Immortality begins with meditation puppets

Tianyuan Realm.

The coastal area of ​​Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom.

Rows of treasure ships, complete with puppets, raced across the sea. On board, spirit-exploding fire puppets and exorcising missile puppets were always ready to be activated. As per Su Qing's instructions before leaving, this fleet of treasure ships, which the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom had built up over a hundred years, had to protect the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom's coastal waters and prevent any evil spirits from landing after he left.

As the commander-in-chief of this fleet, Zhou Weidao was under great pressure.

As the most outstanding disciple of the Taiyi Sect in its contemporary era, he was already quite low-key and little known in the myriad realms. After settling in the Tianyuan Realm, the Taiyi Sect's limelight was completely overshadowed by Su Qing. This was because he had gained the approval of the patriarch and was appointed as the Taiyi Sect Master. With this "Taiyi Sect Master" in place, the entire Taiyi Sect could only become a vassal of the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom. All decisions and attitudes towards doing things depended on Su Qing's will. The sect had no presence, and he himself had even less presence.

But he didn't mind. Su Qing asked him to preach and teach in the Martial Arts Hall, which he did willingly. He sat in the Martial Arts Hall for a hundred years without feeling that it was a waste of his talents. On the contrary, he enjoyed it. Su Qing handed over the Kaiyuan Fleet to him and asked him to command the strongest fleet in the Tianyuan Realm. He did not refuse at all and did not feel that he was unqualified or unworthy of such a great responsibility.

Content with one's lot and living in harmony with the world—this is his character, and also his Daoist heart.

Because he is obedient and sensible, he can be put into any position immediately. Not competing is itself a form of competition. On the contrary, he is now the most powerful person in the Taiyi Sect and in the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom.

Even someone like him, after Su Qing led a group of True Monarchs and Nascent Soul cultivators from the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom and the Tianyuan Realm—a group that could be considered the pillars of the Tianyuan Realm—to the Abyss Secret Realm.

In these days, he also felt an increasing pressure that made it hard for him to breathe.

The fleet under his command has twelve fifth-tier treasure ships. These are not puppets made by Su Qing himself, but were purchased from the Yuanshi Sect at great expense, using various specialties of the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom and even a hundred kinds of crafts. This was to make up for the loss of combat power in this treasure ship fleet after he took the Nine Dragon Ship away.

In addition to the fifth-tier treasure ships, there are 128 fourth-tier treasure ships and 724 third-tier treasure ships. Besides magic cannons and missiles, each treasure ship is also equipped with the Vajra Subduing Demon Formation. With the twelve fifth-tier treasure ships as the core, once activated, the large and small Vajra rings will be linked one after another to form a net of ten thousand Buddhas, so that evil spirits have nowhere to hide.

With such a luxuriously equipped fleet at his disposal, Zhou Weidao should have been eager to test his skills, to mend the heavens, to have the world at his fingertips, and to make waves across the four seas.

However, he couldn't get arrogant at all.

More than twenty days ago, a message came from the Yuanshi Sect that ten thousand demons on Wufo Mountain were mobilized and were attacking Tianyuan from the four directions of east, west, south and north.

At the same time, bad news also came from various immortal kingdoms in Tianyuan. Over the past hundred years, various forces from different heavens have frequently entered Tianyuan, resulting in a mixed bag of good and bad. Some demons from outside the realm have invaded the bodies of cultivators from the outside world and taken the opportunity to hide in various immortal kingdoms. Although the immortal kingdoms have long been aware of this and have been working to clean up the demons within their borders in recent years, if demons were really so easy to identify, cultivators would not be so afraid of them.

As the demons within the realm mobilized, various regions and countries suffered losses of varying degrees. Immortal kingdoms with powerful sects stationed there or those that were already formidable in strength fared slightly better, such as the Immortal Qin Martial Kingdom, the Penglai Immortal Kingdom, and the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom. Although they faced even more and stronger demons, they had not yet been breached by them. On the other hand, some immortal kingdoms that were already weak, and whose sects from the heavens they had brought in were also of average strength, became the primary targets of the demons' attacks.

