The Legend of the Great Desolation: I Am the Fortress

Chapter 224 A Thousand Years of Accumulation, Seeking Only One Moment of Enlightenment

The Great World of the Crescent Moon.

The Evil Dragon River surges mightily, its waves like ten thousand galloping horses.

On the vast Evil Dragon River, a wooden boat was drifting with the current. Two young men sat on the boat, one dressed in a black robe and the other in a blue Taoist robe. They were Lei Zhan and his master, the Immortal Ju Hua.

The two sat facing each other, each holding a large wine jug, slowly sipping their wine.

"Nowadays, it's still you, the Star-Picking Palace Master, whose name is known throughout the Three Realms, who has it so easy. You live a leisurely life, traveling through the Three Realms with your Daoist companion." Ju Hua Immortal took a big gulp of fine wine, his eyes filled with endless emotion. "In less than ten thousand years, the little guy from back then has already stood at the pinnacle of the entire Three Realms in the blink of an eye."

"Hmm?" Lei Zhan laughed. "Hasn't Master ever thought about finding a Daoist partner? Someone who can live as freely and happily as I do, playing around in the mortal world."

"Me? Forget it! Forget it!" Ju Hua Immortal waved his hands in fright. "Love and affection are too troublesome. The opportunity to reincarnate and cultivate again is rare. Naturally, I should focus on the Great Dao."

"Now I have fully comprehended the way of the sword, and I have also learned a lot of the supernatural powers and techniques of the Immortal Palace and the Three Realms Palace. I came here today because I haven't seen you, my disciple, for many years. After seeing you, I will prepare to undergo the Heavenly Tribulation."

"Crossing the Heavenly Tribulation..." Lei Zhan looked at Ju Hua Immortal and smiled, "When Master was still a wandering immortal in the Great Xia World, he had already accumulated immense wealth, and in his reincarnation, he has been studying the Dao at Fangcun Mountain..."

"Even those disciples of true gods and Dao ancestors, many of whom are not as accomplished as Master, are still quite extraordinary. This heavenly tribulation can allow Master's second primordial spirit to undergo it first."

“Hmm.” Ju Hua Immortal nodded. “That’s what I think too. I am a reincarnated being, and I have had many opportunities in this life… This tribulation is probably even more difficult than in my previous life. If I let my second primordial spirit undergo the tribulation first, my comprehension of the Dao will be faster. Once my realm is higher… and I am fully prepared, I can let my main body undergo the tribulation.”

The current Juhua Immortal is not the same as the wandering immortal who lived for millions of years in the Great Xia World.

Having studied Taoism on Fangcun Mountain for thousands of years, the immortal Juhua underwent a complete transformation in both his personal foundation and his vision.

Over these thousands of years, although he is still in the Void Returning Realm, he has acquired several innate spiritual treasures. In addition, having withstood the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations for millions of years in his previous life, his Dao heart has been tempered to an extremely high degree. It can be said that with the help of Lei Zhan, a powerful leader, his foundation is extremely deep and stable.

"Alright." Lei Zhan smiled and asked, "Has the day for Master's tribulation been set? When do you plan to undergo the tribulation?"

"Tribulation..." Ju Hua Immortal's gaze lingered, "I have recently comprehended a sword technique, and once this sword technique is perfected, it will be time for my second primordial spirit to undergo tribulation. Let's set the time for one hundred days from now."

"A hundred days later?" Lei Zhan pondered for a moment, then smiled and said, "After Master's second primordial spirit successfully transcends the tribulation, don't rush to break through to the Pure Yang True Immortal level. I still have some opportunities that can help Master's strength reach a higher level."

"An opportunity?" Ju Hua Immortal was taken aback, then nodded and said, "Alright."

……

The world's prison.

It was still that same dark and vast world.

Lei Zhan stood atop the Wanli Mountain Peak, looking down below.

In this vast world, there is no sun, moon, or stars. Countless divine patterns, resembling dragons and snakes, shimmer in the sky. These golden patterns, along with the sky itself, radiate light, keeping this land in darkness for countless years, as if it were eternal.

“Master is about to undergo tribulation as well.” Lei Zhan whispered, “With the foundation Master has accumulated now, undergoing tribulation for his second primordial spirit should not be a problem at all.”

