This humble Taoist priest, Qianhe, begins his quest for immortality by slaying demons and monsters.

Looking at the exorcism panel in front of him, Zhong Bai decided to cleanse himself of his karma first, since karma would affect his ability to absorb spiritual energy from heaven and earth.

[Consume 20 million Demon Exorcism Points to cleanse 20 million of your own karma]

Current Karma Value: 0

[Current Demon Extermination Points: 50 million]

The moment Zhong Bai's demon-slaying points began to be consumed, the karmic forces on Zhong Bai's body gradually detached in the void. Zhong Bai felt his whole body become lighter, and the surrounding spiritual energy no longer repelled him in the slightest. The Divine Firmament Five Thunder Technique was activated in his body, and streams of spiritual energy instantly surged in and transformed into pure true essence.

Time passed slowly. Zhong Bai sat cross-legged in Lanruo Temple for several hours. His true energy, which had been completely depleted, was now half replenished. His pale complexion returned to a rosy glow, and his eyes gleamed with a sharp light. Zhong Bai smiled slightly, and his spirit sword instantly unsheathed beneath his feet. He rode the sword and quickly left Lanruo Temple.

......................................................

Three days later.

Zhong Bai had no idea where he was, but since he was located on a towering mountaintop, no ordinary people came to disturb him.

"Now is not the time to travel around. Demon-slaying points are only valuable when they are used."

"The Supreme Clarity Dragon Elephant Technique, it's time to break through to the fourth level!"

Zhong Bai hovered atop the mountain, the spirit sword beneath his feet moving according to his will, shooting straight towards the mountain peak in front of him with a whoosh. The rocks shattered, and in no time, the prototype of a cave dwelling appeared.

Zhong Bai doesn't need an overly elaborate cave for cultivation, but a cave that isn't affected by wind and rain is essential.

Sitting cross-legged, Zhong Bai began his long process of refining the essence blood of the Eight-Headed Serpent.

......................................................

Hell.

The City of the Wrongfully Dead.

As the territory of the Black Mountain Demon, no one dares to provoke him on ordinary days. However, deep within the City of the Wrongfully Dead, a massive black mountain stands tall, covered with countless human heads—the souls devoured by the Black Mountain Demon over thousands of years.

The Black Mountain is composed of the souls of the dead, hence the saying that the Black Mountain Demon is both a demon and a ghost.

At this moment, the Black Mountain Demon was no longer as majestic and domineering as before, and even the City of the Wrongfully Dead was extremely quiet.

"Damn that stinking Taoist priest! What kind of magical treasure is it that's so powerful? It caused me such a great loss. All my cultivation over a thousand years was lost in this trip to the mortal realm. Originally, I was only a little bit away from truly breaking through to the Demon Emperor realm with my innate Yin energy, but now..."

Alas! Tree spirit, oh tree spirit!
"How audacious! You dare to provoke such a being without informing this Emperor! You deserve to die!"

The Black Mountain Demon complained about the Tree Demon Granny, but he also understood that when faced with a Daoist master like Zhong Bai, the Tree Demon had absolutely no chance of informing him of the situation.

The Black Mountain Demon, heartbroken, has spent the last few days in fear and trembling.

The reason is simple: Zhong Bai's identity.

The Black Mountain Demon was certain that Zhong Bai's words were not empty talk. A Nascent Soul Dao Lord who could possess such a spiritual treasure must come from a major sect. If a Daoist Nascent Soul cultivator really came to the Underworld, the Black Mountain Demon would truly only have one way out: death.

Unfortunately, his physical body was injured by the divine power of the Kui Niu Drum when he entered the underworld. His physical body already had difficulty moving, and now he was even more unable to leave, and could only wait for the judgment of fate.

For several days in a row, the Black Mountain Demon used the souls in the City of the Wrongfully Dead to heal their injuries. However, the Black Mountain Demon was lucky, as no powerful Taoist masters came to kill him.

"It seems that stinky Taoist priest doesn't even bother to send a senior from his sect..."

Feeling somewhat bitter, the Black Mountain Demon was just thinking this when he saw a terrifying aura coming from the distant void towards the City of the Unjustly Dead.

"Become a god!"

As the Black Mountain Demon cried out in alarm, he was about to desperately move his true form when he saw an aged body land on top of him.

"Montenegro……"

Upon hearing the familiar voice, the fear that the Black Mountain Demon had just felt vanished. Fortunately, it wasn't a powerful Daoist cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage who had arrived.

"Black Mountain greets Your Excellency!"

The old man nodded, looking at the Black Mountain Demon's scarred and battered form with some surprise.

"No need to be polite. Your main body is so badly injured; it seems you've been suffering recently."

"Reporting to your Excellency, it was Black Mountain's carelessness..."

The Black Mountain Demon dared not say that his injuries were due to offending a Daoist master of Maoshan. It was a joke, as Maoshan's status was far higher than that of the man before him. Even the Holy Lord behind the man before him was not confident that he could contend with Maoshan. If he were to tell the truth, he would most likely be used as a pawn to apologize to Maoshan.

"I see. I've come to inform you that in three years it will be the millennium birthday of Princess Wanling, the Holy Emperor's sister. Everyone in the Feathered Immortal Palace knows how much the Holy Emperor dotes on Princess Wanling. In three years, the Holy Emperor's intention is that all Ghost Emperors and Demon Emperors above the Nascent Soul stage within the Feathered Immortal Palace should go to the Feathered Palace to present gifts to Princess Wanling. Do you understand?"

