Life span plundered, I became a detective and achieved immortality

Seeing that pleading for mercy was useless, a desperate madness flashed in Yuan Lei's eyes, and he let out a roar that shook the chaos. The sound wave, carrying the remaining power of thunder, stirred up ripples in the chaos, like waves crashing against the shore—he was like a gambler who had lost everything, making a final desperate gamble. He was betting that the "Ninth-Rank Golden Immortal" wouldn't dare to bear the consequences of the news leaking out. After all, the allure of the Myriad Manifestations Star Chart was enough to drive countless immortal forces mad, and even a Ninth-Rank Golden Immortal would have to weigh the risk of attracting a united attack.

"You dare threaten me even when you're about to die? You've got guts!" Inside the Fire Phoenix Immortal Palace, Su Mo sat upright on a purple cloud futon. Hearing this, he sneered, his eyes flashing with a chilling light like icy blades, carrying a bone-chilling killing intent. He didn't take this threat to heart at all—he wasn't some ninth-grade Golden Immortal. With his current cultivation and supernatural powers, in the vast Yuan Jin Immortal Kingdom, apart from the high and mighty Yuan Jin Immortal King, the sole ruler of the kingdom, those who could truly make him wary were extremely rare. Especially in the outer regions of the Yuan Jin Immortal Kingdom, where quasi-immortal kings almost only existed in ancient legends, there was nothing that could make him take a second look. The so-called threat was nothing more than a dying wail.

Besides, whether this old guy can leak the information depends on whether he agrees or not.

Before taking action, the dozens of illusory spirit bodies he left behind in the chaos to explore had already secretly set up the "Primordial Chaos Locking Heaven Array," completely sealing off the surrounding chaotic void spanning hundreds of millions of eons. The array patterns, hidden beneath the chaotic airflow, flowed with the obscure Daoist rhymes of the primordial chaos, like an invisible net covering all directions, weaving into an impenetrable barrier. Without his permission, unless a quasi-Immortal King level being forcibly tore through space, even a Ninth-Rank Golden Immortal couldn't possibly transmit a single trace of divine thought, let alone Yuan Lei Ancestor, a peak Seventh-Rank Golden Immortal, who couldn't even shake a corner of the array patterns.

As they spoke, the colossal hand, obscuring the sky, continued its relentless crushing assault. The lightning surrounding Ancestor Yuan Lei was extinguished like fireflies in the blazing sun beneath the giant hand, failing to even create a ripple. With a crisp crack, his protective immortal power shattered instantly, his lightning-patterned immortal armor crumbled, fragments flying everywhere, revealing his immortal body soaked in cold sweat, his skin covered in fine, bloody welts. His entire body was gripped in the giant hand like an ant, unable to move, even his bones groaning under the unbearable weight.

"No...you're playing with fire! If the news of the Myriad Manifestations Star Map gets out, all the surrounding ninth-rank immortal forces will not let you go. You will definitely regret it!" Ancestor Yuan Lei struggled frantically in the palm of his hand, kicking his limbs wildly. His voice was hoarse with despair, but a glimmer of hope remained in his eyes, hoping that the other party would hesitate for a moment and give him a chance to live.

"Regret?" Su Mo's lips curled into a mocking smile. He flicked his finger, and a primordial divine rune entered his palm, sealing Yuan Lei Ancestor's immortal soul and natal immortal domain. "I've never known how to write the word 'regret' in all my years."

As soon as the words were spoken, a surge of light erupted within the Fire Phoenix Immortal Palace. A long river of time, formed from the primordial Daoist essence, appeared out of thin air, traversing the void of the entire palace. Waves surged within the river, each wave carrying fragments of countless ages, radiating an ancient and majestic aura, as if capable of washing away the dust of eternity and witnessing the birth and death of the universe.

Immediately afterwards, the flow of time in the entire celestial palace began to surge wildly—hundred times, thousand times, ten thousand times… The void rippled due to the violent distortion of time, like the surface of water tossed with pebbles; the purple cloud futons and the Netherworld Fire within the palace were shrouded in a hazy halo, as if they had been pulled into a vortex of time, and even the air flow became incredibly slow, each breath feeling like it spanned a thousand years, and what was inhaled was no longer the celestial energy, but fragments of time.

Ultimately, the flow of time increased by a billion times before stabilizing.

