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Chapter 528: Chapter 524 Proactive Attack
South of Liuhuo City.
A cultivation area spanning over ten miles.
At this time, a massive tide of Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy, drawn by the Primordial Spirit, poured continuously in one direction, forming a gigantic funnel with a diameter of tens of miles.
At the very bottom of the funnel, a figure let the power of Heaven and Earth wash over and temper him, his entire body bathed in flames.
Surrounding him were copious Flame Crystal Rings, drawn by his undying will, constantly converging and melting into his body.
This was Ji Lie forging the Six Yang Sacred Body.
And...
It had already been a month since he had forged the Six Yang Sacred Body.
Today, after numerous tempering processes, his Six Yang Sacred Body had finally reached Mahayana, a towering figure of thirteen to fourteen meters crafted by the relentless tempering of Heaven and Earth Power. An endless high temperature radiated from his body, making anyone within a hundred meters feel as if they were standing in a fire.
"I’ve succeeded!"
"I’ve finally broken through!"
"Forging the Six Yang Sacred Body, I have become a Saint!"
In the distance, figures continually looked towards the center of the flames.
Qi Sheng, Liu Feiyun, Xuanzhen, Zhen Hai, Yun Qiong, and others, including Gu Jinlai, were among them.
These Devas and Martial Kings, one after another, had faces filled with envy.
Although Saints could not energize their bodies completely like True Immortals, since they merged with copious heavenly materials and earthly treasures, they were no longer purely flesh and blood beings under certain conditions.
For this reason, their lifespans were significantly extended.
Normally, they could live three to five hundred years, and historically, there were Saints who lived more than six hundred years.
Stepping into this realm was undoubtedly akin to stepping onto the path of longevity, allowing for a slight respite in the subsequent cultivation, without the need for such haste.
"Saints, huh."
Gu Jinlai observed for a while.
Qi Refinement, Gang Condensation, Hugging Pill, Refining God, Divinity Transformation, Primordial Spirit, and then to Devas and Saints—this is the most mainstream and oldest cultivation system in this world.
Even the history of the Heavenly Master Civilization cannot rival the ancient cultivation civilization.
And the cultivator system is also the most populous cultivation system in the world.
A thousand years ago, when the Heavenly Master Civilization reached its peak, the number of people who walked the path of the Heavenly Master was still less than a tenth of those on the cultivator’s path.
"When I was cultivating the Chaotic Star Light Body, I already took another path—the path of the Innate Divine Beast, which also barely relates to the cultivator system, considering that the oldest cultivators simulated fierce beasts to hunt for their power, and the divine skills they mastered later were also based on imitating Innate Divine Beasts," Gu Jinlai said.
In the most ancient times, only Earthly True Immortals, which means those at the Void Immortal level, could exhibit divine skills, and the Great Divine Powers were exclusive to True Immortals.
However, being the All Things Spiritual Leader, the Human Clan with its cleverness and intelligence, continued to learn and improve. Gradually, even Saints came to possess divine skills, and in this era, even Devas could master them.
Void Immortals could also unleash Great Divine Powers.
In contrast, the Divine Beast lineage, being Heavenly Born and Earth Nourished, though naturally powerful, has seen little progress over tens of thousands of years due to its scarce numbers and intelligence that can’t compare to the Human Clan. Hence, over a few thousand years, they went from being totems worshipped and believed in by the human race to becoming prey hunted.
"An Innate Divine Beast is born with a strength that does not pale in comparison to that of a Saint, and all it needs to do is to grow step by step. Upon reaching adulthood, its combat power can be likened to that of a True Immortal, and upwards—some innately talented Divine Beasts can become even stronger, causing even creators to avoid them. I reckon even Immortal Masters would have difficulty dealing with them. This shows how the oldest and strongest Innate Divine Beasts such as Candle Dragon, Di Jiang, and Kunpeng Bird have battle powers that even surpass Immortal Masters..." Gu Jinlai thought to himself.
