I forge immortality with a pagoda.

Upon hearing this, Shen Yu frowned slightly, his surprise deepening.

Even Gu Penghao, a cultivator who had been in the Abyss for many years, did not know the origin of this place.

He suppressed his emotions and changed the subject to the turmoil outside, "Senior Gu, you are unaware of this? Demonic clouds are churning in the abyss, and malevolent energy is soaring to the sky. A large demonic army is tearing apart the restrictions of this place, and its power is immense. Brother Gu Xuan was overwhelmed by the demonic army while trying to save me. I wonder if Senior knows the reason for this?"

Gu Penghao's expression suddenly turned serious after hearing what Shen Yu said.

He suddenly stood up, walked to the door, and looked into the distance. "I was confined here, engrossed in alchemy, unaware that such a dramatic change had taken place in the outside world."

He turned around. "Young friend Zhu, do you have any clues about this raging demonic tide?"

Shen Yu took a deep breath and said, "Could it be related to that True Monarch of the Void Refinement Realm?"

"The True Lord was severely injured after that battle and fell into a deep sleep. The temple was subsequently closed, isolating it from the outside world."

"If it is indeed caused by the leakage of the True Lord's Qi, just like the turmoil five years ago, it is not impossible."

Gu Penghao suddenly lowered his voice, as if speaking to himself, "However, if there is another reason, it may be a sliver of hope for me to escape this predicament."

Just then, a small bronze seal hanging at Gu Penghao's waist flickered, emitting a bluish glow.

He reached out and grasped it, closed his eyes and sensed it for a moment, then said, "The time has come. It's time to offer the Lesser Nine-Turn Rejuvenation Pill to the True Lord again."

He looked at Shen Yu with a strange expression in his eyes, "This time, I wish to take the opportunity of offering the pill to boldly communicate with the True Lord's spiritual consciousness with my divine sense and inquire about the reason for the disturbance of the demonic energy outside."

"Would young friend Zhu be willing to accompany me to the altar?"

Shen Yu's mind raced. His true qi was special, and deep within his spiritual platform lay the Xuanqiong Pagoda, a heaven-defying treasure. Facing a True Monarch of the Void Refinement Realm, even if it was just a wisp of divine thought that was about to awaken, he could not possibly deceive the heavens.

"I am new here and have already disturbed the True Lord's residence. If I were to rashly accompany Brother Gu to meet the True Lord, it would be too presumptuous and might even cause you some trouble. Senior Gu, you should go by yourself. I will wait here."

Gu Penghao shook his head. "Although the True Lord is majestic, he also has a broad mind and will not make things difficult for you, young friend. You should come with me."

His gaze was deep as he glanced at Shen Yu, a meaningful look in his eyes. "Or perhaps, young friend, you're hiding something from me?"

Seeing his resolute attitude, Shen Yu knew that further refusal would only arouse suspicion.

He sighed inwardly and could only nod, "In that case, let us follow the advice of our predecessors."

The two left their residence and wandered through the many halls and corridors.

This place was extremely magnificent, with palaces stretching as far as the eye could see. Although most of them had collapsed and were destroyed, one could still vaguely see the splendor of the past.

The journey was eerily quiet, with only the echoes of their footsteps, which made the place seem even more vast and secluded, like a divine abode.

After walking for about half an incense stick's time, a magnificent altar suddenly appeared before us, rising from the ground in nine tiers, over a hundred feet high.

Along the edge of each altar, there stand ancient stone carvings of mythical beasts, some with dragon heads and turtle bodies, others with phoenix wings and tiger claws, all lifelike, seemingly about to burst forth from the stone to guard the eight directions.

The altar is densely engraved with cloud and thunder seal script, the Eight Trigrams of the Primordial Era, and the diagram of the stars in the heavens.

Gu Penghao straightened his clothes, his face solemn and almost pious, and climbed the stone steps to the seventh level of the altar, which was the highest point he could reach.

Shen Yu followed closely behind, feeling the increasingly heavy, invisible pressure, as if carrying a mountain on his back.

Gu Penghao stopped in front of a jade table that gleamed with a bluish light and carefully took out a white jade elixir bottle from his bosom.

The bottle is translucent, and three pills shrouded in purple mist can be vaguely seen floating inside.

He carefully placed the jade bottle on the table, then took three steps back, raised his hands, formed a series of mudras, and chanted an obscure sacrificial text.

