Once I enter the pass, great Confucian scholars will surely debate the classics for me.

The Hovering Saint and Zhou Qingfeng's group had a brief meeting.

Then, the hovering holy son led the way, passing through the gate of reception without any hindrance.

They flew towards the Temple of the Undying.

A moment later, it landed in front of the Hall of Immortality.

Zhou Qingfeng stood at the entrance of the Hall of Immortality and glanced back down the steps.

Below the steps stood a crowd of immortal beings who had eaten longevity food. These immortal beings, who were powerful figures who could command the wind and rain in the Corpse Continent after leaving the Immortal Land, were now all lined up like a group of lackeys, waiting quietly for the Immortal Celestial Venerable to summon them.

Upon entering the Hall of Immortality, one is immediately struck by the towering Immortal Celestial Venerable, standing a thousand feet tall.

The Immortal Celestial Venerable sat regally on the Immortal Venerable Throne, his brows revealing boundless wisdom and vicissitudes. Even with the slightest opening and closing of his eyes, he seemed to be able to see into the past and the future, inspiring awe in all who beheld him.

He wore a flowing, shimmering robe embroidered with the sun, moon, stars, mountains, and rivers. His hands were gently folded and placed on his knees, his posture both relaxed and exuding an air of complete confidence.

Below the Immortal Celestial Venerable, on the left and right sides, stood a hundred celestial beings in neat rows.

Some of them held magical artifacts, while others were draped in radiant light. Each of them possessed profound cultivation, yet before the Undying Celestial Venerable, they all stood respectfully, daring not to be the slightest bit presumptuous.

The Hovering Saint quickly approached, knelt down and kowtowed: "Heavenly Venerable, Hovering has brought the person here."

The Immortal Celestial Venerable gave a soft "Mmm": "Step down."

Upon hearing this, the Hovering Saint immediately dragged the Lantern Ancestor outside the hall to await orders. In such an occasion where top experts gathered, the Lantern Ancestor, a mere mortal cultivator in the Tribulation Transcending stage, had no right to participate.

"I heard that you killed eighteen demon gods from the upper realm?" The Undying Celestial Venerable's gaze swept over Zhou Qingfeng and his group, his tone calm yet exuding an intense sense of oppression.

When Zhou Qingfeng saw so many Celestial Immortals, a strange light flashed in his eyes, but he quickly returned to calm, because he had long expected that the number of Celestial Immortals in the Undying Palace would be different from the intelligence.

He smiled faintly and said calmly, "That's right, does the Heavenly Venerable not believe it?"

The Immortal Celestial Venerable remained calm and indifferent: "Words are meaningless; seeing is believing."

Upon hearing this, the hundred celestial beings inside the hall all cast scrutinizing glances at him.

Each of them expended their lifespan to use various methods to investigate the background of Zhou Qingfeng and his group.

Zhou Qingfeng, Ye Tingxiu, Xiao Hongyun and their group of seven all felt some pressure. If their true origins were discovered, they would undoubtedly be treated as demons and besieged here.

Fortunately, they had done a good job of disguising themselves before coming to the Immortal Land of Immortality. The whole team had taken the Six Yin Illusionary Yang Pill. Unless there was a True Immortal Realm expert among these Longevity Immortals who could rival the Devouring Fiend Realm cultivators, it would be impossible for them to see through the disguise.

Zhou Qingfeng remained calm and composed, patting his storage bag and revealing a dozen or so heads with strands of hair intertwined together: "Heavenly Venerable, these are the heads of demon gods from the upper realm. Please examine them as you see fit."

The hundred celestial beings remotely inspected Zhou Qingfeng and his group of seven, but found nothing unusual.

He then turned his gaze to the dozen or so heads that were tangled together.

Immediately, their brows furrowed, and the faces of the celestial beings showed three parts fear, three parts disgust, and four parts shock and confusion.

Those heads exuded an aura of calamity and evil, confirming that they were demon gods from the upper realm.

Every 30,000 years, these demon gods descend to the mortal realm and wreak havoc. Even the high and mighty immortals who eat longevity become food for the demon gods. No immortal can escape this fate, including the celestial venerables of the thirteen immortal lands.

This seems to be an unchanging law of heaven, a calamity that occurs once every 30,000 years.

They call it the Calamity of Heaven and Earth, a calamity that even the most supreme celestial beings must face.

