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

The midday sun beat down scorchingly on the ancient city walls of Jiepai Pass, but it could not dispel the bone-chilling cold that permeated the battlefield between the two armies.

On the city gate tower, a flagpole that is a hundred feet tall stands tall.

At the very top of the flagpole, Tu Xingsun's long-dried and deformed corpse still swayed in the wind, and below him, there were three specially made iron cages.

The cage was covered with countless seals of the Five Elements, constantly emanating a halo that suppressed all magical power.

Jin Zha, Mu Zha, and Huang Tianhua were huddled in a cage like lambs to the slaughter.

Their magical power was completely locked by the Great Five Elements Technique, and they couldn't even move a finger.

His once splendid Taoist robes were now tattered and worn, and his face was covered in bruises. Where was the former elite of the third generation of the Chan Sect?

What's even more astonishing is that right in the center of that flagpole, there's a huge banner formed by magical power, gleaming with golden light, every word piercing the heart, clearly visible even from ten miles away.

"The disciples of the Chan Sect are nothing more than this; redeem your people quickly, or you will be left waiting."

These sixteen large characters were like sixteen resounding slaps, landing hard on the faces of all the Xiqi soldiers and even the entire Chan Sect.

Standing beneath the city wall, Xu Gai looked up at the scene, his throat bobbing with difficulty.

Looking at his indifferent commander, he no longer felt the initial fear, but instead a kind of almost blind worship.

Capturing three Golden Immortals wielding innate spiritual treasures is a feat unmatched by any other disciple of the third generation of the Jie Sect.

……

Meanwhile, in the central command tent of Xiqi.

"This is outrageous! This is outrageous!!"

Jiang Ziya stared intently at the banner fluttering atop the distant city wall, his hand crushing the teacup into powder. Scalding tea dripped through his fingers, burning the back of his hand red, but he remained oblivious.

The tent was deathly silent.

Lei Zhenzi, Yang Jian, and the others lowered their heads, not daring to breathe.

Yang Jian, in particular, had his vertical eye between his brows tightly closed, but his mind was in turmoil.

He knew that if he used all his trump cards, he might be able to hold his own against Xiao Wuji, but it was absolutely impossible for him to take away the innate spiritual treasure and capture the person as easily as Xiao Wuji had done.

What kind of supernatural power is that? How could it be so domineering within the Five Elements? It's even more outrageous than Kong Xuan's.

"Uncle-Master, now that Senior Brother Jinzha and the others are in someone else's hands, what should we do?"

After a long silence, Yang Jian finally broke it by speaking.

Jiang Ziya took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the surging blood in his chest, but his trembling beard still betrayed his inner panic.

Fight? With what?

Even innate spiritual treasures have become the enemy's spoils of war, so should we just give them away again?

Not fight? Are we just going to watch those three junior disciples get hung up on the city wall and made a fool of?

This is not just a slap in the face, but also a blow to the destiny of the Chan Sect in accordance with the will of Heaven!

"This matter is beyond our understanding."

Jiang Ziya slumped into his chair, looking as if he had aged ten years in an instant.

The move he least wanted to make, he had to make in the end.

"Set up an incense table."

Jiang Ziya's voice was extremely hoarse, conveying a deep sense of powerlessness.

"I need to ask Kunlun Mountain for help."

A moment later, a wisp of smoke rose from the Xiqi camp, carrying Jiang Ziya's earnest edict, heading straight for the Kunlun Jade Void Palace.

……

Night falls, and the stars twinkle.

Inside the General's Mansion at Jiepai Pass, unlike the tense atmosphere outside, it was unusually quiet.

Xiao Wuji sat cross-legged on the futon, his aura perfectly harmonious, as if he had completely merged with the world around him.

The outside world's turmoil did not stir up the slightest ripple in his heart.

If the younger ones are beaten, the older ones will naturally come; this is the survival rule of the primordial world, and he had expected it long ago.

[Ding! Eight days of guarding the pass have been completed.]

