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Chapter 164: Chapter 161 Change
The power of the Five Cities, crushing tens of thousands of devils.
It’s known that the devils of the Yunqi Mountain Range have long been a serious threat to both Star State and Jiangzhou State.
Especially for Dragon Sparrow Manor, not only was a Supreme Elder constrained, but it was also necessary to constantly dispatch Divinity Transformation Cultivators, Refining God Immortals, along with a host of Hugging Pill, Gang Condensation, and Qi Refining Realm true inheritors to stand guard.
Despite this, news of devils breaking out of the Yunqi Mountain Range to slaughter indiscriminately was still frequently heard.
The Yunqi Mountain Range itself is perilous with steep mountains and dense forests, hiding untold numbers of devils. Even if Dragon Sparrow Manor were determined to penetrate deep inside and quell the devil upheaval, they lacked the strength to do so.
To some extent, the devils of the Yunqi Mountain Range were a formidable force capable of rivaling Dragon Sparrow Manor.
But now...
Such a massive group of devils launching a huge beast tide assault, to actually be defeated by Gu Jinlai, leading the forces of the Five Cities headed by Lingxiao City, slaughtering nearly five thousand demons and over ten thousand fierce beasts, this kind of strength...
Is terrifying to hear.
"Fierce beasts, that’s an existence equivalent to a human at the Qi Refining Realm. Although a fierce beast is no match for a devil, lacking wisdom and not versed in martial arts, its true combat power is one notch below that of a human at the Qi Refining Realm. But ten thousand fierce beasts... It is no difficult task to overwhelm a hundred thousand elite soldiers, and at least within the borders of Star State, there is no force that can withstand them head-on. At best, they rely on city defenses to split and isolate the beasts before defeating them one by one..."
Cheng Wanli took a sharp intake of breath, "But that’s not the most shocking part, the most terrifying thing is..."
Tang Qing, remembering the intelligence he’d received, couldn’t help but be dazed.
The overlord of Yunqi Mountain Range, the Demon Ape Commander who ruled over tens of thousands of devils... is dead.
An Upper-level Demon!
Not just any Upper-level Demon, but one who had formed an Undying Demon Body!
Back then, Dragon Sparrow Manor launched an attack with three Primordial Spirit True Monarch Realm Supreme Elders against this Demon Ape Commander and still, the ape managed to escape.
Furthermore, when the Demon Ape fled into a deep abyss, the three Primordial Spirit True Monarchs did not dare to pursue any deeper.
Otherwise, once they got close to the ground, rendering the Demon Ape capable of attacking them, what awaited them would undoubtedly be a desperate struggle for survival.
But such a powerful being has perished at the hands of Gu Jinlai.
"No wonder the Star Lord instructed us not to target Gu Jinlai anymore and also ordered that the Meteor Star Guards stationed in places like Changjun City, Baihe City, and others, should all heed Gu Jinlai’s commands. With such strength at his side, who would dare to oppose."
Cheng Wanli said.
Tang Qing nodded his head.
The bodies of ten thousand fierce beasts and nearly five thousand devils are the best proof of Lingxiao City’s strength.
Such power...
It’s likely that not even the army under General Xue Yue’s command would be able to compete with it, let alone their Meteor Star Guards?
"Let’s go, there’s no need for our aid here anymore."
Cheng Wanli said, then turned his horse around.
"Aren’t you going to say hello?"
Tang Qing asked.
Even though he belonged to Su Wen’s camp, during this time, Su Wen had grown close to people like Xue Yue, and moreover, since he had seen clearly the Meteor Star Guards, or rather, the future situation of Star State, he naturally wanted to mend his relationship with Lingxiao City.
"Ultimately, the Star Lord still hopes that the Second Young Master will come around. We have a good reason to come here to strike at the devils. It’s justifiable, but if we get too close with Lingxiao City... It wouldn’t be proper."
As soon as Cheng Wanli finished speaking, he gave the order.
At once, several hundreds to nearly a thousand Meteor Star Guards from various cities turned direction, and swiftly returned to their respective cities.
