Chapter 2654: Nine Dragons Mountain Range
The Golden Crow Immortal Emperor caused havoc at the Red Lotus Palace and abducted the prodigious daughter, Liyu Fairy...
This news spread, causing an uproar in the Immortal Realm.
The immortals were not concerned with the abduction of Liyu Fairy but rather with the appearance of the Golden Crow Immortal Emperor.
The Golden Crow Immortal Emperor, Flying Swan Immortal Emperor, and Carefree Immortal Emperor, who cultivated the Heaven Devouring Art, were always unstable factors in the Immortal Realm. It was assumed that they had entered the Demon Realm due to their inactivity over many years. But then, to everyone’s surprise, the Golden Crow Immortal Emperor suddenly attacked the Red Lotus Palace, causing severe losses.
With the Golden Crow Immortal Emperor’s precedent, no one can anticipate when or where the other two Immortal Emperors might appear or what damage they might bring to the Immortal Realm.
Therefore, all Immortal Sects and doors within the Immortal Realm became unprecedentedly tense, and they enhanced their sects’ defensive measures to prepare for unforeseen events.
Especially, the top-tier forces in the Immortal Realm were exceptionally vigilant, not daring to be careless.
...
Fire Lotus Immortal City is the nearest Immortal City to the Red Lotus Palace, under the control of the Palace.
On this day, a young, white-robed immortal appeared within Fire Lotus Immortal City.
After settling in an Immortal Residence in Fire Lotus Immortal City, the white-robed immortal began enquiring widely about Liyu Fairy. Eventually, compiling information from all sides, he confirmed that Liyu Fairy from the Red Lotus Palace was indeed Lu Liyu.
"How did Li Yu end up in the Red Lotus Palace? What does the Golden Crow Immortal Emperor intend by abducting her?"
The white-robed immortal murmured to himself in the Immortal Residence, worry evident between his brows.
The white-robed immortal was none other than Fang Bai.
Previously, Fang Bai was exploring other places in the Chengtian Domain. Upon hearing about events near the Red Lotus Palace, he hurried over and learned that Liyu Fairy was indeed Lu Liyu, whom he had been searching for, leaving him both joyful and concerned.
He was happy to finally receive news of Lu Liyu, whom he had been searching for years.
He was worried because Lu Liyu fell into the hands of the Golden Crow Immortal Emperor, who cultivated the Heaven Devouring Art and feared her fate would not be favorable.
Luckily, he shared an extraordinary mutual perception with his fellow immortals, where their emotions and well-being were reflected in each other’s moods.
Recently, Fang Bai’s mood hadn’t been infused with sorrow or suffering, suggesting that Lu Liyu remained safe for now.
Though Fang Bai truly couldn’t comprehend why the Golden Crow Immortal Emperor abducted Lu Liyu without harming her, which seemed illogical.
The movements of Emperor Realm experts are unpredictable, able to cover thousands of miles in an instant. Finding the Golden Crow Immortal Emperor would be harder than finding a needle in a haystack.
Even if he found the Golden Crow Immortal Emperor, rescuing Lu Liyu would be extremely challenging.
Fang Bai realized that only if he reached the Emperor Realm would he have any hope of rescuing Lu Liyu from the Golden Crow Immortal Emperor.
After all, without ascending to the Emperor Realm, one couldn’t tear open the void or traverse endless space.
Not being able to even catch up with the Golden Crow Immortal Emperor, how could he rescue Lu Liyu?
Thus, after leaving Fire Lotus Immortal City, Fang Bai found a secluded spot, set up a Concealment Formation, entered the Five Elements Space Ring, and embarked on an unprecedented frenzy of cultivation.
Three years passed in the blink of an eye; when Fang Bai emerged again, his energy and spirit were renewed, reaching the Immortal Emperor Realm Peak.
The four immortals who cultivated with Fang Bai inside the Five Elements Space Ring—Wu De, Great Sage Sun, Zhuge Lian, and Xiao Ying—also made significant progress in their strengths.
