The Demon Clan's Ancestral Mountain Council Hall.
Yu Zhi, clad in a red dress, was furious. She slammed her palm onto the massive stone table in the center and roared, "Lord Hei Shan toiled his entire life cultivating diligently, never slacking off. He served the Ancestral Mountain selflessly for many years, always taking on the toughest jobs. Was it easy for him? Now, he finally had a chance to break through to the Thirteenth Realm, yet he suddenly self-detonated his demon core and died. What in the world happened? He took the Zhenyuan Pill from Medicine King Valley and met this end. Lin Zhujie, what do you have to say?!"
The young Nascent Soul cultivator in a cyan vine-colored long robe, with a ashen face, was the same one who had gone to Medicine King Valley with the Glazed Umbrella. He knelt on one knee, his face ashen, and said, "Lord Yu Zhi, your subordinate truly doesn't know why this happened. That Zhenyuan Pill was stolen by your subordinate from the alchemy room of Medicine King Valley. It was definitely the Zhenyuan Pill!"
"Perhaps the pill had a problem?"
The great demon Fu Sheng frowned and said, "Lord Yu Zhi, rather than blaming Lin Zhujie, why not send him to the Human World again to investigate the cause of this matter? In any case, Lord Hei Shan cannot have died in vain."
"Hmm."
Yu Zhi nodded and said, "Lin Zhujie, you are ordered to go to the Human World again and investigate the reasons behind this. If you cannot provide an explanation to Hei Shan's lineage, you need not return."
"Yes, Lord Yu Zhi!"
Lin Zhujie gritted his teeth and resentfully descended the mountain.
...
At the end of the Washing Sword River, on the border between the Human World and the Ghost Realm.
Two streaks of sword light broke through the wind. One possessed an extremely dense sword intent; it was Lin Wanhua. The other had a much weaker sword intent; it was Chi Zhongyu. Currently, Chi Zhongyu was already a peak Star River Realm sword cultivator. His training in the Sword Tomb of the Fusu Great Wall Forbidden Zone had brought him immense benefits. Not only had he forged an 'Unyielding Sword Heart,' but he had also solidified his sword dao foundation. Now that Xu Mingan's first batch of Guiyuan Pills was refined, he had given two of them to Chi Zhongyu. Lin Wanhua, upon hearing the news, had visited Danxia Mountain and personally escorted Chi Zhongyu to the Ghost Realm.
It wasn't for any other reason. The Human World's sword dao fortune was already limited, as there were many sword cultivators. Instead of breaking through in the Human World, it was better to take Chi Zhongyu to the Ghost Realm to break through. The Ghost Realm's sword dao fortune was not particularly rich, but a taste of it was enough to support Chi Zhongyu's eleventh realm. As for the Neon World, it was out of the question for now. The Demon Emperor, Ran Qing, and other great cultivators were like elderly uncles watching a fish pond, constantly lurking by the sky screen, fearing that sword cultivators from the Human World would steal sword dao fortune from the Neon World. Going there would only lead to complications. Moreover, Chi Zhongyu was only breaking through to the eleventh realm. There was no need to cause such a large commotion for such a matter.
"Let's go!"
Lin Wanhua's sword light flashed, forcefully tearing a rift in the sky screen. She and Chi Zhongyu plunged into the Ghost Realm. The two streaks of sword light illuminated the sky, rushing straight to the middle of the Dry Pine River, entering the heart of the Ghost Realm. Only then did she say with satisfaction, "Alright, break through here. Break through with confidence, leave everything else to me."
"Okay!"
Chi Zhongyu leaped onto a flying sword, then swallowed two Guiyuan Pills. He clasped his hands together and rapidly circulated the sword dao qi within his body, continuously impacting that incredibly solid bottleneck. This was the most difficult hurdle for cultivators in the world to overcome. Many once-famous cultivators remained stuck here their entire lives. Once one managed to break through, they would step into the supreme Upper Five Realms, becoming saints in the eyes of mortals.
At this moment, the Dry Pine River not far away churned violently, countless splashes swirling. From the depths of the river, a pair of deep blue eyes opened, staring straight at Chi Zhongyu breaking through in the sky. Did this Human Star River Realm cultivator have the guts of a bear and the heart of a leopard to dare break through on my territory?! He could no longer sleep. He struggled to get up, gripping the Azure Wave Mace with both hands, his massive body slowly rising from the river, stirring up countless ripples.
However, just as Demon King Liu Bai sat up, he saw a figure not far away that did not emit even a trace of sword intent. Clad in white, it hovered in the wind like an immortal sword.
Lin Wanhua of the Fusu Great Wall.
"Lie down."
Lin Wanhua looked at Liu Bai and said calmly, "Don't make trouble for yourself."
"..."
A murderous intent flickered in Liu Bai's eyes. After a few moments, he slowly lay down as instructed, his body sinking back into the river, absorbing and refining the river's fortune. Lin Wanhua was right; there was no need to make trouble for himself. In the battle in the Neon World, Yan Beichen had severed many of his water fortune life脉 with a single sword. In fact, if they were both at the Thirteenth Realm, he would not have feared Lin Wanhua at all. Fighting Lin Wanhua would have been a fifty-fifty situation. If he had fought desperately, he might have taken her life.
But not now. Fighting Lin Wanhua alone was a nightmare for every great cultivator of the Upper Five Realms among the demons. Lin Wanhua's Thirteenth Realm was too monstrous; even if the Demon Ancestor descended, he might not be able to handle her easily. With Liu Bai's current strength, the best outcome of fighting Lin Wanhua alone would be to be heavily injured and escape by fleeing into the water. As for killing Lin Wanhua, it was virtually impossible. Even with all the advantages of time, place, and people, he could at most fight her to a draw.