It’s rumored that the body of a Divine Beast Yinglong, which is comparable to the Four Saints, spans over a kilometer.
His current true form only spans a mere hundred meters.
Even though for an Innate Divine Beast, size is not an absolute indicator, it can still serve as a side reference.
From this standpoint, he still has a short distance to go.
As for how to proceed...
There are still traces to follow.
There’s no need to elaborate on cultivating the Spirit Mechanism Technique or following the "Three Realms" route as per the Creator’s Inheritance. He feels that he could still make modest gains by continuing to refine Thunder Magnetic Elemental Gold.
Even though the improvement wouldn’t be as significant as before, if enough Thunder Magnetic Elemental Gold is refined, the sheer quantity could still result in a qualitative change, allowing him to evolve from an ordinary Innate Divine Beast to one that rivals the level of Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Xuanwu, Qilin, and Yinglong.
In the Void, the winds and clouds gradually subsided, and the flames slowly dissipated.
Ji Lie’s towering figure, over a dozen meters tall, gradually contracted, reshaping into a human form of normal height, appearing before Gu Jinlai.
"Master, I have not failed you, I have achieved Sainthood," Ji Lie said respectfully.
"Good," Gu Jinlai nodded. "How do you feel?"
"Very good," Ji Lie briefly sensed the raging and violent power within him before answering, "With a Divine Weapon at my disposal, I could even fight a Void Immortal head-on."
As he spoke, he added, "But just a common Void Immortal."
"Not bad," Gu Jinlai nodded again.
Such might was sufficient for defense.
He then turned his gaze to Liu Feiyun.
He had provided Liu Feiyun with a wealth of resources during this period, but...
Just one month was clearly not enough to elevate her cultivation to the Peak Level Devas, let alone to forge a Sacred Body and step into the Saint Domain.
However, when it comes to combat power, she could now be considered top-tier amongst Saints, with only those at the Peak Saint level barely surpassing her.
This was the power of a Divine Weapon.
With the recognition of a Divine Weapon, her combat strength leapt across a major boundary.
With such strength, serving as a City Lord of a city was indeed barely passable.
Following this, the group quickly returned to the City Lord Mansion.
Upon arriving at the City Lord Mansion, they were greeted by a middle-aged man with a dignified and elegant demeanor.
In Liuhuo City, all the high-ranking officials had been purged by Gu Jinlai, leaving only two Martial Saints, Xuanzhou and Qin Se, alive.
The middle-aged man who looked like a scholar was Xuanzhou, one of the two Martial Saints.
Despite following the path of a martial artist, he did not exhibit the usual rough and brawny traits, an uncommon sight among martial artists.
"Xuanzhou has arrived."
Gu Jinlai looked at this Martial Saint of merely Yellow level and gave a slight nod. "How goes the investigation?"
His expression was somewhat grave: "It has been over a month since I killed the Dragon Tears Demon Emperor and eradicated a million devils in Dragon Tears Valley. There has been no movement from the devils’ side, which is quite unsettling. I hope they are not brewing some grand scheme."
"A grand scheme?"
Xuanzhou gave a wry smile: "Perhaps they are indeed plotting something big, but... it’s also possible that they are afraid." 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓹𝓾𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
"Afraid?"
Gu Jinlai was somewhat surprised.
"Yes, according to my investigations from various sources during this period, the devils surrounding Liuhuo City, Wind and Rain City, and Purple Thunder City have not only shown no intention of retaliation but have also contracted their defenses, retreating tens of thousands of miles and abandoning a large expanse of territory! They have even relinquished several gold mines and resource points. If we seize these resource points, we could gain tens of thousands of top-grade materials each year."
Xuanzhou said.
"Contract their defenses? Retreat tens of thousands of miles!?"
