I Killed Gods and Demons in Song Dynasty

Chapter 223: Outer Immortals, Ancient Immortals, Original Immortals, and Old Immortals

At the end of the darkness, the fog quietly dissipated, revealing an empty lake.

The surface of the lake was dark red like blood, emitting a strong fishy smell.

The lake was flowing slowly and calmly, but countless broken corpses and rusted weapons and armor were floating on it. Some of these remains belonged to humans, while others were the remains of monsters. It seemed that they had been ruthlessly abandoned here after a fierce battle, and were left to drift with the current.

Li Qingyun walked slowly to the edge of the lake and looked down. The surface of the lake was like a distorted mirror, making his reflection blurry and weird.

That reflection…actually had a hint of enchanting sneer, with the corners of its mouth slightly raised, as if it was not imitating him, but examining him coldly and teasingly with another look, trying to tear apart his soul and peer into his heart.

His heart shuddered, he felt a chill, and he quickly looked away, no longer staring at the reflection.

His sight turned and his eyes stopped at the center of the lake - there, stood an ancient stone door.

The stone door was tall, heavy, grayish-white in color, and covered with mottled marks of time, making it look ancient and mysterious.

The door was engraved with strange runes, twisted and distorted, like some ancient forbidden words, flashing a deep red light under the dark red light of the lake.

Each rune seemed to carry a strong emotion, be it rage, resentment, coldness, or madness... A deep sense of despair emanated from the door, as if some unspeakable existence was imprisoned behind the door, wailing silently.

Li Qingyun stared at the stone gate in a daze, his heart slightly shaken.

Just standing in front of this stone gate, he felt an invisible pressure coming from behind it. It was an aura that made people instinctively fearful, cold, ruthless, and condescending, as if looking down on him from another dimension, treating him as a tiny speck of dust, an insignificant ant.

He suddenly understood - behind this stone door was the place where the sealed god, the "Fallen Immortal", was.

According to the exploration experiences of successive Heavenly Masters and Taoists of Mount Longhu, this fallen immortal fell into eternal sleep after being sealed.

And in that long sleep, He weaved a vast, real dream world, which was like a mirror image of the real world, reflecting the images of many races, civilizations and creatures.

There are fairies, mortals, demons, monsters... All living beings that exist in the world, even those that have already disappeared, may reappear in the dream in some distorted form.

"Dreamers" like Li Qingyun who break into this place will be regarded as "foreign immortals" by the creatures in the dream world - a supreme being descended from the upper realm.

This means that he will obtain an extremely high status in the dream world, possess powers that mortals cannot understand or fathom, and possess true godhood that allows him to display "magical powers."

One of the greatest gifts a "dreamer" can receive is the ability to take away a "magical power" when leaving the dream world.

These powerful spells from the gods almost all have the power to destroy the world, and it is even possible for a sixth-level cultivator without godhood to directly cross the border to fight against a demigod.

Another rare gift is the illusory "godhood".

The sixth realm is the limit of mortal cultivators. If one wants to break through to the seventh realm, it is impossible to do so by practicing alone. Only by obtaining "godhood" can one truly be promoted.

After the Great War of the Gods, all the gods in the human world were expelled into other dimensions, and no godhead exists anymore.

This is also the reason why Wang Xuanfu, Lu Dongbin and others, although they have been cultivating as land immortals for hundreds of years, are still unable to enter the realm of demigod.

The fallen immortal dreamland in the Demon-Suppressing Palace is the only known place in the human world where one can obtain divinity.

After consulting ancient books in Mount Longhu and learning these secrets, Li Qingyun finally understood why the first inheritance mission of the mysterious palace would lead him to Mount Longhu.

After being promoted to the Golden Immortal, there were no more skills in the human world that could help him improve.

No matter whether it is the Grandmaster of Hunyuan in martial arts or the Yangshen realm in Taoism, they are already the pinnacle of human cultivation. If one wants to go further, one can only find a way to obtain godhood.

At this point, his "acting" magic power could not help him.

It's not that the wisdom of the gods cannot deduce the seventh level of skills, but with his current rank and strength, he is not able to mobilize enough divine power to create out of nothing a skill that can cultivate godhood.

Therefore, the dream of fallen immortal in Tianshi Mansion was his only chance to be promoted to demigod.

After figuring it all out, Li Qingyun took a deep breath to calm his inner turmoil, then slowly stepped onto the stone path above the lake and walked towards the stone gate.

