The Legend of the Great Desolation: I Am the Fortress

Chapter 205 A whim
"call."

"suck."

Mizuki Shinsen's heavy breathing echoed in this small world; her face was deathly pale.

Her constantly heaving chest resembled a worn-out bellows. At the same time, it also added a touch of touching fragility to this 'Empress Jin' who once roamed the Nine Realms of Chaos.

“This guardian…” Shui Jin Zhenxian looked at the sky with complicated eyes. Under that terrifying spacetime secret technique, she felt an extremely heavy sense of suffocation.

"To traverse the path of time and space is rare even in the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom. But this guardian not only left, but has actually reached such a level..."

The thoughts raced through Shui Jin Zhenxian's mind, "Moreover, the guardian who could destroy the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom must also have a powerful World God or Chaos Immortal behind him. Encountering such a powerful being, even if one submits..."

"And these chains in the prison are nothing to Chaos Immortals and World Gods. Therefore, with such powerful beings existing, there is certainly a chance for them to leave directly in the future..."

Lei Zhan's simple words earlier clearly made Mizuki Shinsen subconsciously start to think.

……

"Ok?"

Lei Zhan stood high above the canyon world, only pausing for a moment before regaining his senses.

In reality, the vast amount of memories that suddenly flooded his mind had already been memorized deep within his soul and spirit at the same time he made his vow. Now, it was simply a normal situation under the sharing of memories.

"Immortal Mizuki." Lei Zhan's gaze fell upon Immortal Mizuki below, who was lost in thought, and he spoke directly: "Are you now willing to submit to me?"

“I am willing! I, Mizuki, am willing to submit!” Immortal Mizuki was shocked and nodded immediately when she saw Lei Zhan. “But I hope that when the time is right, the Guardian will release me!”

“Yes, that’s natural. I have no grudge against you, and I would naturally let you go if I could.” Lei Zhan nodded and said, “Relax, I’m going to start probing your memories now.”

“Explore memories? This…” Immortal Shui Jin was taken aback, but only pondered for a moment before gritting her teeth and saying, “Yes!”

Having received consent, Lei Zhan's arm grew rapidly, and he placed one palm directly on the top of Mizuki Shinsen's head, while Mizuki Shinsen closed her eyes.

Wow~~~
A vast amount of divine soul power began to permeate like a tide, and the soul-searching technique was initiated.

The Mizuki Immortal, whose soul was being searched, did not hinder her at all...

The 'Empress Jin' of the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom was able to establish such a great reputation in the kingdom through her own many experiences.

Her vast memory was boundless, like countless bubbles, each representing a massive amount of memories, some even bearing intricate patterns...

Of course, Lei Zhan had no interest in the details of the other person's growth. He quickly sifted through the pages, noting down anything useful to him...

call.

Just as Lei Zhan's divine soul power surged into a memory bubble that had not yet sworn an oath to the Heavenly Dao, he was suddenly startled. Then, a profound method flowed into Lei Zhan's mind.

"This is... the method of the Water and Fire Domain?"

As Lei Zhan sensed this massive amount of profound information, he couldn't help but smile.

"This secret technique is truly profound. By manipulating true water and true fire, one can barely possess the power of ancestral water and ancestral fire."

"If I were to integrate this secret technique into the Yin-Yang Life and Death Wheel, I estimate that the Solar Golden Flame and the Taiyin Profound Water might even have a slight chance of rivaling the legendary Chaos Divine Fire and Chaos Divine Water..."

Lei Zhan quickly memorized this secret technique, "Domain of Water and Fire," and then continued his search.

Lei Zhan didn't have a deep impression of this Water Violet Immortal. He only knew that this Water Violet Immortal was unwilling to submit to the weak and self-destructed without giving Ji Ning a chance to explore her memories.

Unexpectedly, it brought a pleasant surprise to Lei Zhan in the end.

a long time.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Mizuki Shinsen looked at Rei Zhan.

"Your Water and Fire Domain will be of great help to me." Lei Zhan had a faint smile on his face.

"That's for sure. My Water and Fire Domain Secret Technique is among the best of all the opportunities I've had!" True Immortal Shui Jin was not surprised. When she saw the stacked golden flames of the sun and the mysterious water of the moon, she already knew the outcome.

Lei Zhan nodded, "Now hand over your set of Qian Yuan Yi Qi Water and Fire Pearls to me."

