An invasion from the Abyss? I, a demonic cultivator, laughed.

Chapter 322 Achieving the Ninth Grade of Elixir
The experience gained this time was more than two cycles' worth!
Although this did not significantly improve Chu Xiu's basic attributes, he could clearly feel that his life essence was being strengthened!
Although this enhancement currently only makes his recovery speed a little faster and his vitality a little stronger, at the moment he advances to Heroic Spirit, all his potential will be released and transformed into incredible power!
In terms of improvement, that means improving the grade of the pill!
"There are nine grades of Golden Cores for cultivators. The lower three grades are called Void Cores, the middle three grades are called Solid Cores, and only the upper three grades can be called Golden Cores!"

Chu Xiu focused his attention on examining the records in the inheritance and had a general understanding of the situation.

Lower-grade nascent souls are basically formed by cultivators who are nearing the end of their lifespan forcibly breaking through, or by using some evil secret technique. Such souls have an unstable foundation, and without a great opportunity to improve them, there is no possibility of breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage! They will also be inferior to others in battles of the same level!
In reality, the vast majority of cultivators who reach the initial stage of Core Formation are stuck there for their entire lives, unable to make any further progress. Although they are Core Formation cultivators, they are undoubtedly at the very bottom of the Core Formation cultivator ranks.

The middle-grade three-level solid pills are formed by normal cultivators during their breakthroughs. The higher the talent and the deeper the accumulation of knowledge, the better the pills will be.

But no matter how much you accumulate, the fourth-grade pill is the limit.

There is a hurdle between the third and fourth ranks.

To form a high-grade pill, one not only needs to have maximum talent accumulation, but also must cultivate a special pill-forming method! And during the pill-forming process, one must consume specific rare and precious herbs to have an extremely low chance of forming a high-grade pill!

Even for major sects, disciples who can cultivate high-grade pills are among the best of the best, rare and highly sought-after geniuses! They will inevitably be taken in as personal disciples and carefully nurtured.

Because top-grade pills are so difficult to form, their effects are naturally astonishing. Even the worst third-grade pills have more than 50% more mana than fourth-grade pills, both in terms of quantity and quality, and make it easier to break through in cultivation afterwards!
"As a top-tier cultivation technique, the Boundless Reincarnation Technique guarantees at least a fourth-grade rank once the elixir is successfully formed."

"But to form a high-grade pill, one needs to reincarnate and cultivate repeatedly. And to form a first-grade pill, which is rare in the cultivation world, one needs to reach the ninth level to have any chance!"

"In the entire Demonic Sect, from its founding to the present day, only three people have successfully cultivated a first-grade pill!"

Don't be fooled by the fact that Chu Xiu has already reached the third stage of cultivation in just a few days. Firstly, under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have such a dense amount of battlefield experience points to consume. Secondly, awakened beings are truly blessed by nature.

Killing monsters can improve one's cultivation level. In the past, even the most radical demonic cultivators would not have dared to dream of such a good thing.

Even those evil cultivators who absorb other people's magical power and devour their flesh and blood for the fastest way to achieve enlightenment should at least refine themselves a little.

How long do pseudo-core cultivators have? Without top geniuses and the supply of abundant resources from the sect, who would let you slowly rebuild your cultivation nine times?

All I can say is that the Abyss is far too comprehensive.

However, at this moment, Chu Xiu remembered Meng Xuanshu's warning.

To defeat the abyss, you must first escape it.

Perhaps the various conveniences that the Abyss is currently offering to the Awakened are merely bait, which it will eventually take back.
Shaking his head, Chu Xiu stopped thinking about it.

These things are too far removed from his current situation; they are not things he should be considering.

Chu Xiu turned his attention back to the issue of excess experience points.

He suddenly let out a soft "Eh".

Theoretically, it has been discovered that the highest possible number of reincarnations is one hundred, which is also known as a hundred lifetimes of cultivation.

However, no madman would ever try it. Even a top-tier demonic cultivator who was reborn through possession only managed to reach the eighteenth level of cultivation.

Of course, no one knows just how terrifying the golden elixir accumulated over hundreds of generations would be.

Chu Xiu thought for a moment, then chuckled softly, having no intention of trying it.

Although as an Awakened One, he theoretically has a chance to achieve it, being overly ambitious is not his style.

Reaching the ninth level and becoming a first-grade pill is enough; there's no need to waste so much time on an uncertain theory!

With 100 turns of experience points, even Chu Xiu would normally need tens or hundreds of years to complete the entire process!
The current situation is very unstable. The situation in the abyss is changing every moment. There are national disputes and invasions by extraterrestrial demons. Who knows what will happen next?
If pursuing this leads to a lack of sufficient strength to cope with danger when it comes, then one is undoubtedly the biggest fool.

