The Legend of the Great Desolation: I Am the Fortress

"Ok?"

Lei Zhan looked at the Nine Flames Ancestor Immortal.

"Fellow Daoist, you've already completely traversed the Demon-Subduing Palace?" A strange glint appeared in the eyes of the Nine Flames Ancestor Immortal. "From start to finish, it only took the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea..."

"The difficulty within the Demon Subduing Palace has indeed increased considerably. But fortunately, it's still at the level of True Gods and True Immortals." Lei Zhan smiled slightly. "Although the Flame Demon Lord and the Flame Demon are troublesome, I can control the Ancestral Water and Ancestral Fire, and my speed in killing the Flame Demon isn't too slow."

"Fellow Daoist's strength..." Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal shook his head and sighed. He naturally knew that the situation was not as simple as Lei Zhan had mentioned. If one could sweep away everything with just Ancestral Water and Ancestral Fire, then such achievements would be worthless.

Moreover, the power of ancestral fire and ancestral water is not so simple or easy to control.

"There is truly no comparison between cultivators," sighed the Nine Flames Ancestor Immortal.

Lei smiled slightly, shook his head, and walked directly towards a wall inside the palace.

On this wall, which is nearly a thousand feet in size, densely packed tiny characters are written in chaotic script.

Lei Zhan stood in front of the wall, his gaze sweeping over the list of true gods and immortals, searching for his own name.

"Ok?"

In the blink of an eye.

He scanned the names in front of Lei Zhan one by one, his gaze sweeping over seven or eight names, and easily found the name 'Lei Zhan'.

Then, Lei Zhan's gaze also fell on a line of small print.

"The List of True Gods and Immortals. True Gods are arrayed, their rankings: Grade A, First Class?"

Lei Zhan pondered to himself, "When I first came here, my evaluation was also A, but it was only second-class. Now that my evaluation has improved, my ranking has also improved quite a bit?"

"Huh? This..."

Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal followed Lei Zhan over, and his gaze fell on the True God and True Immortal Ranking in the direction Lei Zhan was looking. A look of horror immediately appeared in his eyes.

"This... First-class A? It's directly ranked in the top ten?"

Throughout countless ages, the true gods and immortals of the Earth's core have been as numerous as carp crossing a river, and those who make it onto the list are exceptionally talented. To rank among the top ten of these true gods and immortals is incredibly rare.

“Top ten…” Lei Zhan turned his head and looked over.

As for rankings, Lei Zhan was certainly not the kind of person who cared about empty fame.

Even if you rank first, if there are no benefits or effects, it's just an empty title.

Most importantly, and what Lei Zhan values ​​most, is that those who rank higher have the opportunity to exchange for even more precious treasures, magical artifacts, and secret techniques.

His first attempt at the Demon Subduing Palace only earned him a second-class rating, but the merits he gained allowed him to exchange for the two great techniques, "Time and Space Annihilation" and the supernatural power "Golden Statue".

At that time, there were at least tens of thousands of true gods and immortals queuing up in front of the exhibition!

“Fellow Daoist Jiu Yan,” Lei Zhan said.

"Hmm?" Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal asked in confusion.

"I remember you once said that the higher you rank on this list, the more precious supernatural powers, techniques, treasures, and magical artifacts you can exchange for," Lei Zhan said curiously. "Right now, I'm ranked in the top ten among all the true gods and immortals throughout countless ages..."

“Indeed.” Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal immediately understood. He said, “For example, if you get a Grade 2 rating on your first attempt at the Demon Subduing Palace, the techniques and secret arts you can exchange for should be more precious and difficult for ordinary cultivators to obtain.”

"Precious?" Lei Zhan's heart stirred. "Fellow Daoist, are you familiar with the protective divine power 'Golden Image'?"

When the Ancestral God of Abandoning Fire was fighting with Fuxi, he did not show any protective supernatural powers.

It should be noted that the Ancestral God of Abandoning Fire and the Ancestral God of Golden Brightness are among the few top-tier Ancestral Gods in the Earth's Core World.

Even if one cannot exchange for the middle part of the "Golden Statue" supernatural power, merely cultivating the upper part, making one's divine body comparable to the ultimate innate spiritual treasure, can still provide considerable benefit to the ancestral god.

"The divine power 'Golden Statue'?" Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal was taken aback, and said in surprise, "None of the ancestral gods and immortals of this generation in my Earth Core World can cultivate this divine power. Fellow Daoist, you cultivate both divine and demonic body refinement and qi cultivation, perhaps you wish to exchange for this protective divine power?"

