Chapter 1171: Chapter 1054: Contrast_2
The reason for the battle between the two sides is only one: the fight over the spiritual objects from the auction!
One side is the plunderers, the other the protectors.
Despite the factions that obtained the spiritual objects during the auction being exceedingly cautious, employing various asures to mislead others, and even hiding for days in the Immortal City,
they were ultimately targeted regardless.
“Curse it! How did you manage to discover us?” roared a protector, now severely injured, with gritted teeth.
“Trace of the Wild Goose—under these heavens, there are myriad divine powers. How could a Fellow Daoist possibly know them all?” said the leader of the cultivators, cloaked entirely in black cloth with not a hint of skin exposed.
“Even if I die, I will never hand over the spiritual object to you!”
With that, the cultivator, gasping for air and still injured, forcibly reversed his mana, evidently preparing to self-detonate and drag several foes down with him.
“Hmph! Do you truly think I’d let you succeed?” the black-clad cultivator sneered coldly, extending his hand. At that mont, a shadow of a hand appeared miles away, rapidly absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy and morphing into a giant palm. It directly interrupted the cultivator’s attempt at self-detonation, thwarting his desire to perish alongside others.
Thud!
Having been stopped and rendered incapable of self-detonation, his mana spiraled out of control, rampaging wildly within his body. In an instant, he spat a mouthful of fresh blood and collapsed into a debilitated state.
Such killing and treasure-snatching incidents outside Taisui Immortal City were commonplace, though they had beco far more frequent since the auction concluded.
So cultivators managed to seize treasures successfully, while others lost their lives and turned into re bones.
But no matter the outco, it was their own choice.
Ordinarily, one would assu that these events would gradually return to normal as ti passed; however, sothing extraordinary happened!
The final three exceptionally rare spiritual objects from the auction—one of which was a stamp capable of increasing longevity by 5,000 years—were audaciously stolen by a group of black-clad individuals!
This incident sparked widespread debate not only in Taisui Immortal City but also in other Immortal Cities, as curiosity swept across the lands.
It should be noted that the stamp was purchased by an Individual Immortal affiliated with Nine Heavens Palace—one of the most powerful forces in the Primal Spirit Realm. To ensure the stamp’s safe return to their sect, Nine Heavens Palace dispatched three Individual Immortals, accompanied by a cohort of Integration and Mahayana cultivators, as escorts.
Yet, despite this formidable strength, they were utterly overwheld by the mysterious black-clad individuals. Not only was the stamp stolen, but Nine Heavens Palace’s cultivators also suffered heavy casualties.
Reportedly, one of the three Individual Immortals narrowly escaped death, surviving only after exhausting extraordinary efforts.
Thus, one can imagine how tragic the fates of the other cultivators must have been—likely fewer than one in ten survived.
Upon learning of the incident, Nine Heavens Palace erupted in fury and issued a declaration: regardless of the identities, cultivation levels, or backgrounds of the black-clad culprits, once Nine Heavens Palace finds them, their only end shall be death!
It was no surprise that Nine Heavens Palace was this enraged. Not only had they lost an exorbitantly expensive stamp, but they had also lost a number of highly talented disciples.
More critically, this incident caused them to lose face!
As one of the strongest Immortal Dao influences in the Primal Spirit Realm, preserving face was paramount for Nine Heavens Palace—more so than even most disciples.
Unfortunately, despite their investigations and even employing the power of Immortal Artifacts, Nine Heavens Palace failed to uncover the identities of the culprits.
Thus, when Li Zhirui, engrossed in cultivation, learned of this matter, over half a month had already passed.
“It seems Nine Heavens Palace might never find the culprits,” he remarked.
Although Li Zhirui’s expression remained calm, he was still deeply surprised. After all, the prestige of Nine Heavens Palace was so renowned that even a cultivator like him, hailing from a remote background, had heard of it.
The outco—where not only did cultivators dare to confront Nine Heavens Palace, but even now no clues had surfaced—ant it was unlikely they’d uncover the culprits in the future.
Upon reflection, the perpetrators could only be those few forces of comparable strength.