...
Gu Jinlai soon became aware of the Meteor Star Guards’ entry into Baihe City’s territory and their subsequent withdrawal.
Through these actions, Gu Jinlai could truly ascertain the stance of Xin Tianqi.
"Within Star State territory... the Meteor Star Guards... it’s still possible to vie for them."
Gu Jinlai thought to himself.
At the moment, he was standing in the middle of the Martial Arts Arena bare-chested, a great sun emitting blazing and brilliant light, illuminating everything around.
Compared to when he battled the Demon Ape Commander, his stature had swelled once again, from three-point-six meters, he had grown directly to four-point-six meters, like a true giant.
Standing in the courtyard, he even towered over the topmost levels of most buildings.
His robust body and wild aura, coupled with the golden light shining all over him and the silhouette of a great sun blazing behind him, made him look at first glance like a primeval deity emerging from the ancient wilderness.
"After condensing a Middle Level Demon Body, the Great Sun True Demon Body has grown again."
Gu Jinlai felt the power within himself.
In fact, the Great Sun True Demon Body is equivalent to the Undying Demon Body of the devil’s path.
However, it is only when devils reach the Middle Level Demon stage that they can painstakingly cultivate and possibly condense an Undying Demon Body, yet his Great Sun Demon God Body Refining Technique seems extraordinarily exquisite...
When he brought it to Mahayana, he was already able to manifest the Undying Demon Body.
Just like with his cultivation of the Grand Sun Nine Refinement Visualization Method, despite the lack of sufficient cultivation and being two major realms away from the Heavenly Monarch Realm, he still managed to cultivate his True Spirit beforehand, displaying some of its mysterious traits.
This is the change brought about by the purple cultivation technique.
"Different devils condense Undying Demon Bodies with varying traits, like the Demon Ape Commander, whose Undying Demon Body seems to have two forms. One form turns it into a twenty-meter-tall, heaven-reaching giant ape with vastly increased strength. The other form merely added three meters to its height, maintaining a twelve-meter physique for defensive purposes..."
Having considered it, Gu Jinlai quickly realized that the Demon Ape Commander’s Undying Demon Body seemed to be slightly more refined than his own Great Sun True Demon Body.
At least, his Great Sun True Demon Body had only boosted his strength, without any other changes.
Even the Great Sun Divine Light was merely a new trait derived from achieving Perfection with the Great Sun Demon God Body Refining Technique.
"Although the Great Sun Demon God Body Refining Technique is the culmination of countless elders from Tianyuan Dao devoting their life’s work to its foundation and was further optimized by me, its basis remains...the ’Undying Demon Body’ derived from this cultivation technique is indeed somewhat lacking in variation compared to the genuine Undying Demon Body cultivated by true demons," said Gu Jinlai.
In his occasional chats with Jiang Chongshan, he had learned that intelligent demon spirits...
Must belong to a vast civilization.
It was for this reason that, after being thwarted in their invasion of his world, they had come up with a method, innovating a way to breed demons through a combination of demon spirits and fierce beasts.
If they could develop a demon system, they could naturally create corresponding cultivation techniques.
Therefore, it made sense that the martial artists of the Demon Path, whose expertise in the "Undying Demon Body" exceeded the human world, belonged to the realm of rational expectation.
"Patriarch, reinforcements from the Purgatory Sect have arrived."
Seeing that Gu Jinlai seemed to have finished his cultivation, Elder Gu Chaoyang approached as he waited outside.
"Although they arrived late, their intentions are good. It seems that the show of strength by Lingxiao City in the battle of Baihe City has altered the views of many powers."
Gu Jinlai’s figure shrunk, as he took the clothes passed to him by Su Nanxing and draped them over himself: "Let’s go meet Elder Lu."
...
Lu Zhanfeng.
The strongest faction within the Purgatory Sect, from the Lu Family’s line of Divinity Transformation Great Cultivators.
