Longevity: Starting with an infant's innate growth potential

On a sea as black as ink.

A magnificent, three-story painted dragon boat slowly sailed along.

The three sails on the boat, made of an unknown material, were somewhat tattered. Despite the fierce sea winds, they barely kept the dragon boat stable and propelled it forward slowly.

"Boom!"

Just then, a thunderous roar suddenly echoed across the vast sea.

A black lightning bolt streaked across the void.

Then a black streak of light suddenly shot down from the sky and landed on the spirit boat with a "bang".

Then, the black lightning disappeared.

The sea was surging with waves, and a chilly sea breeze was blowing.

"This is the Void Realm of Mountains and Seas?"

Feeling the chilly sea breeze on the surface of the ocean, Zhou Ling's gaze shifted, even though he knew he was now a soul.

But it felt no different from a physical body.

However, the absence of the five spiritual flames made him realize that he was in a soul form.

However, with the sea breeze blowing, he could feel an extremely obscure and strange power, as if it was about to enter his body.

It corrupted his soul.

Zhou Ling's mind stirred, and the soul flame within his sea of ​​consciousness flickered, a gray flame shimmering.

The surrounding chilling aura was instantly incinerated.

Zhou Ling then felt completely relaxed.

Then his gaze swept around.

"This is?"

Zhou Ling's expression changed slightly.

Several corpses were lying on the deck.

The corpses were in a horrifying state, their bodies shriveled up as if all the flesh and blood had been drained from their bodies.

He was wearing a black robe with red patterns.

There were also some swords and other weapons around him.

Colorful flags bearing slogans such as "Protect the territory and ensure the safety of the people" and "Good weather and abundant harvests" were also hung on both sides.

"This appears to be an official ship?"

"I wonder if there are any survivors?"

Zhou Ling immediately scanned it with his divine sense.

After a moment, he couldn't help but shake his head.

There was no one alive on the ship.

"This person seems to be the leader among them!"

He then came to a corpse draped in a black robe, beside which lay a wooden box wrapped in yellow silk.

Zhou Ling untied the silk cloth and opened the wooden box.

Inside was a letter and a jade seal the size of a fist.

Zhou Ling scanned the area with his divine sense and confirmed that there were no problems.

He then picked up the letter and began to examine it.

The text above is written in classical Chinese.

Zhou Ling was also able to understand it.

This person is named Mu Yang, and he is an eighth-rank immortal official of the Dayong Immortal Dynasty.

He is now on his way to take up his post in the Immortal City of Fujian.

That jade seal was his official seal.

What kind of attack occurred?

Zhou Ling stroked his chin, thinking to himself.

From this letter, it can be seen that this person is a celestial official of the Dayong Immortal Dynasty, and his strength is not low.

With the help of the official seal, one can suppress evil spirits and malevolent entities in a region.

The fact that he was killed in this way can only mean that the evil spirit he encountered was much stronger than him.

"I wonder what my strength is in this virtual realm?"

Zhou Ling thought to himself.

He also learned from the letter.

In this realm of mountains and seas, mortals are not qualified to cultivate.

Only by entering the Celestial Dynasty's system and receiving its blessing can one possess the power to fight against evil spirits.

This strength is differentiated according to rank.

From rank nine to rank one, the higher the rank, the stronger the power.

Zhou Ling slightly activated the Three Pure Creation Technique, condensing his soul power.

I feel like I'm being suppressed quite a bit.

But its overall combat strength remains.

This made him feel much more relaxed.

Afterwards, he put the jade seal and letter back in their place, pondering what to do next.

Before him stretched a strange, vast ocean, leaving him completely clueless.

I feel that this competition is even more difficult than going to the Youyun Starfield.

"Hoohoo!"

Suddenly, a cold wind howled up.

The corpses on the ground made creaking sounds, and suddenly they seemed to come alive and stand up.

The dark, hollow face exhaled a black, malevolent aura, rushing towards Zhou Ling.

"Evil spirit possession?"

Zhou Ling's gaze sharpened.

Now that he is highly skilled and daring, he is not afraid of such a scene.

With a flick of his wrist, Soul Flame shot out.

They wrapped the corpses up and turned them to ashes in an instant.

"Fizz!"

A series of eerie screams emanated from the corpse.

But it was quickly incinerated by the Soul Flame.

"Where to run?"

A beam of spiritual light shot out from the official's corpse.

Zhou Ling shouted, and a burst of golden light flashed in his sea of ​​consciousness.

Golden Eyes activated his divine soul.

"what!"

As the golden light swept across, the soul light let out a miserable scream.

It was instantly killed, turned into golden light, and merged into the golden eye.

As the soul light was absorbed by the golden eye.

Images then flashed through Zhou Ling's mind.

"Huh, these are this person's memories!"

Zhou Ling couldn't help but show a look of surprise.

This was the first time he had used the Golden Eye to absorb a soul, and he discovered that the Golden Eye also had the ability to absorb the memories of a soul.