"Mm." Mizuki nodded, though she was a little reluctant, she agreed very readily.

This magical artifact was her most prized possession, and it was also the most suitable for performing water and fire techniques.

"Here you go." With a wave of her hand, the marks left on the nearly ten thousand water and fire beads in the sky completely disappeared. The entire set of treasures became ownerless at that moment.

Lei Zhan waved his hand and put away the magic weapon, then threw out two other items.

"This is a bottle of elixirs and a token. These elixirs are enough to sustain you for a while longer. If there is any emergency, you can crush the token and contact me."

"Yes." Immortal Shuijin nodded respectfully.

……

The entire world prison was covered with layers of chaotic restrictions. There was no power of heaven and earth, no power of stars, only a little chaotic power left over from the extraction of chaotic spiritual liquid by the entire world prison.

Lei Xian is currently unable to draw power from the chaos, so he generally doesn't stay here for long, except for sweeping away the imprisoned prisoners.

"Having obtained the supernatural powers and secret techniques, it's time to cultivate them." Lei Zhan muttered to himself, and this second primordial spirit clone transformed into a golden light, flying towards a mountain peak thousands of miles high in the endless distance.

If a powerful cultivator were here, they would immediately notice that at the same time, more than ten dazzling golden lights flew out from various corners of the World Prison, streaking across the dim sky like meteors, all heading towards that majestic mountain peak.

And at those majestic, ten-thousand-mile-long mountain peaks lies the exit to the outside world, leading to that chaotic, hazy space, several hundred feet in size.

After decades of sweeping operations, aside from the ancestral gods and immortals, Lei Zhan still doesn't have absolute certainty in the world's prisons. The remaining prisoners who haven't been plundered are few and far between.

There are only two true gods and immortals: the God of Release from Hell, the God of Absolute Fish, and the last one is this Immortal Water Violet.

The True God of Release possesses several Chaos Treasures, and his fifth-level Limitless Power and Taiji Power are perfectly combined. However, his passive defense is indeed very troublesome. In addition, given that he is a True God with such a profound understanding of the Dao, Lei Zhan could gain considerable benefits from fighting him, so he has stayed.

The remaining True God of Absolute Fish was merely struggling to hold on.

The power of the Nine Netherworlds isn't particularly strong offensively. However, the fifth level of the Nine Netherworlds power, combined with the claw technique of the Absolute Fish True God, has a magical quality, turning the ordinary into the extraordinary.

If Lei Zhan hadn't felt that the Absolute Fish True God had some tempering effect on him, he probably would have had all his treasures completely looted by Lei Zhan after comprehending the 'Shattering Star Style,' just like he did with the Water Violet True Immortal.

"coming."

Lei Zhan, the main body, sat cross-legged among his eighteen avatars, one of which opened its eyes. It looked at the second primordial spirit continuously emerging from the hazy portal in the distance, a smile playing on its lips.

These are all part of his strength, acquired through countless efforts. Aside from the fact that his main body currently cannot control the Golden Flame of the Sun, his strength is slightly weaker than his second primordial spirit, but still comparable to that of an ancestral god.

The thirty-six avatars were actually the thirty-six ancestral gods.

Although he is only the weakest and most ordinary of the Ancestral Gods, he now stands at the pinnacle of the Three Realms!

"Now that everyone is here, let's begin our cultivation with this protective divine power, the Golden Statue!"

Lei Zhan muttered something softly, then closed his eyes.

Wow~~~
As Lei Zhan finished speaking, a dazzling golden light immediately filled the surroundings.

The "Golden Statue" supernatural power! It is a first-rate, supreme supernatural power! It is divided into three parts: upper, middle, and lower.

This is one of the top-tier supernatural abilities and secret techniques that Lei Zhan obtained in the Demon Subduing Palace by spending nearly 18,000 merit points.

It should be noted that the upper part of this protective divine power alone cost Lei Zhan 7,500 merit points.

Of course, this "Golden Statue" supernatural power is extremely mysterious and worth the price.

Although it belongs to the same category of protective arts as the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts in the Three Realms, the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts created by the powerful beings of the Three Realms is far too rudimentary. Its energy utilization rate is less than one ten-thousandth of that of this divine power.

This golden statue supernatural power doesn't require any special objects, only energy.

