Everlasting Immortal Firmament

The Azalea Heavenly Demon?

As he took a step, countless lush green sprouts burst forth from the dry bones scattered all over the ground, and swiftly bloomed. In the blink of an eye, azalea flowers carpeted the ground within fifty thousand kilometers.

Consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm? The faces of the ten sect masters changed drastically.

The skeletons converging towards the center also halted abruptly.

“Your Reverence, the Azalea Heavenly Demon from the Heavenly Demon Holy Land is after us! Your Reverence!” the Unborn Man called out anxiously in warning at the distant bone tomb.

At this moment, Gu Hai was fully focused on refining his skeleton clone. Despite knowing the danger outside, he could not respond.

“Mosquito Daoist, we need to be careful!” Long Shenying warned.

“Agreed!” The Mosquito Daoist eventually nodded in agreement, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

Facing a consummate Upper Heavenly Palace Realm cultivator, the Mosquito Daoist felt the urge to flee. After all, the Azalea Heavenly Demon was ranked ninth in the Heavenly Demon Holy Land, higher than the Corpse Worm Heavenly Demon, whom he dared not provoke. However, Mosquito Daoist made up his mind to take a stand after glancing towards Gu Hai’s location.

“He’s here to deal with Master? Houqing? That bastard Houqing! No wonder he ran off so fast. It was intentional! He planned to let my master die!” Ensnaring Performance was filled with shock and anger.

Ensnaring Performance’s fondness for singing did not mean he was foolish. He swiftly analyzed the situation.

“Sect masters, we need your assistance. Please drive your power of faith to obstruct this Azalea Heavenly Demon!” Ensnaring Performance immediately requested the ten major sect masters.

“Do you wish to accompany Gu Hai in death?” the Azalea Heavenly Demon sneered.

The ten major sect masters exchanged glances, then looked at the Mosquito Daoist and the others. It was clear that Houqing had betrayed Gu Hai and his party. Houqing was using this consummate Upper Heavenly Palace Realm cultivator to eliminate Gu Hai, and they were no match for him. Even though they would be nearly at the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm after driving the power of faith, it was just close.

“No, sort out your own disputes. We’re leaving!” one sect master declared.

The disciples of various sects hesitated, then nodded in agreement.

“What? Sect Master Ran, what do you mean by this? When the Bone Deity wanted to exterminate you, we and my master helped you kill the Bone Deity. Now you’re abandoning us?” Ensnaring Performance demanded, glaring at them.

Sect Master Ran shook his head. “We were indeed in a crisis back then—but we never asked for your help!”

“You…!” Ensnaring Performance seethed with rage.

“Sorry, we can’t help you with your predicament!” The other sect masters nodded.

“You ungrateful people!” Ensnaring Performance yelled in frustration.

“Divine Envoy Ensnaring Performance, we have no other option. He’s at the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm; we can’t stop him. Our sects suffered heavy losses in the previous battle and can’t afford any more. He is clearly here to avenge a grudge against Gu Hai. I advise you to leave as soon as possible!” Sect Master Ran flatly refused to help.

“At worst…at worst…I’ll compensate you with my singing. Please stay!” Ensnaring Performance begged through gritted teeth.

Sing for us? You’re going to sing for us?

“Let’s go quickly!” Sect Master Ran ordered harshly.

Boom!

The disciples of the ten major sects immediately turned around and flew away. They did not hesitate or pause.

“Humph! A bunch of ungrateful wretches, I curse you to meet a terrible end!” Ensnaring Performance raged.

“Hahahaha! What Sect Master Ran said was right; I only want Gu Hai’s life. If you choose to submit, I will give you a chance to survive!” the Azalea Heavenly Demon laughed heartily.

“Humph! Dream on!” Ensnaring Performance retorted through clenched teeth.

“If that’s the case, then so be it. I want to see how long Gu Hai will hide in that pile of bones!” With a cold shout, the Azalea Heavenly Demon reached out to grab the bone tomb containing Gu Hai.

“Jiangchen’s body, the power of the earth-attributed zombie!” Long Shenying bellowed.