He felt the stone path beneath his feet tremble slightly, as if some huge monster was swimming quietly under the lake, lurking closer with his every step, as if waiting to drag him into the abyss.

Li Qingyun frowned slightly, his mind moved, he suppressed the slight trembling, his eyes were as firm as iron, and he continued to move forward.

The moment his fingertips touched the door knocker, a biting chill spread along his arm and throughout his body, as if countless tiny tentacles were crawling along his arm, penetrating his skin, trying to drill into his bone marrow, pulling him into unfathomable darkness.

But he did not move at all. He took a deep breath and pushed open the ancient stone door with force.

"boom--"

With a heavy roar, the stone door slowly opened, and the darkness behind the door surged in like a tide, swallowing him whole in an instant.

In an instant, Li Qingyun's consciousness shook violently and his vision began to distort violently.

Everything around him was torn, stretched, and rotated by an invisible force. The space shattered into countless pieces before his eyes, turning into illusory light and shadows, and then condensed into a strange world in the next moment.

His vision gradually blurred, but he could vaguely hear low murmurs in his ears, which sounded like crying and laughing, happy and sad, and were full of an ancient and desolate power.

"An alien immortal has come and asked your name?"

The low voice echoed in his ears, like a call from the depths of the universe, with a cold and cruel mockery.

Li Qingyun's expression remained unchanged and his eyes were calm. Based on the experience of his predecessors that he had read in the Longhu Mountain classics, he understood that in this situation, he must give himself a fairy name so that he can communicate with the existence in his dreams and complete his plan.

He thought for a moment, and suddenly an idea struck him, and he slowly spoke:

"My honorable name is 'Ji'."

As he answered, the boundless darkness suddenly surged violently, like a lake stirred up by waves by a strong wind. Countless cold eyes emerged from the void, staring at his existence with an ancient, indifferent, and cruel scrutiny.

Li Qingyun's heart moved, and his divination power started to work instinctively. He immediately sensed that this immortal name had some kind of mysterious connection with him, pointing precisely to himself.

At this moment, the darkness behind the door surged out like a raging wave, layer upon layer, completely enveloping him.

……

In a trance, Li Qingyun seemed to be trapped in endless chaos. The darkness around him was like a thick curtain, wrapping him layer by layer. He kept sinking, sinking, and sinking again... The darkness around him was like a background, and what he saw was a whole piece of bizarre light and darkness.

Everything before my eyes was filled with bizarre scenes, like humans but not humans, like animals but not animals, like plants but not plants, shadowy, with a strange luster and unreal blocks of color, like oil paints smeared by a crazy shaman, with rich and confusing tones.

Images appeared and disappeared before his eyes, constantly changing. An indescribable sense of distortion attacked his nerves, making him feel suffocated and oppressed.

In this situation, he could not tell the passage of time, nor could he feel the existence of space.

Maybe it was thousands of years, or maybe it was just a blink of an eye - suddenly, Li Qingyun felt a shock in his consciousness and woke up suddenly.

The next moment, he found himself sitting in a dark and deep underground cave. The dense shadows all around him exuded a filthy and oppressive atmosphere, as if countless evil spirits were hiding there. It carried an ominous aura that made people shudder.

Looking around, the walls of the cave were covered with vague totems and runes, which seemed to be silently telling some ancient taboos.

There was a sickening stench in the air, like the smell of rotting blood, permeating everywhere.

This dark, corrupt, and violent aura instantly alerted him, and the descriptions in the Longhu Mountain classics flashed through his mind.

"abyss"!
According to the records in Longhu Mountain, every "foreign immortal" who breaks into the dream will be born in the "abyss", "endless sea" or "starry sky".

As for the landing place, it all depends on chance.

Li Qingyun guessed that this place was most likely the "abyss", symbolizing darkness and depravity, and was one of the most dangerous areas in the dream world.

In addition to him, the uninvited "foreign immortal", there are countless immortals who naturally reproduced from the dream world. Longhushan calls them "ancient immortals".

They are the guardians of this dream world. Most of them are transformed by the will of the god, and a small number are cultivated by the indigenous creatures of this world. Therefore, they are mostly kind to mortals and ordinary creatures, and fight against the "outer immortals" and the "old immortals" in the starry sky.

There are eighteen layers in the "abyss", corresponding to the eighteen layers of the underworld in the real world. The deeper you go, the stronger the "ancient immortals" become. Some people speculate that at the bottom of the abyss, the ancient immortals there may have already possessed the status of subordinate gods or even true gods.

