After guarding the gates for a hundred years, I drove the Heavenly Saint to madness.

For cultivators in the primordial world, time is often the least valuable thing. A single period of seclusion can be the turning point of the world.

But in the current Jiepai Pass, where the aura of impending doom permeates the area, every moment of peace is snatched back from the clutches of death.

Since the day the Emperor's aura entered the pass, Jiepai Pass seemed to have been put on pause. Xiqi raised a white flag, and even scouts dared not approach within three miles of the city walls.

This eerie tranquility provided Xiao Wuji with the perfect opportunity to claim his reward.

The eleventh day.

On the training ground, hundreds of guards were practicing shirtless, most of them bearing injuries left from resisting the aftershocks of Nezha's magic weapon.

The wounds were difficult to heal, and many people were on the verge of death due to festering sores.

Xiao Wuji bestowed the Rejuvenation Pills rewarded by the system into water, helping these hundreds of guards rebuild their foundations and forge an iron army capable of leading the charge in future fierce battles.

Day 13.

Xiao Wuji absorbed ten strands of innate Geng metal energy, using his lungs as a furnace to refine it into the purest killing sword energy. He exhaled a sword, making it invincible in killing.

Day 15.

Late at night, in a secret room of the General's Mansion.

A scroll exuding an ancient, chaotic aura floated in front of Xiao Wuji and slowly unfurled.

[Superior Innate Spiritual Treasure - Five Elements Scroll].

The scroll depicts not a static ink painting, but a vibrant, living world.

The mountains rise like a dragon's spine, the rivers flow like blood vessels, the blazing fire spreads across the plains, ancient trees reach for the sky, and the spirit of war and conquest is hidden within.

"The five elements generate each other, forming the world within."

Xiao Wuji forced out a drop of essence blood containing the essence of a Golden Immortal from his fingertip, and with a flick of his finger, the essence blood turned into blood mist and merged into the scroll.

"Buzz!"

The scroll trembled violently, and a tremendous suction force instantly pulled Xiao Wuji's soul into it.

He felt as if he had become the master of this world. With a thought, mountains rose from the ground, transforming into an indestructible shield of earth; with another thought, surging rivers swept up the sky, transforming into an endless expanse of water.

"Refine!"

Xiao Wuji let out a low shout, and his innate Five Elements Body resonated with the scroll.

The Five Elements Scroll slowly shrank, eventually transforming into a five-colored Dao pattern, which was imprinted deep between his brows.

From then on, this magical treasure was no longer an external object, but an extension of his body. He used it to nourish his soul in ordinary times, and in times of war, he could create formations with a single thought to trap and kill powerful enemies.

Combined with his Five Elements Dao, if he were to face Ju Liusun again, and with the remnants of the Twelve Capital Heavenly Gods and Demons Formation, Xiao Wuji was confident that he could capture him directly instead of letting him escape.

The eighteenth day.

Jiepai Pass lies three thousand feet underground, at the core of the earth's veins.

This is the core of the Twelve Heavenly Gods and Demons Formation, where the surging earthly evil energy flows like dark red magma.

Xiao Wuji held a jade box in his hand. When the lid was opened, countless glittering starlight poured out.

That was ten thousand catties of stardust, today's system reward, which he used to improve the power of the Twelve Capital Heavenly Gods and Demons Formation.

"go."

Xiao Wuji's hands moved like butterflies flitting among flowers, unleashing a series of magical incantations.

The ten thousand catties of star sand were not directly scattered into the formation. Instead, under his control, they transformed into a silver galaxy, precisely seeping into each of the scarlet baleful energy array patterns.

The malevolent aura of the witch clan, which was originally filled with destructive power, became eerily quiet after merging with the weight and coldness of the star sand.

This is not a decrease in power, but rather a shift from open warfare to concealed killing intent.

For an entire day, Xiao Wuji walked barefoot through the earth's veins, using star sand to redraw the twelve nodes of the formation.

When the last grain of stardust returned to its place.

boom!

A deep rumble came from underground, and the previously leaking evil energy instantly receded, making the foundation of the entire Jiepai Pass as deep and unfathomable as the starry sky.

If a powerful being were to investigate at this moment, they would only perceive it as an ordinary pass, completely unaware of the terrifying killing intent beneath that could devour even a Great Luo Golden Immortal.

The twentieth day.

Early morning, in the backyard of the General's Mansion.

Xiao Wuji solemnly took out a seedling.

[Supreme Innate Spiritual Root - Five Elements Pine Needle Fruit Tree].

As soon as the seedling was taken out, the surrounding spiritual energy of the five elements gathered wildly, as if it were the darling of the five elements of heaven and earth.

Without hesitation, Xiao Wuji planted it in the very center of the backyard of the General's Mansion, which was the core of the Twelve Heavenly Gods and Demons Formation. Although it still couldn't unleash the full power of the formation, it greatly increased the power of the current incomplete formation.

"Use this spiritual root to suppress the array's core and regulate yin and yang."

The moment the seedling is planted, its root system grows wildly, instantly penetrating the soil layer and reaching the core of the underground structure.

It did not wither from the evil energy; on the contrary, it seemed to have absorbed the most delicious nourishment.

In the blink of an eye, the seedling swelled in the wind and grew into a towering ancient tree hundreds of feet tall!

The bark is like dragon scales, the branches are gnarled and twisted like iron, and every pine needle is crystal clear, displaying five colors: green, yellow, red, white, and black.

Even more remarkably, this ancient tree actually acts as a giant filter.

It absorbed the violent evil energy from the ground into its roots, and after being transformed by the tree trunk, it released pure and incomparably refined spiritual energy from the pine needles, nourishing the entire General's Mansion and even Jiepai Pass, exerting a power beyond Xiao Wuji's own control.

The formation is stable, the spiritual energy is abundant, and the internal and external circulation is perfect.

……

After doing all this, Xiao Wuji returned to the city tower.

At this moment, he had everything ready.

The accumulation of these twenty days is like a rushing river finally converging at the highest point of the dam.

The resources rewarded by the system, the blessing of human destiny, the refinement of innate spiritual treasures, the feedback from the formation... all these forces intertwined, merged, and compressed within his body.

Xiao Wuji looked at the rising sun, stretched lazily, and took a sip of the iced tea beside him.

The moment the tea entered my throat.

An invisible shackle within my body, as if it were a windowpane, had been gently pierced.

"Click."

A clear Daoist sound rang out within his Purple Mansion.

Immediately afterwards, five tangible waves of energy surged from his internal organs and gathered above his head to form a five-colored auspicious cloud.

Everything seemed so natural, so effortless.

It's like a ripe melon falling from its vine, or the sun rising in the east.

Xiao Wuji stood up, without disturbing a speck of dust on the blue bricks beneath his feet, but the Daoist aura flowing around him was more than ten times deeper than before.

The Taiyi Golden Immortal has been achieved.

Although he was nourished by spiritual herbs, Xiao Wuji's cultivation of the Five Elements Great Divine Power made his current realm incredibly stable. His foundation was so profound that even those innate great powers might not be stronger than him.

"call……"

Xiao Wuji clenched his fist lightly, feeling the power between his fingers and palms that seemed capable of crushing the void, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

"Even if a quasi-saint comes, combined with the Twelve Capital Heavenly Gods and Demons Formation, I will not be able to win, but I will certainly not be defeated."