Two black, dragon-scaled bone wings burst out of his back. His unleashed aura made the bone-covered ground tremble. Then his fist shot at the Azalea Heavenly Demon.

Boom!

The collision between fist and palm shook space, and numerous dry bones on the ground exploded instantly. The fist and palm became locked in a sudden standoff.

With all his strength, Long Shenying managed to block the consummate Upper Heavenly Palace Realm cultivator’s strike.

“Jiangchen’s body? Indeed, your body is strong. But don’t you know the gap between the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm and the non-consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm is as vast as the earth and sky?” The Azalea Heavenly Demon’s expression turned cold as his hand vibrated.

Boom!

The Azalea Heavenly Demon’s palm strike suddenly sent Long Shenying flying.

“Blood Mosquito’s Sting!”

Suddenly, a sharp proboscis stabbed at the Azalea Heavenly Demon’s head from behind. It was one of Mosquito Daoist’s domain clones sneaking in for an attack.

Boom!

The Azalea Heavenly Demon flicked a finger, instantly exploding the proboscis, along with the domain clone.

Bang!

Long Shenying crashed into a distant large mountain. However, he immediately charged back.

“You do indeed possess exceptional strength for the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm’s ninth layer. When I was at your cultivation, I could not achieve such strength. However, do you know what the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm is?” the Azalea Heavenly Demon sneered.

The Mosquito Daoist’s divine Dao domain spread out again, with ten thousand clones charging the Azalea Heavenly Demon. The surrounding area was instantly flooded with clones, and ten thousand fists rushed towards the Azalea Heavenly Demon.

“Break!” the Azalea Heavenly Demon shouted.

Boom!

The Mosquito Daoist’s ten thousand clones scattered explosively in all directions.

“I’m not Purple Jade Heavenly Demon who relied on our lord’s assistance to break through to the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm. I cultivated it myself. Let me show you what the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm is!” the Azalea Heavenly Demon sneered.

He flipped his hand and struck. It seemed as though tens of thousands of palms emerged out of nowhere, fiercely meeting the charge of Long Shenying and the Mosquito Daoist.

Boom!

A loud noise echoed as all the clones were repelled.

“Humph! A consummate Upper Heavenly Palace Realm cultivator is not invincible and can be killed. Quite a few have died in the past few days!” Long Shenying continued to attack with overwhelming force.

Large cracks appeared in the nearby space as the Mosquito Daoist and Long Shenying attacked the Azalea Heavenly Demon one after the other. However, the Azalea Heavenly Demon suppressed them with his palms, making it impossible for them to get close.

“Those who have not reached the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm only use their personal strength. However strong it might be, so what? Can it compare to the power of the world? Those who have reached the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm can drive the power of the world, incorporating it into their Dao, calling upon the might of the world’s Great Dao. Do you think you brutes can compare? Without reaching the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm, you’ll never understand our strength. Break!” roared the Azalea Heavenly Demon.

Boom!

The Mosquito Daoist and Long Shenying were blown away once more. Both of them, including their domain clones, were vomiting blood. Despite this, they continued their relentless attacks in defense of Gu Hai.

Rumble…!

Loud rumbling came from the nearby battle.

The Unborn Man stood guard near Gu Hai’s bone tomb. On the other hand, Ensnaring Performance looked anxious, unsure of how to proceed.

Without the Mosquito Daoist’s intervention, the skeletons resumed their advance.

“Oh no! The skeletons are approaching! The ten major sect masters are all terrible ingrates! Even if they don’t help me deal with the consummate Upper Heavenly Palace Realm cultivator, they could at least handle these skeletons!” Ensnaring Performance felt incredibly anxious.

As the skeletons advanced, Ensnaring Performance prepared for battle, his heart pounding with tension.

However, the frontmost skeletons seemed to sense a peculiar aura when they were about three hundred meters from Gu Hai’s location.

Plop! Plop! Plop…

The skeletons began kneeling in rapid succession, appearing terrified.

“Spare us, Master!” countless skeletons cried out in horror.

It was the Bone Ancestor’s aura emitted by Gu Hai’s skeleton clone that had evoked this terror among the skeletons, making them kneel as if they had encountered their natural enemy.