Divine power, magical power, chaotic power, elixirs... all kinds of power can be absorbed! This is the power of advanced supernatural abilities.

The first part of the "Golden Statue Divine Power" is the introductory level. Once cultivated, one's divine body can rival that of a top-grade innate magic weapon. Only true gods can cultivate it.

The middle section of "Golden Statue Divine Power" states that once cultivated, it can rival the supreme treasures of chaos, and only ancestral gods can cultivate it.

The second part of "Golden Statue Divine Power" states that once cultivated, one can rival the ultimate divine weapon of the Dao, and only world gods can cultivate it.

Of course, the Demon Subduing Palace also possesses the complete "Golden Statue" divine power. However, the merit required to exchange for the complete version is far too astonishing, even a thousand times more difficult than exchanging for a Dao Divine Weapon. However, if he only exchanges for the upper part of this divine power, plus the even more profound and mysterious spacetime secret technique "Spacetime Annihilation" Volume 1 that Lei Zhan exchanged for, he would just have used up all his merits, leaving him with only a few dozen.

Even though what Lei Zhan exchanged was only the upper part of this divine power, cultivating at the True God level would still greatly enhance his ability to protect himself.

……

Time passed. The thirty-six clones that had been stacked up all became immersed in the cultivation of the "Golden Statue" supernatural power.

In the blink of an eye, ten years have passed.

"call."

"Ten years of training, with the foundation of the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts, and the gradual tempering, have finally made my divine body comparable to my master, Tathagata, and I have completely reached the level of a top-grade innate spiritual treasure."

Lei Zhan slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, and sighed in his heart: "And my Star-Picking Hands, which I have cultivated, are only at this level."

Ten years—that's a slow and gradual process. Like a gentle, silent rain, it subtly and gradually changes the divine body.

If Lei Zhan were to be generous with the Great Luo Immortal Pill, he could probably complete a complete transformation of his divine body in three years.

“Supernatural powers, methods, secret techniques, I have no shortage of them now…” Lei Zhan’s gaze was leisurely, “but my progress in comprehending the Heavenly Dao has been very slow. Even the Ninefold Chaos Restriction is the same.”

"As for mental strength, it's very difficult to break through to the fifth level even through closed-door cultivation alone..."

As Lei Zhan's mind raced with various thoughts, the stillness gave rise to a sudden desire to wander through the mortal world.

"My journey has been far too smooth."

After pondering for a long time, Lei Zhan sighed.

He also understood the reason why the idea of ​​traveling through the Three Realms had suddenly arisen in his heart.

In the past, with the help of the black bead, he gained enlightenment that others rarely encountered in a thousand years, and his own abilities were as easy as eating and drinking.

However, as one's cultivation level increases, the 'Dao' that needs to be comprehended becomes increasingly complex.

Lei Zhan also began to realize his own shortcomings, namely, that he had too little experience!
After all, enlightenment... is actually nothing more than accumulating insights in daily life to a sufficiently profound level, reaching a critical point, and then enlightenment will naturally occur.

Just like when Lei Zhan was young and trying to comprehend the Dao in the Star Palace. Only when one accumulates enough knowledge will the Star Palace help assist in comprehending the Dao, and only then will one reap great rewards.

If one stays in the Star Palace without going out to hone one's skills and explore, the effect of this on enlightenment will be much smaller, or even completely useless!

With the help of the black bead, Lei Zhan was able to gain many insights under the guidance of the secret techniques, and he could also achieve enlightenment after accumulating sufficient energy once every five years.

However, some breakthroughs are difficult to achieve through sudden enlightenment.

Among these, mental strength is paramount!

“Mental strength cannot be forced, but tempering one’s Dao heart in the mortal world is recognized as one of the most effective ways to improve mental strength.” This thought flashed through Lei Zhan’s mind.

After all, no one in the entire Three Realms possesses such terrifying talent for mental power as the eldest brother Hou Yi.

At the level of a celestial being, one's mental strength has already reached the fifth level.

"My main body and my second primordial spirit together have a total of thirty-six avatars. The avatars also handle the tasks of comprehending the Dao of Heaven, understanding time and space, and cultivating secret techniques."

"Now I've acquired the 'Domain of Water and Fire,' and I also obtained the 'Annihilation of Time and Space' in the Demon-Subduing Palace along with the Golden Statue of Divine Power... With so many clones around, it's more than enough for them to comprehend and cultivate..."

