The Legend of the Great Desolation: I Am the Fortress

Chapter 200 The True Holy Land

"benefit?"

The Ancestral God of Abandoning Fire and the Ancestral Immortal of Nine Flames immediately understood.

"Benefits? That's easy to say." The Ancestral God of Abandoned Fire smiled slightly.

"As long as you agree, everything is negotiable."

"Huh?" It was Lei Zhan and the others who were stunned.

Why did you agree so readily?
"To be honest, although we have nearly twenty Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals on our side, only Dongming Ancestral God and I are top-tier Ancestral Gods." Ancestral God Qihuo shook his head and said, "But that Demon Lord requires at least three top-tier Ancestral Gods to stop him. So if you don't join us, we have no confidence in resisting this Ice Demon invasion."

"Of course, if we can't withstand it, even if you few don't agree to join us, you'll still have to face the Demon Lord in the end. It's better to cooperate and achieve a win-win situation by agreeing on terms now."

After witnessing the strength of Fuxi and his companions, the Abandoned Fire Ancestral God and the Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal felt much more at ease.

In order to win over Fuxi, who had unexpectedly entered their inner world, they had made some preparations.

Only by offering enough benefits to move the other party and motivating them to do their best will they have a much greater chance of surviving this ordeal.

To know that resisting the Ice Demon is a matter of life and death for these ancestral gods and immortals!
You must understand that if they ultimately fail, they will die and their lives will be over, and everything will be lost.

"That Ice Demon Lord, it would take at least three top-tier Ancestral Gods to hold him back?" Fuxi frowned, but said nothing more.

"As for benefits, that's not a problem at all." Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal looked at everyone and said with a smile, "The beings in my Earth Core World generally have the opportunity to receive benefits when they break through to the level of Ancestral God or Ancestral Immortal."

"However, how much benefit one can ultimately gain depends on one's own strength."

"Hmm?" Fuxi looked over.

Both Lei Zhan and Rulai had a hint of doubt on their faces.

"The ice demons in the Ice Demon Valley leave the valley every million years to invade my inner world. However, over the endless years, many powerful beings have been born generation after generation. Furthermore, a large number of true gods and immortals have been accumulated because we have long established a series of effective operating rules."

The Ancestral God of Abandoning Fire explained, "True Gods and True Immortals who break through to the next level generally have three opportunities to challenge the Demon Subduing Palace. As long as they can pass the corresponding tests of the Demon Subduing Palace, they can obtain some treasures. They may even have the opportunity to obtain some powerful magic techniques."

"As for Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals, as long as they break through, even if they don't enter the Demon Subduing Palace, they can still get a chance to exchange for treasures or magic weapons in the Demon Subduing Palace."

"However, compared to venturing into the Dao Palace and breaking through to the Ancestral God or Ancestral Immortal level, the magical treasures obtained are only the most ordinary ones at the Ancestral God or Ancestral Immortal level."

"Moreover, the treasures we possess and the techniques and secret arts we have learned, apart from a small portion that originated from the accumulation of our predecessors, were mostly obtained while venturing into this Demon-Subduing Palace."

"The Demon-Subduing Palace? Can it be used to exchange for treasures or magic weapons? Can one get a chance to exchange after breaking through to the level of Ancestral God or Ancestral Immortal?" Both Fuxi and Tathagata were tempted.

They had long coveted the several Chaos Treasures possessed by the Ancestral God of Abandoned Fire and the Ancestral Immortal of Nine Flames, all of which could be used in battle. Now that they too had the opportunity to obtain them, their hearts were filled with joy.

"Even true gods and immortals have a chance?" Lei Zhan was taken aback, secretly wondering to himself:
“I only had some doubts before, but after hearing the Ancestral God of Abandoning Fire and the Ancestral Immortal of Nine Flames mention the Demon Subduing Palace, I can confirm it directly. This inner world must have been created by a powerful being to cultivate disciples or to select a successor.”

Lei Zhan felt a strange sense of familiarity with this. Powerful figures often trained their disciples in this way: passing the tests would reward them with treasures.

Just like when Master Sanshou Daoren left behind the Zhaixing Mansion, he left behind four major halls including the War God Hall and the Treasure Hall.

The thought of this possibility ignited a burning desire within Lei Zhan. The treasures he could obtain were secondary; he possessed the World Prison, and as long as he was strong enough, he could plunder most of the treasures he needed.

What Lei Zhan values ​​most is the secret techniques and methods he might obtain.

Whether it's the method for a true god to break through to the level of an ancestral god in the future, or supernatural powers like the Star-Picking Hand or the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts, any improvement from scratch will require a great deal of time and effort.

If we could directly obtain such powerful techniques and secret arts, we could save a lot of effort!

"but……"

The Ancestral God of Abandoning Fire took in the expressions of Fuxi, Lei Zhan, and the other two, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

"Joining us and breaking into the Demon-Subduing Palace to obtain various treasures and techniques won't be easy. In the end, everyone has to make a life-bound oath."

"Of course, it's not just you. When we became true gods and immortals and ventured into the Demon Subduing Palace, we made some life vows. When we become ancestral gods and immortals, our life vows will be more lenient."

"Basically, it means either having to withstand at least ten invasions from the Ice Demon Valley, or having to actively go deep into the Ice Demon Valley to kill the Ice Demon Lord once."

"If both of these are achieved, we can live in peace for thousands of years!"

This is also why the Ancestral God of Abandoned Fire and the Ancestral Immortal of Nine Flames completely disregarded the identities of Fuxi, Lei Zhan, and Tathagata—whether they were outsiders or native beings of their world…

All of these become completely unimportant under the oath of destiny.