The Single-Horned Dragon Horse, always inside the Five Elements Space Ring, hadn’t been summoned for riding by Fang Bai for a long time. It spent its days eating, drinking, and running wildly, and besides Fang Bai, its strength grew the fastest, leaving Wu De and other immortals far behind.
In fact, if Fang Bai continued to retreat, there was hope of attempting the Quasi-Emperor Realm within five years.
Unfortunately, after three years of bitter cultivation, combined with the cultivation of several immortals, the cultivation resources inside the Five Elements Space Ring were depleting at a startling speed, and by the time he advanced to the Immortal Emperor Realm Peak, it was nearly barren.
If not for the endless release of Immortal Qi from the World Tree and assistance from the Water of Life, Fang Bai would face the embarrassment of lacking cultivation resources to consolidate his realm.
Forced by circumstances, after consolidating his realm, Fang Bai left the Five Elements Space Ring, once again traveling to seek cultivation resources.
Regarding Lu Liyu, Fang Bai knew that being anxious was futile; he could only probe for news of the Golden Crow Immortal Emperor while searching for cultivation resources.
...
The Nine Dragons Mountain Range, located in the central Chengtian Domain, resembles nine horizontal Immortal Dragons, stretching over a million miles north to south. It is said to be one of the most resource-rich areas for Immortal Stones in the Immortal Realm.
Thousands of years ago, when the Emperor’s Palace still existed, many immortals would come to mine Immortal Stones in the Nine Dragons Mountain Range.
However, since the fall of the Emperor’s Palace, the Eight Major Forces have occupied the Nine Dragons Mountain Range, forbidding other immortals from mining there.
This aroused strong dissatisfaction among all sides of the Immortal Realm. Some Immortal Sects and doors with Emperor Realm experts gathered forces from all over the Immortal Realm to jointly oppose the Eight Major Forces.
The Eight Major Forces, though strong and overbearing, did not want to fall out with the entire Immortal Realm over this matter, so after discussions, they split the Nine Dragons Mountain Range into two halves—one under the control of the Eight Major Forces and the other for various immortals to freely mine.
Although the Nine Dragons Mountain Range is abundantly rich in Immortal Stones, it primarily consists of Royal Grade Immortal Stones, which hold little attraction for Emperor Realm experts.
In his previous life, Fang Bai had also been to the Nine Dragons Mountain Range to seek Immortal Stones for the Emperor’s Palace.
At that time, Fang Bai’s strength was at the Emperor Realm Peak, and every time he found an Immortal Stone Vein, he would wield Supreme Immortal Power, as if pulling dragon tendons, directly extracting the entire vein from the mountain, piling it into the Space Immortal Ring, astonishing the other immortals.
That day, Fang Bai flew near the Nine Dragons Mountain Range and landed on a mountain.
A thousand years had passed as he revisited the old place, seeing those majestic Immortal Mountains, meandering rivers, thousands of birds flying, and countless beasts running, and he couldn’t help but feel a thousand emotions.
From time to time, immortals flew past Fang Bai, and upon realizing his cultivation level was at the Immortal Emperor Realm Peak, many immortals regarded him with awe.
The Nine Dragons Mountain Range is seldom visited by Emperor Realm experts, thus an expert of the Immortal Emperor Realm Peak is the strongest existence here.
Although half of the Nine Dragons Mountain Range’s Immortal Stone veins are freely open for mining, over thousands of years of division, this half has mostly been apportioned by some strong sects, leaving loose cultivators with the option to unite for a share.
Thus, upon noticing Fang Bai’s attire, which did not belong to any Immortal Sect or door, several Immortal Emperor Realm experts approached Fang Bai.
"Immortal friend, have you come for Immortal Stone Veins?"
One Immortal Emperor Realm Peak expert of equal cultivation level asked while scrutinizing Fang Bai.
Despite Fang Bai’s transformation and altered aura, appearing only a few hundred years old, the immortal was greatly surprised, thinking when such a young Immortal Emperor Realm Peak expert appeared in the Immortal Realm.