If you survive this calamity, you will live for another 30,000 years; if you fail to survive, you will die and your life will end.

The question is, how did seven celestial beings manage to kill eighteen demon gods in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn?

Many celestial beings were puzzled. They were not mortal cultivators, and they were well aware of the power of the demon god.

Those demon gods were all incredibly powerful, to the point of being freakish. A celestial being would lose a one-on-one fight against a demon god, and even a two-on-one fight would only result in a 50/50 chance. Only when three celestial beings joined forces and formed an array could they barely kill a demon god.

With the burning of an incense stick, seven celestial beings slew eighteen demon gods. No matter how they thought about it, they couldn't understand how they had done it. Yet, the facts before their eyes were undeniable, making them somewhat incredulous.

They wanted to ask questions and get to the bottom of things, but were hindered by the strict rules of the immortal sect and the presence of the Heavenly Venerable.

They dared not overstep their bounds or do anything excessive.

The thousand-foot-tall Undying Celestial Venerable sat firmly on his Immortal Venerable Throne, looking down at the dozen or so demon god heads that Zhou Qingfeng was carrying. He could naturally tell that the demon god heads were genuine.

The Immortal Venerable's expression turned solemn as he began to look directly at the seven Celestial Immortals before him: "Having slain eighteen demon gods in succession, such strength is certainly not that of an unknown figure. May I ask how you, my fellow immortals, are addressed?"

Zhou Qingfeng smiled faintly and clasped his hands in response: "Reporting to the Heavenly Venerable, my name is Ye Tingxiu. These are my brothers and sisters: Ye Tingxin, Ye Tingyang, Ye Tingxing, Ye Tingzai, Ye Tinghong, and Ye Tingchen."

"We, the seven siblings of the Ye family, were originally unknown mortal cultivators tens of thousands of years ago. We secluded ourselves in a blessed land for tens of thousands of years and finally achieved something. We only emerged from seclusion a few days ago. It is perfectly normal that the Heavenly Venerable does not know us."

Upon hearing this, the Immortal Celestial Venerable praised three times: "Cultivating one's mind and character in the mortal world, what a fine name, what a charm, what a beautiful artistic conception. The seven siblings of the Ye family, seven celestial immortals in one family, are truly a rare sight."

"You flatter me, Celestial Venerable." Zhou Qingfeng maintained his humble demeanor. He knew that when facing an existence like the Undying Celestial Venerable, any subtle expression or thought could be detected, so he had to be cautious.

After a moment of contemplation, the Immortal Celestial Venerable continued, "The annihilation of the eighteen demon gods is a great blessing for the Three Realms. Fellow Immortal Ye, you and your brothers and sisters have made great contributions to the peace of the Three Realms."

Such achievements will surely be praised for thousands of years.

At this point, the Undying Celestial Venerable changed the subject: "I heard from Hover that Fellow Immortal Ye intends to join the Demon-Slaying Alliance?"

Zhou Qingfeng's expression turned solemn, as if a saint had been born, his whole body exuding righteousness. His voice rose and fell, strong and clear, as he said, "Yes, the seven of us siblings have come into this world to eliminate demons and protect the righteous path."

"The Three Realms are our Three Realms, not a place where they, the demon gods, can come and go as they please. For thousands of years, the demon gods have regarded our Three Realms as a hunting ground, coming every 30,000 years to stir up trouble and slaughter all living beings."

"Since there's no way to avoid it, and we're destined to fight them, then let's kill them! Let's kill them until they're terrified, until they're left with nothing! Even if we have to die for our cause, we'll kill them so that the demon gods will never dare to descend to the mortal realm again!"

He spent three years honing his skills in this turbid and evil world.

Rising from humble beginnings as a refugee, the intrigues, power struggles, and battlefield battles he experienced gradually transformed the once-young man beyond recognition, causing a profound change in his mindset.

To him, there are demons and saints, villains and gentlemen.

You can switch between them smoothly and freely as needed.

If being a villain is beneficial to me, then I will be a villain.

If becoming a saint is beneficial to oneself, then one should become a saint.

The great demon is like a saint, and the great saint is like a demon.

Great loyalty can appear as treachery, and great treachery can appear as loyalty.

Throughout history, those who achieve great things are invariably a blend of saint and demon, their loyalty and treachery indistinguishable.