Among them, the most difficult situation is that of the Western Sea cultivation community, which is directly facing the invasion of the evil spirits of Wufoshan. According to Zhou Weidao, from Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom eastward, the entire Tianyuan Western Sea has more than 3,000 small countries scattered like stars, and now half of them have fallen into the hands of evil spirits. More than 10 million cultivators and more than 1 billion people in each immortal country have been corrupted by evil spirits and turned into evil monsters.

This situation far exceeded the expectations of all the heavenly beings and cultivators.

For over a hundred years, the various immortal kingdoms of the Western Sea have been located near Mount Wufo, where the threat of evil spirits is ever-present. As a result, they have all vigorously developed equipment to counteract evil spirits.

Local immortal kingdoms in the Western Sea, such as Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom, Thousand Island Immortal Kingdom, and Penglai Immortal Kingdom, spared no effort in supporting their anti-demon construction, helping them to introduce talents in various arts and crafts and establish anti-demon equipment production lines. Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom alone relocated several exorcism puppet factories to these immortal kingdoms. Meanwhile, major sects such as Yuanshi Sect also sent their disciples to these immortal kingdoms to guard against evil spirits.

Under such circumstances, these Western Sea Immortal Kingdoms may be at odds with other forces, which may not be very effective, but they are the purest anti-demon fortresses.

According to the Anti-Demon Alliance's plan, the Western Sea will be protected by the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom and the Xingsha Divine Kingdom on the east and west sides, with the Thousand Island Immortal Kingdom standing in the center of the Western Sea. In addition, the Penglai Immortal Island in the sky will provide support at any time. With these four immortal kingdoms as the core, the three thousand small countries will be united to create an impregnable wall and anti-demon fortress to surround Wufo Mountain. It is imperative to lock Wufo Mountain in the Western Sea.

Unexpectedly, this anti-demon fortress was breached by the demons so quickly.

Zhou Weidao knew the reason why the demons' attack was so successful.

Firstly, although the Demon Buddha within Wufo Mountain was restrained by the Azure Dragon King, over the years, Wufo Mountain had secretly cultivated dozens of fifth-order demons. These were all high-ranking demons, commanding countless demons, and their power far exceeded the previous estimates of all the cultivators in the heavens.

Secondly, these demons are more powerful than before. In the past, it took a process for demons to corrupt the hearts of living beings. If one was prepared and guarded one's heart, the demons could not possess one at will. But now, it only takes an instant for demons to possess a living being. Not only are others unaware of this process, but even the demon-revealing mirrors and talismans that could previously see demonic shadows are difficult to detect these people corrupted by demons. In the judgment of cultivators, these demonic people corrupted by demons are almost no different from normal people before they act. Even masters and disciples, fathers and sons would hardly be able to detect the slightest difference.

The demonic influence spreads faster and is harder to detect. This is the biggest reason why the fortress defense line composed of three thousand small countries in the Western Sea was quickly breached. It is even more devastating to living beings than the dozens of fifth-order demons that appeared on Mount Wufo!
Ten days ago, the Thousand Islands Immortal Kingdom was breached by demons. With the help of the various Heavenly River Daoist lineages and the protection of sects with the capacity to defend it, such as the Primordial Sect and the Spirit Treasure Sect, about 30% of the cultivators on the island survived and are currently temporarily housed on Penglai Immortal Island.

The Thousand Islands Immortal Kingdom is gone. In the vast Western Sea, only Langya Immortal Island, which had transferred its people and resources to Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom early on, suffered acceptable losses. The lives of countless beings in the other three thousand small kingdoms are now in the hands of demons. And the demon army of Wufo Mountain is currently divided into three groups.

