirit's power was beyond expectation!
Zhong Yue was pleasantly surprised; the six-eyed Star Toad behind him then slowly dispersed. There were six moons in Kun Lun, while the Star Toad also had six eyes. After some time of cultivating his moon spirit, the Star Toad had awoken more of the moon totem spirit, and its power has increased dramatically.
He only intended to test out the Star Toad's power, but he accidentally cast out the full power of the moon spirit. As a result, the Kun Lun experts that surrounded him were all blasted away. One could tell just how strong the moon spirit was.
On the Cloud Stage, the Qi Practitioners all looked at him in disbelief. Zhong Yue had switched between so many forms and had beaten the god's disciples as if they were chickens. Such strength was beyond their imagination!
Pained groans were what remained of the chaotic battle that had just taken place on the stage. Although there were no casualties, the disciples still suffered severe injuries, making it impossible for them to stand up on their feet. Zhong Yue had no thoughts of killing them, but his attacks were not that pleasant to endure either.
Zhong Yue frowned. He clasped his hands together and said, "Senior martial brothers, forgive me for the damages done."
The eight Golden Hous were also in shock, and Tian Qi mumbled, "Senior Martial Brother Zhong is … so strong…"
Tian Yi then quickly turned to Qiu Jin'er and asked, "Little sister of the Qiu Clan, was your senior martial brother always this strong?"
Qiu Jin’er shook her head in denial and answered, "No, my senior martial brother was always the type to use reason…"
But not even Qiu Jin'er was able to convince herself to believe that, and so she just stopped talking.
The young lady then searched through her memories of Zhong Yue. Whether if it was the bloody fight out of the West Barren, the saber slashed South Barren, the calamities he had brought to the demon race Eight Barren, or even stealing the treasures of the West Barren celestial races; nothing Zhong Yue had ever done was through reasoning.
Tian Yi then suddenly laughed, he placed his furry claws on his hips and said proudly, "Since your senior martial brother is so strong, why would I still need to act so courteous?"
Qiu Jin'er was stunned, among the eight Golden Hous, Tian Yi was the most sensible. Why was it that even he had suddenly become mischievous?
…
On the Golden Stage, Ma Wang God, Yu Shen God and the other gods were gloomy and embarrassed. Yu Liang continued to grasp for excuses for the defeat while his face blushed in embarrassment.
Jin Wu mulled and said, "Seems like this Zhong Shan Clan member is not a monster. He has changed into so many forms; it won't be easy to learn of his origins. But judging from his words just now, it seems like he is not one of us from Kun Lun but somewhere else?"
“The other planets?”
The gods stiffened up their faces. There were still other planets around Kun Lun, some belonged to the celestials and some demons. These planets were part of the shattered imperial court, and those that lived there were the descendants of those gods who escaped death. Some of them even have strong and powerful figures in it.
One of the most renowned other than Kun Lun was the A'thoer, the residence of the demon race and rival to the Kun Lun.
"Is he an A'thoer demon Qi Practitioner that was sent to stir trouble in the Nacre Lake Grand Meeting?"
…
Meanwhile, on the Cloud Stage, a young man walked out from the crowd, and he clasped his hands together and said, "Senior Martial Brother Zhong, your prowess is just like a young god's. It's a shame for you to compete with them, they are the gods' disciples and or mounts. With your prowess, you should be contending with the potential young gods. There is no need to bully them, is there?"
Zhong Yue looked over, the young man who stood out sported an enchanting aura. Zhong Yue then smiled and said, "This brother, you are right. May I ask of your name?"
"My mother is Shang Zhen." The young man smiled and replied, "While I am Shang Qing. My wild guess is that Senior Martial Brother Zhong is not from Kun Lun, am I correct?"
Zhong Yue nodded in confirmation, "Yes, I'm from the Ancestral Star."
“Ancestral Star, Ancestral Star…”
Shang Qing searched through his mind but couldn't find anything about such a place. He then cast the issue to the back of his mind and said smilingly, "Senior martial brother, are you for the heavenly palace's Peaches of Immortality?"
Zhong Yue frowned and thought, Peaches of Immortality?
The Golden Hous then all rushed over and surrounded the young man, they were thrilled and asked, “Is there really such a spirit fruit? Is it in the great Western Mother’s garden?”
“Can it really make one immortal?”
“Is it nice? Have you tasted it before?”
…
……
The eight Golden Hous fired questions at him to seemingly no end, and Shang Qing waited for them to finish their questions before answering. "The Peaches of Immortality are a kind of divine fruit. True, it's godly, but it doesn't really make you immortal. It's just that one Peach of Immortality can extend your life by a few hundred years. Some even up to a thousand years. But despite the help of the Peaches of Immortality, the gods can still only have at most 10,000 years of life. Ultimately, death comes for everyone. Well, at least, that is the case for the mortal body. Thus, the Peaches of Immortality are an important key to the gods. Which is why all the gods will come and join the Nacre Lake Grand Meeting."
Qiu Jin'er also came forward and intently listened to the young man. She asked hurriedly, "But if you have an unlimited supply of it, wouldn't you be immortal then?"
“I wish so too.”
Shang Qing shook his head and answered, "The mortal body has a limit, and so does the Yuan Shen. Although you can extend them, there is still a cap on their longevity that it is impossible to extend even if you were to consume an unlimited number of the peaches."
Zhong Yue then asked, “So are there really Peaches of Immortality in the Western Mother Empire?”
“Nope!”