"Bravo!" The hundred celestial beings in the Undying Hall couldn't help but cheer in unison, their faces beaming with excitement and their blood boiling. It was so inspiring! Looking at Zhou Qingfeng's righteous appearance, they felt a surge of goodwill and disregarded the strict rules of the sect, applauding him in the court.

A profound look flashed in the eyes of the Immortal Celestial, as if he had made an important decision.

He spoke slowly, his voice gentle yet firm: "Ye Tingxiu, in view of the extraordinary strength you and your brothers and sisters have demonstrated, as well as your outstanding contributions to the stability of the Three Realms, I formally invite you to join the Undying Hall. Furthermore, I hope that you can become the backbone of the soon-to-be-established 'Demon Extermination Alliance'."

Zhou Qingfeng nodded and said calmly and firmly, "The invitation from the Heavenly Venerable is an honor for my seven siblings, Ye. For the peace of the Three Realms, we are willing to take on this responsibility and join the Demon Extermination Alliance."

The Immortal Celestial Venerable revealed a satisfied smile: "Good! With your addition, our strength will be even greater. The Demon Extermination Alliance will gather the Celestial Immortals from the Thirteen Immortal Lands to jointly resist this calamity of heaven and earth."

Thanks to Zhou Qingfeng's vivid and expressive acting, he successfully joined the Undying Hall and even secured a place in the soon-to-be-formed Demon Extermination Alliance, successfully infiltrating the alliance and seizing the initiative.

Next, they will sweep across the world stage with their momentum, eliminating other teams one by one.

Thus, Zhou Qingfeng and his group found a place to stay in the Immortal Land.

The hovering saint was polite and courteous in every way: "Fellow Immortal Ye, please come with me. The Heavenly Venerable is busy with affairs and has to discuss the important matter of forming an allied army with the Heavenly Venerables of the Twelve Immortal Lands. He specially asked his disciple to host a welcome dinner for you all."

Zhou Qingfeng smiled and asked, "Fellow Immortal Lingering, where do you intend to take us?"

The Hovering Saint replied, "The Celestial Venerable said that everyone's strength and lifespan are less than sixty years. It must be because you killed eighteen demon gods in succession, which caused excessive depletion of your lifespan. Therefore, he instructed Hovering to pick ginseng fruits for you fellow immortals to replenish your lifespan."

As he spoke, the Hovering Saint led Zhou Qingfeng and his group to a floating courtyard.

The Hovering Saint smiled and introduced, "This is the Longevity Jade Terrace, where the Longevity Ginseng Fruit Tree grows. It is specially used by immortals to prolong their lives. Eating one fruit can extend one's life by ten thousand years. The Heavenly Venerable said that each of the seven immortal friends will receive one ginseng fruit."

Zhou Qingfeng, Ye Tingxiu, Xiao Hongyun and the others exchanged glances, never expecting that joining the Undying Hall would bring such good fortune.

They already have short lifespans, and they don't really care about lifespans.

Because in this defiled and evil world, even the most powerful person can die at any moment.

No matter how long your lifespan is, it's useless. Just live long enough, since most people don't live to die of old age anyway.

As the hovering saint entered the courtyard, they immediately saw a peerless longevity ginseng fruit tree growing in the center of the courtyard. The tree soared into the clouds, with lush branches and leaves that shimmered with a faint golden glow.

Fruits shaped like dolls hang from the branches, and invisible roots, like dragons and snakes, are wrapped around the tree roots. These roots stretch leisurely in the void, emitting bursts of hot and masculine energy.

The Hovering Saint invited Zhou Qingfeng and his group to sit in the courtyard. He then turned and picked seven ginseng fruits from a fruit tree, arranged them on a fruit platter, and served them to the seven of them, saying with a smile, "Please enjoy yourselves. These ginseng fruits are hard to come by."

"Oh? From what Fellow Immortal Hovering is saying, is there any significance to this ginseng fruit?" Zhou Qingfeng sat cross-legged, looking at the ginseng fruit on the table, without touching it. Seeing that Zhou Qingfeng wasn't making a move, the others naturally didn't either.

The Hovering Saint smiled and said, "Of course, in the Three Realms, only in my Corpse Continent, the Undying Palace, is there such a Longevity Ginseng Fruit Tree. It is constantly absorbing the lifespan of all mortal cultivators in the Corpse Continent."