Aside from the Supreme Elder Lu Zhanxian, known as one of the top ten experts of the Demon Path, the Lu Family faction’s main pillars were Lu Dengxian and Lu Zhanfeng.
Furthermore, there are several Refining God elders from the Lu Family.
Their vast influence granted them significant authority within the Purgatory Sect.
However, at this moment, this Divinity Transformation Great Cultivator appeared very humble.
Having personally witnessed the bifurcated corpse of the Demon Ape Commander upon entering Baihe City, he realized that the power of Gu Jinlai...
Or rather, the power of Lingxiao City, might be beyond everyone’s imagination.
The Demon Ape Commander was an entity that even the deployment of three Primordial Spirit True Monarchs from Dragon Sparrow Manor had failed to assassinate.
If Gu Jinlai was capable of slaying the Demon Ape Commander now, and also had a vast army capable of defeating over ten thousand fierce beasts and four to five thousand demons, then how much less difficult could it be to kill him compared to the Demon Ape Commander?
No wonder he even had the courage to march into Red State, to measure forces with the Purgatory Sect.
If a real battle ensued...
The Purgatory Sect, even deploying a single Primordial Spirit True Monarch, might not be able to take him down.
After all, compared to the Demon Ape Commander who relied on his astonishing defensive power and life force to withstand flying sword attacks, it wouldn’t be difficult for him, who had comprehended the mysterious Mental Realm, to withstand the flying sword assassination from a Primordial Spirit True Monarch.
"This Elder Gu... although lacking the mobility of a Primordial Spirit True Monarch, is probably as troublesome as one... precisely speaking, he should be regarded as an Upper-level Demon."
Upon having this thought, Lu Zhanfeng felt somewhat joyous.
Thankfully, Venerable Daoist Liu Jingtiao had given the timely order for Lu Dengxian to hand over Lin Xiao, and to turn their fraught relations with Gu Jinlai into an alliance.
Otherwise, once Gu Jinlai truly displayed a strength that rivaled an Upper-level Demon forcing their Purgatory Sect’s Supreme Elders into a predicament, there would have been no room left for conciliation.
Now, though...
"Our Purgatory Sect has added another top-notch combatant."
Lu Zhanfeng smiled genuinely and waited respectfully in the living room.
Before long, Gu Jinlai and Su Nanxing entered.
Lu Zhanfeng stood up immediately, approaching with a slight sense of guilt: "I apologize, Elder Gu, we are late and were of no help to you."
"Elder Lu traveled over two thousand miles from Chishan City in just two days, a journey through day and night. I am very grateful for such diligence," replied Gu Jinlai as he gestured with a hand clasped fist towards the direction of the Purgatory Sect: "Please convey my thanks to the Sect Master and all the elders on my behalf when you have time."
"Certainly, Elder Gu has been safeguarding the cities in Star State against demon attacks, how could we stand idly by," said Lu Zhanfeng as he waved his hand: "Since Taihe City was overrun and numerous demons and fierce beasts scattered at the foot of Yunqi Mountain Range, eradicating these demons and beasts to restore peace in Taihe City will require considerable manpower. This time, I have brought many elders and protectors with me, all of whom I now place under Elder Gu, to follow your command."
Gu Jinlai was somewhat surprised.
The Purgatory Sect...
Was actually willing to grant him real authority?
Were they truly intending to reconcile with him?
Operating on the principle of using what is offered freely, he still smiled and accepted graciously: "Thank you, Elder Lu."
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Lu Zhanfeng seemed to recall something, his expression became slightly serious as he said, "The assault on Taihe City and Baihe City by the demons from Yunqi Mountain Range, and even the direct strike on Lingxiao City, although it seems targeted at the Heavenly Masters and you, Elder Gu, as the newly appointed Heavenly Monarch, as our intelligence personnel penetrated deeper into Yunqi Mountain Range for investigation, the situation appears to be not so simple."
"Hmm?"
Gu Jinlai’s expression shifted: "Are you saying, Elder Lu..."
Lu Zhanfeng nodded: "Behind this incident, there is the shadow of Dragon Sparrow Manor."