Therefore, even Demon King Liu Bai dared not say anything more. Did other cultivators in the Ghost Realm dare to speak up?
They absolutely did not dare.
Not long after, a series of sounds of the bottleneck being broken rang out. Chi Zhongyu's handsome face contorted slightly; breaking through was quite difficult, even with the assistance of Guiyuan Pills, it was not that easy. As he continuously broke through the bottleneck, the profound energy of the Upper Five Realms continuously poured into his Spiritual Sea, causing Chi Zhongyu's aura and sword intent to instantly rise to a completely new level. At this moment, thunder rumbled in the sky, and the heavenly tribulation for breaking through to the Upper Five Realms arrived on time.
"I will not help you block the heavenly tribulation."
Lin Wanhua said calmly, "Use the heavenly tribulation to temper your physical body and sword intent."
In fact, if it weren't for helping Lin Zhao, Lin Wanhua wouldn't have bothered with this trouble. Her impression of this Chi Zhongyu was only average. Infatuated and useless, that was Lin Wanhua's evaluation of Chi Zhongyu. Fortunately, Chi Zhongyu had great courage and the grit to face death to survive, daring to venture into the Sword Tomb alone. Otherwise, he would have been even less in Lin Wanhua's eyes. As for escorting him to the Ghost Realm to break through, it was naturally out of respect for Lin Zhao. Those entrusted to the Fusu Great Wall by Lin Zhao had to be taken care of.
The heavenly tribulation descended like thunder.
Chi Zhongyu, that devoted man, tempered his physical body in the lightning. Although he was ripped and torn, his sword intent grew more and more powerful, finally showing signs of an eleventh-realm sword immortal. Finally, when the heavenly tribulation dispersed, Chi Zhongyu was in a sorry state, covered in wounds, but his aura, instead of weakening, had grown stronger. He was now a true eleventh-realm cultivator.
"Alright."
Lin Wanhua said, "Lin Zhao asked you to guard Danxia Mountain, so hurry back. Danxia Mountain is not entirely safe. You must live up to the two Guiyuan Pills that Xu Mingan gave you."
"Yes!"
Chi Zhongyu clasped his fists and said, "City Lord, I'll be going then?"
"Mhm!"
In the next moment, the two parted ways and returned to the Fusu Great Wall and Danxia Mountain respectively.
...
Early morning, mist enveloped the mountains.
At the foot of Danxia Mountain, a group of merchants passed by with their carriages. They stopped to rest by a wonton stall at the foot of the mountain. Among them, two merchants with their hair wrapped in scarves were wolfing down wontons. Their expressions were furtive, and they did not speak to the other merchants. They had come to Danxia Mountain with ulterior motives. Who would have thought that two divine immortals of the Upper Five Realms would be hidden within this small merchant caravan?
These two were none other than Sun Tingxuan and Su Zhe, disguised.
They had escaped Medicine King Valley during the chaos of the battle between the Green Luan Sect and Medicine King Valley. From then on, their connection with Medicine King Valley was severed. Although Sun Tingxuan had ill intentions, he wasn't foolish. He knew what kind of person his father, Sun Qinghe, was: hot-tempered and righteous. His actions had long since violated his father's taboos. If he returned to Medicine King Valley, he would surely be severely punished, and his father might even kill his own son out of righteous anger.
Therefore, Sun Tingxuan absolutely could not return to Medicine King Valley. But he and Su Zhe were still unwilling to give up. They had left Medicine King Valley, so they needed a foundation, didn't they? The people of Medicine King Valley relied on alchemy as their fundamental skill, so the ultimate issue was Danxia Mountain. As long as they could get to Danxia Mountain again and obtain the true formula for the Zhenyuan Pill, they could establish their own sect and rival Medicine King Valley!
After finishing their wontons, the two floated away, disappearing into the mist. When they reappeared, they were already on the mountain path of Danxia Mountain. They were not in a hurry, like ordinary merchants, they ascended step by step. The two were disguised and could not be recognized by ordinary people. Xu Mingan in that Taoist temple was just a simpleton. If they could obtain the original pill formula without anyone noticing, that would be the best course of action.
Unfortunately, as the two reached the mountainside, they saw a young sword cultivator in a blue long robe sitting on the stone steps ahead, a sword on his back, a pot of wine in his left hand, and a chicken wrapped in oiled paper in his right, gnawing on the chicken and sipping wine as if he hadn't eaten in a night.
"..."
Sun Tingxuan frowned. This person's sword intent was so dense, not like a cultivator of the Middle Five Realms. He was very likely an eleventh-realm cultivator. What was an eleventh-realm cultivator? Sun Tingxuan's heart trembled slightly.
Su Zhe frowned and walked forward, intending to brush past him.
"Two friends!"
The young sword cultivator placed the chicken he was holding aside, stood up, drew his sword from his back, and said with a smile, "I am Chi Zhongyu, a guest official of the Summit Villa, a sword cultivator from the Fusu Great Wall. Since you two are here to challenge Danxia Mountain, why do you ignore me?"
"Ah?!"
Sun Tingxuan frowned, "We're not here to challenge anyone!"
"As soon as you two ascended the mountain, you filled the air with a foul stench. You two look ferocious. Are you saying you're not here to challenge?!" Chi Zhongyu's sword intent continued to rise, becoming denser and denser.
"You..."
Su Zhe gritted his teeth, "Are you looking for trouble?"
"You guessed right!"
Chi Zhongyu laughed heartily, pushed his sword forward, and a torrent of sword qi rained down, heading straight for Sun Tingxuan and Su Zhe.