"As long as they cultivate the mortal cultivation techniques spread by our Undying Hall, a portion of their lifespan will be absorbed by the Ginseng Fruit Tree each time they cultivate, and over time, this Longevity Ginseng Fruit will be produced."

"This is no secret. All the immortals in the Undying Hall know that, generally speaking, only by making contributions to the Undying Hall can one have the opportunity to obtain a Longevity Ginseng Fruit. This is also an important reason why many immortals are willing to join the Undying Hall. After all, who doesn't want to live forever?"

"Fellow immortals, you have just emerged from seclusion for tens of thousands of years and have never been to the Undying Palace before, so it is not surprising that you do not know about it."

"I see, I was ignorant." Zhou Qingfeng nodded with a smile, but did not rush to eat.

He always kept his master's teachings in mind: when you are in the wild, never touch food or water that a stranger has handled.

Although it's not in the wild now, it seems no different from being in the wild.

The principles are the same.

If there's anything wrong with this ginseng fruit, then eating it would be... ugh...

Let's cast a divination first.

Zhou Qingfeng summoned the mysterious scarlet divination stick from the depths of his consciousness.

[Auspicious sign: Eating the Longevity Ginseng Fruit brings good fortune]

This is the first time in three years.

The first time I drew a very auspicious lot, I got the best one.

Zhou Qingfeng was extremely surprised, even delighted.

On second thought, it doesn't seem so strange.

Cultivating longevity requires lifespan as a support, whether it's using magic or cultivating physical strength.

Given their strong fighting power and proven track record, it's only natural that the Immortal Celestial Venerable would want to extend their lives so they could kill more demon gods during the demon-slaying campaign. Granting them ginseng fruit to prolong their lives is perfectly normal.

However... now that it's confirmed that ginseng fruit is edible, should we also dig up the Longevity Ginseng Fruit Tree and take it with us? Although I don't really care about lifespan, there are many ways to replenish it.

However, leaving such a precious tree in the animal world would be a waste.

Should we dig it up? There's a human immortal right in front of us, and he can't stop us.

I suppose it's not a big deal if I steal a few vegetables from my mother's garden.

Zhou Qingfeng's mind raced. Looking at the smile on the hovering saint's lips, he suddenly realized something was wrong.

That damned old fisherman, the Undying Celestial Venerable, is fishing!

This was both a reward and a fishing expedition, and also a test to see if my group was trustworthy.

If the goal was simply to prolong one's life with ginseng fruit, one could simply pick seven fruits and hand them over; why send a celestial being to lead one's entourage here to pick and taste the ginseng fruit?

If our group really wanted to dig up the treasure tree, what could a mere immortal standing still possibly do to stop us?

Was the Undying Celestial Venerable a fool to become a Celestial Venerable? Obviously not.

That must be a trap. The surrounding area is probably full of Celestial Immortals. If they do anything wrong, they will be captured and killed by the Celestial Immortals lying in ambush.

If they and their companions behaved themselves and did not covet the ginseng fruit tree, it would mean they had passed the next test of trust.

It seems that his impassioned and righteous words in the Hall of Immortality did not deceive the Immortal Celestial.

To prove his point.

Zhou Qingfeng cast another divination for himself.

[A very bad omen; digging up the Longevity Ginseng Fruit Tree now is extremely unlucky.]

Upon seeing this, Zhou Qingfeng's mind went blank, and all his greed vanished.

The Hovering Saint stood to the side, smiling as he asked, "Why isn't Fellow Immortal Ye eating?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qingfeng reached out, picked up the ginseng fruit, took a bite, and smoothly squeezed out two lines of tears, pretending to be moved to tears. He immediately put on an acting show: "I'm sorry, Fellow Immortal Hover, I, I, I was just moved for a moment."

"I never expected that the Celestial Venerable would bestow upon us a ginseng fruit that grants us ten thousand years of life, allowing us seven siblings to live for another ten thousand years."

"Please convey to the Celestial Venerable that we, the seven siblings of the Ye family, are grateful for the fruits bestowed upon us by the Celestial Venerable, and that we are willing to serve the Celestial Venerable and slay all the demons and gods of the upper realm to repay the great kindness of extending our lives."

The Hovering Saint smiled with narrowed eyes: "Fellow Immortal Ye, you flatter me. However, I will definitely convey your message."

Zhou Qingfeng looked around at Ye Tingxiu and the others, and gestured, "Eat up, everyone, don't let down the Heavenly Venerable's kindness."

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