Life span plundered, I became a detective and achieved immortality

Ten years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Within the Iron Arm Mountains, at Fortress No. 507, lies a newly opened small cave. The cave walls are formed from condensed chaotic stone marrow, with a faint purple mist flowing across their surface. This mist can absorb divine sense, making it extremely difficult for anyone without a cultivation level of at least a seventh-grade True Immortal to discover this hidden space.

Su Mo stood in the center of the cave, his gaze passing through the hazy light emanating from the cave wall and landing on a busy figure inside the fortress—his divine consciousness avatar, who was repairing cracks in the city wall with other ninth-grade illusory immortals. His movements were clumsy but earnest, no different from ordinary cultivators, and he even perfectly imitated the fine beads of sweat on his forehead, perfectly blending into the role of cannon fodder.

Immediately afterwards, Su Mo slowly withdrew his gaze, lightly tapped the void with his fingertips, and muttered to himself, "I have been in this Nine Domains Continent for more than three thousand years. It is time to take action."

He'd been holed up in the Iron Arm Mountains for so long, but he hadn't reaped many battle merits. This outpost, guarded by a third-grade True Immortal, could only attract opponents at the fourth-grade True Immortal level at most, which was a drop in the ocean for a seventh-grade True Immortal like him. Let alone exchanging for top-tier treasures to aid his cultivation, he simply didn't have enough battle merits to return to the Profound True Immortal Realm.

For a seventh-grade True Immortal to return smoothly, at least 10 billion battle merits are needed; and for someone with his seventh-grade perfect cultivation, even more, 50 billion battle merits are required. Hunting down a fourth-grade True Immortal only yields a few hundred million battle merits, meaning that at least one or two hundred more fourth-grade True Immortals need to be killed to accumulate the "ticket" for his return.

The next second...

"Whoosh..."

Thirteen dazzling beams of immortal light burst forth from Su Mo's body, each with a different color: some were as green as grass and trees, some as red as flames, and some as black as an abyss... They pierced through the cave's barrier like shooting stars and vanished into the void in an instant, leaving not even a trace of energy fluctuation, as if they had never existed.

This time, Su Mo did not disperse all 1,500 illusory spirit bodies, but only sent 13 out to travel. Of the remaining 1,487 illusory spirit bodies, 1,404 were divided into 13 groups of 108 each, which were hidden inside the 13 illusory spirit bodies that had gone out; the other 83 remained by his main body's side as a mobile force to be at his disposal.

A single illusory spirit body possesses power comparable to a mid-stage eighth-rank cultivator, which is still slightly weak. If it encounters a half-step Golden Immortal, it might not even be able to call for help before being mercilessly slaughtered. Even if some powerful ninth-rank True Immortals launch a surprise attack when they are off guard, they could kill them before they have time to call for help from him or his other illusory spirit bodies.

With 109 illusory spirit bodies as a group, they can unleash the peak of the ninth rank, or even the perfect combat power. Even if a half-step Golden Immortal tries to take advantage of their unpreparedness to launch a sneak attack, it will not be so easy. Their safety is basically not a concern.

More importantly, Su Mo was wary that having too many avatars would attract the attention of the Immortal Golden Immortals. Although he knew from the memories of the Golden Yuan True Immortal and others that the nine Immortal Golden Immortals, including the Xuanzhen Golden Immortal, had long since paid little attention to the Nine Realms Immortal War, leaving everything to the will of the continent's origin, no one could guarantee that they wouldn't have a sudden change of heart.

Thirteen True Immortal incarnations, while astonishing, are not unacceptable. Some seventh-rank True Immortals with powerful backgrounds could produce them, and even more are not impossible.

However, if these 1500 true immortal avatars, whose cultivation levels are roughly the same, are exposed, even those immortal golden immortals might not be able to sit still and would go crazy for them.

The common man is not guilty, but he is guilty of carrying a jade!

Su Mo would rather develop at a slower pace than take this risk.

It's not like I've reached the end of my lifespan and have no choice but to take a risk.