Lei Zhan shook his head, "I already exchanged for this supernatural power last time."

"Already redeemed?" Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal's gaze was deep. "I have heard of the protective divine power 'Golden Statue'. This divine power is extremely powerful, but it is not easy to redeem. At least in the Demon Subduing Palace, only those with a rating of Grade A or above have the opportunity to obtain this divine power."

"If I remember correctly, when Fellow Daoist Lei Zhan first entered the Demon Subduing Palace, he received a Grade A, Level 2 rating!"

“It is indeed Class A, Grade 2.” Lei Zhan nodded.

“True gods and immortals who can barely rival ancestral gods and immortals are generally rated as Grade A, Level 2,” said Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal with a smile. “And those who can get Grade A, Level 1 are all monstrous geniuses.”

"Fellow Daoist flatters me." Lei Zhan smiled, secretly thinking to himself:

"If one is at the second-class level, one can learn a divine power called Golden Statue, which requires the strength of a true god that is barely comparable to that of an ancestral god. However, the most important thing is still talent and comprehension. But the Demon Subduing Palace itself is a huge treasure trove. Even if one starts by exchanging the most basic methods and secret techniques... it is estimated that if Suirenshi and the Three Pure Ones start to explore the Demon Subduing Palace, it won't be long before their strength undergoes a complete transformation."

“Fellow Daoist Lei Zhan,” said the Nine Flames Ancestor Immortal.

"Hmm." Lei Zhan looked over.

Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal smiled, "Fellow Daoist, you can first use the Demon Subduing Pearl to examine your own achievements. After you've looked at them, you should be able to see the newly added magical treasures in the booklet in your sea of ​​consciousness."

"Check your own achievements?" Lei Zhan repeated, seemingly lost in thought. "Back then, I thought it was just ordinary that I was able to exchange for the divine abilities 'Golden Statue' and 'Time-Space Annihilation.' It seems that, as the Nine Flames Ancestor Immortal said, it is inseparable from my evaluation."

The thought of building up the structure flashed through his mind, and then he looked at the crystal bead floating on the stone pillar in front of him.

"Let's see how much merit we can gain this time. Although I haven't kept a detailed record of exactly how many fire demons I killed this time, I estimate that we crushed nearly a million under the Yin-Yang Life and Death Wheel..."

“Buzz~~~”

Extend your palm, completely covering the crystal bead with your left hand, and a buzzing sound immediately rings in your mind.

"Slayed over 1,173,000 fire demons at the True God/True Immortal level, gaining 14,076 merit points. Slayed the Fire Demon Lord at the True God/True Immortal level, gaining 9,600 merit points?"

Lei Zhan examined the information flooding into his memory, a smile immediately appearing on his face. "Adding the two together, there are over 23,000. It seems that this fire demon is stronger than the ice demon, and has gained more merits. For each fire demon killed, the merits increase by 20%..."

With a thought flashing through his mind, Lei Zhan directly opened the thick book that had appeared in his mind.

"First, let's look at the methods and secret techniques, and it would be best to see if there are any mental power techniques. My mental power has been stuck at the fourth level of 'Mortal Realm' perfection. If I could exchange for a mental power inheritance, even if it's just the first volume like 'Time and Space Annihilation', it would probably give me some of the methods of a mental power cultivator."

Wow~~~
The thick book in his mind seemed to move on its own without wind, flipping through the pages wildly, and information about various mental techniques automatically surfaced in his mind.

"The Song of Rainbow Skirts? Once cultivated to a minor level, one can open up a world of the heart?"

"Hiss~~~" Lei Zhan took a deep breath. "The minor success corresponds to the World Realm. If it is major success... this method can probably directly point to the level of the Dao Lord of Life and Death. It should be the inheritance of an ancient Dao Lord of Life and Death."

"Truly extraordinary."

Lei Zhan carefully reviewed the information that had surfaced in his mind, and immediately shook his head. "However, the merit required for this inheritance is really high! There are three parts: upper, middle, and lower. The upper part alone requires 300,000 merits?"

This power-inherited technique, "The Song of Rainbow Skirts," is newly emerged. Successfully cultivating the entire upper part signifies reaching a minor mastery of the method, allowing one to directly break through to the World Realm. However, it requires an immense amount of merit.