[Reward received: One Purple-Veined Peache with Innate Spiritual Root.]

As the system notification sounded, a peach with purple patterns appeared out of thin air in Xiao Wuji's hand.

The moment the peach appeared, the concentration of innate spiritual energy in the entire secret chamber instantly increased a hundredfold.

Purple-veined peaches ripen once every nine thousand years; those who eat them live as long as heaven and earth, and are as old as the sun and moon.

Even in the Peach Garden, this is the highest quality, and even ordinary Golden Immortals might not be able to eat it.

"nice one."

As Xiao Wuji sensed the vast and boundless innate wood energy contained within the peach, a faint smile appeared on his lips.

He has now cultivated the innate five elements body. For him, the innate wood energy is not only a spiritual medicine to increase his magical power, but also a key link to complete the five elements cycle.

Without the slightest hesitation, Xiao Wuji opened his mouth and took a breath.

The purple-veined peach instantly transformed into a long purple river, flowing into his body through his mouth and nose.

boom!

Like rain after a long drought, the five elements within Xiao Wuji's body instantly boiled.

Wood generates fire, fire generates earth, earth generates metal, metal generates water, and water generates wood.

The immense innate Wood Qi did not run rampant, but under the guidance of the Great Five Elements Technique, it smoothly merged into the Five Elements cycle.

The illusory image of the Five Emperors Canopy behind him became increasingly solid, especially the illusory image representing the Eastern Azure Emperor Wood Emperor, which now radiated a dazzling azure light, as if a towering Jianmu tree was growing within it, supporting the entire sky.

Xiao Wuji did not deliberately attempt to attack the pass.

He simply listened quietly to the flow of this power, letting his cultivation level rise naturally like the rising tide.

Peak of early Golden Immortal stage... Mid-Golden Immortal stage... Late-Golden Immortal stage!

When the purple-veined peach was completely refined, Xiao Wuji's aura underwent a qualitative change.

That's the pressure of a late-stage Golden Immortal!

In just a few days, he leaped from True Immortal to the late stage of Golden Immortal. If word of such a cultivation speed were to spread, it would probably shake the entire prehistoric world.

But for Xiao Wuji, who possessed the innate Five Elements Body, this was nothing out of the ordinary.

At this moment, he felt that the magical power within his body was as deep as the ocean, and that he could resonate with the laws of heaven and earth with every move he made.

Even without using the Great Five Elements Technique, his cultivation level alone is enough to crush the lowest-ranking among the so-called Twelve Golden Immortals of the Chan Sect.

Xiao Wuji slowly opened his eyes, and a flash of five-colored divine light disappeared from them.

He stood up, pushed open the door, and went out.

It was already late at night, but the city walls of Jiepai Pass were still brightly lit.

The soldiers guarding the city were all in high spirits, glancing from time to time at the flagpole bearing the name of the Golden Immortal of the Chan Sect, their eyes filled with awe and pride.

Xiao Wuji stood with his hands behind his back in the courtyard, his gaze piercing through the night, looking towards the direction of Kunlun.

He could sense that a vast, earth-shattering aura was brewing there, like a sleeping beast awakening.

"Have you called for help?"

Xiao Wuji remained calm, casually brushing away a fallen leaf that had landed on his shoulder.

"Very well, since we're going to establish our authority, let's use some heavy stepping stones."

"The Twelve Golden Immortals? I hope you possess more innate spiritual treasures than these disciples and their descendants."

With his current strength, he is naturally outmatched against a Quasi-Saint, but he is quite confident in dealing with a Great Luo Immortal.

Of course, this confidence mainly comes from the system, and the key is the ancient city defense talisman, which is enough to make him invincible in front of the Great Luo.

Moreover, he estimated that the Chan Sect would not be able to directly intervene as a Quasi-Saint this time.

After all, the Sage had just finished a great battle, and this was a sensitive period. He was also an unknown figure, so the Chan Sect would not go to great lengths for him.

Under such circumstances, he naturally had no worries.