Celestial Refining Divine Scripture

"To become an Ancient Immortal is to become a puppet!"

Xu Yang thought of Yun Zheng and Xiao Ming; they became immortals through the Ancient Immortal Order, one with a grade six immortal foundation, the other grade seven. You know, even if their aptitudes were impressive, Beili Immortal Mountain simply didn’t have that many resources—it was all due to the Ancient Immortal Order.

Most terrifying of all is becoming an immortal through salvation!

It doesn’t look like one loses freedom completely, even with a first or second-grade immortal foundation; that’s still astonishing.

And then that mysterious gigantic monument that appeared!

To become a puppet?

Xu Yang couldn’t be sure if it was all real, but he sensed that this had to involve the ancient conflicts between the Ancient Immortals and the Demon Immortals.

The Small Immortal Realm was forged with the Emperor Dao as its foundation; what level must its former master have reached?

That conflict likely involved the entire Immortal Domain.

But now, there’s no longer any so-called line between Ancient Immortals and Demon Immortals.

This was what surprised Xu Yang the most.

"No matter the truth, the cultivation I inherited is likely from the Fentian Immortal Lord’s legacy. And during it, nothing strange occurred. Change my allegiance and legacy?"

Xu Yang shook his head slightly. That was clearly impossible.

Let alone that this legacy can forge the most supreme grade twelve immortal foundation!

"Seems I’ll only know more after finding the four remaining parts."

The Four Parts—Xu Yang was not unfamiliar with them.

Wind, Fire, Thunder, Rain!

"Strange, since the owner could leave words and information here, why not just lay it all out?" Xu Yang slapped his forehead, finding this inconceivable—it shouldn’t have been difficult.

Unless...

"There’s some unknown reason forcing him to be unable to do so!"

Xu Yang felt a shiver run down his spine.

At the very least an Emperor Immortal, maybe even an Ancestral Immortal level existence was restricted by some cause—how terrifying must that be?

"When I find the four remnants, I’ll know!"

"For now, worrying so much is just tormenting myself!"

Xu Yang suddenly cast aside countless stray thoughts, forcing himself to calm down.

"Having this Small Immortal Realm is going to be much more convenient from now on."

No matter dead or living things, throw them in here and no one could ever find out.

And it was extremely helpful for absorbing the Heaven-Locking Divine Chain to cultivate the Heaven Locking Intent as well.

Immediately.

Xu Yang left the Small Immortal Realm and returned to the valley.

Before leaving, he needed to finish refining all of his Cold Frost Elixirs.

With his current power, if faced with most True Immortals, Cold Frost Elixirs could still be of great use.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed.

Nine Cold Frost Elixirs.

The Immortal Technique: Ten Thousand Blades Melody had also reached beginner level.

His cultivation had also improved greatly.

"It’s time to set out."

Xu Yang rose and gazed north, toward the Black Fire Immortal Mountain.

So far, all he knew of was the Black Fire Immortal Mountain as a sect, and as the foremost great sect of the Northern Province, it was definitely an ideal destination.

First, join Black Fire Immortal Mountain.

The Alchemy Dao would be a further advantage.

Xu Yang, following the map’s route, sped away.

At his current speed, reaching the Black Fire Immortal Mountain would take about half a month—plenty of time!

Along the way, Xu Yang traveled only through remote areas, carefully avoiding all cities, towns, and villages.

Finally, after a bit more than half a month, he arrived unscathed at the outskirts of Black Fire Immortal Mountain.

Looking into the distance, at the end of the horizon stretched a boundless, majestic, and towering mountain range.

Pitch-black as ink, even flickering with seething black flames; the space above the mountains seemed to distort into a blur.

Higher still, vast immortal clouds surged, radiant and dazzling, blending into the heavens!

Even from afar, Xu Yang felt a shock that reached deep into his soul.

After standing there a long while, Xu Yang looked toward the nearby city.

Black Fire City—an ancient city built right next to Black Fire Immortal Mountain, constructed by the sect, with sect disciples stationed inside.