Shang Qing smiled and said, "It exists but not in our Wester Mother Empire. The real Peaches of Immortality are in the Kun Lun imperial court, they were planted by the Reincarnation Monarch himself. After the calamity that destroyed the Kun Lun imperial court; the fragment that contained the Peaches of Immortality fell into the broken Six Paths Reincarnation, in some place known as the Returning Ruins. That place is really dangerous, if the gods head over there, their arrival will trigger a curse that will disintegrate them."
Zhong Yue suddenly thought of the situation where the evil existence destroyed the Six Paths of Reincarnation. Countless gods were killed in that strike, but the evil existence had ignored them while the gods then turned into skeletons on their own. In retrospect, it sure did look like a kind of curse.
"This curse is only targeting at the gods, while Qi Practitioners like us who are not gods can pass through it. These Returning Ruins where the Peaches of Immortality are located will only emerge every 1000 years. Thus, the Nacre Lake Grand Meeting is also an event for the gods to bring their prime disciple and send them to Gui Xi to search for the Peaches of Immortality."
Shang Qing continued, "This time, I followed my mother, and because she is nearing the end of her time, I hope that I can find a Peach of Immortality to extend her life. Also, I've heard that the Reincarnation Monarch had planted an Immortality Peach Mother Tree, it is the best and strongest while the other Immortality Peach Trees are just the products of that mother tree. Their effects are not as potent as that of the mother tree's."
Zhong Yue's interest was piqued. Although the Peaches of Immortality couldn't make one immortal, it could still extend one's life. After all, no one, not even the Heavenly Monarchs, could live for as long as they wanted to. The fundamental law of the universe was recalcitrant to the will of man – in the end, destiny still arrives. Thus, they could only place their spirits in the Void World and receive the worship of their people, achieving immortality in another form.
The Peaches of Immortality weren't that important to Zhong Yue, but it was a completely different story for the dying old gods, so much so that they would pour everything they had for just one of them!
"While other than the Peaches of Immortality, there are still many spirit herbs there, but the dangers in trying to procure them are proportional to their preciousness." Shang Qing laughed and said. "These Qi Practitioners Senior Martial Brother Zhong have defeated are just the weak and little figures. In fact, the disciples the gods have focused on mostly have the potential to become the gods themselves. But even so, there's no guarantee they can survive the Returning Ruins."
Zhong Yue nodded and asked, "What sort of cultivation do these Qi Practitioners have?"
Shang Qing then answered, "Inner Core at least as there is really no point for anyone with a lower cultivation base to enter Returning Ruins. The Heavenly Dharma and True Spirit cultivators are the main ones. As for Imminent Deity, they can go as well, but their near-god prowess will still partially trigger the curse. They won't die, but it's not that pleasant to have the cultivation base impaired and mortal body decomposed.
"Other than us in Kun Lun, the A'thoer demon Qi Practitioners will also enter Gui Xi. Thus, a bloody battle is inevitable with every appearance of the Returning Ruins. This time around, Tian Wu God has brought these eight little brothers over, it seems like he is also eyeing the Peaches of Immortality."
The eight little brothers he was referring to were clearly the eight Golden Hous.
These eight Golden Hous were not weak, they might not be as strong as the young potentiate gods, but eight of them together was more than enough to defeat the majority of Qi Practitioners.
“The eight one of them should be one too.”
Shang Qing gazed at the eight Golden Hous, he laughed and said, “Am I right? That the eight of you are also one Tian Wu.”
However, the eight Golden Hous winked their eyes and said in unison, “Bullshit!”
Shang Qing then sneered and said, "The Tian Wu's heads are that of tigers, or to be exact, Golden Hous; it also has eight heads, eight faces, eight legs, and eight tails. If the eight of you come together as one, you will form a Tian Wu! With the prowess of eight Golden Hous together, only a handful of opponents can defeat you! I suppose the only reason the eight of you have yet to come together is that Tian Wu God is trying to lower your opponents' guards so that when the eight of you combine in the Returning Ruins, the chances of acquiring the divine fruit are higher! Tian Wu God is really strong, to be able to separate the eight of you and to slide you eight under the radar of the other gods. But rest assured, I will not tell anyone."
Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er looked at the eight Golden Hous in shock.
The Golden Hous winked their eyes and smiled, they said, "Your words made so much sense that we almost believed you. However, how is it that, we didn't know about any of this?"
Suddenly, Zhong Yue activated his divine third eye, and he gazed at the eight Golden Hous. His heart stiffened up upon seeing the eight Golden Hous appearing to share the same kind of blood. Even their souls were identical, suggesting that they were, in fact, originally one entity. In addition to the cultivation technique they cultivated, Zhong Yue was even more convinced. The eight Golden Hous had cultivated eight different cultivation techniques, but the core totem patterns of the cultivation techniques were of the same kind, and this allowed the cultivation techniques to combine into a power far greater than the sum of their parts!
These gods are not as simple as they appear. It is most likely that every one of them has a disciple just like the Golden Hous, a trump card to acquire the Returning Ruins' Peaches of Immortality.
Zhong Yue praised in his heart, Tian Wu God appeared to be kind and honest, but who knew that he had such a calculating mind. I suppose even these eight little Golden Hous didn't know they are actually just one entity from the Tian Wu Celestial Race! The other gods should have similar means as well to protect their disciples while they fight for the Peaches of Immortality!
Shang Qing then laughed and said, "Senior Martial Brother Zhong's prowess is strong, but those gods have hidden their real cards in the dark. The true experts have yet to step out. Otherwise, you wouldn't be the one standing right now. It will be incredibly dangerous in Returning Ruins, other than guarding against the demon race, we still have to be wary of the other gods' disciples. In addition to the existing dangers in Returning Ruins, it will be a perilous journey. Thus, Shang Qing is asking to join hands with senior martial brother in exploring Returning Ruins together!"