By now, the surrounding corpses had all been incinerated by the Soul Flame.

However, no soul light appeared on them.

Zhou Ling carefully checked and confirmed that there was no risk.

Only then did I carefully consider the official's memories.

Suddenly, a series of images flashed through my mind like a fleeting glimpse.

A ninth-rank celestial official, ghostly soldiers passing through, evil spirits abound...

"How are we supposed to live in this world?!"

After an incense stick had burned for a while, Zhou Ling couldn't help but exhale.

From the memories of this Wood Yang Immortal Official, he had a general understanding of this illusory realm.

Evil spirits are rampant, and the people are suffering terribly.

Even if an imperial court establishes a celestial city and trains various celestial officials to deal with demons and evil spirits.

But it was still beyond our capabilities.

Mu Yang was attacked by evil spirits at sea and died before he even reached the Immortal City of Fujian.

It almost became an evil spirit.

"The main purpose of this competition is to kill evil spirits and demonstrate the power of commanding troops. So, let's go to the Eight Fujian Immortal City in this person's identity."

Zhou Ling thought to himself.

After all, the task of celestial officials is to kill evil spirits and protect the peace of the region.

This perfectly aligns with the goals of this competition.

After absorbing this person's soul, it would be easy for Jin Yan to disguise himself as Mu Yang.

Subsequently, Zhou Ling began to change his own form based on Mu Yang's memories.

A moment later, he transformed into a young man with an equally upright posture and handsome face.

"We are still hundreds of nautical miles from here to the Eight Min Immortal City. We need to speed up the dragon boat."

Zhou Lingxuan immediately scanned the canvas with his mind and re-secured them.

The dragon boat's speed increased considerably after that.

They sped off toward the southern sea.

One day later.

"This place is truly eerie!"

Standing on the deck, Zhou Ling frowned slightly.

In just one day, he encountered two waves of evil spirits.

The first wave was a sacrificial ghost boat, on which paper figures actually came to life.

Under the [Advanced Observation], he knew that these paper figures were not very strong, equivalent to Qi Refining cultivators.

With Zhou Ling's current spiritual cultivation level, he naturally poses no threat.

But these strange paper figures seem impossible to kill.

It is as if it can continuously multiply from the sacrificial boat.

Among them were two high-level paper figures, whose cultivation levels were roughly equivalent to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. Zhou Ling was worried about expending too much energy, so he did not engage them head-on.

Try your best to avoid the Yin boat.

But some of the paper figures flew onto the dragon boat at an extremely fast speed.

Zhou Ling could only use Soul-Devouring Flame to incinerate them.

Although these paper figures were killed instantly by the Soul-Devouring Flame.

However, Zhou Ling has not yet found a way to restore his soul, so he continues to fight and retreat.

Finally, they managed to escape the clutches of that ghostly ship.

The second wave occurred in the middle of the night, when a group of eerie spirits boarded the dragon boat directly from the sea.

Some of these spirits were clad in armor, while others had ferocious and terrifying appearances; their numbers were also considerable.

Zhou Ling realized that he had inadvertently entered a battlefield at sea.

Fortunately, we had the "Advanced Observation" feature, which allowed us to anticipate the situation and adjust the direction of the dragon boats.

Avoid that menacing sea.

As for the few ghostly spirits that boarded the dragon boat, he killed them directly.

Zhou Ling dared not be careless in the slightest after that.

Using the [Advanced Observation] feature, I observed the situation on the sea surface.

If there is any danger, change direction.

Reduce unnecessary consumption.

Although you can earn points by killing evil spirits, you must first find a way to restore your soul.

Just like the Golden Eyes devour those evil spirits, it can also restore one's divine soul.

However, the Golden Eye is a top-grade fifth-tier soul weapon. Using the Golden Eye to kill these Yin spirits is like using a cannon to kill flies.

Not worth the candle.

You need to deal with at least a third-tier evil spirit to break even.

They continued to maneuver the dragon boat across the sea.

According to Mu Yang's memory, there was nothing wrong with the direction they were heading.

"What's happening here?"

After traveling for several more hours, Zhou Ling saw a sudden gust of wind rise on the sea, and the waves were rolling.

Amidst the surging, rolling waves, a small, brightly painted wooden boat drifts on the sea.

A dozen or so figures stood on the wooden boat, all of them graceful and beautiful young women.

The girls were all pale and trembling, clearly terrified.

As the dragon boat drew near, a woman cried out, "Sir, save us!"

Zhou Ling's gaze swept over them, and under the [Advanced Observation], he could confirm that these women were just ordinary mortals.

"How come you are here?"

Zhou Ling asked.

His current identity is Mu Yang, an eighth-rank celestial official.

He was wearing the official robe of Mu Yang, an eighth-rank official.

"Your Excellency, we are offerings from the Eight Min Immortal City to the Sea God."

The beautiful young woman in front mustered her courage and called out to Zhou Ling.

"Sacrificial offerings?"