Owing to Black Fire Immortal Mountain’s presence, this place was extremely prosperous.

Moreover, those coming for the sect entrance examinations from all over would stop here.

Xu Yang flashed forward.

If he knew all the details, the best choice would have been to find a hidden spot outside the city and wait.

But for now, entering the city was the only way to gather information.

He arrived at the city gate.

Streams of people came and went in an endless flow.

In the distance, one could even often see those riding immortal beasts, flying chariots, and other treasures descending from the sky.

"To enter the city, one must pay a certain amount of immortal jade or immortal crystals according to cultivation. Below True Immortal, one hundred pieces of grade-less immortal jade or crystals; True Immortal Realm, three hundred first-grade immortal jade or crystals; Celestial Immortal Realm, five hundred second-grade immortal jade or crystals."

No mention of Golden Immortal Realm. The strongest in Black and White Star Heaven are just at Golden Immortal Realm; if such powerhouses still had to pay, that would be ridiculous.

Xu Yang saw that after paying, each entrant received an iron tag resembling an Identity Token, and guessed the purpose of this.

With this, anyone causing trouble in the city would be easy to find.

When it was his turn, Xu Yang revealed his cultivation, paid a hundred grade-less immortal jades, and received an iron token, upon which a cluster of densely interwoven rune-formed black fire was inscribed. One drop of blood was required to activate it.

The blood would bind the token, drawing a trace of his essence; with this in hand, he could freely move through every part of the city.

After completing all this, Xu Yang walked into the city.

A cool freshness washed over him.

Inside, the ancient streets were wide, the buildings exquisite, a flow of ancient charm lingering throughout.

The crowds exceeded all expectation—flourishing beyond belief.

Perhaps because the Immortal Sect examination was near, Xu Yang saw many young men and women, most at Ordinary Immortal Soldier level, a few at True Immortal cultivation.

Xu Yang melted into the crowd. Based on his experience, the first step was to find an inn or tavern.

To gather rumors—and as he knew, at inns and taverns, as long as you could pay, you could buy plenty of information from the waiters or shopkeepers.

Though much might be shallow, it was still practical enough.

Even if just rumor, you could still analyze a lot of useful bits from it.

"Hah, what bumpkin dares crash into this young lord? Doesn’t know what’s good for him."

"Beat him!"

"What, think I won’t do it? Hahaha, as long as you pay compensation it’s enough; the rules are just there to shackle trash like you."

On the street’s edge, a youth in fine clothes was instructing two True Immortal-level guards to beat on two young men and two middle-aged men.

It looked like two father-and-son pairs—who knows how they ran afoul of the youth.

Only one was a True Immortal; he was now writhing on the ground, wailing in pain.

No one in the crowd interfered; all watched coldly.

The noble youth’s words made some faces turn ugly, but having two True Immortal guards meant his background was powerful. He himself was a True Immortal too—so no one stepped in.

When the beating ended,

A band of armored guards appeared, shouting harshly.

But the noble youth smiled slyly and signaled his men to hand over a Storage Ring.

Soon, the guards left.

The noble youth remained unharmed.

As he left, he even spat contemptuously at those on the ground.

"Trash like this dare come here? Hmph, do they really think just anyone can pass Black Fire Immortal Mountain’s examination?"

Xu Yang watched the four climb up in embarrassment, shook his head slightly, his expression indifferent.

If he’d just started his journey, perhaps he would’ve been unable to stand by.

But now, he saw the world’s true nature long ago.

Survival of the fittest!

Taking care of himself was enough.

Xu Yang quickly moved on, the cluster of spectators also dispersing quickly. In this vast city, such scenes were but trivial episodes.

"All eyes over here!"

"Summary of this year’s Black Fire Immortal Mountain examination info, plus recent Black and White Star Heaven rumors—everything you could want, cheap sale!"

In front of an inn, two waiters had a stall set up, yelling energetically.

Xu Yang paused, his eyes brightening, then walked straight over.