Yet, without concrete evidence,
an open rift between two top-tier forces would bring massive consequences to the East Continent!
Such a developnt would not be good news, so gradually, Nine Heavens Palace cald down and begrudgingly swallowed the bitter fruit.
This entire affair naturally had no connection to Li Zhirui. He listened to the buzz of gossip and quickly refocused on his cultivation, intent on improving his cultivation level.
In a cave mansion, ti loses aning; a millennium in the world passes unnoticed.
Li Zhirui cultivated in seclusion for several years, his Dharma advancing step by step, drawing closer to breaking through to the late stage of Integration.
“Once I’ve broken through, it will be ti to leave this place.”
Li Zhirui harbored no feelings of attachnt or regret—such emotions were reserved only for Mount Wanxian.
Clang! Clang! Clang—
Just as Li Zhirui prepared to continue cultivating, a series of bell tolls suddenly rang out within the Immortal City.
“What happened?”
It was clearly no trivial matter; otherwise, the Immortal City would not sound an alarm to notify all cultivators within its walls.
Li Zhirui, deep in thought, flew toward the city center.
By the ti he arrived, many cultivators were already gathered.
“A great battle is imminent. Please prepare yourselves,” a Loose Cultivator of great ability announced with a calm deanor.
“Senior, hasn’t war always existed?” An Integration cultivator asked in confusion.
Coming from a Loose Cultivator background, he naturally didn’t understand so details.
“No! The battle I speak of is not the norm—it’s the clash of innurable cultivators and demon cultivators locked in mortal combat across the battlefield!” that Individual Immortal briefly explained.
Compared to a true great battle, the skirmishes currently occurring resembled child’s play; the two were incomparable.
Though the forr saw daily combat eruptions, the participants were typically Void Refinent and Integration cultivators, with Mahayana and Tribulation-Transcending cultivators rarely joining, let alone Great Ability Immortals.
The latter, however, was entirely different. It represented a genuine war between immortals and demons, where even Mahayana and Tribulation-Transcending cultivators—alongside Individual Immortals—would take action.
Compared to such battles, the prior main forces were no better than cannon fodder.
“This war will be deadly beyond imagination, so you’d best ready yourselves, or you will likely lose your lives on the battlefield!” the Individual Immortal warned.
“Understood! We will rember it well!”
Li Zhirui responded among the crowd and left following the swarm of people, blending seamlessly into the masses. His presence was so unremarkable that unless soone focused hard, they wouldn’t notice him.
The great battle was still brewing, leaving so ti to prepare.
As news spread, prices of various spiritual objects in the city surged, particularly those for healing and mana restoration.
Many rchants, seizing the opportunity, hoarded such items and released only small portions to sell, withholding the rest in anticipation of greater profits.
In the process, many cultivators fought fiercely over coveted spiritual objects, sparking chaos and conflict.
Li Zhirui was well aware of the external situation. Thankfully, as an Alchemist with many mature spiritual objects, he could craft Precious Pills himself without requiring external purchases.
If he wished, he could even take advantage of this opportunity to refine Precious Pills for sale at high prices, reaping large amounts of Spirit Stones.
Yet, Li Zhirui chose not to do so, unwilling to risk complications at this critical juncture.
Faced with a cruel, bloody war, he understood he must maintain peak physical and spiritual condition to seize even a sliver of survival.
Thus, while Li Zhirui continued refining Precious Pills, he exercised great restraint, wary of the war’s sudden outbreak leaving his state less than optimal.
Not only cultivators, but demon cultivators also received word of the impending battle.
Unlike the somber worry of cultivators, demon cultivators grew excited and exuberant.
To them, such wars, though fraught with peril, were laden with opportunity. Plenty of demon cultivators rose rapidly by surviving battles, amassing abundant cultivation resources, and escaping the fate of being re insects.
“I can’t wait to savor the blood and flesh of cultivators!”
“This ti, victory belongs to the Holy Sect!”
“We’ll show those ants how truly formidable we are.”
One by one, the demon cultivators grew arrogant and cocky, utterly dismissive of the cultivators, as if they were re one-strike foes, easily slaughtered by their might.
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