One year outside the palace is a billion years inside.

Su Mo closed his eyes, and the Primordial Divine Light between his brows flickered slightly, like a star that had been dormant for billions of years suddenly lighting up, bursting out beams of profound light that echoed the Primordial Divine Patterns in the Chaos Prison, and began to forcibly extract the memories of the six Golden Immortals.

next moment......

The memories of the six seventh-rank Golden Immortals, including Ancestor Yuan Lei and Ancestor Xuan Chen, who were sealed in the Chaos Prison, surged out from the depths of their sea of ​​consciousness like a tidal wave bursting its banks. Following the Primordial Divine Patterns laid down by Su Mo, they continuously flowed into his sea of ​​consciousness, forming a rushing river of memories.

These fragments of memory, as numerous as the stars in the sky, exploded into countless points of light in the sea of ​​consciousness—there was the arduous cultivation of Ancestor Xuanchen in his youth, enduring the hardships of eating bitter gall and tempering his body with thunder and fire in the Purple Void Heavenly Palace; there was the ecstatic joy of his breakthrough to the Golden Immortal Realm, which triggered celestial phenomena and caused the entire sect to rejoice; there was the majesty of Ancestor Yuanlei when he was in charge of the Thunder Department of the Xuanyuan Immortal Sect, commanding ten thousand thunders and suppressing one side; there was also the bloodshed and tragedy of his battles against hostile forces for hundreds of epochs to seize the ancient thunder vein mine; there were also the cultivation insights, sect secrets, and even the selfish desires and fears hidden in the hearts of Qingxiao, Chenming and others... Every bit of it gathered together to form a microcosm of their long lives.

Su Mo's sea of ​​consciousness was like a vast universe, where countless fragments of memories floated and collided, yet it was always controlled by an invisible force, remaining orderly. He sat upright in the center of his sea of ​​consciousness, like the most skillful sieve, his fingertips tracing across the void, and those insignificant daily trifles and redundant emotions were peeled away, crushed, and dissipated into his sea of ​​consciousness like dust.

The truly valuable information—the core mysteries of the Purple Void Heavenly Palace's secret technique, the "Purple Void Myriad Transformations Technique," the cultivation taboos of the Xuan Yuan Immortal Sect's immortal thunder technique, the unique insights of the six seventh-grade Golden Immortals into the Great Dao, the power distribution and strength comparison of the surrounding star abysses, the detailed coordinates of hidden immortal resource points and forbidden zones, and even scattered records about the Myriad Phenomena Star Map—was all selected and strung together like pearls, merging into the depths of his immortal soul and transforming into his own foundation, elevating his understanding of the Yuan Jin Immortal Kingdom to a new level.

......

Flowers bloom and fade, seasons turn; what is but a year in the outside world is a billion years in the Fire Phoenix Immortal Palace.

The river of time that ran through the Immortal Palace suddenly rippled slightly, and countless fragments of time in its waters dissolved like bubbles. Then, the entire river transformed into countless fireflies, dissipating into the void of the Immortal Palace without leaving a trace. As the river disappeared, the distorted void within the palace gradually calmed down, the flow of time instantly returned to normal, the halo on the purple cloud futon faded, and the frequency of the Netherworld Fire returned to a steady rhythm, as if such a violent distortion of time had never occurred before. Everything returned to tranquility.

The next second...

Su Mo slowly opened his eyes, a distant, timeless quality flashing within them, as if he had personally witnessed the rise and fall of millions of cosmic eras, seen stars rise and fall, immortals ascend and descend, his eyes imbued with the weight of time. But in an instant, that distant quality vanished, his eyes returning to clarity, deep as an ancient pool, undisturbed by any ripples, as if the past billion years had passed in the blink of an eye, without even a ripple disturbing his breath.

Then, Su Mo lightly flicked his fingertips, and a wisp of primordial immortal power flowed between his fingers. His immortal soul had completely digested the information sifted from the memories of the six Golden Immortals, and a knowing smile gradually appeared on his lips: "This Myriad Manifestations Star Chart is actually related to the inheritance of a Quasi-Immortal King. No wonder that old man Yuan Lei dared to threaten me, saying that once the news spread, it would be enough to cause the Ninth-Rank Golden Immortals of the surrounding Star Abysses to hunt me down madly."