They launched a fierce attack on the Penglai Immortal Kingdom. Although the kingdom was humiliated by the Yunlong incident, it also benefited from the attack. In its eagerness to sever ties with the demons, the Penglai Immortal Kingdom had launched a large-scale campaign to purge them. As a result, when the demons launched their major offensive, the Penglai Immortal Kingdom was the least infiltrated by them and only needed to focus on dealing with the external demons.

Within this immortal kingdom, thanks to the presence of the powerful Eastern King Sect, whose strength ranks second only to the three Daoist sects in all the heavens and myriad realms, coupled with the profound foundation accumulated over many years as the overlord of the Western Sea, the kingdom has managed to withstand the main force of the demons' attack. As long as the wars in other directions proceed smoothly, the Penglai Immortal Kingdom is not currently at risk of being conquered by the demons.

The demonic offensive was thwarted in the Penglai Immortal Kingdom, but another force achieved great success in the Xingsha Divine Kingdom.

This is because the Kingdom of Punishment and Slaughter was originally the site of the Immortal City of the Sea. Taking advantage of its proximity to the sea, it vigorously developed various arts and crafts and its commerce flourished. Every day, cultivators from all over Tianyuan and even from all the heavens came here. Therefore, the composition of its people was the most complex and it was the easiest for evil spirits to take advantage of.

Secondly, although the Xing Sha Divine Kingdom is extremely wealthy due to its abundant talent in various crafts and the endless stream of creations, it cannot change the fact that there are very few high-level cultivators in the kingdom. When Gao Erqiang was alive, this disadvantage was not apparent because he was capable of fighting ten people at once. However, after Gao Erqiang left, the entire Xing Sha Divine Kingdom could not find anyone who could contend with a fifth-order demon. It could only rely on the few True Monarchs of the Peach Blossom Sect who had settled in the kingdom to struggle to keep it afloat.

When the demons first attacked the Kingdom of Execution, the Kingdom of Execution's treasure fleet, just like Zhou Weidao is now, was lined up in the near sea, trying to keep the demons out of the immortal kingdom's territory.

Unexpectedly, while the demons near the sea were indeed stopped at sea by the massive demon-slaying firepower of missiles, cannons, arrays, and talismans on their treasure ships, their backyard was on fire. A fifth-order god-demon who had been lurking in the Xing Sha Divine Kingdom had directly corrupted dozens of important figures in the Xing Sha Divine Kingdom.

These people are mostly managers stationed in Xing Sha Shen Kingdom by multinational art groups such as Jia Tianxia, ​​Su Ji Group, Langya Fang, and Yuanshi Faqi Fang, to oversee the country's business.

Once they were corrupted by demons and brought under the control of evil spirits, the Punishment God Kingdom, which originally relied heavily on the power of all creations to resist evil spirits, was thrown into chaos.

The Spiritual Mirror produced by the Primordial Magic Weapon Workshop, instead of targeting the demons with its magic swords, aimed its attacks at the heart of the divine kingdom. All the armor produced by Jia Tianxia was fitted onto the demons, causing ordinary cultivators to scream in terror. The most troublesome thing was that, apart from the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom headquarters, the largest puppet factory of the Su Group had been occupied by the demons.

Countless magic cannon missiles illuminated the entire sky of the Execution God Kingdom, firing all of Su Ji's puppet factory's stockpile in one go. This overflowing firepower was headed straight for the God Kingdom's fleet in the near sea. Even though the God Kingdom's fleet was prepared before the firepower overwhelmed the sea and raised magic cannon missiles to try to intercept them, they had never expected such a situation to occur and had no contingency plan to intercept magic cannon missiles. Only one or two out of ten magic cannon missiles were successfully intercepted, while the rest landed on the fleet's treasure ships.

In the first battle, the entire fleet of the Divine Kingdom was destroyed. If it weren't for the timely support from the Immortal Kingdoms such as the Desire Demon Immortal Kingdom, the Earthly Treasury Buddha Kingdom, and the Fire Phoenix Immortal Kingdom, which repelled the first invasion of the evil forces near the shore of the Punishment and Slaughter Divine Kingdom, the Punishment and Slaughter Divine Kingdom would probably have already fallen into the hands of the evil forces.