Zhou Ling's gaze swept over the decorated boat, which was indeed adorned with a festive atmosphere, like a bride getting married.

"Hoohoo!"

Just then, the sea suddenly churned, and waves hundreds of feet high swept away.

A huge, jet-black ghost face materialized amidst the waves.

The demon's face opened its massive maw, unleashing a tremendous suction force that threatened to pull the two wooden boats inside.

"Pretend to be a ghost!"

Zhou Ling roared, and the golden sword divine soul dharma image condensed.

In an instant, a giant golden sword, tens of meters long, condensed and slashed down at the ghost face.

‘Boom! ’

The golden sword slammed into the ghost face in an instant, splitting it in two and causing it to dissipate.

Like the receding tide, falling into the sea.

But the next moment, a huge wave rose up, and a black dragon tens of feet long leaped out of the sea.

"Yan!"

The black dragon roared angrily and swung its giant black claws down at Zhou Ling.

"Monster, you're looking for death!"

Zhou Ling roared.

Under the [Advanced Observation], he immediately recognized it as a third-tier demonic dragon.

With the power of his own divine soul avatar, he was more than capable of dealing with it.

As soon as he finished speaking, he activated the Three Pure Creation Technique and once again condensed the Soul Sword Dharma Image.

The golden soul sword instantly condensed and rapidly expanded, transforming into a giant sword tens of feet long.

It slashed down at the black dragon.

Upon seeing the black dragon, many of the girls fainted from fright. Only two or three remained standing, trembling, their faces pale.

They knew that if the man before them couldn't stop the black dragon, they would all be taken to the bottom of the sea, where they would only face certain death.

"Boom!"

The golden giant sword slashed down with unstoppable force.

It exudes an incomparably sharp and intense aura, like a golden sun sword.

The black dragon swung its giant claws and slammed them towards the golden sword.

But the next moment, the golden sword irresistibly severed the black dragon's claws.

It pierced straight through the black dragon's chest.

"Yan!"

The black dragon let out a mournful roar.

His body crashed onto the water's surface.

A black demonic soul suddenly shot out from the black dragon's body, heading towards the deep sea.

"Monster, where can you escape!"

Zhou Ling was already prepared, and the Soul-Devouring Flame shot out.

It instantly enveloped the demon's soul.

In the blink of an eye, it was burned to ashes.

The divine soul, which had been somewhat depleted due to this battle, was quickly restored.

The massive black dragon, several dozen feet in size, floated on the sea surface, its black blood gushing out, staining the sea surface for miles around a blood red, creating an extremely eerie scene.

"My lord, you have killed the Dragon God!"

"Thank you for saving me, sir!"

The woman in the white dress in front of him gasped in surprise, looking at Zhou Ling as if he were a god.

He immediately kowtowed and knelt before Zhou Ling.

"What dragon god? He's nothing but a monstrous beast!"

"Get up!"

Zhou Ling waved and smiled.

"The Dragon God has been killed!"

At that moment, two more wooden boats sped towards them from the sea not far away.

A dozen or so soldiers, clad in silver armor, stood on the deck of the wooden boat, holding spears and carrying bows and arrows.

Upon seeing the enormous black dragon's body on the sea, everyone exclaimed in surprise.

"I am Wu Jia, the commander of the guards of the Immortal City of Fujian, and I pay my respects to you, sir!"

A burly figure flew over and bowed to Zhou Ling.

"Commander Wu, there's no need for such formalities!"

Zhou Ling nodded.

He is now known as Mu Yang, and will become the top leader of the Eight Min Immortal City in the future.

This Wu Jia will also be under his management.

"Sir, may I ask your name?"

After Wu Jia stood up, he looked at Zhou Ling and asked.

"I am Mu Yang, the newly appointed city lord of the Eight Min Immortal City."

Zhou Ling said calmly.

He then took out the Immortal Dynasty Jade Seal and placed it in his hand.

"Greetings, Lord Mu!"

Wu Jia knelt down again.

"Greetings, Lord Mu!"

The soldiers on the wooden boat also knelt down in unison.

"Everyone get up!"

Zhou Ling nodded.

"The city lord has done immeasurable good deeds. He has come here and rid my Eight Min Immortal City of this black dragon and saved these young girls."

"I wonder what the city lord intends to do with this demonic dragon's body?"

Wu Jia first flattered Zhou Ling, then asked him a question.

"You can handle it however you see fit."

Zhou Ling replied.

The demon soul has already been absorbed, and the physical body cannot be taken away from this void realm, so it is of little use to him.

"My lord, we must take the demon's body back to the Immortal City and burn it with the essence fire to prevent the breeding of evil spirits."

Wu Jia said this.

Zhou Ling nodded.

"Welcome back to Immortal City, Lord Mu."

Wu Jia then spoke loudly again.

"Welcome back to Immortal City, Lord Mu."

The other soldiers also chimed in, each one brimming with excitement. (End of Chapter)