"As for a third-tier Celestial Immortal cultivating the 'Eighteen Divine Demons of Tao Wu,' a few drops of Chaos Spirit Liquid would probably be enough. What's more troublesome are the Nine Flames Elixir and Ice Heart Marrow used for cultivating the 'Ice and Fire Tempering Golden Elixir Technique'..."

Lei Zhan felt somewhat helpless. Over the past thousand years, powerful beings in the Three Realms, such as the Three Pure Ones and Suirenshi, had also ventured back to the Endless Ice Sea. With Suirenshi, the ancestral god, being cautious, they had still managed to obtain a considerable amount of Ice Heart Essence. Upon their return, they shared some with Lei Zhan, amounting to approximately one million catties.

Adding the 500,000 jin of Nine Flame Elixir that Lei Zhan had previously obtained, it would be enough for at most 50 third-grade True Immortals to upgrade their third-grade Golden Core to the second grade.

However, the numerous clones of Kucao and Wangshu alone have created many gaps in the Nine Flames Elixir. Not to mention that Lei Zhan also has celestial beings like Hongxue Tianshen and Yinyue Tianshen, who have extremely good relationships with him.

The clone technique can also be bestowed upon the "Twelve Heavenly Gods and Demons" for them to cultivate. The rare treasures needed to cultivate this clone technique can be completely gathered from the Three Realms, and Lei Zhan can exchange numerous treasures for this.

But the Nine Flames Elixir and the Ice Heart Essence... these two chaotic wonders cannot be replaced by any other treasure.

“I had planned to explore the endless chaos surrounding the Three Realms to obtain some Nine Flame Elixir, and now it’s time to put that on the agenda.” Lei Zhan pondered. “However, sending out a second primordial spirit avatar will suffice for finding the Nine Flame Elixir. But before going out, the fifth-level power of time and space must be perfectly combined to form the fifth-level power of spacetime… This way, if we encounter danger, our ability to survive will be greatly enhanced.”

Lei Zhan pondered, then a thought struck him. Within Lei Zhan's body, a massive golden core displaying various scenes of heaven, earth, mountains, and rivers appeared. In the vast and boundless space of the golden core, a black bead the size of an infant's fist floated in the center, its deep black interior surrounded by a ring of dazzling stars.

"Accumulated over a thousand years, and although I occasionally had a few moments of enlightenment along the way, the energy that remained was enough for a great enlightenment."

Lei Zhan gazed at the galaxy encircling the black bead, "I'll take advantage of this opportunity for enlightenment to first deduce the Six Revolutions Star Picking technique while fusing the fifth-level power of time and space... If I can create that divine power bursting method, it will also make my close combat strength stronger."

Under the three-hundred-fold time acceleration of the Sky-Gazing Taihao Tower, Lei Zhan's main body and avatar spent the past 150,000 years comprehending the origins of time and space, as well as the Heavenly Dao. However, he also occasionally made indirect connections to comprehend the Ninefold Chaos Restriction and ponder the follow-up methods of the divine power "Star-Picking Hand." Through these indirect connections, he has made some gains.

Now, in order to achieve a great enlightenment using the black bead, combining the origins of time and space is secondary; the profound function of deduce supernatural powers should not be wasted.

Among the many methods and secret techniques, the one most urgently needed to be developed was the "Star-Picking Hand," a divine ability created by the Daoist Sanshou. ...

Time passes, and in the blink of an eye another hundred years have passed.

The inner world of the earth, the Demon-Subduing Palace.

A figure in golden robes passed through the tall stone tablet in front of the Taoist palace and entered the main hall.

"Fellow Daoist Lei Zhan, have you come to challenge the Demon Subduing Palace?" Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal stood in the majestic palace, looking at the golden-robed figure walking in from outside the Demon Subduing Palace, a smile appearing on his face.

"It's Fellow Daoist Jiu Yan!" Lei Zhan looked over and said with a smile, "There are three chances to reach the True God and True Immortal levels. Now that I have gained some insights, I came directly. I can also earn more merits and exchange them for more supernatural abilities, techniques, and magical treasures."

