Meanwhile, on the other side, after a protracted war with the Demon Alliance, the Guiyi Realm finally forced the alliance to retreat back into the black vortex.
The Guiyi Realm achieved a great victory, and the three Heavenly Gang Generals were heavily rewarded by Emperor Guiyi.
Emperor Guiyi ordered them to rest for a period, then continue their campaign to raze the demon lairs, leaving no remnants behind.
However, when the Guiyi Realm army, after a brief respite, led their forces into the black vortex.
They discovered a ruined immortal realm before them.
The immortal energy here was extremely thin, almost non-existent, and even the spiritual energy was not abundant. All that met the eye was a scene of devastation.
Not a single demon from the previously defeated army was seen, forcing them to continue searching for clues in this realm.
A year later, on a bright and sunny day, Emperor Guiyi was engaged in debauchery with twelve alluring celestial maidens.
At this moment, Zhong Li Zhe, carrying a compiled intelligence report, hurried into the grand hall.
As a close confidant of Emperor Guiyi, he was accustomed to the scene before him.
He stood below, waiting quietly, sometimes even cheering Emperor Guiyi on.
"Your Majesty is mighty!"
"Your Majesty is invincible!"
"Your Majesty sweeps across the eight desolate realms!"
With his enthusiastic shouts, Emperor Guiyi's spirits soared, and with a jolt...
It was over!
He suddenly felt a sense of ennui.
Looking at the twelve alluring celestial maidens before him, he could only shake his head.
"You may withdraw. You need not come again."
The twelve celestial maidens, their faces flushed, cautiously withdrew from the hall.
But Zhong Li Zhe's heart skipped a beat. In the past, any celestial maiden rejected by the Emperor was casually bestowed upon those around him, allowing them to share in the Emperor's good fortune.
This time, the Emperor had not gifted the twelve celestial maidens to him but had let them leave on their own.
He felt as though he had fallen out of favor with the Emperor!
"What is it?"
Emperor Guiyi tidied his robes before asking.
"Your Majesty, your subordinate has an important piece of intelligence to report!"
As Zhong Li Zhe spoke, he presented a jade slip.
Emperor Guiyi accepted the jade slip and scanned it with his divine sense. His expression was unreadable, betraying neither joy nor anger.
This was an investigation that Zhong Li Zhe had begun since the start of the war. After the war, when the three Heavenly Gang Generals led their troops into the demon lairs, they had gathered a large amount of intelligence, which was then compiled and organized.
According to the analysis of this intelligence, first, they had been tricked and used as pawns.
Those who had killed the four Earthly Fiend Generals in Digou City were not part of the demon alliance; they were two opposing factions.
Both of these factions originated from another universe and had no connection to the remnants of the Guiyi Realm's demons.
This hidden faction had first killed Guiyi Realm's four Earthly Fiend Generals, and then used Guiyi Realm's power to help them defeat their formidable enemies.
Even more infuriatingly, this hidden force had fanned the flames from behind the scenes during the conflict between the two sides and profited greatly from the war!
After the Guiyi Realm army paid a heavy price and finally defeated the demons completely, this hidden human faction took the opportunity to annihilate the demons, achieving victory effortlessly.
From this intelligence, one name stood out prominently, the mastermind behind all of this.
This human cultivator's name was "Xiao Fei."
Furthermore, according to the intelligence, Xiao Fei also possessed a fragment of the Creation Jade Disk.
This fragment should allow for the cultivation of resources like immortal herbs, capable of producing large quantities of various immortal herbs and fruits.
Xiao Fei's enmity with the demons was also due to this fragment of the Creation Jade Disk.
After Zhong Li Zhe presented the jade slip, he had been cautiously observing Emperor Guiyi's expression.
The Guiyi Realm army had been manipulated by Xiao Fei to fight the demons for hundreds of years without gaining any benefits.
This was a blatant insult to Emperor Guiyi.
Zhong Li Zhe bore responsibility for his dereliction of duty.
However, after observing for a long time, he could not discern any change in Emperor Guiyi's expression.
"Zhong Li Zhe, I now assign you a task.
Regardless of the means, and at any cost, you must bring Xiao Fei to me."
Upon hearing this, Zhong Li Zhe felt greatly relieved.
This was equivalent to the Emperor giving him an opportunity to atone for his mistakes, and he had to perform well.
He must do his utmost to handle the matter perfectly.
He immediately thanked Emperor Guiyi and respectfully withdrew.
...
Within the spatial dimension, time was now flowing at 220 times the normal speed. While only one day passed in the outside world, half a year had gone by within the space.
The Extreme Dao Sacred Bamboo, which had been moved into the space, had grown significantly taller, now reaching a height comparable to Xiao Fei.
The root system of the Extreme Dao Sacred Bamboo occupied an area of several thousand mu.
Within these thousands of mu, no vegetation grew, the immortal energy was extremely thin, and living beings that stepped onto this land would slowly lose their vitality.
No wonder this kind of plant had gone extinct. If it were allowed to grow freely, it might engulf his entire space.
On the Nine Extremes Profound Origin Fruit tree within the space, there were now eight fruits, all ripe. With these, he could cultivate a large number of Immortal Lords.
The increase in the number of Immortal Lords would naturally lead to more Golden Immortals.
With a larger base, there would always be one or two lucky individuals who, by chance, comprehended the Great Dao and achieved Golden Immortal status.
Methods like Xiao Fei's, using the yellow gourd to strip away the Great Dao, were not the orthodox path. Genuine Golden Immortals all comprehended the Great Dao on their own.
At this moment, Xiao Fei picked up the yellow gourd and poured a full gourd of blood into the base of the Jianmu tree.
After drinking its fill of blood, the Jianmu tree, with its massive form, rapidly grew again. All its branches and the fruits on them had undergone a cycle of growth.
The corpses of the demons who had died in the years of war with the demon alliance had almost all been transformed into blood water, serving as nourishment for the Jianmu tree.
Some time ago, he had also thoroughly swept through all the Dao Worms in the chaotic void.
Now, the Dao Worms in the chaos had become a rare species, making it difficult to find even one.
The crystals obtained from refining the Dao Worms were of great benefit to the Jianmu world.
Nourished by a large amount of blood water, the tenth branch at the top of the Jianmu tree's crown had already grown.
Now, the Jianmu tree had ten branches, supporting nine worlds.
Each world was boundless and rich in immortal energy.
With his current total population, they were only distributed across the first to fifth worlds.
As these worlds had become too vast, the current five worlds appeared sparsely populated.
Vast land and sparse population, abundant resources, cultivation resources were readily available. Rare ten-thousand-year-old immortal herbs could be harvested in large quantities with just a casual stroll outside.
Many immortal fruits would ripen, fall, and rot before anyone could pick and eat them.
There was almost no competition between people, and the happiness index of the residents within was off the charts.
Xiao Fei, as the master of the space, would sometimes observe the Jianmu worlds with his divine sense.
He felt that this was the true immortal realm, the true life of immortals, the true carefree existence of immortals.
However, as the population increased in the future, resources would inevitably become relatively scarce, leading to competition, and then it would not be so blissful.