Immortal Dao is dead, I am the mastermind behind it all.

Kongsang County, where raging waves sweep across the world, and blood stains the vast sea.

The once prosperous county town has become a living hell.

Amidst the surging waves, countless ferocious dragon shadows writhed, their roars shaking the heavens and the earth.

Jiang Zhi Qiu's white clothes were mostly soaked in blood, some of his own, but mostly of the dragon's.

He held a long sword, and wherever the sword flashed, a second-level dragon would be beheaded.

But his face was pale and his breathing was erratic.

In front of him, Jiang Qingshui, a cultivator at the Purple Mansion Realm, was engaged in a fierce battle with a Tribulation-level demonic beast.

Behind them, the Jiang family members who came to their aid and some local cultivators who were determined to fight to the death formed a shrinking circular formation, struggling to hold on.

With each crashing wave, the formation shook violently, its light dimmed, and several mournful screams were swallowed by the roar of the waves.

"Demon, you deserve to die!"

Jiang Zhi Qiu shouted sharply and severed the head of a calamity-inducing dragon that had launched a sneak attack with a single sword stroke.

The scalding dragon blood splattered all over his face, making him look even more ferocious.

He knew that these monsters were nothing.

The real terror lies in the distant Cangwu Mountain, rising from the water.

If we can't stop him, then all is lost.

Just before the ocean receded, a silent storm was brewing on the Jiuge website, which covered almost the entire Langya Prefecture.

An anonymous post was pushed to the top at an astonishing speed.

The title is shocking.

"A blood sacrifice of an entire state just for one person's Dao Fruit? Old Demon Zheng Quan, do you dare to accept?!"

However, the post did not contain any harsh words; it simply objectively listed the various strange phenomena in Langya Prefecture.

The spiritual veins of each prefecture are drying up, the life force of living beings is being inexplicably drained, a long-planned attack by sea monsters is underway, and the celestial phenomena continue to deteriorate...

A blurry photo was attached.

From a great height, one can vaguely see the outline of the ancient Cangwu tree and the silhouette of a person sitting cross-legged on it.

The authenticity of the evidence is hard to verify, but the timing is perfect.

The poster seems to be a master at manipulating people's minds.

In just a few words, a horrifying picture is drawn: "The True Lord of the Wild Goose Formation is willing to sacrifice hundreds of millions of lives in the entire Langya Prefecture in order to achieve personal breakthrough."

Panic, doubt, anger... exploded in the hearts of the cultivators in Langya Prefecture.

At first, it was just angry curses from low-level cultivators and rogue cultivators, but soon, some Purple Mansion cultivators also began to publicly question it online.

Even several True Lords from other states bordering Langya Prefecture and with vested interests began to pay attention to this matter through the Jiuge Network.

"Break the formation! Break the formation quickly! Otherwise, we'll all have our lifespans drained!"

"To pursue one's own path by harming all living beings—this is the behavior of a demon!"

"Zheng Quan! Come out and give the world an explanation!"

Several powerful and unparalleled auras locked onto the giant tree in the water without any concealment.

It is none other than True Lord Mingxuan, True Lord Yanrong, True Lord Qingmu, and True Lord Shijian!

They had been paying attention for some time, and perhaps they had always coveted the Nascent Soul Dao Fruit.

Shen Moyan's post merely provided them with the most legitimate and convincing reason to take action.

Top of the Cangwu tree.

Zheng Quan remained seated cross-legged in the center of the array, his expression obscured by the clouds.

But through the clouds, the light was frighteningly bright.

"Are you here?"

The next moment, four attacks that could split mountains and cleave seas struck the light membrane surrounding the Cangwu tree from four different directions.

boom!

A deafening roar and a burst of light erupted, causing the entire Kongsang County to tremble violently.

The light membrane flickered and twisted wildly, channeling most of the attack's power into the pre-set array below.

Zheng Quan's hands moved with lightning speed, forming hand seals as he hissed:

"Sifang Binhai!"

Centered on the Cangwu tree, countless runes suddenly lit up across the vast land.

The earth's energy was frantically extracted, and a water curtain from the sky enveloped it, amplifying the light membrane.

The subsequent attacks from the four True Lords were completely absorbed, their power diminished layer by layer.

"Gentlemen, if you retreat now, then the consequences of obstructing our path today will be averted," Zheng Quan said calmly from his superior position.

"If you remain stubborn and refuse to see the truth, then don't blame me for being ruthless with my battle formation."

His tone was calm, as if he had already won.

"I am Qingmu, the foremost alchemist in the Gui Cang Realm, paying my respects to the former Holy Court's Strategy Hall True Lord Yan Zhen!"

"But what True Lord Yanzhen has done today has angered Heaven and resented the people, defied human ethics, and is truly the way of the demons!"

"With the Mind-Concentrating Pill that I've refined over half a century, I wish to assist my fellow cultivators in vanquishing the evil!"

The voice of True Monarch Qingmu resounded throughout the entire ocean, distributing all the pills from the Qingmu Pill Cauldron.

Countless pills with slightly weaker light fell into the hands of the cultivators.

Those cultivators who still tried to resist and contribute their strength immediately swallowed the pills bestowed by True Monarch Qingmu to prolong their lifespan being drained.

"Keep going! Kill!"

"A mere formation dares to try and stop me?!"