Although the underground abyss is extremely dangerous, it is nothing compared to the even more terrifying "starry sky".

Because there lingers the most powerful and rarest "Old Immortals" in this dream world.

The origins of these "Old Immortals" are unknown. According to previous speculation, they are likely some strange projections of the dark will of this "Fallen Immortal", possessing the status of true gods or even supreme gods, transcending the scope of mortal imagination and even above the laws of the dream world.

Unlike the "ancient immortals", the "old immortals" live deep in the "starry sky" above the dream world, coveting the core of the dream, but for some reason they cannot come in person.

So they kept wandering around the edge of the starry sky, trying to erode dreams, and even tempting those "foreign immortals" who broke into dreams to join their camp and fight against the "ancient immortals".

This life-and-death struggle has existed since the birth of the dream world, is still going on, and will never stop.

In comparison, the third type of gods in the dream world - "original immortals" - appear much weaker.

These "original immortals" live in the "Endless Sea" and most of them are indigenous creatures of the dreamland who have practiced cultivation.

Although they call themselves immortals, most of them only possess the power of demigods, and some are even cultivators in the sixth realm.

They are protected by the ancient gods. Although they have immortal status, their strength is far inferior to that of the "ancient immortals" and "old immortals".

As one of the few "outer immortals" in this world, Li Qingyun's power has been infinitely magnified. Although he is not clear about his specific realm, he already possesses the ability of a god. He can make his words come true, and he cannot be looked directly at or blasphemed.

But despite this, he still didn't dare to relax at all.

This world is full of dangers and is much more dangerous than he imagined.

"Foreign Immortals" do not conform to the existence of this world and are rejected by "Ancient Immortals". They are their natural enemies.

Although the "Old Immortals" tried to win over the "Outside Immortals", their motives were impure and they also had ulterior motives.

According to historical records, most of the predecessors of Mount Longhu joined the camp of the "Old Immortals" to fight against the "Ancient Immortals" who were their enemies. Once they gained some benefits from them, they would hide themselves and wait for a month to be over so that they could be sent out of the fallen immortals' dreams intact.

Although this method is not the best, it is safe. After all, although the "Old Immortals" are few in number, they have superior strength and are obviously the more powerful party.

However, Li Qingyun was born in the "abyss" where the "ancient immortals" gathered. It was not easy for him to join the "old immortals" in the starry sky. He had to act according to circumstances.

Just as he was thinking about the best strategy, countless noisy whispers suddenly rang in his ears.

Anger, sadness, ecstasy, hatred...

All kinds of emotions surged in like a tide, madly pouring into his mind and violently washing away his consciousness.

From the whispers came the words of prayer:
"I have been disrespectful to the gods, and have been offended by my superiors and subordinates. I have indeed committed a crime, and I shall punish those who dare to refuse. The common people are ignorant, and the great destiny is coming to an end. I hope that the gods will have mercy on me, and issue a thunderous decree, and command the gods of mountains and rivers. In the morning, there will be an inch of cloud, and in the evening, there will be a thousand miles of cloud. If the harvest is good, the people will be well-off..."

"I bow to the gods above, may they increase my blessings and spirits, grant those who believe in my destiny a prosperous career, a flourishing fortune, and may their pens be filled with smoke and clouds and their mouths utter auspicious words..."

"I bow to you, Immortal. My wife is going to give birth this year. I beg you to protect the safety of mother and child and give birth to a big fat boy for me..."

"..."

These voices each have their own requests, some are low, some are eager, some are full of hope, and some even have a hint of crying.

Some of them recited in elegant ancient language, while others were crude and straightforward like street shrews.

But without exception, they all have awe and piety towards the "God".

Li Qingyun frowned slightly and did not rush to respond. Instead, he examined these prayers calmly.

As a powerful "foreign immortal" in the dream, his magical powers are indeed enough to easily realize the wishes of these mortals - bestowing wealth, sending down rain, blessing the family with prosperity, and protecting the children's safety.

But he knew very well that in this dream world, the rules were twisted and all actions had to be done with great caution, especially as an "outsider fairy" who did not belong here, every move could bring unexpected consequences.

Soon, he noticed some clues - some prayers had been "answered" by other gods.

So he moved his mind slightly, selected one of the praying people, and peeked at the location of the person through the endless void...

……

(End of this chapter)