While the support from the Immortal Kingdom of Desire and the Buddha Kingdom of Ksitigarbha saved the life of the God of Punishment, these immortal kingdoms were also plagued by demonic calamities within their own borders. In addition, many of their elite troops had been drawn away by Su Qing, so the forces that could be sent to the God of Punishment were extremely limited.

Although they all knew that if the Demon Kingdom were to be conquered, the Demon Kingdom could use it as a base to launch a swift and unstoppable invasion of all the immortal kingdoms in the Western Sea. As the saying goes, "If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold," and protecting the Demon Kingdom meant protecting their own immortal kingdoms. Therefore, despite the pressure from their own countries, they continued to send reinforcements to the Demon Kingdom. Even within the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom, a team led by the King Ape Clan came to provide support.

However, without the God Kingdom's fleet to restrict the Western Sea demons' movements, they ultimately could not stop the waves of attacks launched by the demons from the sea.

Three days ago, Zhou Weidao received news of the fall of the Xing Sha Divine Kingdom. The allied forces of the Western Sea countries had abandoned most of the territory where the original Wanghai Immortal City was located and retreated to the area previously controlled by the Demon Tree Evil Kingdom. Relying on the anti-demon fortress built by the Daheng Sect, the number one sect of the Heavenly Earth and Wood Sect, they were engaged in a brutal meat grinder war with the demon army that had been corrupted and driven by evil. The situation was not optimistic.

Of the four pillars of the Western Sea—Penglai in the sky above the Western Sea, the Thousand Islands in the sea, the Divine Kingdom of Punishment and Slaughter in the east, and the Immortal Kingdom of Kaiyuan in the far west—only the Immortal Kingdom of Kaiyuan had not suffered a large-scale invasion by evil spirits.

The demons have clearly not forgotten the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom, nor will they miss this golden opportunity to conquer it!

The Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom holds immense strategic significance for both living beings and demons.

From the perspective of the living beings, the far west is a place that contains some of the best spiritual veins and mineral resources in the Tianyuan Realm. It is the largest source of raw materials for developing the various arts and crafts. If this place is occupied by demons, the ongoing industrial upgrading of the various arts and crafts in the Tianyuan Realm will inevitably be thwarted, and it will be even more difficult to gain an advantage in the future confrontation with demons.

Moreover, within this Immortal Realm, there are the Azure Dragon, Nine Li, and Xing Tian Cave Heavens, which Su Qing created. These three Cave Heavens devour the spiritual energy and creation of the Heavenly Origin Realm, making them rare treasure lands in the Heavenly Origin Realm today. Although they are under Su Qing's control, if evil spirits want to seize control of these three Cave Heavens, they must first eliminate Su Qing. But even if they cannot control them, they can still destroy these three Cave Heavens, and the only loss will be to the living beings.

Besides the spiritual veins and mineral resources, and the three grotto-heavens, the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom has also attracted many cultivation talents over the past hundred years. The various arts and crafts industries in this immortal kingdom have developed even better than those in the Xingsha Divine Kingdom. The headquarters of the various arts and crafts factories located in the Xingsha Divine Kingdom are all in the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom. If this immortal kingdom is destroyed, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the cultivation arts and crafts of the Tianyuan Realm will regress by hundreds or thousands of years. Cultivators would find it difficult to bear such consequences.

For the demons, there was an even bigger reason for coveting this Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom.

That is the Eye of Returning to the Void, which has fallen into this Immortal Realm!

This Eye of the Ruins is a replacement for the ancient underworld created by ancient powerful beings for later generations after the collapse of the ancient underworld.

Over countless years, it has absorbed the souls of countless dead beings from the Heavenly Origin Realm, accumulating endless malevolent energy. If it were detonated, it would be nothing short of a gluttonous feast for the demons. Countless demons could potentially recover their cultivation to the fourth, fifth, or even higher levels through this Eye of Return to Nothingness! (End of Chapter)