"Achievements..." Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal fell silent.

The value of these achievements is a consensus shared by many true gods and immortals in the Earth's core world who have come into contact with the Demon-Subduing Palace, as well as by the ancestral gods.

And the fact that such achievements are rare is also a consensus among many practitioners.

Compared to True Gods and True Immortals who can only venture into the Demon-Subduing Palace three times, breaking through to the Ancestral God and Ancestral Immortal levels has no limit on the number of attempts and is relatively easier to accumulate merit. However, obtaining a large amount of merit is actually not easy.

Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal muttered to himself, "This incomparably precious achievement seems so easily obtained in Fellow Daoist Lei Zhan's eyes. It's as if it's within his grasp?"

However, how could the Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal know the monstrous talent of Lei Zhan? Although he had only been in this inner world for a little over a thousand years—a mere nap for an Ancestral God or Immortal—Lei Zhan himself had undergone a complete transformation.

"Hmm?" Lei Zhan looked at Jiu Yan Ancestral Immortal with curiosity and asked, "Fellow Daoist Jiu Yan, did you just come out? I wonder how your harvest was?"

"The harvest..." A bitter look suddenly appeared on the face of the Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal. "Since we successfully resisted the invasion of the Ice Demon Lord and many Ice Demons last time, the difficulty of the entire Demon Subduing Palace has increased."

"And this time, they encountered not ice demons, but far more powerful fire demons..."

"My achievements... I barely managed to gain over ten thousand before being overwhelmed by a large number of fire demons and ultimately had to retreat."

The merits gained from the Demon Subduing Palace are generally only usable by the person who acquired them. Of course, exchanging them for treasures inside and then trading them with other cultivators is an exception.

As for seizing by force, one should rely on strength to take it...

It should be known that the first oath taken upon entering the Demon Subduing Palace is that "those under the command of the Demon Subduing Palace shall not kill each other." Therefore, the Nine Flames Ancestor Immortal did not mind revealing some information about this adventure, which could be considered as forming a good connection.

"A fire demon?" Lei Zhan was taken aback.

Since his first attempt to break into the Demon-Subduing Palace, Lei Zhan's two second primordial spirit avatars, which remained in this inner world, have also been in seclusion, meditating and never returned.

Lei Zhan was also hearing about the strengthening of the Demon Subduing Palace for the first time today.

“Yes.” When Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal recalled his adventures in that fiery world, his expression turned extremely ugly.

"Compared to the previous Ice Demon, this Flame Demon, while having a similarly mediocre understanding of the Dao, possesses significantly stronger basic strength. The most disgusting thing is that if you can't kill the Flame Demon in one go, it will turn into a pool of lava. Once that lava accumulates to a certain level, it will transform into an even more powerful Flame Demon."

“This…” Lei Zhan frowned, “The Demon Subduing Palace has also undergone changes, but has something changed in the Ice Demon Valley?”

“Ice Demon Valley…” the Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal pondered.

"And this Flame Demon, in the endless ages, has there ever been a being like this Flame Demon in the past?" Lei Zhan asked again as countless thoughts flashed through his mind.

If what the Nine Flame Ancestor Immortal mentioned is true, and there have been changes within the Demon Subduing Palace, and the emerging fire demons have become stronger, then Lei Zhan is not too worried.

However, if those fire demons are not killed immediately, and instead combine together to become even stronger, then the difficulty will increase significantly.

moment.

Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal paused his thoughts, raised his eyes to look at Lei Zhan, and his expression became extremely solemn. "Endless years have passed, and generally only every million years will the Ice Demon Lord lead the Ice Demons to invade my inner world, but there has never been a Flame Demon. However, regarding the Flame Demon, I have thought of some information..."

"Oh?" Lei Zhan asked curiously, "What kind of information is it? Do my master Tathagata, the Ancestral God Fuxi, or even the Ancestral God Qihuo know about this news?"

"For the past thousand years, they have been digesting the benefits they gained after the Demon Lord's invasion. They should still be unaware of the matter of the Flame Demon."

Nine Flames Ancestor Immortal sighed softly, "And the matter of the Flame Demon that evolved in the Demon Subduing Palace should not be entirely unfounded."

……

(End of this chapter)