A quasi-immortal king's inheritance is enough to drive a ninth-rank golden immortal crazy, not to mention that the Myriad Manifestations Ancestor is not an ordinary first-order quasi-immortal king; legend has it that he is at least a third-order quasi-immortal king.

"If this news gets out, even those reclusive quasi-immortal kings might not be able to contain themselves," Su Mo said calmly, his fingertips lightly tapping his knees, making a rhythmic sound. A precise calculation flashed in his eyes, as if he were playing a grand game of chess.

"That's a pretty good bait."

The corners of his mouth turned up slightly, a strange arc flashing across them. Su Mo wasn't particularly interested in the inheritance of the Myriad Manifestations Ancestor. His cultivation and comprehension of the Great Dao were merely supplementary; what he truly relied on was his Immortal True Spirit, which was like having a cheat code. Let alone a mere Quasi-Immortal King inheritance, even if he were given an Immortal King inheritance, it wouldn't be as useful to him as a living Ninth-Rank Golden Immortal. However, it was perfect for fishing.

"No rush. Let's raise our cultivation to the sixth-grade Golden Immortal level first, then we can release this bait." Su Mo pondered, his fingertips pausing slightly, a hint of caution appearing in his eyes.

With his current cultivation and supernatural abilities, taking down those ninth-rank Golden Immortals is naturally a piece of cake. However, if he were to face a Quasi-Immortal King, the first and second ranks would be fine, but if he were to encounter a third or fourth rank, he would not be entirely confident in capturing them all. If it were a Quasi-Immortal King of the fifth rank or above, the outcome would be even more unpredictable, and if he were not careful, he might even be suppressed in return.

"On one side is a top-tier eighth-grade immortal sect with three eighth-grade golden immortals in charge, and on the other side is a ninth-grade immortal palace. Taking down the Xuan Yuan Immortal Sect and the Zi Xu Heavenly Palace would be enough for my cultivation to break through to the sixth-grade perfect golden immortal realm. If I'm lucky, it's not impossible for my Hongmeng Immortal Golden Immortal Body to step into the sixth-grade perfect realm in one fell swoop."

A burning anticipation flashed in Su Mo's eyes as his fingertips unconsciously traced the cloud patterns on the edge of the purple cloud futon. If he could push both the "Primordial Void Extreme Immortal Scripture" and the "Primordial Immortal Golden Immortal Scripture" to the sixth-grade perfection, his combat power would undergo a qualitative change—at that time, he would be able to crush most third-order quasi-immortal kings with just his true form.

If we summon all 1,800 illusory spirit bodies and set up numerous immortal arrays in advance to gain a geographical advantage, we will not be without the power to fight even against sixth- or seventh-order quasi-immortal kings. We may even have the opportunity to drag them into a protracted war and find an opening to suppress them.

Only then will we be truly foolproof and able to deal with any hidden crisis.

Even if the legend is inaccurate, this ancestor's cultivation level is much more concealed, far exceeding that of a third-tier quasi-immortal king, so it can't be too far off. At most, it would only be somewhat attractive to fifth-tier and sixth-tier quasi-immortal kings.

As for the eighth and ninth-order quasi-immortal kings, they have already touched the threshold of the immortal king realm. They are all like dragons, rarely seen, and basically all hide in the core territory of the Yuanjin Immortal Kingdom in the hope of proving the Dao of the immortal king. They rarely go out.

For them, a third-tier quasi-immortal king's inheritance was nothing more than a useless burden, not worth the long journey.

The next second...

Su Mo's mind stirred slightly, and his consciousness, like a stream of purple-gold light, sank into his natal immortal domain, piercing through layers of chaotic mist and landing precisely in a corner of the chaotic prison.

There, Ancestor Yuan Lei was bound to a dark black chaotic stone by primordial divine patterns. His immortal armor was cracked like a spider web, with faint golden blood seeping from the cracks; his hair was disheveled like withered grass, covered in chaotic dust; the remaining madness in his eyes had been replaced by despair, leaving only emptiness and numbness. Sensing Su Mo's abyss-like divine sense sweeping over him, he trembled, instinctively shrinking back, his head hanging even lower, not even having the courage to look up.

"Let's start by taking down the Xuan Yuan Immortal Sect, an eighth-grade immortal sect."

......