A vow of one's life is made with one's own soul and true spirit, and it is absolutely inviolable. What do those powerful forces beyond the endless chaos rely on to maintain loyalty when they absorb countless monstrous geniuses and terrifyingly strong individuals?
It is this incredibly reliable vow of destiny that I rely on!

"To withstand ten invasions of the Ice Demon? Or to slay the Ice Demon Lord? The Ice Demon invades once every million years, which means tens of millions of years!"

Lei Zhan pondered, "To obtain some magical treasures, one must pay a price... However, to leave, one must eventually venture into the Ice Demon Valley. I wonder if this will coincide with my vow to slay the Ice Demon Lord."

All three of them were pondering.

a long time.

"Have you thought it through?" The Ancestral God of Abandoned Fire smiled, his two crimson whiskers trembling slightly. He said with a smile, "You don't need to worry about the constraints of your life oath. To be honest, only the life oaths of True Gods and True Immortals are a little harsh, but they are actually within an acceptable range. As for Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals, the constraints of these oaths are very small."

"Even the easiest task, which is to withstand ten attacks by the Ice Demon, would take tens of millions of years."

"Of course, if you are strong enough, you can go directly to the depths of Ice Demon Valley to kill the Demon Lord. However, killing the Demon Lord is a necessary hurdle to overcome if you want to leave!"

"Buddha, Layman. What do you think?" Fuxi frowned and transmitted his voice:
"The Demon Subduing Palace and the Ice Demon Valley are very similar to how powerful beings in our Three Realms train their disciples. They are just more extreme. But considering that the person who can set up such a large-scale operation must also be an extremely powerful being. In fact, it is an incredible opportunity for us as well."

"Yes. I have the same feeling," Tathagata said. "This is all too strange. It's even a deliberate effort to cultivate powerful individuals. It's just that the Ancestral God of Abandoning Fire and the others seem unwilling to go to the Ice Demon Valley to kill the Demon Lord, and what they keep emphasizing is resisting the invasion of the Ice Demons..."

They were all powerful beings who had cultivated for countless years. They were among the most powerful leaders in the Three Realms. While they lacked the foresight of Lei Zhan, they still possessed basic insight. Naturally, they could see the strangeness of this inner world.

“This inner world may indeed be our opportunity,” Lei said. “The life oath of the Demon Subduing Palace also seems to favor the ancestral gods and immortals going to the Ice Demon Valley to kill the Demon Lord.”

"Moreover, if we want to leave this place and return to the Three Realms, we must go deep into the Ice Demon Valley. The two are not contradictory at all. On the contrary, we should not let go of any benefits that we can obtain."

The three discussed various matters telepathically, and gradually came to their conclusions.

a long time.

Fuxi looked at the Ancestral God of Abandoning Fire, raised his brow slightly, and then slowly nodded: "Alright. We are willing to join you."

Although the benefits they ultimately sought to gain from the Ancestral God of Abandoned Fire were instead obtained from the Demon-Subduing Palace, they still had to join this inner world to resist the Ice Demon.

But even if they don't join, they will still have to face the Ice Demon in the end. It would be better to cooperate and achieve a win-win situation, as suggested by the Ancestral God of Abandoning Fire.

……

The inner world, the holy city.

It was still that mountain range, which looked like it had been carved from a single, massive block of ice, with palaces standing on it, like a fairyland on earth.

Except for the deep rift valley in the center of the mountain range, everything looked extremely peaceful.

Wow~~~
Several figures appeared out of thin air high above the holy city. It was Lei Zhan and his two companions, along with the Ancestral God of Abandoned Fire and the Ancestral Immortal of Nine Flames.

"Hmm?" Upon appearing, Lei Zhan looked around and his gaze immediately fell on the huge iceberg below.

The massive, majestic mountain range seemed to be lurking like a terrifying, chaotic beast, and the occasional ripples of its aura sent a chill down Lei Zhan's spine.

“This formation…” Fuxi’s gaze also fell on a huge, undulating palace built along the mountain range below.

He gazed at the countless palaces and the void above them, as if he could see the countless hidden formations and restrictions, and a sense of anticipation rose in his heart. He could see the whole leopard from a single spot; those who could lay down such layers of formations and restrictions in their lair must possess various other arrays.

"This place..." As Tathagata sensed the essence of the Earth's core, the more he learned, the more curious he became about the powerful being who left all of this behind.

"Fellow Daoist Fuxi, Fellow Daoist Tathagata, Fellow Daoist Leizhan."

Following the gaze of Fuxi and the others, the Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal smiled slightly.

"The mountain range stretching for millions of miles below is the holy city of my inner world. And the deepest rift valley at the very core of the mountain range is the Ice Demon Valley."

As he spoke, the Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal pointed his finger in the distance, aiming at the rift valley below that seemed to be tearing the entire massive mountain range apart.

"That's the Ice Demon Valley?" The three of them, Lei Zhan and his companions, became much more serious. They also knew about the Ice Demon invasion, which had occurred almost within the last few days. Their hearts sank even deeper.

“And that place…” Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal turned to look at the east of the Holy City. There stood a majestic, enormous mountain peak, almost the highest point in the entire Holy City.

There stood a colossal palace, its height reaching tens of thousands of miles. Most of it was shrouded in clouds and mist. Yet, even so, the entire palace appeared extraordinary.

Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal said softly, "That place is the true holy land of my Earth Core World, the Demon Subduing Palace."

……

(End of this chapter)