“Huh? Why are these skeletons kneeling?” Ensnaring Performance exclaimed in surprise.

Suddenly, a loud crash resounded in the distance. Long Shenying was flung back like a cannonball towards Gu Hai’s location.

Boom!

A crater appeared in the ground.

Blargh! Long Shenying spewed a mouthful of fresh blood.

“Your Reverence, the Mosquito Daoist and I can’t hold on for much longer!” Long Shenying said bitterly.

Whoosh!

After a grunt of pain, Long Shenying again charged towards the Azalea Heavenly Demon.

Within the bone tomb, Gu Hai was at the most critical moment and naturally could not respond. However, an entrance to the Gu’s Immortal Firmament suddenly opened under his mental control.

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Gu’s Immortal Firmament:

In the Gu’s Immortal Firmament, ten years passed for one day outside.

During Kong Xuan’s time there, he had consumed all the Jiang Gautama replicas.

At this moment, Kong Xuan was in human form, sitting cross-legged in outer space. His body emanated an enormous amount of dark aura as he attempted the final breakthrough.

“Just a little more, just a little bit more. Although the Jiang Gautama replicas allowed me to raise my limit, they themselves were not at the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm. No matter how many I consume, I still cannot reach the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm. Just one step away, and I can form the Peacock Dao Body. However, this one step feels like an infinite distance. Just a little bit, just a little bit!” Kong Xuan voiced his urgency.

At this moment, a spatial tunnel opened in front of Kong Xuan.

A message from Gu Hai, transmitted using his consciousness, echoed beside Kong Xuan. “There is someone outside who has reached the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm. You’re just a bit short. Try consuming him!”

Kong Xuan’s eyes suddenly flashed with ferocity.

Boom!

Kong Xuan flew out of the Gu’s Immortal Firmament.

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Outside:

Azalea Heavenly Demons filled the sky, seemingly sealing space and blocking the escape routes of Long Shenying and the Mosquito Daoist. They spat fresh blood, and azalea flowers were everywhere.

“Reckless fools!” With a cold huff, the Azalea Heavenly Demon swung his palm towards the two.

As he did so, all the azalea flowers around suddenly transformed into palms, like countless palms smashing down.

“We’re done for!” both men cried out in fear.

Just as they were about to be knocked down, a gust of black wind suddenly arose.

Whoosh!

The black wind swept up the rolling palms, transformed from azalea flowers, into the mouth of a man who had suddenly appeared and resolved the two men’s crisis. It was Kong Xuan. Simultaneously, Kong Xuan threw a palm strike towards the Azalea Heavenly Demon.

Boom!

The space exploded, and Kong Xuan stepped back. The Azalea Heavenly Demon remained in place, but his manifested palms all scattered.

“Kong Xuan? Do you think you could handle one of my palm strikes?” the Azalea Heavenly Demon said coldly.

“Not just that, but I also want to consume you!” Kong Xuan’s eyes flashed fiercely.

The exchange of palm strikes let Kong Xuan understand that the Azalea Heavenly Demon before him was indeed stronger than him, but not by much.

An insane expectation filled Kong Xuan’s mind. If I can consume him, perhaps I can make my breakthrough. I must consume him!

“Kong Xuan, you’ve grown that strong? However, he can drive the power of the world!” the Mosquito Daoist shouted in surprise.

“My peacock race’s inheritance has records on this. If one’s foundation isn’t solid, even the power of the world has its limits. One can perfectly drive the power of the world only by reaching the consummation of the spiritual souls. Obviously, he has not reached the consummation of the spiritual souls. You guys can’t have been fooled by his words, right? Talking about driving the power of the world? Being strong oneself is the foundation. I admit he becomes stronger after he drives the power of the world. However, his foundation is not as firm as mine, not to mention His Reverence’s. If His Reverence were at my cultivation level, killing him would be as easy as crushing an ant!” Kong Xuan said confidently.

“Is that so?” Long Shenying exclaimed in surprise.

“You two, watch my back. Watch as I kill and consume him!” Kong Xuan’s face hardened with fierce determination.

“Alright!” the two of them replied.