The priority now is to acquire enough strength to protect ourselves as quickly as possible!

Having made up his mind, Chu Xiu stopped worrying about it.

He let out a soft breath, preparing to fly back to the rear to quickly refine the flesh and soul he had just obtained.

However, just as Chu Xiu was about to set off, his gaze suddenly sharpened, as if he had seen something unbelievable. He froze on the spot, his eyes filled with surprise and doubt!
Not far in front of him, a golden dragon carried fleeing civilians through the air, and on the dragon's back sat a figure he knew very well but never thought he would meet here!
Zhang Qingshan!
"How could Qingshan be here?" Chu Xiu was shocked. Wasn't he at the front-line base on Mars?
He hadn't received a reply to the message Chu Xiu had sent him before. He had assumed that Zhang Qingshan had gone on some kind of mission and hadn't returned to the base on Mars yet, but how could he suddenly see him here?
This completely overloaded Chu Xiu's brain.

He focused his spiritual sense on Zhang Qingshan, scanning him back and forth many times before he was still somewhat incredulous to confirm that this was indeed Zhang Qingshan, and not someone imitating or resembling anyone else!
At this point, he had reached the rank of General Level 7, and even his class had been upgraded to [Golden Dragon Knight (S)].

Golden Dragons are the royalty among dragons, capable of using all types of magic simultaneously, and possessing physical strength superior to other dragons, making them an extremely powerful S-rank class! They are considered an evolution of Dragon Knights (S), with combat power increased by three points.

It can be said that before the Heroic Spirits, it was the Golden Dragon Knights' period of dominance, and it was normal for them to take on two opponents of the same level!

Chu Xiu was naturally happy for his good brother's progress, but he was still very puzzled as to why his brother had suddenly appeared here.
Filled with doubt, Chu Xiu continued to expand his divine sense, scanning each of the nearby awakened individuals one by one.

When he found Chu Qin and several other classmates who had joined the army with Zhang Qingshan in another shelter, he was finally 100% sure that this was Zhang Qingshan!
But when exactly did these people arrive in Pengcheng without a sound? And why did they do this?

After a moment's thought, he moved swiftly, leaping several times to appear on the back of the golden dragon!

The dragon sensed Chu Xiu's approach and became visibly nervous, seemingly instinctively wanting to unleash golden magic. However, upon realizing it was Chu Xiu, it quickly suppressed its hostility and lowered its head.

Zhang Qingshan was also surprised, but reacted quickly by clasping his hands in greeting and saying, "Greetings, senior. What are your instructions?"

His eyes held a look of respect; everyone had witnessed the entire battle of Chu Xiu from the back of the dragon.

Although it wasn't very clear, everyone witnessed his terrifying strength in fighting five heroic spirits alone and even killing two of them.

Chu Xiu looked at him, and after thinking for a moment, asked directly, "Are you from the rear support troops?"

Zhang Qingshan was taken aback, wondering why Chu Xiu was paying attention to this, but he still honestly replied, "Yes."

"You look young, how long have you been in the army?"

"A little over a year."

"To have such strength in just one year, you are truly young and promising. Have you ever been to the front lines?"

"Replying to senior, I am ashamed to say that I have never been to the front line of battle. Since joining the army, I have been stationed in Pengcheng."

After saying this, Chu Xiu revealed a thoughtful expression.

Zhang Qingshan was clearly lying, but why was he lying? And why did he suddenly appear in Pengcheng at this time?

"Could they be carrying out a mission that requires secrecy? And the location just happens to be in Pengcheng?"

This was the only explanation Chu Xiu could think of. Although this coincidence made him suspicious, he didn't dwell on it any longer. Instead, he asked, as if to cover up his doubts, "How much longer until the evacuation is complete?"

"With your help, senior, it will only take five more minutes at most."

Chu Xiu nodded, said nothing more, and disappeared into the distance in a flash.

Meanwhile, as Chu Xiu left, a hint of suspicion flashed in Zhang Qingshan's eyes.

He always felt that this senior was a bit strange, and for some reason, he sensed a familiar aura about him.

But soon, he laughed at himself.

How could such a top-tier heroic spirit be related to me?
Every heroic spirit is a supreme being. Even if he were to advance to the King rank, he would be nothing in the eyes of heroic spirits, let alone just being a general.

He needs to spend a few more years slowly leveling up to King Rank 9, then stand out in the [Heroic Spirit Ranking], obtain a good power level, and make everyone realize that he has the potential to become a King Rank Heroic Spirit before he can be given some attention.