Even if 300,000 merit points were actually converted into Chaos Spirit Liquid, it would only amount to a little over 150 bottles, which is far from enough to buy a whole bottle of Chaos Spirit Liquid.

It should be known that such a spiritual inheritance is extremely precious in the endless chaos. If it were to be purchased with chaotic spiritual liquid, it would cost at least a thousand or ten thousand times more.

It's safe to say that as long as they switch out, it's a huge win!
Lei Zhan looked on with envy, but since he didn't have enough achievements, he could only watch longingly.

“Can’t afford it, can’t afford it.” Lei Zhan shook his head and then looked at the next one.

"This... Demon Heart Scripture? The first part only requires 15,000 merit points..." Lei showed a hint of joy, but upon closer inspection, he was immediately disappointed.

This Heart Power Inheritance Demon Heart Scripture is a path of inner demons. It records mostly the paths followed by the Lord of Heart Demons, who is most adept at manipulating people's hearts.

"I never expected that the Demon Subduing Palace also has a path to inner demons... It's a pity that this kind of method is not suitable for me."

"Mind Extinction Technique? This must be a technique used by true mind power cultivators! The first volume alone requires 63,000 merit points..."

"This Great Dream Bewitching Technique requires 28,000 merit points for its first volume..."

"The Sacred Scripture of Ascension to Immortality..."

Lei Zhan looked down at each of them one by one.

The Demon Subduing Palace has a vast collection of mental cultivation techniques. Lei Zhan alone has seen more than ten mental cultivation inheritances that directly point to the Dao Lord of Life and Death. And this is only what Lei Zhan can see at present.

Among these numerous mental cultivation methods and inheritances, the most precious is a mental cultivation inheritance called "Feathered Robe Exquisite Heart." The merit required for this mental cultivation inheritance alone is terrifyingly high, reaching 2.68 billion merits.

Even so, it cannot be exchanged separately; one can only spend over 2.6 billion merit points to directly exchange for this spiritual power inheritance.

"Two billion six hundred and eighty million... One bottle of Chaos Elixir is worth two thousand merit points, which translates to about 1,340 cubic units of Chaos Elixir. If Chaos Elixir could be exchanged for merit points, it would be a great deal." Lei Zhan sighed inwardly, "But if we were to actually go and fight, to the Ice Demon Valley to kill Ice Demons, we'd probably have to kill until our hands were sore, and I don't even know if we could gather enough..."

However, although the merit required to exchange for this spiritual power inheritance is incredibly exaggerated, even just recording a few words about this inheritance is enough for Lei Zhan to know how terrifying this inheritance is.

"It seems that with my current merits, there is no hope of exchanging for the Mind Power Technique." Lei Zhan thought to himself, "Even the cheapest 'Demon Heart Scripture' costs 15,000 merits, and it is not of much use to me."

Lei Zhan was somewhat helpless. He had originally wanted to exchange for the first volume of "Annihilation of Time and Space" and the upper part of the "Golden Statue" supernatural power manual. The two supernatural power manuals together cost less than 20,000 merits, but the manuals and inheritances he saw now each required a lot of merits.

“The Mind Power Technique is impossible to exchange for. The second volume of ‘Time and Space Annihilation’ also requires 85,000 merit points. After learning it, it should greatly increase the power of my ‘Annihilation Style’, but I can’t exchange for it at the moment either.” Lei Zhan pondered carefully.

More than 20,000 merits seem like a lot; they can be exchanged for one or two ordinary magic techniques or even chaotic treasures. But if you really want to exchange for something powerful, it's far from enough.

Although Lei Zhan still has another chance to venture into the Demon-Subduing Palace at the True God and True Immortal level, he still needs to plan ahead for the future.

Moreover, even if we use it now, there will be no qualitative improvement in strength. At most, we can get another 20,000 merits, which will only add up to 50,000, which is a drop in the ocean.

Most importantly, even with 50,000 merits, Lei Zhan didn't see anything that would make him go to great lengths to exchange for them.

"The treasures and magical artifacts within this Demon-Subduing Palace are as vast as the starry sea. I wonder... if there are any treasures that can enhance mental strength?"

The thought flashed through Lei Zhan's mind, and then his eyes lit up.

"Since tempering the heart in the mortal world can enhance mental strength, the tribulations of karmic fire and inner demons can also greatly enhance the mental strength of cultivators, and related treasures and magic weapons probably exist as well."

"Then let's look for it first!"

...(End of chapter)