Shi Jian Zhenjun roared angrily and summoned a large seal, which transformed into the size of a mountain.

It drew upon the mighty power of the heavens and crashed down once more.

Zheng Quan remained silent, simply pushing the power of the formation to its limit.

A week passed slowly amidst endless roars, explosions, bloody battles, and despair.

The resistance from the monks of Kongsang County was dwindling.

Under the siege of the demon race, the Jiang family cultivators who came to provide support were almost all killed or wounded.

Jiang Qingshui, unable to support the river alone and with his magical powers exhausted, leaned against the broken wall on the water, panting for breath.

"Knowing it's autumn?"

Beside him, Jiang Zhi Qiu was already white-haired and shriveled, his lifespan drained.

"Old man Zheng Quan!"

Jiang Qingshui's eyes were bloodshot, and he was about to take out his get-out-of-jail-free card.

Suddenly, a cloud of black mist rose from Jiang Zhiqi's corpse.

"This is... demonic energy!"

Jiang Qingshui, who was seriously injured, had a grotesque pupil dilation.

Why did his cousin exude demonic energy?

Before he could react, the black mist transformed into a six-eyed, four-armed monster.

Demonic incarnation!

The demonic avatar opened its sharp claws and chopped off his arms with a loud thud.

Then the demonic avatar grabbed the immunity token and used its other two arms to draw array patterns in the air.

A piece of jade floated out from Jiang Zhiqi's corpse.

"The mica from the Construction Bureau?"

How did items from the Construction Department end up on the inspector's person?

Using the cosmic mica as a base, a tiny spatial tunnel appears.

"No!"

To Jiang Qingshui's horror, the death-exemption token was thrown into the teleportation tunnel by the demon.

…………

Fly to Gwangju.

"Very good, the biggest variable in this war has been successfully nipped in the bud."

Shen Moyan toyed with the get-out-of-jail-free card, his expression mocking.

Do you really think he hasn't done anything all these years by using Shen Yi to get close to Jiang Zhi Qiu?

He had long ago used the "Book of the Beginning Demon" to condense his own demonic avatar, which then resided in Jiang Zhi Qiu's body.

However, Jiang Zhi Qiu was a cultivator at the Transcendent Realm, and he would notice even the slightest unusual movement.

Therefore, Shen Moyan's clone gradually infiltrated the area with demonic energy.

They had been lying in wait for nearly twenty years, all for the sake of this one get-out-of-jail-free card today.

"It's just a pity that I'm not quite familiar with the Heavenly Demon Formless move yet, otherwise the get-out-of-jail-free card would have been in my hands long ago."

Shen Moyan refocused his attention on the battle against the True Lord.

"As expected, this one who's been holding back has become even more powerful than in the previous life."

In the previous life, even with the protection of a great formation, those four True Monarchs could still have some impact on that giant Cangwu tree.

But in this life, after decades of time, Gao Sheng and his group have fought for so long without gaining any advantage.

"Sure enough, as time went on, that old bastard Zheng Quan was secretly making preparations."

"And that old bastard Gao Sheng..."

In this life, Gao Sheng was not as proactive as he had been in his previous life.

"It's probably because I revealed some information."

Knowing that there's a complex scheme behind this, Gao Sheng, the old silver coin, will certainly not act rashly.

……

As time went on, the condemnations on Jiuge.com have long since turned into concrete actions.

Two more Guicang Zhenjun, either persuaded or harboring ulterior motives, came down from the demon battlefield and joined the siege of Zheng Quan.

"It's True Lord Haoran! True Lord Qingling!"

The cultivators struggling on the sea surface exclaimed with joy.

"His noble spirit soars above the world!"

The righteous energy enveloped the surrounding area, and the great array that was absorbing the lifespan of all living beings slowed down.

"Gao Sheng, after this battle, we're even." The calm male voice echoed throughout the Cangwu Tree area.

"The water is flowing backwards!"

Then, the water curtain in the sky began to flow backward, and the huge waves crashed against the towering tree.

"Fellow Daoist Mingxuan, I am here to lend you a hand," Qingling Zhenjun said.

At that moment, all the cultivators were startled and looked up at the top of the towering tree.

In the treetops, in the void, a dazzling light, indescribable in words, was quietly emerging.

Its colors are chaotic yet encompass all things; it is pure and translucent, and its forms are ever-changing.

Sometimes he appears like an infant embracing a mortise, sometimes like a deity sitting serenely.

Its radiance was restrained, as if it were about to fully mature and fall in the next instant.

"That is..."

"The God Transformation Fruit!!"

At that very moment, all the True Lords who were besieging the city suddenly intensified their attacks several times over, whether for the sake of so-called righteousness or personal gain.

Meanwhile, in a void shrouded in distorted light and shadow, Luo Changting trudged along with difficulty.

The surrounding area was filled with turbulent and violent spiritual energy.

Sometimes it is as hot as lava, and sometimes as cold as ice.

His clothes were torn in many places, a trace of blood hung from the corner of his mouth, and a bluish-green mask hung at his waist.

The demonic energy of the "Book of the Beginning Demon" flowed silently through his heart, protecting his heart meridian.

"The God Transformation Fruit..."

Luo Changting murmured softly.

My gaze travels beyond the vast ocean, piercing through the chaotic mist.

He stared intently at the giant tree in the distance that covered the sky.

And, that glittering brilliance on the treetop.