But how difficult is it to do that?
To be honest, his year-long military service allowed him to see too many geniuses and strong individuals.

Zhang Qingshan had realized that his talent, which was considered outstanding in Jiangcheng, was nothing compared to those true geniuses.

My own grand ideals are not special; there are many people who have stronger beliefs and greater talents than I do.

He is not the protagonist of the story, nor is he the one who can change the world.

"But so what?"

Looking at the child who was secretly glancing at him with a face full of admiration, and at the hopeful light in the eyes of the survivors, Zhang Qingshan felt that his choice was right!
Even if you can't change the world, as long as you do what you can, you'll have a clear conscience!

At the same time, about 20 kilometers away from where Chu Xiu was fighting.

Three streaks of light streaked across the sky at speeds exceeding twenty times the speed of sound!

At this terrifying speed, even Pengcheng, which had merged with the extraterrestrial demon world and increased in size, appeared tiny. In less than ten seconds, the streak of light at the forefront bypassed the layers of defense and plunged directly into the Black Death Prison.

"Stop chasing."

A deep, horned demonic voice rang out, and the two streaks of light behind them stopped, revealing the figures of two heroic horned demons.

“Our lord said that our only goal is to conquer this place and turn it into a dead zone.”

"Let those fleeing heroes go after a symbolic chase."

"If we can make others realize that there is still a chance to escape, our casualties will be less."

As soon as the words were spoken, the two stopped their pursuit and turned to fly towards the camp.

In fact, in the past few hours, at least three heroic spirits have escaped from their defense zone, and many king-level and general-level spirits have been killed on sight, while those who managed to hide well have simply been let go.

Meanwhile, in the distance, Ella breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the horned demon behind her had stopped chasing.

She was sitting behind a large golden bird, and opposite her was a pale-faced young man who looked somewhat sinister.

Tentacles extended from the youth's back and penetrated the giant bird's body. These tentacles seemed to be continuously injecting stimulants, making the golden giant bird even faster.

Behind the strange young man was a blood-red sphere resembling a water vat. The outer shell of the sphere blocked Ella's detection; she could only sense that there were two living beings inside.

"That guy wasn't lying to me; this golden giant bird is indeed incredibly fast."

"So, who exactly is the person he's sending away?"

Ella looked at the young man opposite her with curiosity.

However, she did not pursue the matter further.

Everyone has secrets. She just wanted to get out of this awful place safely. Whatever other people were planning was none of her business.

Without thinking further, Ella looked ahead.

As the golden bird continued to fly, the black mist around her grew thicker and thicker until she was completely enveloped in darkness.

When she used the Fear Wolf to probe earlier, she didn't feel anything, but after actually entering, she could feel the deathly stillness and coldness contained within the black mist.

Enveloped by the black mist, she felt a chill run through her body, and all her senses were suppressed, as if she were an ordinary person completely lost in the black mist.

Ella gave a soft hum, and a faint light shone in her amber eyes. At the same time, a full eleven Fear Wolves emerged from behind her!
In previous battles, she had only ever commanded a maximum of three Fear Wolves, so no one knew that she could actually control a full eleven of these terrifying creatures!
This is Ella's trump card!

The shadow power condensed to its extreme on their bodies dispelled the black mist, clearing a path in front of them like a guiding hound.

Seeing this, Ella breathed a sigh of relief. She could feel that the space that had been disrupted by the black mist was being rearranged. As long as she continued along this path, she could leave the Black Death Prison.

Thinking of this, she immediately urged the golden bird to speed up its journey, using its ability to traverse space to accelerate her escape.

We cannot relax for a moment until we have escaped the Black Death Prison.

As Garuda continued to accelerate, the concentration of the black mist in front of them reached a peak and then began to slowly decrease.

This excited Ella, because it meant she had passed the most difficult stage. The fog would gradually thin out, and once she passed through it, she could return to Earth!
With this in mind, the eleven Fear Wolves howled together, and the power of shadow reshaped the space in front of them with even greater precision, ensuring that they would not make a mistake at the last moment.

The fog in front of her grew thinner and thinner, and finally, after passing through the last layer of fog, Ella's vision suddenly opened up!
A look of utter relief and ecstasy spread across her face. She was about to burst into laughter when, in the next second, she froze in place after seeing the scene before her.

Before her lay a barren expanse of red earth, devoid of any sign of life. A scorching wind blew from afar, whipping up sand and splattering it against Ella's face.

At the horizon, three bright red suns are slowly rising, like three gods spreading light and heat to this parched land.

Ella stood frozen in place.

Where am I?

(End of this chapter)