Having reached Lei Zhan's current level, any sudden impulse must have a reason. He only pondered for a moment before his main body and clone stood up.

"Having one more clone or one less clone doesn't make much difference. Let my main body send these clones out for a stroll. The trials of the mortal world are also a form of cultivation..."

Lei Zhan smiled, and with a 'whoosh,' his clone vanished directly into the chaotic space.

The instant that Lei Zhan's clone disappeared, the two main clones and two secondary primordial spirit clones that were sitting cross-legged also stood up at the same time.

They all muttered in unison, "The Golden Statue has mastered the basics of supernatural powers; it's time for him to go out and continue his comprehension of the Heavenly Dao."

Wow~~~
Then four more figures disappeared from the scene.

At this moment, it was as if dominoes had been pushed over. One figure after another either closed their eyes and sat cross-legged, or turned around and entered the prison to fight with the prisoners, or took out the Heavenly Star Golden Pearl to comprehend it. They were all single-mindedly doing what they were doing.

……

Fangcun Mountain.

As the sun sets in the west, the entire Fangcun Mountain is bathed in a light layer of scattered gold.

A burly man dressed in straw sandals and cloth clothes, looking like a woodcutter, carried an axe, drank wine, and leisurely walked up the mountain along the rugged mountain path.

suddenly.

"Hmm?" The woodcutter was taken aback for a moment, then looked ahead.

Wow.

A young man dressed in a black robe emerged from around the corner and appeared on the rugged mountain path.

"Hmm? Junior Brother?" The woodcutter carrying an axe walked over and asked curiously, "Junior Brother, are you getting ready to go down the mountain?"

"It's Senior Brother!" Lei Zhan bowed respectfully, then smiled and said, "Junior Brother is feeling restless and is preparing to take a trip into the mortal world."

"To venture into the mortal world?" The woodcutter nodded. "In the mortal world, the seven emotions and six desires are the most tormenting. Go then, junior brother, go then!"

The woodcutter said something, then laughed and continued walking up the mountain with his axe on his shoulder.

Then, a bold song echoed through the rugged mountain road.

"Watching chess, the axe handle rots; chopping wood, the sound of hammering echoes; strolling slowly along the valley's edge, clouds gather. Selling firewood, buying wine, laughing wildly, I revel in my own joy..."

"Senior Brother." Lei Zhan watched the woodcutter leave, shaking his head inwardly: "It's a pity that everything obtained by the Demon Subduing Palace is subject to a life-bound oath not to be passed on. Otherwise, with Senior Brother's talent, breaking through to become a World God would be a piece of cake."

"but……"

Lei Zhan pondered, "We're all trapped in that inner world, and we haven't had a chance to bring back the Ice Heart Essence we obtained. It probably won't be long before Suiren and the others organize a second expedition to the Endless Ice Sea. If our eldest brother goes to the inner world..."

As he was pondering this, Lei Zhan suddenly paused.

"Ok?"

Lei Zhan flipped his hand, and a jade tablet appeared in his hand.

"Pa~~~"

The jade pendant shattered the moment it reappeared.

"This token... is this the one for the withered grass?" Lei Zhan frowned.

He once gave out many tokens.

Many celestial beings and immortals, such as Hong Xue, Xue Xie, and Hei Fu from the Zhaixingfu lineage, as well as Yin Yue who has already joined the Zhaixingfu lineage, have received tokens bestowed by Lei Zhan.

And among them, Wang Shu and Ku Cao are naturally included.

Unlike Wang Shu, she had already confirmed her relationship with Lei Zhan as a Daoist couple.

Kucao, on the other hand, had always tried to maintain her independence and had not compromised on the matter of a Daoist partner. Lei Zhan already felt somewhat guilty about this, so he did not force her.

In matters of Daoist companionship, in the end, it naturally requires mutual consent.

Of course, Wang Shu's main body and second primordial spirit remained in Fangcun Mountain, so he didn't need to worry about them too much. However, he did pay attention to the withered grass that was always outside.

But now...

"Given Kucao's nature, she wouldn't have crushed this jade pendant I gave her unless it was in an extremely urgent situation..."

After a moment's thought, Lei Zhan's figure vanished from the rugged mountain path.

……

(End of this chapter)