"Yes, yes, I understand, sir! Please rest assured!"

"Good that you understand. In that case, I will take my leave of the other demon emperors..."

After saying that, the old man disappeared from the spot, leaving only the envy flashing in the eyes of the Black Mountain Demon.

"Hehe, I've cultivated for thousands of years and I'm only a half-step Demon Emperor. Princess Wanling is much luckier; she was born with a brother who is a Nascent Soul Demon Saint, a Nascent Soul Realm expert!"

The Black Mountain Demon shook his head, no longer dwelling on it. This journey to the mortal realm had been so tragic; it would take hundreds of years to break through to the Nascent Soul Demon Emperor realm, let alone the Primordial Spirit realm… it was best not to have any illusions.

Zhong Bai was unaware of the situation of the Black Mountain Demon in the underworld, but even if he did know, he wouldn't feel any sympathy. After all, only a handful of evil spirits have managed to survive an attack on him.

The Black Mountain Demon's good fortune is enough for him to boast about for years to come.

At this moment, Zhong Bai took out the jade bottle he had placed in his Qiankun Ring, which contained the essence blood of the Yamata no Orochi.

After consuming a dozen drops of essence blood, Zhong Bai fell into a deep sleep. A scorching aura erupted within Zhong Bai's body, causing the surrounding temperature to rise. In just a few days, the cave he had created was melted by the intense heat.

The days passed by like this.

During this period, Zhong Bai did not choose to use the demon-slaying points to enhance his physical strength quickly.

The number of Demon Exorcism Points is limited, and they are mainly used to enhance the effects of the Shangqing Dragon Elephant Technique, which is not as effective as other methods.

All you need to do is use the demon-slaying points to make a breakthrough at the crucial moment.

Three months have passed in the blink of an eye.

Zhong Bai's physical strength has reached 990 dragon power, only 10 dragons away from 1,000 dragon power.

Take a deep breath; it's time to use the exorcism points to make a breakthrough.

[Consume 10 million Demon Extermination Points to exchange for 10,000 days of cultivation time for the Shangqing Dragon Elephant Technique]

With an exchange rate of one to one thousand, Zhong Bai's ten million demon-slaying points could only be exchanged for a normal twenty-odd years of arduous cultivation. Of course, in this world where spiritual energy is abundant, such a time is already terrifying.

boom!
The remaining thousands of drops of Yamata no Orochi's essence blood in the jade bottle in front of Zhong Bai poured into his body, and in an instant, Zhong Bai's entire body turned bright red.

A terrifying surge of energy erupted, enveloping an area of ​​ten miles in Zhong Bai's aura.

The scalding heat spread, and within Zhong Bai's body at the center, earth-shattering changes were taking place. Every meridian, every bone, and even Zhong Bai's internal organs were continuously being upgraded. The extreme comfort made Zhong Bai unable to resist letting out a long roar towards the void!
In an instant, a long roar echoed through the heavens and earth, the clouds and mist dispersed, and even the birds and beasts within a radius of dozens of miles were startled and fled.

As his Qi and blood continued to increase, the moment Zhong Bai's power broke through the thousand dragon force, a powerful physical fluctuation trembled around him. Zhong Bai slowly opened his eyes, which had been slightly closed. Without any fancy moves, he simply threw a punch, and the powerful force created a deafening sonic boom, shattering a mountain peak opposite him into dust.

The essence blood of the eight-headed serpent within his body was still being refined, and the power of each dragon was still increasing. However, Zhong Bai had already broken through to the fourth level of the Shangqing Dragon Elephant Technique, and had reached the ultimate control over his own qi and blood. The originally scattered qi and blood was drawn back by Zhong Bai, and his eyes were closed again, waiting for the last bit of the essence blood of the eight-headed serpent within his body to be refined completely.

A few hours later.

Everything has returned to calm.

The cave where Zhong Bai was located was no longer what it used to be. When Zhong Bai broke through to the fourth level, the entire cave collapsed instantly when his fist just slightly touched it. Now, as Zhong Bai finished his cultivation, a ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds and fell on Zhong Bai's face.

"The fourth level of the Shangqing Dragon Elephant Technique is indeed terrifying!"

Zhong Bai stood up, feeling the terrifying power within his body, and he was incredibly excited.

With his current physical strength, Zhong Bai felt he could strike the Kui Niu Drum ten times. If he were to encounter the Black Mountain Demon, he would definitely be able to kill him with the Kui Niu Drum!

After taking a deep breath, Zhong Bai looked at the shattered rocks around him and felt somewhat helpless. It was true that he had used too much force, but it would take some time to fully control his strength.

"There are still 40 million Demon Extermination Points left. If all of them are added to the Divine Firmament Five Thunder Technique, it might be possible to break through to the mid-Nascent Soul stage."

Forget it, let's break through first!

Let's see if we can leave ten million to try our luck with the lottery on the demon-slaying panel!

Zhong Bai hadn't yet experienced the new lottery function added to the Demon Extermination panel. The key issue was that ten million Demon Extermination Points for one draw was quite terrifying. If he didn't draw any treasures, he would lose a lot.

Thinking of this, Zhong Bai continued to sit cross-legged and used the Demon Exorcism Points to enhance the Divine Firmament Five Thunder Technique.

Unlike the Shangqing Dragon Elephant Technique, which involves a long process of physical enhancement, the Shenxiao Five Thunder Technique often only requires a few hours to improve one's physical strength. Therefore, Zhong Bai can increase his cultivation level without restraint, as long as he has enough Demon Extermination Points!

(End of this chapter)