Ji Lie nearby found it hard to believe: "How is that possible? In the years of battling between the devils and the Human Clan of the Holy Dynasty, they hardly understand what retreat is. Every conflict usually ends with the devils taking away a large number of humans, and sometimes even large cities are directly breached, with casualties and missing populations totaling tens of millions. Their sudden withdrawal now..."
As he spoke, he immediately thought of something, and a light seemed to flash before his eyes: "Could it be that the news from the Immortal Country is true? That the devils have indeed been conscripted to the Immortal Country battlefield, leaving only three to five Demon Gods in the Holy Land?"
"Devils heading to the Immortal Country battlefield..."
Gu Jinlai pondered.
If he remembered correctly, during the great war between the people of the Holy Dynasty and the devils more than ten years ago, the devils deployed over a dozen Demon Gods!
Yes!
Over a dozen Demon Gods oppressing Heaven and Earth!
Exactly how many, probably only the upper echelons of the Holy Dynasty would know.
Although the Holy Dynasty claimed that they had repelled the invasion of the Demon Gods through unity and concerted efforts, there was a clear change in strategy after that battle.
The most notable change was that the Holy Dynasty had since ceased to actively send out cultivators above the Void Immortal level into the devil-occupied areas to instigate wars.
Clearly, that battle had frightened the Holy Dynasty.
But if over a dozen Demon Gods had indeed left, leaving only three to five...
Even if there were five left!
With the current strength of the Holy Dynasty, it might not be possible to exterminate all devils, but activating Grotto Heavens and tearing through the devil’s encirclement would not be too difficult.
After all, the force required to maintain an encirclement is much larger than the one being encircled.
"What’s the reaction from the side of the Holy Dynasty?"
Gu Jinlai asked.
"It’s strange, there has been no reaction from the Holy Dynasty. Considering how seriously they take the movements of the devils, they should have known about the devils contracting their defense before us. Whether to attack or stay put, there should be some signs by now."
Xuanzhou was puzzled by this.
"Don’t underestimate the cunning of the devils, especially those top-tier devils. Their scheming is no less profound than that of the wisest among the Human Clan. Maybe this show of weakness by the devils is a ploy, aimed at luring the Human Clan into an offensive."
Ji Lie solemnly reminded: "Once the Holy Dynasty switches from defense to attack and drives the Grotto Heavens forward, the arrangement of the defense ring will change. If all of this is a devil’s trick and the counterattack of the Holy Dynasty is thwarted, not to mention everything else, at least half of the Outer Ring Thirty-Six Cities would completely fall."
"So, the decision of the Holy Dynasty is not to act rashly?"
Gu Jinlai furrowed his brows.
"I suppose that’s the case. After all, if there’s the slightest oversight in this decision, the deaths and injuries will certainly be counted by the billions."
Ji Lie sighed: "It’s just a pity to miss such a good opportunity."
Gu Jinlai remained silent for a while before suddenly saying, "The Holy Dynasty may not dare to act rashly, but that doesn’t necessarily apply to us."
"Hm!?"
Ji Lie, Xuanzhou, Liu Feiyun, and the others all turned their eyes to Gu Jinlai.
"I was planning to accumulate some Contribution Value to exchange for more resources. If the devils stop coming, how could that work?"
Gu Jinlai chuckled lightly: "Moreover, Lei Xuanyu once told me that the territory of the Black Fire Demon Emperor contains a large amount of Thunder Magnetic Elemental Gold, and I’m very keen on that."
"The Black Fire Demon Emperor?"
A Demon Emperor was not much of a threat to someone like Gu Jinlai who alone had eradicated a million devils, but behind him was the Xuan Yang Demon God...
"Wasn’t the Holy Dynasty’s choice not to turn against me because they wanted to use my strength to fight the devils to a standstill, to gauge the depth of the devils’ strength?"
Gu Jinlai gazed in the direction of the Xuan Yang Demon God’s territory: "It’s just right, I too want to know how strong these so-called Demon Gods really are."