As he moved, the cloud and thunder patterns on the altar lit up one by one, and spiritual light surged from bottom to top like a tidal wave.

The surrounding void trembled slightly, emitting a low rumble.

Before long, a hazy, illusory figure appeared on the top of the altar. The figure sat upright, surrounded by wisps of pale golden mist that occasionally condensed into strange phenomena such as necklaces, golden lamps, and jade flowers before dissipating, repeating endlessly. Just looking at it from afar inspired awe and made one's soul stand still.

The illusory figure trembled slightly, and a powerful and majestic divine thought slowly descended, enveloping the pill bottle on the jade table.

The elixir bottle gradually faded into nothingness, transforming into three clusters of dazzling purple light and shadow before finally disappearing.

At that very moment, Gu Penghao took a deep breath, as if using all his strength, and bowed deeply towards the direction of the illusory figure, "This disciple dares to humbly request the True Lord's mercy and guidance."

"explain."

A cold, emotionless voice rang out from their minds. Gu Penghao lowered his head even further, not daring to look up again.

Shen Yu pressed his head tightly to the ground, not daring to make any movement.

"Outside the execution ground, demonic energy surges, and a demonic army is causing turmoil. How should we deal with this calamity?"

That magnificent and vast divine thought suddenly solidified, as if a celestial eye had opened in the chaos, or as if a sleeping ancient divine mountain had suddenly cracked open.

An indescribable, immense pressure descended suddenly, causing Gu Penghao to grunt.

Shen Yu also felt his breath catch in his throat, as if he were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand, and his mind and consciousness churned and vibrated.

This terrifying divine thought did not respond to Gu Penghao's question. A gaze that could see through the origin of all things suddenly crossed the void and locked onto Shen Yu!

"Um?"

A very soft sound of surprise came from within the illusory image.

The next moment, Shen Yu felt a tightness all over his body. An overwhelming force that he could not resist suddenly arose, lifting him into the air and suspending him above the altar, unable to move.

That divine thought was as tangible as a physical entity, instantly sweeping across every inch of his skin, every bone and tendon, and every meridian, penetrating deep into his dantian without any hindrance.

"The highest quality true qi is pure, ethereal, and lofty, possessing the power to govern the six qi and encompass the entire universe."

A detached voice rang out, "This foundation and path... so it's the Yunxu Sect. Old man Xuanze, how did your Dao techniques end up in a mere brat?"

Immediately, without pausing, his divine sense surged like a burst dam, rushing straight towards Shen Yu's ancestral aperture between his eyebrows, seeking to delve into the depths of his spiritual platform and explore more secrets.

Upon entering, one sees that above the spiritual platform, there is neither heaven nor earth, only a chaotic and primordial light, about the size of a fist, with a dark yellow color and a misty, ethereal quality, quietly suspended.

As the halo pulsed, it seemed as if earth, water, fire, and wind surged forth, and as if all things were born and died in a cycle. Just by looking at it, one felt as insignificant as a speck of dust.

The illusory image of the divine thought seemed to pause for a moment, then became even more curious, coalesced, and touched the chaotic light.

The moment the divine sense touched the edge of the radiance, the chaotic radiance suddenly expanded, and billions of streams of primordial yellow energy burst forth, instantly manifesting the phantom of a majestic pagoda!

The tower stands nine stories high, neither made of gold nor jade, but exuding the Daoist charm of the primordial chaos before its separation.

The octagonal eaves of the tower each droop with an incomparably heavy wisp of chaotic air, each wisp seemingly capable of crushing a mountain or river.

The powerful and refined divine thought of True Monarch Dongwei actually let out a mournful cry!

"snort!"

The pale golden phantom on the altar shuddered violently, letting out a muffled groan. Countless cracks instantly appeared on the surface of the golden phantom, and the golden light dimmed rapidly. Even the flowing glow of the entire altar was disrupted for a moment, and the stone-carved beasts around also let out low moans.

All of this happened far too fast. From locking onto Shen Yu with divine sense, to probing into his spiritual platform and triggering an anomaly, to being startled and injured, the entire process took only two or three breaths.

After Gu Penghao suppressed the trembling in his soul, the dizziness and nausea, and barely managed to steady himself, he looked up and saw that the altar had returned to calm.

The jade table was empty, the elixir had been offered, and the illusory figure of the True Lord had vanished, as if the terrifying pressure from before was merely an illusion caused by his tense mind.

......

......