A seventh-grade True Immortal has a lifespan of seven True Immortal Eras (1 True Immortal Era = 10800 Cosmic Eras), and that's without using any life-extending elixirs. He hasn't even lived for eight hundred Cosmic Eras yet, his lifespan is incredibly long, and he has no invincible enemies who could come knocking at his door at any time. How could he be so foolish as to think of taking risks for a little bit of time?

Glancing in the direction where the thirteen illusory spirit bodies had disappeared, a flash of purple light appeared before Su Mo, and a Grade 8 True Immortal herb, the "Twenty-Fourth Grade Primordial Void Purple Lotus," quietly materialized. The lotus petals unfolded layer by layer, totaling twenty-four petals, each as if carved from purple jade, emanating a refreshing and invigorating primordial energy. Inhaling just one breath could clear the soul of a True Immortal by three-tenths.

Immediately afterwards, he sat cross-legged on the purple lotus. The sixth-grade true immortal medicine within his body, the "Thirty-Sixth Grade Primordial Black Lotus," which had accompanied him for hundreds of chaotic eras, suddenly roared. The lotus petals exploded layer by layer, transforming into billions of pure primordial energies, surging into his limbs and bones like a bursting dam, sweeping through the billions of cells in his body's cosmic sea. Every cell greedily devoured the primordial power, emitting a faint hum. His cultivation steadily advanced towards the seventh level of mastery at a speed visible to the naked eye. The chaotic energy around him surged, yet it remained firmly locked within his cave heaven, never leaking out in the slightest.

......

Spring goes and autumn comes, billions of years have quietly passed.

At Fortress 507 in the Iron Arm Mountains, the walls are stained with fresh immortal blood—dark red, emerald green, golden yellow… a mottled mix exuding a heavy aura of slaughter. While the fortress still maintains its strength of ten Celestial Immortals and ten thousand Void Immortals, three layers have been replaced—four Celestial Immortals alone. This demonstrates the ferocity of the battles over the past billions of years; almost every tens of thousands of years, a small-scale raid occurs, leaving corpses strewn across the fields.

Of course, many Void Immortals broke through in the flames of war. Among them was Su Mo's divine consciousness avatar, whose cultivation level reached a new height, stepping into the realm of a half-step Celestial Immortal. He replaced a half-step Celestial Immortal who had died in battle and became a centurion in this 507th fortress, commanding ninety-nine Void Immortals. He barely managed to escape the status of cannon fodder among cannon fodder and had a little room to breathe.

Fortress 507, within that hidden cave.

Su Mo slowly opened his tightly closed eyes, a flash of chaotic energy passing through them. He reached out and summoned a three-inch-sized phantom of a True Immortal in his palm—it was the remnant soul of a True Immortal who had been slain, devoid of any life force, with only a faint bloodstain between its brows indicating its cultivation level in life.

"Another Rank 5 True Immortal has been acquired!"

Su Mo smiled with satisfaction. In just a hundred billion years, this was the thirteenth fifth-grade True Immortal that he and his group of spiritual illusionary bodies had suppressed and killed. The number of fourth-grade and lower True Immortals had exceeded three hundred and forty-eight, and there were even three sixth-grade True Immortals. If this were in the Xuanzhen Immortal Domain, if someone dared to kill True Immortals so indiscriminately for no reason, who knows what would happen.

The next second...

A golden divine token, engraved with the characters "Tianshui" and featuring five dragon patterns on the back, appeared in his hand—this was the identity token of the fifth-rank True Immortal. Upon contact with his own identity token, the remaining 8.3 million battle merits within the other token flowed into his own, making the dragon patterns on the token even more dazzling, with a faint, swirling light.

Plundering the battle merits of the immortals from the other eight realms is also one of the most effective ways to obtain battle merits.

This is also a key reason why the immortals fought so fiercely in the Nine Realms Immortal War.

"Good, I've already surpassed 3 billion battle merits. I'm still short of 7 billion more. Once that's enough, I'll be able to acquire that Rank 8 True Immortal Artifact—the Time Heavenly Pearl. At that time, my breakthrough speed will increase a hundredfold."

He doesn't lack resources at the moment; what he lacks is time to transform those resources into strength.

......

Time flies, and another billion years will soon have passed.

"Joining forces to kill an eighth-grade True Immortal is indeed a great opportunity."

.......